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D&D Older Editions
[COMPLETE] Looking back at the leatherette series: PHBR, DMGR, HR and more!
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<blockquote data-quote="Alzrius" data-source="post: 8198526" data-attributes="member: 8461"><p>With <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17551/PHBR12-The-Complete-Paladins-Handbook-2e?affiliate_id=820" target="_blank"><em>PHBR12 The Complete Paladin's Handbook</em></a>, we come to one of the most iconic D&D character classes. While the big four (fighters, thieves, wizards, and clerics) are archetypes unto themselves, the other classes all have specific things that they're known for, such as bard's having bardic music, druids being able to change into animals, and rangers using weaponized racism.</p><p></p><p>But paladins are different. While they have a suite of powers that make up a lot of their image, they're also a class that's defined by their restrictions as much as their abilities. While various editions would play around with <em>exactly</em> how stringent their alignment and paladin's code are, the idea of the holy warrior who <strong>must</strong> be Lawful Good and stick to a special set of behavioral guidelines remains an enduring one. So much so that it's inconceivable that someone would need to ask "what's a paladin?" (NSFW warning for mild language)</p><p></p><p>[MEDIA=youtube]Otf9Bnm48Kk[/MEDIA]</p><p></p><p>Now, at a glance through D&D's published products, paladins might not <em>seem</em> to be too notable. We have a few titles that name-drop them, such as the epic adventure <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17356/A-Paladin-in-Hell-2e?affiliate_id=820" target="_blank"><em>A Paladin in Hell</em></a>, the subtitle for <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/3725/Defenders-of-the-Faith-A-Guidebook-to-Clerics-and-Paladins-3e?affiliate_id=820" target="_blank"><em>Defenders of the Faith</em></a> is "A Guidebook to Clerics and Paladins," much like <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/142370/Divine-Power-4e?affiliate_id=820" target="_blank"><em>Divine Power</em></a>'s "Options for Avengers, Clerics, Invokers, and Paladins," and of course I'll talk about <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/16915/HR2-Charlemagnes-Paladins-Campaign-Sourcebook-2e?affiliate_id=820" target="_blank"><em>HR2 Charlemagne's Paladins</em></a> later on. But while they don't get explicitly called out in too many titles besides these, the idea of the paladin remains a resonant one...as do the potential drawbacks of playing one.</p><p></p><p>But let's turn our attention to this book specifically.</p><p></p><p>One of the first things PHBR12 opens with is an acknowledgment of just how hard it is to qualify to play a paladin in the first place in AD&D 2E. It's not just that they're alignment-locked, or that they're limited to humans, but because the 3d6-in-order presumption of AD&D 2E means that meeting the ability score requirements (Strength 12, Constitution 9, Wisdom 13, Charisma 17) necessarily makes paladins quite rare, even among PCs. While the book offers a set of pre-fab ability score arrays if you want to bypass this, it flat-out <em>admits</em> that this is because paladins aren't balanced. These guys are just <em>better</em> than most other classes (certainly than other martial classes), and makes no bones about that. This was indeed a different time in the annals of D&D.</p><p></p><p>Now, this particular book wasn't one that really resonated with me, because even as a lad I preferred spellcasters to fighters (and even with the smattering of clerical spells they got starting at 8th level, nobody considered paladins to be spellcasters). However, I suspect that another part of it is simply that I'm not a fan of Rick Swan's writing style. Much like in the previous volume, he spends some time going over the existing abilities of paladins and fleshing them out.</p><p></p><p>To be absolutely clear, this isn't a <em>bad</em> thing. Being able to clarify the limits on how paladins detect evil, for example, or saying how their ability to cure diseases operates against magical diseases like lycanthropy (e.g. it's actually a curse, so it doesn't help) do provide some much-needed insight. It's just that this always felt like something that the main rules for the class should have made clear. It's nice to have it all in one place, of course, but I think even back then I had the nagging suspicion that pages upon pages of clarification shouldn't have been needed to begin with.