Story reason needed for a paladin to abandon his ways and become a bard

[Klorox]

I have my own simplistic idea (my paladin didn't feel the devotion to be pulled to any of the ideals that must be chosen at level 3, so he stops at level 2 and continues on as a valor bard), but I figured y'all could probably come up with something a little better than that.

LMK!

[tieren]

Ancients paladins are all about light and beauty, he could have pursued the beauty of music to the point that he realized that was where his true heart lay instead and decided to focus more on performance and appreciation than more martial pursuits.

[hymer]

I'd think s/he didn't give up her/his ways. S/he struggled, painfully and ridiculously hard, to become a paladin, because s/he loves the ideal and/or the god so much, and wanted to give all.
And one night s/he has a dream, and it's about music. S/he played a secret chord, and it pleased the Lady/Lord. And suddenly it's clear that while the sentiment was right, the path was all wrong. You can please your deity and live up to your potential in many ways, not just through being a paladin.
If the paladin has always been a people person, encouraging and inspiring those around her/him, then the transition should be quite gentle.

[Klorox]

Could be a typical "pursuing their true passion" reason. A paladin is definitely the sort of class that a person could feel obligated to join via familial pressures and such. Being one is certainly one that could be seen as a status of honor. Abandoning a role like that to pursue a musical class seems appropriate. The trigger for the decision could be something like getting a message from home that their family's status crumbled and the obligation just disappears. They could even go on a drinking binge to cope with their family's collapse, only to be awakened to a love of music.

Well, I don't know your character's backstory, so maybe the concept could fit in.

I'm still kind of coming up with the concept.

Thank you all.

[JAL_1138]

It's really easy in Forgotten Realms. Started as a Paladin in the temple of Millil, the god of poetry and music, patron deity of bards, poets, minstrels, and other performers. Started training as a Paladin, but felt called to become a bard to better connect with and deepen his faith in the Lord of All Song.

EDIT: It's a fairly natural progression for followers of Millil, IMO, and you could even continue your studies at the very same temple where you initially began training for Paladinhood and remain devoted to your faith. It also makes sense for Millil to continue granting you some Paladin spells (prepared through prayer), like Bless, and to lend his divine power to your Smites.

[Specter]

He couldn't stand the uptightness of his organization, obviously. When you want to do good to your community by the best means possible and some morality police treats you like garbage because you didn't go 'by the book', you curse them and leave.

[Honest Tiefling]

They didn't. Just that this particular order of holy knights puts more emphasis on magical training then smiting training. He's typical for the order and still devoted to whatever ideal/god/fey.

[TheManicMonocle]

I have my own simplistic idea (my paladin didn't feel the devotion to be pulled to any of the ideals that must be chosen at level 3, so he stops at level 2 and continues on as a valor bard), but I figured y'all could probably come up with something a little better than that.

LMK!

What if your paladin saw another paladin they used to admire abusing their power? Y'know, becomes disillusioned.

Or perhaps your paladin finds an instrument so beautiful that they must follow the bard's path.

Or they see a bard perforning that's so good that it inspires your paladin to take up bardhood?

Maybe your paladin finds the various oaths too restrictive and wants to follow a more open path to righteousness?

Perhaps the paladin does want to take an oath, but not yet, and ends up stalling?

[Battlebooze]

Some changes would be difficult to justify, if you feel like it. Paladin to Wizard, that is a little strange. Paladin to Bard? That one is easy.

Take your pick.

"I realized that I wanted to inspire people into being good more than smashing heads for good."

"I love fighting for what is right, but then I realized I could fight for what is right with my voice and music too!"

"I realized that I could do more good as a bard than a paladin, but I still consider myself a paladin in my heart."

And so on.

[Hrugner]

Your paladin has found it difficult to deal true justice in moral gray areas and has devoted more time to studying the human condition in order to better handle more nuanced moral difficulties. He still picks up the sword and defends the weak, but now he seeks the deeper truths that cause evil to arise. He's also seen that stopping evil hasn't been enough, he uses word and song to teach those he meets to help them to avoid evil before it grasps them.

[Jama7301]

People in churches don't need your sermons or religion promoting, but people in taverns might be a bit more down on their luck. Slip some tales or tenants of your religion into your performances from time to time.

