D&D 5E The Paladin excerpt

[Ruin Explorer]

I agree that this is a mismatch of rules and concept. My preferred solution would be to choose an oath at 1st level, and have that give you LoH if you're a regular (holy knight) paladin but something different for avengers (perhaps a damage buff) and ancients (less clear - maybe a stat check buff?).

LoH is pretty bonkers utility - 5x level HP but also you can burn HP from that pool to cure a disease, neutralize a poison or remove 1 level of exhaustion (each costing 5HP from the pool).

So I'd be kind of leery of replacing really strong utility like that, serious life-saving stuff (with extreme flexibility!) with anything that wasn't also pretty serious utility. It's a tricky thing to replace, I guess I'm saying!

 

[Thaumaturge]

But I think it does raise the issue of alignment as nature vs. alignment as philosophy. If you're a paladin (by this light) your philosophy, your beliefs, are obviously those of lawful goodness. But if your instincts are to be, say, self-interested and unreliable - which do you write on your character sheet?

I like the idea of a character who feels he doesn't have a choice to be a paladin. He doesn't want the responsibility. But he can't make himself break his Oath when it comes down to it. He feels a sense of duty and obligation, if nothing else.

Perhaps he was orphaned and raised by an order of paladins. He joined, because it was expected of him. Now he's out in the world, and he sees there were so many other options. He's bitter and angry, but there's still a part of him that respects the institution that raised him and doesn't want to disappoint his father figure.

That might make a better story/solo-campaign character than a party member, though.

I think for this edition, write down whatever alignment you think more truly captures your character in that moment.

Thaumaturge.

 

[I'm A Banana]

It's worth noting, I think, that all of these "struggling paladin" or "deluded paladin" motifs also work with the cleric in 5e, which similarly has no alignment requirement. The Basic doc even mentions the god choosing you instead of you choosing the god, the temple priests seeing you as a troublemaker, and the idea of proving yourself worthy.

....which now put me in the mind of a brutal barbarian unwillingly chosen by the God of Knowledge who just does not want all these facts and figures in their head.

 

[zicar]

Spell-less paladin

Want to be a non-casting Paladin? Just burn all your spell slots on smitesQUOTE]

Did anyone else find the divine-smiting paladin to be a bit OP in the playtest? In our group this tactic easily left the barbarian in the dust.

 

[lvl20dm]

Part of me wants to say they're giving us the ability to choose "when" to set our games, thus giving a more "full" listing of deities. I don't have any kind of proof, I just remember one of the designers talking about it in a random Q&A video when asked about campaign settings. Said they wanted to give the framework and let you choose the "when," "where," and "how."

I could be totally off with that, however.

I think at this point we don't entirely know the full results of the Sundering (we might have to wait for the campaign setting, or at least Gencon, for more details). It's been strongly implied that all of the Gods are back - we know Lathander is back as well as Bhaal. Helm gets mentioned quite a bit, too. One of the PAX adventures even had a Chosen of Ibrandul!

 

[Xodis]

The problem with the BBEG being a Good Avenging Paladin who's gone TOO far in his quest for destroying evil that he must be put down is... All of his abilities are only REALLY effective against evil characters. So unless a group of evil "good guys" are the ones going to stop him...hes not going to be much of a threat.

 

[JC99]

The problem with the BBEG being a Good Avenging Paladin who's gone TOO far in his quest for destroying evil that he must be put down is... All of his abilities are only REALLY effective against evil characters.

Really? Considering that alignment no longer has mechanical effects at all (no more detect evil!), this would surprise me.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

The problem with the BBEG being a Good Avenging Paladin who's gone TOO far in his quest for destroying evil that he must be put down is... All of his abilities are only REALLY effective against evil characters. So unless a group of evil "good guys" are the ones going to stop him...hes not going to be much of a threat.

Smite is just radiant damage (or others like fire if using a particular smite spell) and can affect any alignment.

 

[Xodis]

Really? Considering that alignment no longer has mechanical effects at all (no more detect evil!), this would surprise me.

So Divine Smite works on everyone now? Well...so much for him being on "Team Good Guy"

 

[Sonny]

Want to be a non-casting Paladin? Just burn all your spell slots on smitesQUOTE]

Did anyone else find the divine-smiting paladin to be a bit OP in the playtest? In our group this tactic easily left the barbarian in the dust.

Yeah, our Paladin left the rogues (two of em no less) gawking at the damage he was dealing while burning through his smites. Considering how limited the resources for smiting are, I think it's okay since the rogues outshone him at other times.