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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pawsplay" data-source="post: 3019353" data-attributes="member: 15538">I like the fact that their code, combined with detect evil, often means they must DO SOMETHING. Paladins can never slide by morally. Sometimes they have to make difficult decisions, but they absolutely cannot gloss over them. Whether they kill the orc babies or spare them, they can't do it with a flip of the coin.I like their emphasis on Charisma.I do like the picture of the guy in armor with a big, nasty weapon smiting evil.I do not like their emphasis on a mount, which in my opinion should be more like a perk than an important feature. I do not like their lack of options in ranged combat. As a class with an alignment restriction who could be stripped of their powers for expedient choices, I believe they should be a prestige class. It would be nice to have a suite of core abilities under the paladinhood to fall back on... as it stands now, paladins face very little temptatation to do evil, since it means the loss of essentially all their abilities. If a paladin were cornered into forsaking paladinhood, it's time to either abandon the character or head directly to Holy Liberator or, more likely, Blackguard. Their moral struggle is less interesting, in that only expedience tempts the paladin, never power itself. They have kind of a split personality. They are both emodiments of Good and severe, lawful justicars. I think, both for game purposes and as a nod to the fantasy genre, they might work better with less saintliness and more smitiness. In many ways, a cleric of St. Cuthbert is a superior character at fulfilling the archetype of the stern crusader filled with holiness. I know that they are heavily influenced by Sir Galahad, and probably Paksenarrion as well at this point, and especially Joan of Arc... but I do not know if a pure flower of virtue, who happens to be a deadly swordsman, is workable as a common archetype, because it is very demanding. Such characters in literature are as likely to die of martyrdom as they are cutting their way out of a dragon's gut. I think "does not associate with evil characters" is a stupid requirement. Evil, most of all, needs the companionship of a moral exemplar. If the paladin slides into becoming less good himself, that is already covered by his alignment restrictions.</blockquote>

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