Poll: Where all the (D&D) paladins at?

[Berenzen]

I have a paladin in a 4e game that's been going on for about 2 years now- meeting every saturday. The thing is, I push the boundries of alignment, so I don't really find it extremely restricting. I have done some really evil things in the name of Bahamut, some that even the shadier characters were hesitant on.

It's all in the way you play your class, if you do it right, you can really subvert them.

 

[dyre]

Paladins are a shitty, weak class, and they're jerks (who insist that you follow their alignment)!
Your players are doing everyone a favor by not playing a paladin

I finished my first playthrough of Baldur's Gate 2 with a cavalier, does that count?

Nope, because I also played my first BG2 playthrough as a cavalier, but in D&D I wouldn't touch paladins with a ten foot pole.

 

[XMark]

In games of all types I almost always choose the class that can be described as a Paladin. I like being able to both hit stuff hard and heal myself (and team)

 

[Electric Alpaca]

I played PLD on Final Fantasy XI for twelve months because I enjoyed being the centre of attention and a staple of every party.

It caused a lot of annoyance because my survival was dependent on the other five (and later seventeen) knowing exactly what they were doing else I was the first to drop.

 

[viranimus]

Where all the paladins at?

Typically on the end of my spear, or cleaved in half by my axe friggen useless naive zealots following some lofty code of ethics that serves no logical purpose. I take a special degree of joy in rending them asunder and leaving their bodies in my wake.

 

[Sean Steele]

Even my hardcore Lawful Good of Goodness character was a fighter. (Cause if you know what your doing you can build them better then any paladin not to mention paladin's get a mount which is effectively useless.)

 

[ChadSexington]

A paladin combines three things I don't want to play, a religious fanatic, a fighter and a healer. Arcane archery. Fuck yeah.

 

[Aris Khandr]

I have played Paladins, but rarely. Clerics are usually just as useful for the "holy warrior" archetype, and without the horrible penalties if the campaign dictates that a less-than-lawful/less-than-good action is required.

That said, I prefer to avoid the "typical" depiction of a class. And it's rather hard to do that with a Paladin. Not that it matters, because I usually get roped into DMing.

 

[Ryan Minns]

I am sometimes forced to be pally/cleric since somehow, despite all logical reasoning my friends refuse based on... they're Atheist... yeah, I kid you not. In a fantasy world where god/gods aren't a matter of faith but absolute, undeniable fact they refuse based on the fact in this world their faith is in no god so in a fantasy based setting they can't follow a god... I honestly wish I was making this idiocy up.

 

[Fappy]

Paladins are boss and they always make for good party drama.

 

[Sebenko]

Dunno.

Round these parts there's always a paladin.
The two that come to mind are the one in my current Pathfinder game, and one in another game I know is going on.

The former is pretty much an example of why no-one likes paladins- self righteous and totally unlikable. And then his character is just the generic holier-than-thou paladin.

The latter is much more amusing- he rolled a paladin on the basis that they were immune to disease (including STDs, duh), then built a massive pervert around that- trying to play a massive man-whore while living up to the paladin oath has led to some quite amusing tales.

I also don't play paladins (And avoid D+D in general) because I can't stand the moral system, especially when you're restricted to certain alignments, which then restrict your actions (admittedly, this is aggravated by the poor GMing in our current game. He hasn't let me backstab or dick over a single other party member yet)

 

[loc978]

Personally, I can't stand playing a lawful character who isn't evil. Blackguard, yes. Chaotic good ranger, yes. Paladin... hell no.

That said, I have had one player in one of the campaigns I ran play a paladin who didn't come off as lawful stupid... just misguided and stubborn. Also world-weary and borderline suicidal. It was an interesting game, to say the least.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

I've been DM'ing (and very rarely playing) D&D for about 6-7 years now, and in all that time, I have never seen someone roll up a Paladin. Ever. Not even consider it. Even among groups that all dedicate themselves to being good-aligned (which, to be honest, seems kinda rare) no one ever wants to play the Paladin.

Is this just my players? What sort of mythical sasquatch-like beast even plays this class?

Seven YEARS without a Paladin? How is that even possible?

I love playing the Paladin - in part because I don't play a "magical boyscout" as you put it. Ugh.

Paladins = Sexy Knights. Even more so since Pathfinder changed their caster stat to Charisma.

This is what I'm talking about:

Yes, I'm aware that the second one is actually a paladin deity - still.

I'd also include a picture of Bernadette from Flipside, but I can't find a good image of her in the 30 seconds I was willing to spend on looking for one.

Hell, I've played a Paladin in RAVENLOFT. That's, like, asking for bad things to happen to you.