</p><p></p><p>I can't quite say the same for the clarifications about the paladin's ethos, however. This one has <em>long</em> been a point of contention among gamers, largely due to the perception (rightly or wrongly) that you were constantly walking a tightrope, one bad decision (or vindictive episode on the part of the DM) away from losing your class features, if not permanently then at least temporarily. Here, we get some general softening of those penalties...somewhat. For instance, a division is made between chaotic violations and evil violations, with the former not having anywhere near as harsh penalties as the latter. Alternatively, four categories of potential violations are listed (in ascending orders of egregiousness), which likewise have scaled penalties and requirements for atoning.</p><p></p><p>It's here we also get a sidebar that talks about the absence of the anti-paladin in AD&D 2E. Long story short, the idea of the paladin is that goodness is supposed to be few in quantity but high in quality, whereas evil is the opposite of that. So while a paladin might stand alone against a goblin horde, the idea of singular champions for the cause of evil runs afoul of that. And this was apparently a mission statement that was followed to the letter, since other than an adventure in <em>Dungeon</em> #75 (where you had to prevent a "fallen" anti-paladin from completing his "redemption" quest), we never got an anti-paladin in Second Edition. (EDIT: So it turns out there was one other instance of an anti-paladin in AD&D 2E, that being one of the bad guys the PCs are meant to play in <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17286/Reverse-Dungeon-2e?affiliate_id=820" target="_blank"><em>Reverse Dungeon</em></a>.)</p><p></p><p>Personally, I find that explanation to be something of a square peg in a round hole. It alludes to a quasi-Christian allegory of Goodness (with a capital "g") being the natural state of things, whereas Evil is a sort of cosmic aberration, one that's able to corrupt, but with that corruption ultimately representing a loss compared to the untainted aspects of Creation. D&D, by contrast, is all about parallelism, with no substantive suggestion that any particular alignment is somehow more correct (morally or otherwise) than any other. Not to mention, you can have evil high priests, warlords, necromancers, assassins, and lots of other characters who can gain levels to match a paladin anyway. So this explanation feels kind of hollow to me.</p><p></p><p>Plus, not giving D&D its own version of Darth Vader just seems like a missed opportunity.</p><p></p><p>[MEDIA=youtube]3_olkV4g75c[/MEDIA]</p><p></p><p>Moving on, the kits in this book are, for lack of a better word, "swingy." What I mean by that is that some offer very little alteration to the core paladin class (such as how the chevalier is basically just a paladin with a formal military ranking), while others make some fairly expansive changes (the ghosthunter, for instance, loses the ability to cast spells, lay on hands, and immunity to/cure disease in favor of being able to dispel evil, paralysis immunity, and a much stronger ability to turn undead). We also get rules for "demi-paladins" here, which are <em>completely</em> unlike the demihuman bards or rangers we've seen in previous books. Instead, if a Lawful Good demihuman multiclasses as a fighter/cleric, meets the paladin class's ability score requirements, takes a paladin kit from this book, and observes a paladin's ethos, they may take on special religious quests (once every odd-numbered level, starting at 3rd...and only as long as they can keep gaining levels in <em>both</em> classes) to gain paladin abilities (one per quest). It's sort of like their own version of how you became a bard in AD&D 1E.</p><p></p><p>There are also some new proficiencies and items here, but other than the alternative holy swords (which I'll confess earned my interest), most of these seem fairly forgettable. One exception (notwithstanding the aforementioned swords) is the Poetry proficiency, which is called out for how a paladin can potentially compose an poem (either lyric or narrative, wow!) <em>in lieu of religious tithing</em>. This just seems like a gold-mine for jokes in your campaign group, to the point where every DM should mandate that their paladins try this. I can't see how hilarity wouldn't ensue.</p><p></p><p>After this are several guidelines on playing paladins, most of which seem either convoluted or too obvious to deserve as much space as they got. To be fair, the book tries to spice these up by offering mechanical aspects to them. Fun fact: courtly love between a paladin and the object of their affection gives the paladin bonuses to a lot of die rolls, but these fade away after getting married. But at least they gain proficiency with a ball-and-chain, amirite?</p><p></p><p>So yeah, overall <em>The Complete Paladin's Handbook</em> wasn't one that did much for me. While it's not a bad book, there wasn't much to it that really redefined the class in my eyes, offering little in the way of enticement to play the class or alternative ways to do so.