Maybe after taking an injury in training, they realized they weren't cut out for the whole Bastion of Defense thing, so they looked for other ways to use their training. Music is a connecting feature for a lot people, so you can hope to bring people together through song.

[RipTide]

Why do they need to abandon being a "paladin"? Be a paladin of one of the gods of music then just continue calling yourself a paladin even though you are taking bard levels. So you are still a paladin but your god grants you bard abilities rather than standard paladin stuff. Class levels are just mechanics and don't have to define your rp.

[Klorox]

Why do they need to abandon being a "paladin"? Be a paladin of one of the gods of music then just continue calling yourself a paladin even though you are taking bard levels. So you are still a paladin but your god grants you bard abilities rather than standard paladin stuff. Class levels are just mechanics and don't have to define your rp.

Very true and I didn't think of it this way. Thank you.

[Sigreid]

You don't really need a reason. It's not uncommon for someone to go through all the training for a certain church to be a priest or a nun and before they take their final vow decide that isn't really the path god has for them. Same thing here. If you multi-class at your third character level you simply decide that another path to serving the light calls you and don't take that final formal vow at the end of your training.

[Misterwhisper]

Maybe after a while of waring against the forces of evil or whatever your paladin is set out to destroy, they found that violence begets violence and in the end paladin was just too a great I've and restrictive and he wanted to be more of a voice of reason and a beacon of what could be instead of dwelling on past grudges or duties.

Give up the war to bring peace and songs to the masses and to change the world with your words, showing the world all the wonders it has and getting them to change for themselves instead of waging war on the people you were taught were wrong.

Works very well if you go lore bard.

[Sigreid]

Maybe after a while of waring against the forces of evil or whatever your paladin is set out to destroy, they found that violence begets violence and in the end paladin was just too a great I've and restrictive and he wanted to be more of a voice of reason and a beacon of what could be instead of dwelling on past grudges or duties.

Give up the war to bring peace and songs to the masses and to change the world with your words, showing the world all the wonders it has and getting them to change for themselves instead of waging war on the people you were taught were wrong.

Works very well if you go lore bard.

Or he may have discovered slaying evil fills his heart with music and he just has to SING!!! :smallbiggrin:

[Pex]

You took an Oath To Music or The Arts, to be more general.

You could say you're a Cantor.

[Kane0]

Being a paladin was a lot of hard work for little reward. You were put on a pedestal and expected to be an icon of awesomeness for the people when you'd rather be one of them. Plus you're actually much better at being a musician than a militant. You still carry on doing good in your life, you just prefer to do it in a way that you are comfortable with.

I'm a fan of keeping it simple.

[FilthyLucre]

I have my own simplistic idea (my paladin didn't feel the devotion to be pulled to any of the ideals that must be chosen at level 3, so he stops at level 2 and continues on as a valor bard), but I figured y'all could probably come up with something a little better than that.

LMK!

The money and the bitches.

[Sans.]

Nothing to do with fluff, but what do you want from Valor Bard? Seems like Lore Bard would be better.

[Arkhios]

Nothing to do with fluff, but what do you want from Valor Bard? Seems like Lore Bard would be better.

Sorry for intervening, but OP did mention that the character would multiclass into Bard after 2nd Paladin level, instead of choosing an oath at all, and long before Extra Attack.

[mephnick]

They didn't. Just that this particular order of holy knights puts more emphasis on magical training then smiting training. He's typical for the order and still devoted to whatever ideal/god/fey.

Pretty much. Classes aren't really a thing in the actual game world, they're just meta concepts used to build a character. Your Palabard is just a warrior with holy and arcane power (the distinction of which barely exists in 5e anyway). If you choose for them to declare themselves a Paladin in game, that's up to you.

I have a Battlemaster/Rogue PC in a game I'm playing, but she's only ever been introduced as a scout for the elven army. No one calls her "Fighter" or "Rogue".

[dickerson76]

There is no reason to abandon being a paladin. Being a paladin is their calling, but being a bard is their passion. Magic and music come much more naturally to them. It's not that they are no longer advancing as a paladin, just that they are advancing faster in their bard skills.