Fortunately for me, all the paladins I've dealt with have been great characters. But I've been thinking about the problem of the "lawful jerk paladin" lately, and I thought I'd post my somewhat rambling and definitely incomplete thoughts to test them out.
I think the problem arises largely from a mismatch between the player and the GM about a couple of things: first, about what constitutes goodness, and second, on the ideal tone of a campaign that includes paladins.
On the one hand, you can hardly blame a player for wanting to use the paladin's powerful abilities to smite evil. It's fun to roll dice and use your powers, so the player looks for chances to do that.
On the other hand, sometimes GMs want a nuanced world where there are no truly good choices. This doesn't make it impossible to play a paladin, but it does render certain types of paladins difficult and potentially unsatisfying to play. And it requires more mental work than some players may want to put in (which is not a criticism; sometimes you just want to sling dice and have an adventure, not engage in painful ethical dilemmas).
And sometimes GMs want to play "gotcha" with their paladin players.
And sometimes players of paladins can only conceive of "goodness" as a repressive, hollow virtue that seeks to stamp out anything fun.
I think if you find you have a self-righteous paladin player, the best thing to do is have a talk with the player. Figure out why (s)he wants to play a paladin, what the player thinks a paladin is fundamentally, and how that meshes with your game world. You may need to tweak either the character or the game if they're fundamentally incompatible.
You might try telling your player that some of the requirements for being truly good are humility and mercy. Maybe try offering XP (or granting inspiration, if it's 5E) for showing those traits?
Alternatively, consider tweaking your campaign to be a little more black-and-white? A paladin who goes smitey on evil that really is evil shouldn't be much of a problem.
Also, if you're playing 5E, the "classic" Oath of Devotion paladin isn't your only choice. Oath of the Ancients is a good option for someone who wants to play a more relaxed paladin, for example.
Thoughts?
I think the problem arises largely from a mismatch between the player and the GM about a couple of things: first, about what constitutes goodness, and second, on the ideal tone of a campaign that includes paladins.
On the one hand, you can hardly blame a player for wanting to use the paladin's powerful abilities to smite evil. It's fun to roll dice and use your powers, so the player looks for chances to do that.
On the other hand, sometimes GMs want a nuanced world where there are no truly good choices. This doesn't make it impossible to play a paladin, but it does render certain types of paladins difficult and potentially unsatisfying to play. And it requires more mental work than some players may want to put in (which is not a criticism; sometimes you just want to sling dice and have an adventure, not engage in painful ethical dilemmas).
And sometimes GMs want to play "gotcha" with their paladin players.
And sometimes players of paladins can only conceive of "goodness" as a repressive, hollow virtue that seeks to stamp out anything fun.
I think if you find you have a self-righteous paladin player, the best thing to do is have a talk with the player. Figure out why (s)he wants to play a paladin, what the player thinks a paladin is fundamentally, and how that meshes with your game world. You may need to tweak either the character or the game if they're fundamentally incompatible.
You might try telling your player that some of the requirements for being truly good are humility and mercy. Maybe try offering XP (or granting inspiration, if it's 5E) for showing those traits?
Alternatively, consider tweaking your campaign to be a little more black-and-white? A paladin who goes smitey on evil that really is evil shouldn't be much of a problem.
Also, if you're playing 5E, the "classic" Oath of Devotion paladin isn't your only choice. Oath of the Ancients is a good option for someone who wants to play a more relaxed paladin, for example.
Thoughts?
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