</p><p></p><p>Ultimately, I paladidn't need what was here.</p><p></p><p><em>Please note my use of affiliate links in this post.</em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Alzrius, post: 8198526, member: 8461"] With [URL='https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17551/PHBR12-The-Complete-Paladins-Handbook-2e?affiliate_id=820'][I]PHBR12 The Complete Paladin's Handbook[/I][/URL], we come to one of the most iconic D&D character classes. While the big four (fighters, thieves, wizards, and clerics) are archetypes unto themselves, the other classes all have specific things that they're known for, such as bard's having bardic music, druids being able to change into animals, and rangers using weaponized racism. But paladins are different. While they have a suite of powers that make up a lot of their image, they're also a class that's defined by their restrictions as much as their abilities. While various editions would play around with [I]exactly[/I] how stringent their alignment and paladin's code are, the idea of the holy warrior who [B]must[/B] be Lawful Good and stick to a special set of behavioral guidelines remains an enduring one. So much so that it's inconceivable that someone would need to ask "what's a paladin?" (NSFW warning for mild language) [MEDIA=youtube]Otf9Bnm48Kk[/MEDIA] Now, at a glance through D&D's published products, paladins might not [I]seem[/I] to be too notable. We have a few titles that name-drop them, such as the epic adventure [URL='https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17356/A-Paladin-in-Hell-2e?affiliate_id=820'][I]A Paladin in Hell[/I][/URL], the subtitle for [URL='https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/3725/Defenders-of-the-Faith-A-Guidebook-to-Clerics-and-Paladins-3e?affiliate_id=820'][I]Defenders of the Faith[/I][/URL] is "A Guidebook to Clerics and Paladins," much like [URL='https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/142370/Divine-Power-4e?affiliate_id=820'][I]Divine Power[/I][/URL]'s "Options for Avengers, Clerics, Invokers, and Paladins," and of course I'll talk about [URL='https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/16915/HR2-Charlemagnes-Paladins-Campaign-Sourcebook-2e?affiliate_id=820'][I]HR2 Charlemagne's Paladins[/I][/URL] later on. But while they don't get explicitly called out in too many titles besides these, the idea of the paladin remains a resonant one...as do the potential drawbacks of playing one. But let's turn our attention to this book specifically. One of the first things PHBR12 opens with is an acknowledgment of just how hard it is to qualify to play a paladin in the first place in AD&D 2E. It's not just that they're alignment-locked, or that they're limited to humans, but because the 3d6-in-order presumption of AD&D 2E means that meeting the ability score requirements (Strength 12, Constitution 9, Wisdom 13, Charisma 17) necessarily makes paladins quite rare, even among PCs. While the book offers a set of pre-fab ability score arrays if you want to bypass this, it flat-out [I]admits[/I] that this is because paladins aren't balanced. These guys are just [I]better[/I] than most other classes (certainly than other martial classes), and makes no bones about that. This was indeed a different time in the annals of D&D. Now, this particular book wasn't one that really resonated with me, because even as a lad I preferred spellcasters to fighters (and even with the smattering of clerical spells they got starting at 8th level, nobody considered paladins to be spellcasters). However, I suspect that another part of it is simply that I'm not a fan of Rick Swan's writing style. Much like in the previous volume, he spends some time going over the existing abilities of paladins and fleshing them out. To be absolutely clear, this isn't a [I]bad[/I] thing. Being able to clarify the limits on how paladins detect evil, for example, or saying how their ability to cure diseases operates against magical diseases like lycanthropy (e.g. it's actually a curse, so it doesn't help) do provide some much-needed insight. It's just that this always felt like something that the main rules for the class should have made clear. It's nice to have it all in one place, of course, but I think even back then I had the nagging suspicion that pages upon pages of clarification shouldn't have been needed to begin with. I can't quite say the same for the clarifications about the paladin's ethos, however. This one has [I]long[/I] been a point of contention among gamers, largely due to the perception (rightly or wrongly) that you were constantly walking a tightrope, one bad decision (or vindictive episode on the part of the DM) away from losing your class features, if not permanently then at least temporarily. Here, we get some general softening of those