Role-Playing a Paladin, any tips or advice?

[Arravis]

One of the groups I'm in has started a new game and I'm playing a paladin of Heironeous. Does anyone know of any good sites that have cultural and religious info on Heironeous and his clergy? Anyone here have any tips on role-playing a paladin, developing a code, and simply staying away from the stereotypical role they tend to have? The only problems I've had with paladins in the past is that their personalities tend to be homogenous, which is something I'd like to avoid.

 

[Voadam]

roleplaying tips:

"Right." Slaps visor down. "Charge!"

 

[kengar]

Start with the definition of Lawful Good in the PHB:

Lawful Good, “Crusader”: A lawful good character acts as a good person is expected or required to She combines a commitment to oppose evil with discipline to fight relentlessly. She tells the truth, keeps her word, helps those in need, and speaks out against injustice. A lawful good character hates to see the guilty go unpunished. Alhandra, a paladin who fights evil without mercy and who protects the innocent without hesitation, is lawful good.

Lawful good is the best alignment you can be because it combines honor and compassion.

Then look at the Code of Conduct info, etc. in the Paladin Class listing:

Code of Conduct: A paladin must be of lawful good alignment and loses all special class abilities if she ever willingly commits an act of evil. Additionally, a paladin’s code requires that she respect legitimate authority, act with honor (not lying, not cheating, not using poison, etc.), help those who need help (provided they do not use the help for evil or chaotic ends), and punish those that harm or threaten innocents.

Associates: While she may adventure with characters of any good or neutral alignment, a paladin will never knowingly associate with evil characters. A paladin will not continue an association with someone who consistently offends her moral code. A paladin may only hire henchmen or accept followers who are lawful good.

Then look at information on Heironeous himself:

From PHB
Heironeous
The god of valor, Heironeous (high-roe-nee-us), is lawful good. His title is the Invincible. Heironeous promotes justice, valor, chivalry, and honor. The domains he is associated with are Good, Law, and War. His favored weapon is the longsword, and he is worshiped by paladins, good fighters, and good monks. His archenemy is Hextor, his half-brother.

From DDG
Dogma
Heironeous expects his followers to uphold the highest ideals of chivalry and justice and treat adversity as a challenge to be met and overcome, just as evil should be overcome. The world is a dangerous place where those who fight for justice and who protect the weak and inncoent face a never-ending series of challenges. He exhorts his followers to act honorably at all times, and to uphold the virtues of justice and chivalry with deeds, not just words. Those who face danger with certainty and calm will prevail against evil, Heironeous advises.

Now, put that all together and design a code of conduct and belief system, working with your DM. Take into account any "house rules" or interpretations he may have on things like alignment. Too often, I see threads here titled "Should the party's paladin lose their status?" or something like that. Often (though not always) these problems result because the DM & Player hadn't agreed upon what the Paladin's code actually stood for.


Hope this helps!

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

Start with the Code. It will flesh out the specifics of what Lawful Good means to your character, and give you guidelines to go by. Good examples of ready made codes are the knightly code from Dragonheart (or any other movie that spells it out), the Bushido code, or the Nine Noble Virtues of modern Asatru.

Paladins are allowed to have flaws-- the most common flaws are pride and intolerance, which is the classic Lawful Stupid Paladin. As a Paladin, you'll probably have high Wisdom and Charisma-- you should be an empathic, basically likable person.

As a Paladin of Heironeous, you'll probably want to fit into the Knight in Shining Armor stereotype-- unless you have some better, more compelling image of your character to work with. There's plenty of knightly warriors in fantasy fiction to give you ideas, there.

For a nonstandard Paladin, you could avoid the idea of nobility or knighthood, and be a peasant Paladin. You'd probably start with less powerful weapons and little or no armor. You'd be more humble, but no less determined to right wrongs. Defenders of the Faith has an organization called Justice Blade, which is a group of atypical Paladins.

You might also want to look at Fighter or Cleric-based Prestige Classes, for ideas of what to aspire to. That will help shape your Paladin's personality considerably. Also, it will help you avoid the terrible, mind-numbing boredom of upper-level Paldinhood, should you be so lucky as to reach those levels.

If your DM allows multiclassed Paladins, there are several Core classes that can also help define your Paladin and make him stand out. A couple levels of Monk would make for a very nontraditional Paladin, while Sorceror adds some arcane might to your crusade for justice. Fighter enhances your natural fighting ability, or Cleric can bring you closer to your god-- as well as improving your spellcasting and undead abilities, without too badly impacting your combat ability. (Picking the War domain gives you Weapon Focus for free, which makes the first level not cost you any combat ability at all.)

