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Message: <blockquote data-quote="BSF" data-source="post: 1165436" data-attributes="member: 13098">Commentary on general Paladinhood.First of all, the guidelines in the PHB are good guidelines.  But, this really ends up being campaign specific on implementation.  The DM and the player should spend some time going over what the Paladin's Code will entail for the game.  Within the Code should be strong guidelines, but each Paladin should have a little leeway.  Why? Because they are individuals.  Perhaps one Paladin focuses more on the Lawful aspect then on the Good aspect?  As well, the paladin should have the wisdom to know when he can make judgements.  When the paladin is wrong, he will lose his powers.  Paladins do not need to revere a single deity.  The can derive their powers from devoting themselves to Righteousness.  However, they can choose to revere a particular deity.  It should be possible to have both types of Paladin in a campaign, though each campaign may rule differently.  In any event, paladins should have similarities, but there will be a different emphasis on different aspects of the Code depending on personality, and on any religious influences.  In fact, a Paladin that worships a specific deity may have to adhere to the Code while wrapping dogma around that code.Paladins will respect legitimate authority, but in the case of Evil authority, they probably won't consider it legitimate.  In the mind of a Paladin, a good ruler will uphold Law and order for the Good of the people, not simply to maintain their own powerbase.  In lawless regions, the Paladin may be the only authority.  Depending on specific campaigns, a Paladin may have all the responsibilities of a historic Knight, may be the equivelant of a Old West Marshal, or any number of things.  The big differences lie in individual campaigns.  It may also lie in individual regions of that campaign.  It is entirely acceptable to have a Paladin, who has sworn fealty to a Lord, be able to administer justice in any way he sees fit (Only answering to his Lord and possibly a Higher Power) while a wandering Paladin, that has entered the realm, has no such privelige.  Administering Justice without the King's Authority might be an unlawful act.  Imagine the RP possibilities when a Paladin is told, by his Lord, that he must apprehend another Paladin for unlawful actions!  Or, reverse the situation and have an NPC Paladin come looking for the PC because they acted unlawfully in the King's Realm.This allows you to take a class that has a rigid structure and still give if plenty of flexibility in your game.   However, the key to really having fun with a Paladin in the game is to communicate well.  The DM and the Player need to have reasonable expectations of what constitutes a Code violation.  You also need to have trust.  The DM needs to trust that the player will play the character to the Code.  The player needs to trust that the DM is not just looking for an excuse to "screw me over".  With that communication and trust comes tremendous RP possibilities.  That way, when you (as the DM) see the Paladin do something that stretches the Code, or outright breaks it, you know that the Player is looking for the RP opportunity, not a simple overlooking of the Code to get away with murder.</blockquote>

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