Paladins and Black Guards...

[hopeless]

I'm in the process of starting up a Kingdoms of Kalamar Campaign and have already pointed out that I consider Paladins to be followers of one of the gods rather than virtues (reinforced by the actions of one of the player's running a Paladin in a Greyhawk campaign that was decidedly evil even though the DM claimed otherwise...) and had already run a KOK game where the Paladin stranded in Tellene fought against a Paladin of the Rotlord.
My reasoning is that Black Guards is a misnomer for it should be called a "Fallen Paladin" in that it is a prestige class for a Paladin who has fallen from the grace of their god and can apply to any Paladin of any faith.
I am leaning towards pointing out that a true Neutral faith is more likely to have a Ranger than Paladin but not all TN faiths are of nature so my question is that should I stipulate that Paladins have to be Lawful, Good, Chaotic or Evil to apply as a Paladin of a faith or just stick to the core rules even if I think they are wrong?

 

[Hawken]

First, I'd say that the rules aren't 'wrong'. They are there to be used, modified or discarded as befits your campaign.

That said, make whatever changes you want. If you want to keep Paladins as LG and have Blackguards or 'Fallen Paladins' as CE, do it. I'd imagine there is something out to have the Blackguard as a Core class for Evil characters, if not, write one up if you want it to be more than a recourse to disgraced holy warriors.

If Paladins are exclusive to the gods and not aspects, faiths, governments, etc., then why don't all the gods have them? Do only the strongest Good and Evil gods have Paladins? Why not a NG or CG Paladin serving a deity with the same alignment? You could tailor their abilities to their alignment and the portfolios of the gods they serve. Rangers are not divine servants, but maybe a Paladin of a nature deity could have Ranger abilities (Wild Empathy) and Druid Powers (Trackless Step) instead of Aura of Courage or Turn Undead.

 

[glass]

I agree with Hawken: The rules aren't 'wrong', but they might not suit you campaign. If they don't, change them (but make sure your players understand the changes).

BTW, it's 'Blackguard' (all one word, and pronouced 'blaggard'), not 'Black Guard'.


glass.

 

[delericho]

Way back (during the "Update to 3.5" issues, I believe), Dragon ran an article giving write-ups for Paladins of every alignment. It was quite a good article, even if I didn't like the premise. You might want to check it out if you can lay your hands on a copy.

Sadly, I don't have my magazines to hand, so it'll be tomorrow before I can post an issue #. If someone were to post it instead, that would be quite good

Edit: Used Paizo.com to get the answers. The issues in question are #310 and #312 (#310 does the Good and Neutral alignments, #312 does Evil.)

 

[Torm]

If Paladins are exclusive to the gods and not aspects, faiths, governments, etc.

Personally, I've always considered Paladins to be either warriors of deities or of causes celebrated to the extent of being reasonable stand-ins for a religion in and of themselves.

then why don't all the gods have them?

For some of them, it's just not how they roll.