Paladins, and other things.

[Moonshadow]

Okay, dunno if this should even go here, but I'll bite.


I haven't played tabletop D&D in forever, the last time I played, we were still using 2nd Edition (Non-weapon proficiencies, yay!)

Anyways, I was starting to get interested in 3.5, and then along came 4th edition. I'm interested in having a go at 4th if I get the time, most likely on the good ol' GitP frorums here.

Anyways, about Paladins, I was just wondering, do they have to be Lawful Good/Chaotic Evil? Must they, like a Sith, always deal in absolutes, or is it possible to make a Paladin of a different alignment?

[Moff Chumley]

You can make a Paladin of any alignment you want. Mostly, they just follow the teachings of their diety extremely rigorously. (I appologize for spelling, I don't have my spell check on this computer. )

[Suzuro]

In 3.5 they have to be Lawful Good (unless you take some variants) And in 4e, they can be any alignment, I believe.


-Suzuro

[SoD]

Are you asking about the 3.5e or the 4e paladins?

3.5e: must be Lawful Good (although in Unearthed Arcana there's details on CG, LE and CE paladins of freedom/tyranny/slaughter).

[CarpeGuitarrem]

IIRC, a 4e paladin must have an alignment equal to their deity, since they're a mini-representative of their deity, and follow their teachings rigorously. So not only do you have the same alignment, but it's for the same reason. A paladin of Corellon isn't unaligned because they seek to bring death to those who require it, and a paladin of Pelor wouldn't focus on change and luck.

[AslanCross]

First of all, OP: SRW FTW. :D

Anyway, 3.5 Paladins must be Lawful Good, though the Unearthed Arcana variants allow for LG/CG/LE/CE variants. Fax Celestis's Mantle Paladins can also be any of those for alignments and choose "Mantles of Faith" that represent the ideals of their alignments.

4E Paladins must simply follow the codes of their deities, so they aren't limited to LG.

[Moonshadow]

Cool, thanks :D

However, 2 more questions have arose.

1) Is there a D20SRD for 4e that I may peruse at my lesiure in order to familiarise myself wit the new system?

2) Is the rod up the butt still standard issue, or does it depend on the deity in question?


For some reason, Paladin of Loki/Mask/insert other trickster god here apeals to me

[Oracle_Hunter]

Cool, thanks :D

However, 2 more questions have arose.

1) Is there a D20SRD for 4e that I may peruse at my lesiure in order to familiarise myself wit the new system?

2) Is the rod up the butt still standard issue, or does it depend on the deity in question?

1) Nope, aside from the D&D Insider which may or may not still be free to use.

2) Nope, because the Paladin's Code has also vanished (as has falling, BTW). You just make a Paladin that is exactly the same alignment as his or her Deity and adhere to that Deity's tenants.

Personally, I'm having a lot of fun working out what the different Paladins do in my homebrew world. Generally they're bodyguards to the priesthood, but for instance my God of Death's Paladins also perform executions for the local government (the God of Death being LN)

[RTGoodman]

1) Is there a D20SRD for 4e that I may peruse at my lesiure in order to familiarise myself wit the new system?

There isn't and there won't be, but there is the D&D Insider's Compendium, which might not have all the rules but DOES have info on every class, power, item, monster, etc. It's free to access right now, but it's going to be part of the monthly payment system at some point.

2) Is the rod up the butt still standard issue, or does it depend on the deity in question?

In 4E, I don't think it's required, but depending on your god it's certainly available. It's not required in 3.x, but it's certainly the most common method of playing one!

For some reason, Paladin of Loki/Mask/insert other trickster god here apeals to me

Yeah, Paladins of non-LG deities are cool. I'm enjoying my unaligned Tiefling Paladin of Ioun (the goddess of knowledge and prophecy and such).


EDIT: Aww... I'm too slow...

[Tempest Fennac]

Paladins can have other alignments in the 3.5 Edition as well if you use more exotic variants: http://www.crystalkeep.com/d20/rules...asses-Base.pdf contains several including a TN version.

[mabriss lethe]

I like the flavor of the 3.5 variant paladins until you get to the codes of conduct for the PoT and PoS. They pretty much force you to be a party-breaking scumbag