Breaking the stereotype of the chaste paladin

OK, this is me from home now. I had meant Chaste or Celibate (however one defines it!!!!) to mean the paladin refraining from any sexual intercourse whatsoever.

And, I had not meant for the paladin to be a philandering fop who fathers more out of wedlock children with different women than your typical NBA star or Ben Franklin...

As for rearing children, in many cultures (China, India, Korea to name a few, none of which are out of the way or obscure historically) it is tradition that the parents send the child off to be raised by the grandparents while the parents go out & work. It's just that instead of being raised a few towns over or on a neighboring farm, the paladin may travel across continents or planes hunting evildoers. Or, maybe the paladin's church has the equivalent of a nursemaid / nanny type that can raise the child?

Heck, it could even be part of the paladin sect - must return home at least once a year to attempt mating with wife in order to grow the congregation - almost like the Vulcan Pon Farr, only yearly.
 
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Yes, and in many European cultures, children were raised by uncles, or godfathers, or all kinds of other arrangements.

I don't think its hard to imagine philandering paladins, and still keep in LG, and have the paladins be somewhat responsible in regards to their children. It just takes a little bit of cultural ingenuity, rather than projecting our own culture into the D&D realm, which is what we typically do.
 

I certainly think that chastity, thought not celibacy, are implied by the Paladin's code, and by histori-mythical archetypes upon which they are based. Were real knights chaste? Perhaps, and perhaps not. But the ideal chivalrous knight certainly was, which is why inapropriate trysts in stories of the age often led to complete disaster.

Galahad was celibate, Arthur was chaste (YMMV quiate a bit depending on what you read), and Lancelot and Guenivere were neither - and thus caused the downfall of a kingdom.

In D&D terms, one of the central tenets of a paladin's order would have to be the holiness of increasing the population if I were to accept a paladin that was anything other than chaste.
 

I think it would be all in the churches doctorine. Just be careful on the wording. We had a DM made church that forbid "Free sex". It became a running gag that members of that church had to pay for it.
 

NewJeffCT said:
I was thinking about this the other day. The stereotypical image of a paladin is the chaste Sir Galahad....However, could an argument also be made that a truly pious paladin should “be fruitful and multiply”?.... My thought was that would not a male paladin be true to his religion by fathering 10 or more children with a devout follower of his own L/G religion?

Depends entirely on your campaign world, of course.

I will say that, historically, one of the reasons that Catholic priests aren't allowed to marry and have kids is this: it kept positions in the church from becoming an inherited thing like positions in the nobility. By bringing in new people from outside the church, the church kept its clergy "fresh" and ensured that (theoretically) new clergy would be chosen based on merit and ability, rather than just because their father was a member of the clergy. In that way, it was one of the few things in the Medieval world which was open to everybody (if you were male, that is).

Jason
 

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Paladins are supposed to be paragons of law and order as well as goodness, It is kind of difficult to be such a thing if you are a philandering drunk. It is possible to be lawful good and have such a flaw, but I don't believe it's possible to be a Paladin and have such a flaw.

Though it is not required by the rules, it is assumed that Paladins engage in prayer and supplication often to maintain the pure and devoted spirit that receives the blessings of their god as a mandate from heaven to carry out a war against evil.

I don't think a Paladin must be chaste. They should not be a lecher. They would be unable to live up to the ideals of Paladinhood were they a lech. A Paladin should marry and be the ideal father according to his society. That does not mean he has to be at home all the time. Fathers in that time often let their children be raised by a favored servant or another family if their duty called them elsewhere. A Paladin who had a wife and children could do the same. Most likely his sons would be raised from a young age to fight, and depending on the flavor of the world, so might his daughters.

Paladins receive the abilities they do for a reason. I think they have to live up to the expectation of their god. A philandering Paladin would constantly be atoning for his chaotic inability to remain faithful to a woman. That really is the key...Paladins being able to understand the concept of faith more than any other class by virtue of their profession would not encourage faithlessness in their interactions with other people including women.

People can run the game as they wish. I would not allow a Paladin to be a faithless philanderer and maintain his Paladin status. It would be revoked until he atoned.
 

Celtavian said:
That really is the key...Paladins being able to understand the concept of faith more than any other class by virtue of their profession would not encourage faithlessness in their interactions with other people including women.
Who says its faithless? If both of them know what they're getting into, then it's not necessarily faithless.

Again, this is projecting either our own culture, or at least, historical Western culture into a fantasy realm, where it may --or may not-- belong. It's also projecting your own ideas of what a paladin is which is not supported by the rulebook, or any setting of which I know.
 

In a former campaign world I ran back in the 2e days, the lawful good knighthood (comprised of a mixture of Paladins, Fighters, Clerics, and a few Rangers and War Wizards) had strong hereditary ties. Ancestral weapons and armor were cherished items passed down from father to son throughout the Knighthood. The characters in one of the parties were in said knighthood and two of the characters were cousins. I definately have never felt that paladins would shun such a natural act as procreation, but definately they would abhor infidelity. And in all reality, warriors aren't in combat all the time, but they do spend a decent period of time being stationed somewhere (and what large knighthood doesn't have a base of operations where more experienced veteran officers wouldn't spend a great deal stationed at. As I saw it, most of the wiser leaders would send dispaches of lower level/lesser ranked warriors off to handle the more mundane tasks (why would a 12th level General be off in the foothills hunting orcs?) Also, eventually constant strife would take its toll on anyone (think about pro-athletes and how old they are when they peak - 30ish).
As far as having 10 children, I see no inherant problem so long as he can balance the responsibilities (A key element to a paladin in my mind) of work and fatherhood. Realize however, that most societies have social mores about legitimate vs illegitimate children, rules of courting, and marriage. Being a lawful good paladin would imply that the character would strive to fulfill these expectactions and not just be a lech enjoying a high charisma.
 
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Whilst the Arioi of Tahiti probably don't fit the DnD concept of good (their practice of infanticide definately paints them evil) they were highly disciplined (Lawful) and are an example of a group of religious functionaries whose doctrine called on them to have wonton sex!

It is possible that a Paladin could follow a fertility god who's sacraments include taking the virginity of all the young maidens so that the blessing of the diety be upon them and any resulting children (who are raised by their maternal families and consider blessed). I know of a number of legends which tell of visaiting dieties fathering children (who went on to become kings) this could be the same thing but more formalised in a fantasy world where the diety really does manifest in the virile member of its paladin!:)

Now thats my kind of Paladinhood baby
 

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