D&D 5E Roasting the Paladin
They're also more inclined to use 3 exclamation marks
jgsugden
Legend
The paladin is what you make of it. Like the warlock, the class is at the best when you make the most of the 'fluff' of the class. There are three elements of the paladin that give it distinction: Their Oath, their Relationship with their God, and their relationship with the Community. They're bound by the oath, they're involved with the Deity, and they're watched carefully by the community.
In my games, when a player wants to play a paladin, I sit them down and lay down the expectations. The paladin takes their SACRED OATH, it is roleplayed. The description from the PHB:
I point to the Tenets of the Subclass they want to select. Then I ask the player whether the player wants to write their Oath, or perform an 'Ancient Oath' from the texts (which I would provide). If they write it, it has to address all the tenets. Then, we talk about how it will be sworn. Whatever the Oath ends up being, every bit of it - including the tenets and anything created by the player when they wrote their Oath, or anything included in the ancient oath.
From that point on, that PC must follow the Oath or face repercussions. That is the key feature of the paladin. Paladins feel different than a fighter, ranger or cleric because of this Oath. We don't go straight to Oathbreaker, generally, if they fail to live up to their oath, but there will be roleplaying repercussions, and eventually they could find themselves facing feature repercussions.
In addition, the character is devoted to a God (or other divine power) in a relationship. Those relationships are not cookie cutter 'one description applies to all of them' relationships - they're a relationship between a divine being and a mortal built upon mutual understanding and appreciation (generally). It may take the form of a parent/child relationship, it might be more like a work relationship, it might be a teacher/student relationship, or it might be something else. Some relationships are abusive, some are caring, some are professional, etc... Some are very close and some are very distant. Some are conducted through intermediaries, and some are very personal and direct. Some are healthy, some abusive. I usually pick a relationship I know, or one from fiction, and use that as a starting template for the relationship between the cleric/paladin and their God. I allow the relationship to change as the game develops it, but it gives me a nice starting concept to emulate.
Most paladins follow the language of the introductory paragraph in the PHB:
Outside of their legal authority, they are also highly visible to the populace. Some look to them as heroes. Some as oppressors (regardless of the intent of the paladin). Some cheer them when they see them. Some throw rotten fruit and then hide. Some romanticize them. Some dehumanize them. Essentially, the reaction a PC faces when they interact with their community has the volume turned up. There is a real difference when the paladin fails to save people from a gnoll attack and when some fighter that was passing by fails to save them. I often think of this as the Spider-man effect: People love Spidey when he helps them ,but turn on him quick when he fails them.
All of that combines to create an experience that is distinct from other classes.
When they multiclass with another class, it can get funky. I've had a Hexblade / Vengeance paladin in my game. The tenets of the Oath of Vengeance include 'By Any Means Necessary', which is what encouraged the paladin to make a Pact with a Dark Weapon of Shadows to meet another tenet 'Fight the Greater Evil'. The Dark Weapon encouraged him to be merciless (another tenet) - so everything was good until the day the paladin failed his community. That was when he realized there was a conflict between his Oath and his Pact. The Oath required him to make restitution to his community for his failure (tenet), and his Pact demanded that he move forward and try to crush his foe to steal their energy for the Weapon. That conflict changed the course of that campaign dramatically.
In my games, when a player wants to play a paladin, I sit them down and lay down the expectations. The paladin takes their SACRED OATH, it is roleplayed. The description from the PHB:
I point to the Tenets of the Subclass they want to select. Then I ask the player whether the player wants to write their Oath, or perform an 'Ancient Oath' from the texts (which I would provide). If they write it, it has to address all the tenets. Then, we talk about how it will be sworn. Whatever the Oath ends up being, every bit of it - including the tenets and anything created by the player when they wrote their Oath, or anything included in the ancient oath.
From that point on, that PC must follow the Oath or face repercussions. That is the key feature of the paladin. Paladins feel different than a fighter, ranger or cleric because of this Oath. We don't go straight to Oathbreaker, generally, if they fail to live up to their oath, but there will be roleplaying repercussions, and eventually they could find themselves facing feature repercussions.
In addition, the character is devoted to a God (or other divine power) in a relationship. Those relationships are not cookie cutter 'one description applies to all of them' relationships - they're a relationship between a divine being and a mortal built upon mutual understanding and appreciation (generally). It may take the form of a parent/child relationship, it might be more like a work relationship, it might be a teacher/student relationship, or it might be something else. Some relationships are abusive, some are caring, some are professional, etc... Some are very close and some are very distant. Some are conducted through intermediaries, and some are very personal and direct. Some are healthy, some abusive. I usually pick a relationship I know, or one from fiction, and use that as a starting template for the relationship between the cleric/paladin and their God. I allow the relationship to change as the game develops it, but it gives me a nice starting concept to emulate.
Most paladins follow the language of the introductory paragraph in the PHB:
That folds into their Oaths, and their relationships with their Gods, but it also gives them a place in the community. Paladins are often granted legal authority by rulers. Sometimes it goes so far as to be judge, jury and executioner of the laws of the state. Sometimes it is just being authorized to speak for their order in the community. Sometimes they are allowed to only enforce certain laws. It varies, influenced by the authorities in the area and the relationship between those authorities and the church.
Outside of their legal authority, they are also highly visible to the populace. Some look to them as heroes. Some as oppressors (regardless of the intent of the paladin). Some cheer them when they see them. Some throw rotten fruit and then hide. Some romanticize them. Some dehumanize them. Essentially, the reaction a PC faces when they interact with their community has the volume turned up. There is a real difference when the paladin fails to save people from a gnoll attack and when some fighter that was passing by fails to save them. I often think of this as the Spider-man effect: People love Spidey when he helps them ,but turn on him quick when he fails them.
All of that combines to create an experience that is distinct from other classes.
When they multiclass with another class, it can get funky. I've had a Hexblade / Vengeance paladin in my game. The tenets of the Oath of Vengeance include 'By Any Means Necessary', which is what encouraged the paladin to make a Pact with a Dark Weapon of Shadows to meet another tenet 'Fight the Greater Evil'. The Dark Weapon encouraged him to be merciless (another tenet) - so everything was good until the day the paladin failed his community. That was when he realized there was a conflict between his Oath and his Pact. The Oath required him to make restitution to his community for his failure (tenet), and his Pact demanded that he move forward and try to crush his foe to steal their energy for the Weapon. That conflict changed the course of that campaign dramatically.
