SHould paladins powers be lost peicemeal?

[Kuld]

All or nothing baby.

 

[was]

Total loss

 

[Herremann the Wise]

By the RAW for me.

If you cross the line in the sand drawn by the deity, DM and hopefully Player in question, then you have stepped into a much bigger world... minus your god-given powers.
Atonement is not a dirty word.

Best Regards
Herremann the Wise

 

[FireLance]

I personally prefer like some kind of thematic loss of powers and in fact, I've come up with just such a system (see Oathsworn Paladin link in sig). I believe that the merciful, redemption-focused paladin and the wrathful, smite for the slightest transgression paladin should both be viable concepts and could have radically different powers which are lost under different circumstances.

 

[Thunderfoot]

<SNIP> Paladins should be played to A CODE, but it should only be enforced for a general degree of consistancy and be tied more ot the player's understanding of good (within reason) than the DMs.

Spoken like a politician - you are living in the appropriate place.

I really have a problem with this whole new "I'm ok, you're ok" take on the PALADIN!!!! Read a book folks, the paladin LIVES AND DIES BY HIS MORAL AND ETHICAL CODE. I will agree that there are more than a few DMs who are looking to punish players for picking the paladin, they should be flogged for being just plan dumb, mean and cruel. But players who want all of the perks of a paladin with none of the restrictions should be horse whipped and branded! Yes it's a rant, yes its over the top but I for one am really fed up with the wishy- washy holy warrior. They are supposed to be fanatics for a real world example of fanatacism, (even though I personally don't favor their view point) look at Al Queda.

The live by what they believe and die by the same stroke. That is essentially the same thing a paladin is called to do. Of course a paladin is not QUITE that extreme, but they should definately stand out from the norm.

 

[ThoughtBubble]

I think that a piecemal stripping helps to facilitate communication.

It seems like in a ton of the paladin threads, the story goes something along the lines of "and then my paladin did something. Should he lose his powers?" All the talk of crossing the line is moot if no one knows where the line is. Losing a power, or an effective level, or something less shows that you're near the line without having to have had to step over it.

I think that people, especially people playing with their friends, might have a better time if everyone could bend a little.

And that's an easy place to bend.

 

[EdL]

I voted for not playing Paladins in the first place. The problem is as much one of mis-communication as anything. Everyone knows there's a line that can't be crossed, but unless the player and GM sit down beforehand and nail where that line is down solid...
Most of the Paladin-crossing-the-line threads I've seen start the same 2 ways.
"My GM took my Paladin's powers away for no good reason!"
Or: "My player's Paladin did something horrible and I took his powers away, but now he's calling me evil and saying he didn't do anything to deserve it!"

 

[Tatsukun]

I would be happy to play a paladin in a 'loose everything' game, but only if the fighter, cleric, and wizard ALSO would loose everything if the DM every even slightly disagreed about how to roleplay the PC.

The Paladin code is silly. It was tossed in the can a long time ago in my little world.

-Tatsu

 

[fiddlerjones]

Might I point out that there ARE other classes that can lose their powers as well. This is accounted for in game balance. Druids who fail to protect nature are stripped of its favor. Bards who turn lawful are drained of the power of their spontaneity. Why should paladins, who swear to follow a strict code set forth by the god who blesses them be exempt from this rule?
I, too am tired of moral relativism being forced upon every class. That's why there are alignments. The paladin is a bastion of absolutism, pure and simple. I do agree that the player and the DM should discuss the ins and outs of the paladin's code before the game begins, but judgment calls come up. That's part of the fun of playing a paladin.
Besides, redemption can be a fun quest.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

IMNSHO, the rules for Paladin punishments for Code offenses should follow the same general principles as those applied to Clerics for failing to live up to the tenets of their gods.

Of course Paladins tend to pick very choosy gods and take very strict vows, so their path tends to be a tougher one than most any Cleric. But that is only a matter of degree, not principle.

How often do you as a DM take away all the Cleric's spells? Probably pretty damn rare.