 

[Nightfall]

Ask Enrious. He does a pretty decent job with his paladin. Though of course it's a different world, he serves an NG goddess...

 

[mooby]

Read the "Dragons of ..." Dragonlance Trilogy. Not only are they great books, but just see Sturm Brightblade.

No, the character isn't a Paladin, but he's exactly how one should be played.

 

[Erithtotl]

I play a Paladin of Heironeous as well. I started with two levels of fighter and then switched to Paladin. My DM, normally very good, unfortunately didn't do a lot with that which was a shame.

I play my character as someone who is a soldier at heart, but also adheres to the dogma of Heironeous. Thus, he isn't much one for pagentry, flattery, or other such nonsense. He is also more pragmatic, and we'll occasionally 'bend' the rules when the alternative would be far worse. He also tends to be the tactical mind of the party, trying to keep everyone organized and working together in battle, because of his military background. He won't break his word or do any other outright non-lawful non-good acts.

It's still a struggle though. I can never be sure I'm always behaving the way a Paladin should. A good DM could help a lot here in helping you carve out a unique personality. I guess one example would be to look at the Knights of the Round Table. They were all different personalities, but were all essentially Paladins also.

 

[Greybar]

Just something that has worked for playing Reginald, my paladin: start with real-world scripture or hymns.

I've stolen and modified elements from Christian beliefs (my apologies ahead of time if any reader here finds that offensive).

I'm developing a hymnal of Heironeous. For instance from the ordination ceremony based on the cry "Here am I; send me" from the Psalms, I believe:

Second Septain, First Hymn - The Hymn of the Call - also known as The Ordination of Arabella of the Shining Brow, Champion of Heironeous
1 - And in that time I saw the death of many innocents, as Hextor’s dark minions destroyed whole villages in the glaring balefire. And I stood among the bodies of my family, broken and torn by many talons. I stood with my head low, for my blade was shattered, and my shield cleft in twain. My tears fell upon the hot coals that were the timbers of my home. I cried out, for I had no strength left, no courage, and my people were decimated around me. My heart was dark, and the heart of my people was dark, and black clouds moved over the skies. I was filled with hopelessness that I might ever see justice done.
2 - And a single bolt of light cut through the hellish fog, and my eye were raised in wonder. A winged seraph descended from above, in raiment shining of purest silver, and surveyed the destruction that was my home. And I heard His voice call forth:- “Who shall rise from this pain, and pledge themselves to the destruction of the Darkness? Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?”
3- And I cried out: “Here am I; send me!”
4- And the seraph came before me, and drew a blade that crackled with the fire of the thunderbolt. And as it touched my forehead, my pain and fear was burned away. My strength and my courage are not merely mine to have, but mine to share.
5- Wherever the pure of heart need healing: Here am I; send me.
6- Wherever the weak or infirm need strength: Here am I; send me.
7- Wherever dark actions demand justice: Here am I; send me.

Then when I need to draw on "being Reginald" then I look back over the hymns. I've also grabbed spiritual quotes and written them down into my book (I have a little leather-bound book for Reginald).

Heironeous being a warrior god, I take out many of the soft and compassionate elements that really define Christian belief, of course.
There are some elements you really can't pass up. How can you not use the familiar psalm:

And lo, though I walk through the shadow of the valley of death, I shall fear no evil
Thine sword guides my by its burning light,
Thine steed bears my soul in mighty strides,
So shall I deliver the minions of evil to their destruction, and carry forth the banner of justice.

Any way, your mileage may vary.

John

 

[ajanders]

Literary inspiration

Read Kipling, particularly Plain Tales from the Hills. Puck of Pook's Hill, and Her Majesty's Servants.
His Englishmen tend to epitomize the typical paladin attitude... more noble, honorable, and capable than the others around them...also unfortunately quite aware of it. You may wish to downplay that last.
And everyone playing a paladin needs to read GK Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday. Trust me on this: it's like the move Sneakers, but with God.
You'll like it.
Arthurian legendry, of course, perhaps seen through modern eyes like Steinbeck or T.H. White. You might also find El Cid and Roland useful role models.

Good luck.
(One other note: learn to identify summoning spells by sound. Keep your wizards away from the quasits and fiendish hawks.)