30 Day D&D Challenge - Favorite Playable Class - Day Three

Today's Topic is Favorite Playable Class as we continue our celebration of International Original Dungeons and Dragons Month!

My favorite class is simply "Fighting-Men" and to drill down farther it is Paladins and Rangers. To drill all the way down it is Paladins hands down. In OD&D the Paladins are Lawful, in later D&D versions it became Lawful Good. Lawful Good is how I always played my Paladins with the heavier emphasis on Good. 

I abhor all the stories I have heard of Lawful Stupid, I have no idea why anyone would play that way. It has always seemed to me that either jerks look at the Paladins write up and take it to a non-logical extreme to mess with all the other players or a referee just does not have a clue how the character should work and makes the players toe an impossible forced code of behavior.

In practice it has always been my perspective that there are a lot of fun ways to play a Paladin that does not involve ruining everyone else's fun and being a disruption.

It does not involve playing the role as the worst of the rigid inflexible rule following unmerciful and unloving holier than thou arrogant supercilious snobs.

It does involve playing the role as the best of the righteous, merciful, loving and humble servants of their god.

Let us consider the original write up in the guidelines of the Greyhawk Supplement to Original D&D.

Charisma scores of 17 or greater by fighters indicate the possibility of paladin status IF THEY ARE LAWFUL from the commencement of play for that character. If such fighters elect to they can then become paladins, always doing lawful deeds, for any chaotic act will immediately revoke the status of paladin, and it can never be regained.

So do you know any arrogant bossy jerks? Would you describe any of them as having high Charisma? I would not.

Consider Charisma and the original definition in Volume 1 - Men & Magic of OD&D says:

Charisma is a combination of appearance, personality and so forth.

So do you know any really stupid, impractical, hardheaded stubborn people? Would you describe them as having high Charisma? I would not.

Therefore, IMO we have ruled out bossy, self-righteous jerks and Lawful Stupid as being the way to play a Paladin, at least in my campaign(s).

The other thing that is part of the original write up is this:

They will associate only with lawful characters.

Now bear in mind this is OD&D where there are only three alignments. This is where I choose as the referee in creating my own home brew world to make the game my own. I introduce my house rule that reads as follows:

They will associate primarily with lawful characters; however, given there mission to protect the innocent, defend the faith, to wage war against malignant chaos and all the forces of evil they may at times ally themselves with neutral characters and at times make bargains with other neutral or even chaotic creatures when it serves the greater good.

That is pretty long is it not? But I have allowed them to participate in parties with neutral characters and  to even bargain with chaotic creatures. You will notice that I have made a distinction between chaos and malignant chaos. This reflects my game worlds where I do not tolerate a style of play that says you automatically attack everything you see. My campaigns allow for many non combat options. 

You should remember, that in OD&D Chaotic does not equal Evil. Just as Lawful is not always Good. Alignment in my campaign is more complex, for all creatures PC and NPC it is how they are inclined and where they would line up if an all out final battle were to take place. Only the Paladin is required to behave consistently with a Lawful alignment at all times. Other PCs and NPCs are not tied to their alignments so tightly.

Paladins stand apart from all others in being closely aligned with the goals of their god in a way that not even Clerics are; however, in my campaign Both Fighting Men & Clerics can become Paladins at 4th Level. That is the other change I have made is that Paladins can come from either background, being know as Paladins of the Sword and Paladins of the Mace. I also have Dwarven Paladins that are known as Paladins of the Axe.

Here is my write up for Paladins, you will note that only Paladins of the Mace, that is Paladins that started as Clerics get any Spells:

Alignment is Lawful, Neutral and Chaotic. These are not necessarily Good nor Evil in and of of themselves. Good and Evil only applies to certain classes on a personal moral level as constants, most people vary all over the place from time to time, but tend towards one or the other. Paladins must be of Lawful Alignment and in addition must be morally Good on a consistent basis. Anti-Clerics are of Lawful, Neutral, or Chaotic Alignment and are by definition morally EVIL. Clerics on the other hand may be good small g or Good large G, I hope that is not too confusing. Only Clerics and Fighting-Men who are Good large G are eligible to become Paladins assuming that the meet the other requirements.

