Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Abstruse" data-source="post: 5940272" data-attributes="member: 6669048">Now we're getting somewhere! What can you do to make the paladin unique yet still versatile enough to be a class? Those are two archetypes that still "feel" like a paladin but aren't the same old "holy knight in shining armor" archetype. It also has game mechanics and abilities attached that aren't just backstory and roleplaying - something that I can look at in the PHB and see is a completely different class. You've found wiggle room in the definition of what is a "paladin".Now that we have that, we need more to add more versatility to the class and also work in the other direction, figuring out exactly what makes a paladin "feel" like a paladin as opposed to just a fighter in plate armor who has a code of ethics or a cleric that can beat the everloving tar out of stuff. If both of the above are examples of a paladin along with the holy knight, then what exactly is a paladin? What can a paladin do that defines them as a paladin?Biggest problem with the Always Lawful Good trope for paladins IMO. How can someone be "lawful" when the government in power is evil and unjust? You must by your nature oppose that government, but doing so is breaking the law which brings order to the country/world/government. Since the Evil Overlord trope is so prevalent in high fantasy, this is something very important to keep in mind. How does a paladin oppose an evil overlord while still remaining lawful? Fact of the matter is he can't...he has to be chaotic to oppose the government. Even if he say that "good is more important than lawful" (which is the canon rule in at least a few editions), it still brings up a valid question. Lawful characters are going to want order. Overthrowing an evil despot is going to sew chaos. There's no two ways around it - there will be a sudden power vacuum. The former ruler of the land is gone and various factions will then begin to fight to take control. This may split up the nation into smaller nations who will be going to war in order to carve out their territories. Then there's the lawlessness that will spread. If the overlord is enforcing his/her/its laws across the nation and that overlord is defeated, all the laws (both just and unjust) that had been enforced so strictly will be unenforceable. That means lawlessness. This sort of situation also, in a fantasy world, allows the chaotic and evil races to spread and grow, attacking villages and terrorizing the lawns.And you, as a paladin, caused it. Directly. All that pain, horror, terror, war, and death. If you hadn't have interfered and removed the overlord from power, none of that would've happened. You defeated a great evil, but is the great evil you removed a bigger threat than the many smaller evils you set free?</blockquote>

Verification