Paladin (Dungeons & Dragons)
Encyclopedia
The paladin is one of the standard playable character classes
in most editions of the Dungeons & Dragons
fantasy
role-playing game
. The paladin is a holy knight, crusading in the name of good and order, and is a divine spellcaster. From 1st through 3rd edition, paladins were required to maintain the Lawful Good alignment
.
In addition, compared to other classes the paladin class has one of the most restrictive codes of conduct in their single-mindedness and utter devotion to good. Paladin characters are expected to demonstrate and embody goodness. In some editions it was taboo for a paladin to lie or use poison, and some interpretations say they should only use stealth as a last resort. Other restrictions are sometimes laid on the paladin depending on campaign setting, ranging from restricting the class to the point of making it comically unplayable to a class that only differs from other warrior classes in its additional divine powers. Failure to maintain a lawful good alignment or adhere to the code of conduct causes paladins to lose their paladin status and many of their special abilities until they are able to atone.
With the introduction of the 4th edition of D&D, paladins become champions of a chosen deity instead of just righteous warriors. There are other important changes, for example, paladins can be of any alignment, and can no longer fall in disgrace and lose their paladinhood.
supplement, was heavily influenced by the fictional character Holger Carlson from Poul Anderson's
novel "Three Hearts and Three Lions
," which was in turn based on the epic poetry of "Chanson de geste
." Also mentioned as a basis were the paladins of Roland, the palatine guard of Augustus deified, the papal guard of the same name, and the Christian myths of King Arthur.
(1975), as a subclass of fighting man
.
. In the 1st edition of Dungeons & Dragons the paladin class had very high ability score prerequisites, requiring a 17 Charisma and a 12 Strength (surpassed only by the ranger
, which required two ability scores over 13 and two more over 14). On top of ability score restrictions, the first edition of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons stipulated that only human characters could be paladins. Of course, as with any Dungeons and Dragons rule, this was subject entirely to mutual player decision and Dungeon Master fiat: several Dragon magazine
articles describe paladins of other races besides human and of other cultures besides the Western European chivalric romance notion of a true Christian knight.
In the Players Handbook, paladin appeared as a sub-class, and while a paladin was now much more powerful, paladins have to satisfy more rigorous criteria. When Unearthed Arcana
was first published in 1985, the paladin class became a sub-class of the newly introduced cavalier
class.
. The second edition Player's Handbook gives a several examples of heroes throughout legend and history who could be called paladins: Roland
and the 12 Peers of Charlemagne
, Sir Lancelot
, Sir Gawain
, and Sir Galahad
.
With the release of AD&D 2nd Edition the paladin class reverted to being tied to the fighter
group. With elements of the cavalier class, it was reintroduced as a character kit in The Complete Fighter's Handbook
, published in 1989, and finally got its own recognition in The Complete Paladin's Handbook, published in 1994.
As in 1st edition, the paladin class had very high ability score prerequisites, and stipulated that only human characters could be paladins.
Other Paladin class abilities include the ability to detect evil at will, immunity to fear and disease, the ability to cure disease, the opportunity to use "holy avenger" swords with imbued divine spells or extra damage to evil creatures, and to summon a "special mount" - usually a heavy warhorse of unusual strength and intelligence. Their spell-casting and Turn Undead abilities are similar to, but weaker or more specialised than, matching cleric abilities.
Typical tenets of the Paladin code are as follows (though many variants exist):
Occasional, necessary, minor deviations are permissible, but a single gross violation of his/her code of conduct will strip the Paladin of powers until he/she Atones. Acts of Evil or alignment shift always qualify. (Atonement typically involves a quest or undertaking by way of penance, but forced or accidental violations may waive this requirement.)
The Paladin class is available to all races, although most Paladins are still human. The class is notably uncommon among savage humanoids such as orcs and goblins, where good-aligned beings are rare.
Similarly to Monks, Paladins cannot consistently multiclass. Adding levels to any other class permanently halts progression as a Paladin, to reflect the devotion and single-mindedness of purpose expected of the class. However, all class abilities are retained in such cases. Certain feats found in the Complete Adventurer and the Eberron
campaign setting permit normal multiclassing (e.g. Eberron's Knight Training feat permits multiclassing with any one chosen class, and permits the same benefit to monk levels if that is the class chosen). Some prestige classes also waive this restriction (typically classes built especially for Paladins). A Fallen Paladin can choose to trade-in their levels for equivalent Blackguard powers.
Certain accessory products, most notably the Unearthed Arcana
, feature variant paladins such as the Lawful Evil Paladin of Tyranny, the Chaotic Evil Paladin of Slaughter, and the Chaotic Good Paladin of Freedom (with the base Paladin being called "Paladin of Honor"). Under this scheme, Paladins become complementary to Druids
, championing the extreme "corner" alignments just as Druids are champions of the partly-Neutral "cross" alignments. However, issue 310 of Dragon
magazine featured a "Paladin" for each alignment (for example, a Neutral Good Sentinel).
Aasimar
have Paladin as their favored class.
