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

[GreatLemur]

My preference would be to go with the "champion of a specific cause" angle. It's a hell of a lot more interesting (and believable) than dedication to an alignment, and the Cleric pretty much has the heavily-armored-servant-of-a-deity thing sewn up.

Alternatively, though, I wouldn't mind seeing the Cleric's martial focus decreased a bit, and letting the Paladin take over the holy warrior bit completely. I've never understood why 3e didn't have a pure caster among all the hordes of divine classes.

Whatever they end up doing, though, I'm extremely glad to hear that we'll be seeing non-Lawful Good Paladins. Alignment restrictions on base classes are an aggressively bad idea, and as are classes that try to drag your character into a specific lifestyle, worldview, or roleplay schtick.

EDIT: In tangentially-related news, I've been watching documentaries about the Crusades. Wow. In the real world, knights who have dedicated themselves to the service of God could not be counted on to remain anywhere near what we'd call "Lawful Good".

 

[Andor]

EDIT: In tangentially-related news, I've been watching documentaries about the Crusades. Wow. In the real world, knights who have dedicated themselves to the service of God could not be counted on to remain anywhere near what we'd call "Lawful Good".

Yeah. They couldn't whistle up celestial dire hampsters either.

 

[Sadrik]

I couldnt select all three on the poll!

Really though the rules should be broad enough that all three concepts should be available for play. It is after all the DM's fluff that makes the crunch go round.

 

[Wormwood]

My preference would be to go with the "champion of a specific cause" angle.

Monte Cook's "Champion" class would definitely be a good place to start.

 

[Jhaelen]

EDIT: In tangentially-related news, I've been watching documentaries about the Crusades. Wow. In the real world, knights who have dedicated themselves to the service of God could not be counted on to remain anywhere near what we'd call "Lawful Good".

Which is to be expected since they were preemptively being absolved of all sins and guaranteed a place in heaven.