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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Skyscraper" data-source="post: 5939648" data-attributes="member: 48518">You also start with mechanics, to then finally evoque fluff. I disagree with this approach. A paladin is not one of the nine boxes in a tic tac toe game that needs to be filled.RPGs need a soul to be interesting. Why is Call of Cthulhu interesting? It has little to do with its mechanics, truly. It lives, it has a soul, because it is based on something evocative, a world and a paradigm that you can latch onto to carry you and your group into a story that will move you.D&D has strong roots also. It includes monsters such as vampires and werewolves, dragons and demons, that evoke emotion. Demons are not "just another brute with good hit points and spell-like abilities".Paladins are like that, i.e. they have story attached to them.Why is a paladin different from a cleric of a war-like god? Because a cleric is a priest, someone trained to head religious ceremonies, to get people to join the faith. A paladin is not that. A paladin is a warrior dedicated to the religious cause. He is not a priest. He has not received training to head religious ceremonies.Flexible in what sense? Mechanically again? Well, if that is the question, I don't see why the paladin should not have its set of unique powers or abilities, such as the paladin's mount, the smite evil, the protection from evil (circle).If you say that these powers could be obtained through theme, then that is true for just about anyone. You could have no class at all, and add spellcasting through theme, melee fighting through theme, anything through theme. There are RPGs like that. It's not a new idea. It's just that, in the D&D next boards lately, it seems like some people have decided that the theme concept should be applied to the four base classes instead of being applied to anything at all.D&D starts with ideas about the game that take root in real-world history, and then that have been added as game rules to the game through the different iterations of the game. At the basis of this, is the class system. Where to draw the line? I.e. how many classes to you want, just one with only themes? Four with themes for the rest? 10? 20? Like I said earlier, I think the answer to that is not about game mechanics, it's all about story. Where does that class, such as paladin, stand with respect to the game? Is it important? Are the holy warriors simply priests with a knack for combat? The latter concept is conceivable. I just don't think it's D&D.So the question about paladins (and other classes) is: what is D&D for you?For me, it includes paladins as a distinct entity. Just like werewolves are not wizards with a shapeshifting power.</blockquote>

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