D&D 4E What will the paladin represent in 4e?

[Merlion]

To my mind, a champion of a god is basically a cleric. After all, a D&D cleric wears plate armour, uses a mace, and casts flamestrike to smite down his foes. That sounds pretty championy.

But they also get to be the powerful magic flingy Priest of the god, as well as the martial champion.

Which is why if it were me, 4e would make the Cleric into a just-priest, and Paladins the martial champions.


I think we will see the alignment restrictions mostly go away, of which I am glad.

 

[I'm A Banana]

OTHER.

They will be Martial Leaders.

Their abilities will revolve around bringing others to their side in combat and keeping them there.

They can have any alignment, and be as devoted to a god (or not) as they desire. Their powers come from being charismatic, not from the Space Pope.

 

[Arashi Ravenblade]

I think the main Paladin should be LG. WIth other alignments having other names.

 

[Pygon]

Paladins strike me as a cause type. There may be variations depending on the god they serve, but paladins should be allowed to crusade for an alignment as well.

"I am a paladin serving neutrality, and I state my position by proclaiming... MEH!"

 

[Mad Mac]

I prefer the LG Paladin type, but if they want to open the class up for other alignments, devotion to a cause is probably the best bet.

Devotion to a God not only steps on the Clerics toes a bit more than necessary, it leaves the Paladin class a little too open-ended. Paladins of any God, really? The martial Champion of the God of petty thievary and one night stands? Paragon of fuzzy bunnies and gentle Unicorns? Eh.

Making the class more code/alignment focused narrows the possibilities down to where you can create a reasonably coherent class with some differention along broadly alignment based talents. You could create a core Paladin class that grants somewhat different powers for Good/Neutral/Evil Paladins without it being a huge hassle or diluting the concept too much.

 

[Andor]

But they also get to be the powerful magic flingy Priest of the god, as well as the martial champion.

Which is why if it were me, 4e would make the Cleric into a just-priest, and Paladins the martial champions.


I think we will see the alignment restrictions mostly go away, of which I am glad.

I'm with you on that. The cleric/paladin divide is pretty muddled in 3e. The cleric can do everything a paladin can, and moreso.

Either the cleric needs to have his magic scaled back ala 1st ed, or he needs to quit wearing steel longjohns and standing at the head of the fray.

If the Cleric becomes an actual priest instead of a godly asskicker, then the Paladin should take up his abandoned position as a divine champion. In which case there should of course be paladins for all the gods. Even Banjo.

 

[Klaus]

Paladins strike me as a cause type. There may be variations depending on the god they serve, but paladins should be allowed to crusade for an alignment as well.

"I am a paladin serving neutrality, and I state my position by proclaiming... MEH!"

Actually, a Neutral paladin would be more like Greyhawk's Mordenkainen, i.e. actively working to prevent any one alignment from suppressing the others. So he'd keep Sauron from getting the ring, but keep Frodo from destroying it.

 

[Li Shenron]

Devoted to a god that represents a cause which fits into a specific alignment.

 

[paradox42]

I'm with you on that. The cleric/paladin divide is pretty muddled in 3e. The cleric can do everything a paladin can, and moreso.

Either the cleric needs to have his magic scaled back ala 1st ed, or he needs to quit wearing steel longjohns and standing at the head of the fray.

If the Cleric becomes an actual priest instead of a godly asskicker, then the Paladin should take up his abandoned position as a divine champion. In which case there should of course be paladins for all the gods. Even Banjo.

Me three.

We know the Cleric has been designated the Divine Leader, but how do the other three roles match up with Divine power? Warlord is the Martial Leader, and Fighter the Martial Defender, so my suspicion is that Paladin is the Divine Defender. This says to me that "Cleric as front-line combatant" is getting very scaled-back in 4E and the Paladin moves into that role.

This, in turn, means that the divide between Clerics and Paladins is easily explained within every church: Clerics are the proselytizers who go out and convert the heathens and perform miracles to show others the benefits of faith, while Paladins are the true holy warriors of the church who go out and kick whatever asses need kickin'. Every religion (except, perhaps, religions of Peace) would therefore have at least a few Paladins. Some religions of War would probably have mostly Paladins and very few Clerics, in fact.

As for the other two roles matching to Divine, given that Rogue is the Martial Striker, and Wizard the Arcane Controller, I think Ranger will be pegged as the Divine Striker and Druids (when they get released officially) will be Divine Controllers.

 

[Andor]

Actually, a Neutral paladin would be more like Greyhawk's Mordenkainen, i.e. actively working to prevent any one alignment from suppressing the others. So he'd keep Sauron from getting the ring, but keep Frodo from destroying it.

Or they could be like the Neutrals from Futurama. "If I don't make it, tell my wife Hello."