The way to play a good paladin is to play a character who is truly concerned about protecting people. I don't generally concern myself with lots of spouting off about honor or that sort of thing - instead, I concentrate on playing paladins who protect people no matter the cost. My paladins (typically) put themselves in danger to protect those who cannot protect themselves. Paladins don't HAVE to have sticks up their asses - that's just a bad stereotype.

Besides... Smites (particularly since Pathfinder made them last the whole encounter) are fucking awesome. ^^

 

[gideonkain]

In MMOs I always role the paladin/angel class - I like the notion that actual powers can be achieved through faith...kind of like the Ori in SG1.

But in Dungeons and Dragons they aren't truly a hybrid of warrior and priest but more of a jack-of-all-trades, master of none.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

I am sometimes forced to be pally/cleric since somehow, despite all logical reasoning my friends refuse based on... they're Atheist... yeah, I kid you not. In a fantasy world where god/gods aren't a matter of faith but absolute, undeniable fact they refuse based on the fact in this world their faith is in no god so in a fantasy based setting they can't follow a god... I honestly wish I was making this idiocy up.

... but you can be a Paladin (or Cleric) of an alignment if you don't want to worship a deity.

You can be a Paladin of being Lawful Good if you want. Hell, a lot of Paladins don't have specific deities because they have a "higher calling". Or the are members of a Knightly Order rather than a religious order.

Do any of your friends play Clerics? If not... how do you get any healing done?

 

[spartan231490]

Playing a class that is defined by having a stick up your arse... Doesn't sound that enticing.

This. Not interested at all in being the paladin. A friend of mine never plays anything else though.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

Paladins are a shitty, weak class, and they're jerks (who insist that you follow their alignment)!
Your players are doing everyone a favor by not playing a paladin

... then your group isn't playing Paladins right. And weak? In a game where most of the monsters are evil (and some games are more chaos vs law, so sometimes that doesn't happen) then Paladin is THE best damage dealing class.

... assuming that you're playing Pathfinder. If you're playing 4E, I have no idea, I've only ever played an arcane caster in 4E.

Anyway, power levels aside, it sounds like your group doesn't play paladins well - or like you play in a group where people tend to play neutral-evil characters. If your group does a lot of enemy torture to extract info, then sure, a Paladin is a bad idea. If your group kills enemies that have surrendered and are begging for mercy, then again, the Paladin will not fit in.

However, if your group likes stealth to set up ambushes, then the Paladin should be no problem - and if your paladin IS a problem, then that has more to do with the player being a jerk than the character class.

Paladins have to be lawful - they don't have to avoid standard combat tactics. Flanking is a standard combat tactic - it is entirely honorable. So is stealth. If the party can sneak past the encounter, then no lives are lost - that is a good act! The only paladin who protests to tactics and stealth are stupid paladins.

 

[Havok2099]

I'd play a paladin, as they are certainly interesting to roleplay, but I just love psionic classes way to much.

 

[Ryan Minns]

I am sometimes forced to be pally/cleric since somehow, despite all logical reasoning my friends refuse based on... they're Atheist... yeah, I kid you not. In a fantasy world where god/gods aren't a matter of faith but absolute, undeniable fact they refuse based on the fact in this world their faith is in no god so in a fantasy based setting they can't follow a god... I honestly wish I was making this idiocy up.

... but you can be a Paladin (or Cleric) of an alignment if you don't want to worship a deity.

You can be a Paladin of being Lawful Good if you want. Hell, a lot of Paladins don't have specific deities because they have a "higher calling". Or the are members of a Knightly Order rather than a religious order.

Do any of your friends play Clerics? If not... how do you get any healing done?

It doesn't matter to them if their are loop holes, it's what the name represents outside the fantasy world. we've had many arguments.

As for the healing factor, many times DM's of the past have had to make a minor background healer which sometimes takes away from it. Clerics are absolute power houses though so sometimes I play them just to be better then everyone who refuses to play them lol

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

It doesn't matter to them if their are loop holes, it's what the name represents outside the fantasy world. we've had many arguments.

As for the healing factor, many times DM's of the past have had to make a minor background healer which sometimes takes away from it. Clerics are absolute power houses though so sometimes I play them just to be better then everyone who refuses to play them lol

Um... what the name represents outside the fantasy world? You mean Charlemagne's Knights? [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paladin]

Paladin is basically french for "Knight of the Round Table" - except Charlemagne didn't have a round table.

Seriously, the next time one of them gives you that crap, pull out King Arthur's knights, and be like paladin is the french word for this. Cause, really, the Knights of the Round Table are pretty damn awesome.

Also, what version of D&D do you play? I've been playing Pathfinder since the Alpha rules because, well, it's fricken awesome, but I know some people still play 3.5 (where Cleric was arguably the better combat class) and 4E (where I know next to nothing about Paladins or Clerics), so it is sometimes hard for me to judge.