Do paladin's require a god?

[Baron Opal]

I've noticed from the receint crop of paladin threads the references to the paladin's god. IMC, only a portion of the paladins are bound to a specific god (often Hnalla or Karakan). Many are simply the holy warriors called to fight by the pantheon and granted their strength from the gods as a whole. There is a not inconsequential number who simply are. They are paladins from an inner moral compass that requires no divine assistance.

How many of you have paladins that are not bound to a god?

 

[Aurora]

Our group has a paladin of a cause. He doesn't follow a god at all.

 

[delericho]

In the PHB, it's not a strict requirement. In the Forgotten Realms, I believe that it is.

When running in a pre-published setting, I will enforce the convention set down by the setting. If there is no such convention, or I am running homebrew, I don't require Paladins to be bound to a god, and in fact encourage them not to be, but rather to directly serve Good itself, which supercedes the gods. (That would change in a monotheistic setting in which the sole god was also the definition of Good, but I have not to date run such a game.)

 

[Voadam]

IMC the paladins only think they are bound to a god, the gods (and churches and priests on behalf of the gods they represent) just take credit for it but aren't actually the source of divine power for any character though.

 

[Dog Moon]

IMC, Paladins are the Champions of a single God. They are no longer LG warriors whose sole purpose is to fight Evil [Of course I have no alignment IMC, though that's only a part of why I changed the Paladins]. They have slightly different abilities depending on which God is their Patron God.

 

[Michael Morris]

IMC Divine magic requires a patron deity and all classes with divine spells (not just the paladin) must have a deity.

 

[pawsplay]

In The Deek of Paksenarrion, paladins don't even know who their god is. They have a relationship with at least two deities, who may or may not be the same deity. They also have a wellspring of magic within themselves, but they don't know if it's something they were born with or something they were blessed with, or if the distinction is meaningful.

In my next campaign, I'm leaning toward the Rules Cyclopedia position that clerics represent a cause, with that kind of cleric being the norm, and a dedicated cultist being the exception.

 

[Kalshane]

IMC Divine magic requires a patron deity and all classes with divine spells (not just the paladin) must have a deity.

This is same for my campaigns as well. The idea of gaining spells/channeling divine energy due to following a philosophy just seems odd to me.

 

[Piratecat]

I don't object to paladins of Good or of a pantheon, but that's not how I run it in my own campaign. There, every paladin has a patron deity. I like the feel of that a bit better.

 

[el-remmen]

Not only do they each have a patron god, some have different powers based on their god, and each has its own spell list.

For examples see: http://aquerra.wikispaces.com/Paladin+Characters