penalties...somewhat. For instance, a division is made between chaotic violations and evil violations, with the former not having anywhere near as harsh penalties as the latter. Alternatively, four categories of potential violations are listed (in ascending orders of egregiousness), which likewise have scaled penalties and requirements for atoning. It's here we also get a sidebar that talks about the absence of the anti-paladin in AD&D 2E. Long story short, the idea of the paladin is that goodness is supposed to be few in quantity but high in quality, whereas evil is the opposite of that. So while a paladin might stand alone against a goblin horde, the idea of singular champions for the cause of evil runs afoul of that. And this was apparently a mission statement that was followed to the letter, since other than an adventure in [I]Dungeon[/I] #75 (where you had to prevent a "fallen" anti-paladin from completing his "redemption" quest), we never got an anti-paladin in Second Edition. (EDIT: So it turns out there was one other instance of an anti-paladin in AD&D 2E, that being one of the bad guys the PCs are meant to play in [URL='https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17286/Reverse-Dungeon-2e?affiliate_id=820'][I]Reverse Dungeon[/I][/URL].) Personally, I find that explanation to be something of a square peg in a round hole. It alludes to a quasi-Christian allegory of Goodness (with a capital "g") being the natural state of things, whereas Evil is a sort of cosmic aberration, one that's able to corrupt, but with that corruption ultimately representing a loss compared to the untainted aspects of Creation. D&D, by contrast, is all about parallelism, with no substantive suggestion that any particular alignment is somehow more correct (morally or otherwise) than any other. Not to mention, you can have evil high priests, warlords, necromancers, assassins, and lots of other characters who can gain levels to match a paladin anyway. So this explanation feels kind of hollow to me. Plus, not giving D&D its own version of Darth Vader just seems like a missed opportunity. [MEDIA=youtube]3_olkV4g75c[/MEDIA] Moving on, the kits in this book are, for lack of a better word, "swingy." What I mean by that is that some offer very little alteration to the core paladin class (such as how the chevalier is basically just a paladin with a formal military ranking), while others make some fairly expansive changes (the ghosthunter, for instance, loses the ability to cast spells, lay on hands, and immunity to/cure disease in favor of being able to dispel evil, paralysis immunity, and a much stronger ability to turn undead). We also get rules for "demi-paladins" here, which are [I]completely[/I] unlike the demihuman bards or rangers we've seen in previous books. Instead, if a Lawful Good demihuman multiclasses as a fighter/cleric, meets the paladin class's ability score requirements, takes a paladin kit from this book, and observes a paladin's ethos, they may take on special religious quests (once every odd-numbered level, starting at 3rd...and only as long as they can keep gaining levels in [I]both[/I] classes) to gain paladin abilities (one per quest). It's sort of like their own version of how you became a bard in AD&D 1E. There are also some new proficiencies and items here, but other than the alternative holy swords (which I'll confess earned my interest), most of these seem fairly forgettable. One exception (notwithstanding the aforementioned swords) is the Poetry proficiency, which is called out for how a paladin can potentially compose an poem (either lyric or narrative, wow!) [I]in lieu of religious tithing[/I]. This just seems like a gold-mine for jokes in your campaign group, to the point where every DM should mandate that their paladins try this. I can't see how hilarity wouldn't ensue. After this are several guidelines on playing paladins, most of which seem either convoluted or too obvious to deserve as much space as they got. To be fair, the book tries to spice these up by offering mechanical aspects to them. Fun fact: courtly love between a paladin and the object of their affection gives the paladin bonuses to a lot of die rolls, but these fade away after getting married. But at least they gain proficiency with a ball-and-chain, amirite? So yeah, overall [I]The Complete Paladin's Handbook[/I] wasn't one that did much for me. While it's not a bad book, there wasn't much to it that really redefined the class in my eyes, offering little in the way of enticement to play the class or alternative ways to do so. Ultimately, I paladidn't need what was here. [I]Please note my use of affiliate links in this post.[/I] [/QUOTE]
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[COMPLETE] Looking back at the leatherette series: PHBR, DMGR, HR and more!
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