Do chaotic gawds have paladins?

[Driddle]

As the header asks: do chaotic gawds have paladins to act on their behalf?

I ask because the lawful requirement for the paladin class sort of gets in the way.

 

[Commonblade]

Not in my world, I really don't see the need for it. The paladin is a very specific arch type and I do not tie his/hers powers to a divine being. If a Character is a paladin that comes first, above all else. He/She has made the choice to be a champion of Good and Order. I fully expect my Paladins to go against church policey if it comes against the paladin code.

 

[Starman]

By the RAW, no.

Starman

 

[Geoff Watson]

Very rarely.

A couple of the CG FR gods have paladins (The elf god, and Sune, goddess of beauty).

Geoff.

 

[DMScott]

As the header asks: do chaotic gawds have paladins to act on their behalf?

By the rules, it's the Paladin's alignment that matters, not the deity's, so in theory they could. In practice, in default D&D as written it seems reasonable to subject Paladins to the same deity-alignment restrictions as Clerics, which would mean that only LN, LG, and NG gods would have Paladins. OTOH in a homebrew with a different take on alignment (and lets face it, there's about as many takes on alignment as there are DMs), a normally CG deity might occasionally empower a Paladin, probably for a specific task or quest.

I'm assuming you're asking about the PH-style LG Paladins - Unearthed Arcana has some variant Paladins of CG, CE, and LE alignment.

 

[Starglim]

Starman, can you clarify? I see nothing in the RAW that requires a paladin to match the Law/Chaos alignment of her god.

Only certain deities call mortals to be paladins, regardless of the deity's alignment. I see the Paladin as a LG-Good tendencies, inclined to Neutral Good class in any case: Yet Another Paladin Prestige Class . I could see a highly Good and very martially inclined Chaotic Good god sponsoring a few paladins.

 

[Knightfall]

As the header asks: do chaotic gawds have paladins to act on their behalf?

I ask because the lawful requirement for the paladin class sort of gets in the way.

As a general rule, no a choatic god wouldn't have a "true" LG paladin. However, you could allow a player to take one of the alternate holy warrior classes from Dragon Magazine #310. The article is called Champions of the Divine and gives rules for alternate paladin-like classes for other alignments.

A Sentinel is a neutral good holy warrior who can smite evil but has several different class abilities that make it different, yet similar to a paladin: Aura of Good, Dectect Evil, Resist Fiendish Lure, Celestial Fortitude, Turn Outsider, Celestial Minion, Dispel Evil, and Code of Conduct.

An Avenger is a chaotic good holy warrior who can smite law and has the following abilities: Aura of Chaos, Detect Law, Lay on Hands, Slippery mind, Turn undead, Animal Minion, Break Enchantment, and Code of Conduct.

The article also details the Enforcer (LN), Incarnate (N), and Anarch (CN).

Cheers!

KF72

 

[Undead Pete]

I know that they had an equivalent Champion for each alignment back in 2E. I think it was in DRAGON

 

[Nightfall]

That would be now in Dragon 310.

Another suggestion if you want a paladin type is Book of the Righteous' Holy Warrior. They have ways of making paladin types that aren't by the book lawful but still can be good.

There are instances of chaotic gods having paladins as mentioned with Sune in FR having a few. But otherwise it's very rare and/or unusual for that to happen.

 

[drnuncheon]

The Holy Warrior from Book of the Righteous is great - not only does it allow "paladins" of any alighment, but it enables you to tailor the gifts given to the deity - they, like clerics, have domains, although they grant powers rather than spells.

Unearthed Arcana has alternate paladins for the other three 'corner alignments'.

Prestige-wise, Defenders of the Faith had the Holy Liberator, which was a CG paladin-esque PrC.

J