The funny thing about paladins of wee jas...

[HeavenShallBurn]

I'd always sort of favored the idea that paladins weren't devoted to a deity but rather the alignment itself. Not a "I lord of great and holy flaming badassitude appoint you to serve my will!" more like a sort of tao like oneness with their alignment that the appropriate outer plane itself empowers them and leaks out onto the Material through their person.

It's flavor sure but it helps seperate them from clerics when LG clerics have a rather similar place. Now they're divided more firmly again, clerics and paladins both have their own sort of slant and it makes it easier both to conflict within alignments between the two and distinguish between their manner. After all the deity in question may be Good but that doesn't necessarily mean that the ultimate expression of their alignment would have exactly the same view of things.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

Or a cleric with no "deity"? Nosir, not in my game.

I have trouble understanding how anyone who lives in the real world could have this opinion.

What is so uncool or nonsensical about a non-theistic religion akin to Buddhism?

 

[Sejs]

What is so uncool or nonsensical about a non-theistic religion akin to Buddhism?

Or an animistic religeon where there are gods in everything. I don't have -a- deity, I have ten thousand deities.

 

[Particle_Man]

Heck, you could even have a (non-evil) undead cohort. Ghosts and Mummies can specifically be good. Now that would be something to see.

Could you point me to the source of mummies being good please? Or was it just the "usually LE" in the MM implying this?

 

[Particle_Man]

What is so uncool or nonsensical about a non-theistic religion akin to Buddhism?

I think for some it is the idea that the divine spells should be granted by a specific personality (perhaps to further distinguish them from arcane spells).

 

[Psion]

I have trouble understanding how anyone who lives in the real world could have this opinion.

What is so uncool or nonsensical about a non-theistic religion akin to Buddhism?

Well it could be that my theology is specifically theistic. If the cosmology doesn't reflect a psuedo-Buddhist one, there is no reason that divine magic should operate by it's rules.

That said, I didn't say this, because this happens not to be how my cosmology operates. I think you misunderstand -- or considering that above I state it need not be a deity in the theistic sense, misrepresent -- my stance. I have no problem with someone following a psuedo-Buddhist stance if the setting supports it (in fact, I use the kitsunemori take on this. Buddhist priests have good or law domain and any other 1 domain.)

That's different than saying "I support the principle of good" (or peace or war) and having it give you power just because you beleive in it. That to me is not what divine magic is.

 

[The_Old_one]

The idea of a paladin of Wee Jas came up in my Age of Worms campaign recently, and all at the table agreed that it's a pretty cool idea. Then again, my group seem to be developing a fascination with the wee one in general...the elven mage in the group is trying his best to woo Amariss, the head priestess of the Cult of the Green Lady for one thing.

I can't wait for the fallout when a certain someone comes calling in Gathering of Winds.

 

[Psion]

Or an animistic religeon where there are gods in everything. I don't have -a- deity, I have ten thousand deities.

Another option that I explicitly take into account. In fact, I was doing this before d20 products started coming out that did this. Minor spirits might have any two domains.

But you still get power from the spirit. Not from personal conviction.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

So many dumb rules, one thread.

All I gotta say is "not in my game, mista!"

I agree. I wouldn't allow this in my Greyhawk game. I would require a Paladin to worship a LG god myself. Worshiping a LN deity seems a bit dodgy for a LG holy warrior.

 

[Voadam]

I have trouble understanding how anyone who lives in the real world could have this opinion.

What is so uncool or nonsensical about a non-theistic religion akin to Buddhism?

You can't understand how someone could have this opinion?

Its a campaign specific view he has of how divine power works in his game. In his campaign divine power comes from gods and not other sources. Sort of like if you were running an FR campaign using the FR 3e setting rules.

Shaping the campaign to specific tastes. In this case the flavor of divine power.

Mine works the other way. Clerics and priests can worship gods if they want and believe they get their power from the gods, but gods IMC actually have nothing to do with their followers divine powers. All clerics are godless whether they know it or not and divine power exists and is tapped independently of the gods.