Paladins and the Mentally Instable People that Play Them

[Nightfall]

I still say I'm crazier than him.

 

[+5 Keyboard!]

I still say I'm crazier than him.

Crazy is as crazy does, brotha!

 

[JVisgaitis]

So yeah I'm unstable.

I think that goes without saying...

I've been the Paladin on a few occasions and I consider myself fairly sane. Though I have played with the insane LG Paladin on a few occasions. I remember he was dumb enough to blurt out that a henchman in our group was evil and it took us months to get his trust and get him in the group the first place. I was so mad. And yeah, he tended to go out of turn often and tried to be the center of attention. Likeable fellow outside of the game, but he really made me dislike Paladins to a point where I haven't played one since and that was back in the 2e days...

 

[Sir Elton]

I would but Orcus ate him.

Kiss my foot, Nightfall. Or I'll expose you to He-Man cartoons.

 

[kroh]

WOW...All I can say is ...WOW...

Ok...Paladins have been an integral part of the game since very early on. That being said, there have been many examples on this board of people who are serious gamers who have successfully played this class and had fond memories of doing so.

This Larry... Is a person who is mentally unstable and SHOULD NOT be a minister over anyone. His attitude shows that he has much in common with those people who bomb abortion clinics and fly planes into buildings because they think it is the holy thing to do. This is a zealous fanatical attitude and it is dangerous. The only thing you can do with such people is try to be respectful to them (as long as they are not antagonistic or hostile to you) and hope they will come around. From the looks of things... this person should be on a local law enforcement watch list.

AS far as him being in your game, anyone who starts trying to ward off evil FOR REAL at your doorstep is clearly divorced from reality. Some of the best gamers I have had the pleasure of gaming with have always been well grounded people who simply wanted an outlet for an active imagination. The type that you are describing ruins the game for everyone. Pulling him aside might help but would probably be detrimental as he sees himself as "righteous" and above you talking to him. It sounds like apart from coming to the game table that this person is an acquaintance (or a close facsimile there of). The most you can hope for is that he sees how uncomfy he is making everyone and tone it down.

As for the post on the paizo board... People who usually quote scripture to show some superiority or to affirm themselves USUALLY do not understand or take out of context what they are saying/writing. I can quote Shakespeare but it doesn't mean that I understand any of it.

And when these nuts try to ruin your game night by spouting out... Tell them that even the devil can spew holiness when he needs to.

I'll just keep repeating it: "I am lucky ... I game with normal people. I am lucky ... I game with normal people."

 

[Mercule]

I don't game with people for whom I think gaming would be an unhealthy activity. I advise you to adopt the same rule.

 

[kigmatzomat]

I've had more trouble with DMs who go crazy at the concept of paladin players. Yes, LG paladins should be against torture. Really, so should most LG, CG, and NG of any class. Same goes for theft and the like. Maybe not quite as stringent, but in general.

But give a DM a paladin character and it's like they immediately see it as a goal to make them fall, or to assign new strictures that aren't in the Code, or to somehow interpret the rules as if they were doped up on Nyquil during a religious epiphany. "And then the Great Prophet Gygax did descend from my showerhead and impart the wisdom within me via his stinging cold spray...."

I've been around some decent paladins in play. One guy had a decent 2e paladin, a little weak in melee but all around solid. Another had a nearly-decrepit 80yro paldin in Taladas who acted more demented than he really was so people would underestimate him (ala Shinjo). But most of the time, the DMs get wiggy at some point and start telling the paladin how they 'should' be playing them, when usually the cleric has been far more frivolous in respecting their deity's laws.

 

[fusangite]

Do other players/DMs have similar problems with people that play Paladins?

Yep. I had a player play a paladin who was really not at all the right person for the situation. Most people in the real world do not have D&D alignments. This guy actually was Lawful Neutral -- that was his philosophy of life. Obsessed with order, hierarchy and rules and committed to the belief that the rules in the world are somehow inherently fair.

The problem was that his character was a greedy sociopath who really didn't care whether people lived or died. But there was no way I could express to this player that his character was not good because doing so would be read as me impugning his decency as a human being.

I'm with you; I've never met a good paladin player.

Mind you, some of this is my fault -- I never remember to hammer out a Code before play starts.

 

[pawsplay]

I played in a D&D 3.0 game which had the paladin as essentially the backbone of the party. He was our general, as well as our envoy. I played a NG bard who served as his squire, and then we had a CG elven paladin and a CN ranger/barbarian. It was pretty cool.

In general, a paladin player is no more difficult than a wizard player. The problem is an overbearing personality type, combined with moral judgmentalism that extends to make believe situations. It can be found in any sort of archetype, even the players of CN rogues who complain about paladins "cramping their style" and openly mock the very idea of religion.

 

[tvknight415]

I like playing paladins.

I'm not crazy.

Neither am I.

Nor I.