This is my edit of the Greyhawk supplement text. This is for an OD&D game without using anything outside the original 3 books except for house ruled things like this from literally anywhere. Hit dice are all 1d6 and all weapons do a base 1d6 damage with five exceptions: Maces do a base damage of 1d4+2 (3-6), Swords and Axes do a base damage of 1d6+2 (3-8), and daggers (and such) and slings do 1d4. Any other exceptions have to do with specific magic items.

The way that I run Paladins will be as follows: Human Fighting Men and Human Clerics who have a Charisma score of 17 or greater may become Paladins at fourth level IF THEY ARE LAWFUL Alignment from the beginning of play for that character and they must also be GOOD. This applies to both male and female characters. They must always do lawful deeds, since any chaotic (or evil) act will revoke the status of paladin-hood, and it can never be regained without extreme penance and a extremely dangerous quest depending on the magnitude of the act that cost them their status.

Fighting Men become Paladins of the Sword and Clerics become Paladins of the Mace. Dwarves may also become Paladins with all of the named requirements and they are known as Paladins of the Axe. Certain Other playable races may become Paladins and will usually be Paladins of the Sword.

Paladins have a number of very powerful aids in their continual quest for good and these are a bit different for the three types of paladins.

First of all - Paladins of the Mace: They can "lay on hands" to heal wounds or cure diseases but only in others, they cannot heal their own wounds this way; however, they are not subject to disease. They heal two points of damage for every level the paladin has attained, once per day at 4th level, twice per day at 6th level and thrice per day at 8th level and so on. They can cure the common minor diseases in groups(2d6+2) of people twice per day at 4th level and so on as for healing damage increasing to 3d6+3 people at 6th level and 46d+4 people at 8th level and so on. They can cure one serious disease per level attained twice per day and so on as for healing damage, increasing to thrice per day at 6th level and four times per day at 8th level and so on.

As you may note from the table, Paladins of the Mace continue to accrue, albeit more slowly, and use cleric spells as they gain Paladin levels, but as a Paladins they only get access to certain spells. Paladins of the Mace that are 8th level and above gain the ability (separate from spells) to dispel evil (spells, undead, evil enchanted monsters, and such) by ordering it so, and they detect all chaos, as well as evil, at a range of 6”. They also gain the ability to see in the absence of light.

Paladins with any type of Holy Mace are almost completely immune to all magic.
Paladins of the Mace may choose to obtain a Mule, which is powerfully gifted, but not more than one per 10 years of game time, so if it is killed it is not automatically replaced. The paladin’s Mule is a Riding Mule, with Armor Class V, moves 21” has 6 Hit Dice and is highly intelligent.

All paladin saving throws for Death Ray/Poison/All Wands including Polymorph or Paralization/Stone/Dragon Breath/Staves & Spells 25% better rounded up than the base class.

Second of all we will look at Paladins of the Sword: They can "lay on hands" to heal wounds or cure diseases but only in others, they cannot heal their own wounds this way; however, they are not subject to disease. They heal two points of damage for every level the paladin has attained, once per day at 4th level, twice per day at 6th level and thrice per day at 8th level and so on. They can cure the common minor diseases in groups(2d6+2) of people twice per day at 4th level and so on as for healing damage increasing to 3d6+3 people at 6th level and 46d+4 people at 8th level and so on. They can cure one serious disease per level attained twice per day and so on as for healing damage, increasing to thrice per day at 6th level and four times per day at 8th level and so on.

Paladins with any type of Holy Sword are almost completely immune to all magic.

Paladins of the Sword do not get any clerical spells, as do Paladins of the Mace. Paladins of the Sword that are 8th level and above gain the ability (separate from spells) to dispel evil (spells, undead, evil enchanted monsters, and such) by ordering it so, and they detect all chaos, as well as evil, at a range of 6”. They also gain the ability to see in the absence of light. Paladins of the Sword get a +1 to all rolls rolling high and a -1 to all rolls rolling low.
All paladin saving throws for Death Ray/Poison/All Wands including Polymorph or Paralization/Stone/Dragon Breath/Staves & Spells 25% better rounded up than the base class.

