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General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Cleric vs Paladin: Concepts and Mechanical realisation
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<blockquote data-quote="Sword of Spirit" data-source="post: 6829010" data-attributes="member: 6677017"><p>People disagreeing with my interpretation of clerics and paladins is a pet peeve of mine. I'm not sure what it is about those two classes that inspires this intolerance, but you can bet when I'm the DM there is One True Interpretation whether or not you like it.</p><p></p><p>First, I think there is a disconnect between how an edition presents the cleric...and how the same edition presents the cleric. They generally are self-contradicting.</p><p></p><p>2e cleric mentions that whole Knight's Templar nonsense. But then they are classified in the Priest group (with druids) while Paladins were in the Warrior group (with fighters and rangers). And someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I've never been under the assumption that holy orders of knighthood only used bludgeoning weapons and were less effective combatants (less hp, attack bonus) than other warriors.</p><p></p><p>5e has a similar contradiction. They speak as if clerics are specially chosen "favored souls" so to speak. They say that most priests aren't clerics, but are more like politicians (the implication being no spellcasting). But then the NPC monster entries for "Priest" and "Acolyte" are essentially simplified, holy spellcasting 5th-level and 1st-level (respectively) clerics.</p><p></p><p>Weren't priest clerics even in Eberron, where they weren't required to have the appropriate alignments, and no one was sure if the gods existed?</p><p></p><p>The way I see it, I agree with what they show more than what they say. And what the game has shown since at least since AD&D is <strong>cleric = priest</strong> and <strong>priest = cleric</strong> (or druid).</p><p></p><p>Paladins are not, and never have been, shown as priests. They are <strong>holy knight-like warriors</strong>. </p><p></p><p>From that perspective--which has been shown consistently in the D&D lore--the distinction between cleric and paladin is simple.</p><p></p><p>And there is no good reason <em>not</em> to do it that way.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Sword of Spirit, post: 6829010, member: 6677017"] People disagreeing with my interpretation of clerics and paladins is a pet peeve of mine. I'm not sure what it is about those two classes that inspires this intolerance, but you can bet when I'm the DM there is One True Interpretation whether or not you like it. First, I think there is a disconnect between how an edition presents the cleric...and how the same edition presents the cleric. They generally are self-contradicting. 2e cleric mentions that whole Knight's Templar nonsense. But then they are classified in the Priest group (with druids) while Paladins were in the Warrior group (with fighters and rangers). And someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I've never been under the assumption that holy orders of knighthood only used bludgeoning weapons and were less effective combatants (less hp, attack bonus) than other warriors. 5e has a similar contradiction. They speak as if clerics are specially chosen "favored souls" so to speak. They say that most priests aren't clerics, but are more like politicians (the implication being no spellcasting). But then the NPC monster entries for "Priest" and "Acolyte" are essentially simplified, holy spellcasting 5th-level and 1st-level (respectively) clerics. Weren't priest clerics even in Eberron, where they weren't required to have the appropriate alignments, and no one was sure if the gods existed? The way I see it, I agree with what they show more than what they say. And what the game has shown since at least since AD&D is [B]cleric = priest[/B] and [B]priest = cleric[/B] (or druid). Paladins are not, and never have been, shown as priests. They are [B]holy knight-like warriors[/B]. From that perspective--which has been shown consistently in the D&D lore--the distinction between cleric and paladin is simple. And there is no good reason [I]not[/I] to do it that way. [/QUOTE]
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