Paladins not as a class

[Aquillion]

This is another thing I don't like about default D&D.

Paladins being 'destined' and all. It cheapens them as Martyrs. (Rather than 'I choose to suffer for the world' it is, 'I am destined to suffer for the world'. Okay, the second one has options too, but not necessarily should that be limited to Paladining)

In my mind there are really two main types of Paladins. There are the kinds that act as agents of the gods. If you're playing in a not particularly grim game, it's essentially that Paladins are nice people that go around being generally nice. And probably they get the supernatural ability to induce vomiting.Grimmer game? Enforcers. Crush all opposition to the gods. In a really grim game this is necessary to make the universe work. And probably they have to eat souls too and eat kittens.

The other kind of Paladin is the one who takes it upon themselves to suffer for the world. Beyond just dying to make things right. Everywhere they would go they take it upon themselves to make the world better even if it harms them. Or die. And I'd like to believe that you could do that outside the bounds of Lawful good, but that's a debate for another time. Whatever. This kind of character works better without some outside source of power sanctioning them. Yeah, I know where Martyrs usually get their power, but again it is more meaningful when someone chooses to suffer for humanity (err I guess elfanity, dwarfanity, maybe goblinanity and a few others) with no outside interference

I think that the D&D RAW paladin is actually closer to your second one (the text, note, says that most Paladins don't even follow a god; their ideals are enough for them.) The idea is that to be a Paladin is to be the sort of person who would take it upon themselves to suffer for the world; this is the "nature of the paladin" mentioned in the text and the sole true prerequisite for the class. Look at them like a movie cowboy or hero or something; when the girl asks them why they have to go risk their lives, they reply that it's "just the way they are" or "this is the only way I know how to live" or something similar. A Paladin is someone knows what they have to do, and does it.

This is why they have to be lawful good, too--a Paladin is, by nature, someone who is completely driven by this concept of duty, the idea that there are certain things they have to do, certain ideals they have to protect, and so forth. This describes a very lawful type of person... A chaotic good character could take the day off from time to time, shelve their duty occasionally as long as nothing major comes up, etc. A Paladin can't.