Do paladins work in most games?

[Nightfall]

Right Thought, not disagreeing with you there. I just think a new character WOULD ease the tension at the moment. The group dynamic is more the issue as I see than the paladin itself. Either they change (and that's about as likely as seeing Asmodeus figure-skating in Nessus with all the Nine Hells freezing over, Cania excluded.), or they get a new party member.

 

[Nifft]

A lot of trouble seems to come when a black-and-white Paladin hits a shades-of-grey world.

B&W Paladins work fine in B&W worlds.

I think I've managed to make SoG Paladins work fine IMC... temptation is always there, so it actually costs you something to maintain your Paladinhood, but you will never lose your Paladinhood so long as you act for the greater good without self-interest.

-- N

 

[Nightfall]

Wouldn't necessarily say that. I've had some fun with Silas and his anti-undead stance. I took him to Hollowfaust after all!

 

[FireLance]

Some thoughts:

The current party with most of the same players is very different most of the party is only interested in either getting powerful items or lots of personal power and I think this is the reason the paladin is just not working. The whole reason the player picked a paladin was to try and coax the party to be more good. It is not working.

If it's the player that is uncomfortable with this style of play, changing the character isn't going to be of any help. Some people always want to play heroes, and if the rest of the party don't, a clash of playing styles is bound to occur whether he plays a paladin or a rogue.

That said, paladins sometimes are not played properly, mostly because players, DMs, or both either do not understand or have prejudices against the Lawful Good alignment and think that it means you have to act like an insufferable twit. I find that sad .

 

[Brother Shatterstone]

to answer the orginal question:

Do paladins work in most games?

No smiting is a full time job.

To be honest I've never had an issue with a paladin, and I've even managed to play paladins of different alignment. LG, CG, NG, and NE. It comes down to understanding what your deity wants and not your alignment. Two normal LG paladins of different deities could honestly come to "blows" over what they want to do.

Though the above is important the most import aspect is to talk to your DM before introducing your character to the party. If you have different views of what is expected of him/her you will have issues without a doubt.

 

[Elf Witch]

Rask,

I think for me the most disruptive has been monks, mainly because of one guy, that if he felt like being chaotic, he did so. Didn't take any penalities cause the Dm was like "Well you deserved it!". In any case I do agree with Dog's and mine previous statement, get the player to make a new character. Don't necessarily trash the old one, just get a new one.

There is no way he is going to drop this character first of all he rolled well it is a 58 point character second he has put a lot of work and background into it he is very attached. He is working through a feat chain and other things from the book of exalted deeds to get the saint PRC.

I was talking to my roommate who also plays in the game about this and she had a good point since he became the pladain slowly the game has started to become all about him. He makes all the decisions makes oaths for the rest of the party everything we do has to be filtered through him because he worries about violating his code.

Maybe in the hands of a different player it would not be like this because he plays him with a rod up his hindside with no flexiabilty so in essences in a way we have become his henchmen.

Since he became the paladin my roommate changed her druid for a bard because she knew that there would be to many clashes and I have changed characters twice and I am seriously considering changing again.

 

[Elf Witch]

Some thoughts:



If it's the player that is uncomfortable with this style of play, changing the character isn't going to be of any help. Some people always want to play heroes, and if the rest of the party don't, a clash of playing styles is bound to occur whether he plays a paladin or a rogue.

That said, paladins sometimes are not played properly, mostly because players, DMs, or both either do not understand or have prejudices against the Lawful Good alignment and think that it means you have to act like an insufferable twit. I find that sad .

I tried to tell him this because when the game started I was the only good character I spent close to eight months real world time trying to make this character work with the party and in the end gave up. I know that he thought a paladin would help and was disappointed when I changed characters leaving him the only good character.

I think their are several problems here one is we play in Kalamar I love the setting but it has a lot of gray areas like legal slavery an evil but legitimate ruler. It's not an easy world to play a paladin in.

Secondly our main DM may be a problem too, when he plays PCs in games they are all neutral guys who will do anything I am not sure he understands lawful or good. I think he may have contributed to the amoral party because nothing bad ever happens to the PCs who behave like this. It seems only good characters get punished in this game.

Before we statred the Kalamar game we had been playing a long running home brew with a DM who is usually a player now but is running us through the little plane hopping vacation to the abyss. I think he has good grasp on good and evil and law and chaos in his games there were rewards for being a good character people wanted to work with you they offered help you were given respect. An evil or amoral character would not have gotten as far.

It is not like this in the campaign now.

So to answer the question I posted I think a paladin can work in a party if the party is made up of mostly good character and if the DM understands paladins and if the world is not full of gray areas. And the player does not play him as such stiff necked bully.

 

[Wippit Guud]

What about 'non-stereotype' paladins?

3 of us want to play a group of paladins. One is fat, somewhat lazy, and is obsessed with food. One is a womanizer and picks up women all the time. And my idea is a paladin who likes to fight (see the movie Michael for inspiration)

Lawful Good people can eat, have sex, and fight!

 

[Elf Witch]

What about 'non-stereotype' paladins?

3 of us want to play a group of paladins. One is fat, somewhat lazy, and is obsessed with food. One is a womanizer and picks up women all the time. And my idea is a paladin who likes to fight (see the movie Michael for inspiration)

Lawful Good people can eat, have sex, and fight!

Sure it can work if the paladins are not breaking their codes. I have never felt that a vow of chasirty is required to be a paladin but he sure as shooting better be upfront and honest with his dealings with woman.

If the obessions get in the way of fulfilling their duty aka the fat paladin cannot get out there and do what he is supposed to do or a snack break while on duty lets the bad guys in he is going to have some issues.

Not every paladin has to be cut from the same cloth nor do they have to be humorless gits.

I think paladins have a higher calling and that calling will always come first it takes precedence over other things in their lives.

 

[Necrobeer]

In one campaign I was in years ago, the DM was pretty strict with paladins. To the point of focusing more on the lawful than the good. The end result was a character that was forced into a corner with no wiggle room for dealing with the other players' characters. It had to be my way or the highway, we weren't happy with that, in effect they had become my henchmen so to speak. The last paladin I played had a more understanding DM.