Paladin poll: How do you see paladins?

[DragonLancer]

If you look at it that way, then the Paladin is Law's Slave because he has to follow Law he doesn't decide how and where it works.

 

[Umbran]

Squire James: in some senses, those aren't mutually exclusive choices. One can be the master of the law - enforcing it with an iron fist, and yet bound just as tightly by it as anyone else.

I think paladins are like every other class - interpretable. Folks who try to bind all paladins to only one single mode are missing the point - if you wouldn't do that to the fighter or rogue class, you shouldn't do it to the paladin either. The class as written has flexibility to fit a reasonably wide number of roles and styles. Exactly how I work with them depends upon the campaign style I want, what my religions are like, and so on.

 

[Laslo Tremaine]

Neither.

The Paladin is a constant source of contention and should not have been included as a core class...

:\

 

[Ovinomancer]

The basic contention for paladins is not that they are smiters of evil, but that they are also the defenders of order. Note that I said order and not law. Modern law is ironclad, we have specific definitions of crimes, require proof of those crimes, and punish those found guilty according to set standards based on the crime committed. Medieval law had very little of these things. There was no presumption of innocence, no due process of law, no rights to a quick and fair trial, and the punishments usually far outweighed the crime. Power was more important than law. Order was the status quo, not law. Making paladins uphold the standards of the modern code of law is what causes problems. DM's should establish a code of conduct for their campaigns, and hold the paladin to that. It would solve many problems.

 

[babomb]

I voted fantasy cop, but I'd really say a mix between the two, leaning a little more toward the cop end.

Edit: I agree with the above post that establishing a code with the DM beforehand would stop most of the problems people have with this class.

 

[Zimri]

Of the three options I feel option 3: neither conforms the most to my belief.

Yes they Mete out divine justice upon evil beings.
Yes they must do that WHILE MAINTAINING a sense of Honour, justice, duty, loyalty, truth et al.
They are paragons of virtue (or strive to be)

The life they lead is very hard, the road is very narrow steep and slippery.

They are the knight on the white horse in gleaming platemail (the steed and the paladin) Chosen by a deity to be that deitys sword, shield, and representative to the masses. As such they do not carry out justice in backrooms of shady inns. They do so in the town square at high noon in as loud a manner as is possible (assuming that they are given a mandate to do so in your game world if not they take the wrong doers to the proper authorities wherever possible assuming the local authority is lawful and good or nuetral)

I have to agree more and more I am thinking paladins should be a PrC or something like VoPoverty from BoED

 

[Agemegos]

Well, I'm certainly not going to vote that paladins are subject to modern notions of jurisprudence. I hold they are marked by Lawful attitudes to delivering anything so important as Justice in an orderly sort of way, which includes meeting at least the locally-prevailing ancient, mediaeval, or fantasy notions of jurisprudence. But I still can't honestly vote for the first option.

On the other hand, I note that they have powers to heal injuries and cure wounds, and I believe that there is a lot more to being Good than winning dirty fights against ugly people, foreigners, and people wearing black hats. I consider Holy Warriors who bring principally fire and death to be evil. So I plainly can't vote for the second option.

So I vote "neither".

 

[LostSoul]

How about "As the Player sees them". There is/was a Paladin in my game-on-hiatus. I let the Player decide if and when he loses his abilities.

The Paladin's Code and the Lawful Good requirement can be taken away without disrupting game balance. If a Player wants to play a Paladin as Chaotic Good, or Neutral Evil, or whatever, I'm okay with it.

Obviously, not everyone feels the same way, but eh, I don't care.

 

[Kormydigar]

How do you see paladins and why?

I voted for Holy Warrior. A lot of folks misinterpret what "Lawful Good" means to a paladin. "Good" and the duty to perform good deeds is pretty straightforward in most campaigns. "Lawful" needs a bit of clarification though. Lawful has different meanings to different deitys. What a paladin has to do to remain lawful depends on the laws of his or her deity. A lawful fighter on the other hand, who is not the servant of a deity, would serve the civil law of the land in which he or she lived.(Although a lawful good fighter in a land ruled by evil would surely consider some laws morally wrong and not obey them) A paladin is a religious zealot. As such, they follow the law of thier deity first, and the laws of man second. The main problem might be that the laws of the church are not fully defined in a campaign, leaving the paladin's player with little guidance. Does the paladin have a right to mete out high justice on the spot for the most evil of crimes? If so, what are those crimes? Do paladins have to achieve a specific rank in the church to dispense such justice? These questions should have some answers before a campaign begins to eliminate some arguments over what behavior is appropriate for the paladin. If the DM does not have all the details of church law worked out in advance, perhaps the would be player of a paladin can assist with designing church policy and work to create cool campaign material that would help define the role of the character. Doing this kind of design work also leads to a diversity in types of paladins. Yes, they are all lawful good, but each one has a different view of what is most important, and most sacred.

 

[mr_outsidevoice]

neither.

I see them as Holy warriors who strive to live by the ideals of their respective god, lead others to righteous and good lives by example, andd Dealing with those who wish to spread evil in the world in a strong fashion.
how each Paladin deals with evil depends on the god.
In the campaign i run, the paladin follows a god who is primarily defensive. Todem doesn't seek evil, Tordem knows that evil will come seeking those who can't defend themselves. Tordem makes sure that there are defenders in place.
Vigitas however seeks out evil and brings it to justice. preferably by the laws of the land, but if a more final solution is needed, so be it.
I am thinking of apopting Green Ronin's Holy warrior the next game I run.