Paladins of the Sword may choose to obtain a Horse, which is powerfully gifted, but not more than one per 10 years of game time, so if it is killed it is not automatically replaced. The paladin’s Horse is a Heavy Horse, with Armor Class IV, moves 24” has 8 Hit Dice and is highly intelligent.

Thirdly we will look at Paladins of the Axe (only Dwarves may become Paladins of the Axe and they gain the advantage of unlimited advancement as a Paladin and are no longer limited to 6th level as a Fighting Man): They can "lay on hands" to heal wounds or cure diseases but only in others, they cannot heal their own wounds this way; however, they are not subject to disease. They heal two points of damage for every level the paladin has attained, once per day at 4th level, twice per day at 6th level and thrice per day at 8th level and so on. They can cure the common minor diseases in groups(2d6+2) of people twice per day at 4th level and so on as for healing damage increasing to 3d6+3 people at 6th level and 46d+4 people at 8th level and so on. They can cure one serious disease per level attained twice per day and so on as for healing damage, increasing to thrice per day at 6th level and four times per day at 8th level and so on.

Paladins with any type of Holy Axe are almost completely immune to all magic.

Paladins of the Axe do not get any clerical spells, as do Paladins of the Mace. Paladins of the Axe that are 8th level and above gain the ability (separate from spells) to dispel evil (spells, undead, evil enchanted monsters, and such) by ordering it so, and they detect all chaos, as well as evil, at a range of 6”. They also gain the ability to see in the absence of light to double the distance.
All paladin saving throws for Death Ray/Poison/All Wands including Polymorph or Paralization/Stone/Dragon Breath/Staves & Spells 25% better rounded up than the base class, in addition to adding four levels higher when rolling saving throws.

Paladins of the Axe may choose to obtain a Vorax as a mount, which is powerfully gifted, but not more than one per 10 years of game time, so if it is killed it is not automatically replaced. The paladin’s Vorax is a powerful wild beast that chooses to serve a Paladin, with Armor Class III, moves 18” has 8 Hit Dice and is highly intelligent.

All Paladins:
Paladins will never be allowed to possess more than two magical items, this does not include armor(includes helm), shield and up to 4 weapons that they normally use. They will give away all treasure that they win, save that which is necessary to maintain themselves, their men, and a modest castle. Paladins may not obtain a castle until they reach 10th level. Gifts must be to the poor or to charitable or religious institutions, i.e. not to some other character played in the game. A paladin's stronghold cannot be above 200,000 gold pieces in total cost, and no more than 200 men can be retained to guard it. Paladins normally prefer to dwell with lawful princes(barons) or patriarchs, but circumstances may prevent this.

They will form strong alliances only with lawful characters. However, they may be found in parties with Neutral Characters since most adventurers are Neutral, they may choose to associate with Chaotic characters if it is vital to be able to complete a Lawful task or to save innocents. Paladins of 8th level and above are recognized wherever they go as constituting a legitimate authority of Judge, Jury and Executioner. Once they reach 10th level, even Kings are subject to their decisions. Yes, these are powerful, however, I am of the mind that they are balanced with powerful Magic-Users, in addition they are very limited in how much magic and cash they can have. As noted in the tables, the experience requirements for advancing are quite steep compared to the base classes, so that balances out the power somewhat and allows the base classes to advance much, much faster.

This is my take on Paladins as it is currently. Note that Paladins of the Mace are better healers and can use Cleric spells, along with being powerful fighters, there is still value in being a straight Cleric since you are not limited in magic such as scrolls and in coin, you advance much faster and are likely to have a Paladin seek you out once you become a Patriarch. Likewise, Paladins of the Sword are powerful fighters but very limited in magic and coin, and straight fighters advance much faster and if Lawful may have a Paladin seek you out once you become a Lord. Although paladins can build small castles they are more likely to forgo that if there is a Lawful Lord or Patriarch they can ally with.

Paladins of the Axe are the most powerful of characters in an Underground environment and (if they have a mount) they have one  that is comfortable and capable Underground. Paladins of the Axe are held in high esteem by all clans of the Dwarves and are welcomed everywhere by Dwarves.