Smite Evil has also been replaced with various "smites" and "strikes" as part of the paladin's power set, which are defined as Prayers (the term used for divine classes' powers). Two builds are presented in the Player's Handbook: the Avenging Paladin, based on Strength and offense, and the Protecting Paladin, based on Charisma and defense. Strength-based attack prayers are generally weapon-based and limited to melee range, while Charisma-based attack prayers include both melee weapon attacks and ranged implement-based attacks. Paladins also have the divine challenge class feature, which causes a targeted opponent to take damage when it makes an attack which doesn't include the paladin, as well as "marking" that opponent, which penalizes any attack roll the opponent makes against a target other than the marking character. In place of a bonded mount, they can have powers at later levels that allow them to teleport across the battle field to aid endangered allies. The paladin was initially the only class in 4th edition to have plate armor proficiency at first level. Since then, the Knight (a variant of the fighter, first presented in Heroes of the Fallen Lands) and two more paladin variants, the Cavalier (Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms) and the Blackguard (Heroes of Shadow), also have this ability. Paladins may also take special feats related to their deity with their Channel Divinity class feature.
Many paladin prayers benefit from high Wisdom, and like clerics, paladins can use holy symbols as implements. Paladins no longer have the innate ability to remove disease or have immunity to diseases or fear, but can gain powers that allow other characters to make saving throws for status ailments that can be ended as such, as well as bolster resistances to negative status effects. Paladins also have the highest amount of healing surges out of any class, which when combined with their lay on hands ability, allows them to act as emergency healers. In 4th edition, Paladins use the standard multiclassing rules instead of having special multiclassing restrictions like they did in the previous edition.
abilities.
Paladins are usually very effective at fighting undead opponents. Prior to 4th edition, this is due to their ability to turn undead, their immunity to diseases, and their strong resistances to level draining, mind domination, and other harmful effects, while in 4th Edition, this is due to their ability to inflict radiant damage with many of their powers, to which many undead creatures are vulnerable. Paladins with holy weapons, and, in 3rd and 3.5 Editions, their Smite Evil ability, are often able to do tremendous damage to undead and evil opponents, and in some editions of D&D can even dispel the magic of evil spellcasters. Prior to 4th Edition, Paladins also have access to a magically powerful mount, often a warhorse, but sometimes a more exotic animal such as a griffin or dragon. This enables them to be more mobile, and they often act as cavalry in combat.
monsters. Software versions of Dungeons & Dragons such as Neverwinter Nights
often loosen the requirements for playing a paladin to simply being lawful good in alignment, and the paladin's unique position and alignment restriction is very rarely apparent in these software versions (with the exception of The Temple of Elemental Evil
) where the paladin can search dead bodies and unprotected chests and lockers without moral penalties. This bothers many "hardcore" pen-and-paper role-players who see the paladin's limitations as part of what makes it an interesting class to play. For example, in the game Icewind Dale II
paladins will often refuse the rewards for quests if they represent the party to the quest-giver, since "[the] paladins of Icewind Dale do not accept monetary gain for their just deeds."
Paladins are more rarely represented in early role-playing video game
s.
Character class (Dungeons & Dragons)
A character class is a fundamental part of the identity and nature of characters in the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. A character's capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses are largely defined by his or her chosen class; choosing a class is one of the first steps a player takes in order to...
in most editions of the Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
role-playing game
Role-playing game (pen and paper)
A tabletop role-playing game, pen-and-paper role-playing game, or Table-talk role-playing game is a form of role-playing game in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech...
. The paladin is a holy knight, crusading in the name of good and order, and is a divine spellcaster. From 1st through 3rd edition, paladins were required to maintain the Lawful Good alignment
Alignment (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, alignment is a categorization of the ethical and moral perspective of people, creatures and societies....
.
In addition, compared to other classes the paladin class has one of the most restrictive codes of conduct in their single-mindedness and utter devotion to good. Paladin characters are expected to demonstrate and embody goodness. In some editions it was taboo for a paladin to lie or use poison, and some interpretations say they should only use stealth as a last resort. Other restrictions are sometimes laid on the paladin depending on campaign setting, ranging from restricting the class to the point of making it comically unplayable to a class that only differs from other warrior classes in its additional divine powers. Failure to maintain a lawful good alignment or adhere to the code of conduct causes paladins to lose their paladin status and many of their special abilities until they are able to atone.
With the introduction of the 4th edition of D&D, paladins become champions of a chosen deity instead of just righteous warriors. There are other important changes, for example, paladins can be of any alignment, and can no longer fall in disgrace and lose their paladinhood.
Creative origins
The development of the Dungeons and Dragons Paladin, first introduced in the original GreyhawkGreyhawk (supplement)
Greyhawk is a supplementary rulebook written by Gary Gygax and Robert J. Kuntz for the original edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game...
supplement, was heavily influenced by the fictional character Holger Carlson from Poul Anderson's
Poul Anderson
Poul William Anderson was an American science fiction author who began his career during one of the Golden Ages of the genre and continued to write and remain popular into the 21st century. Anderson also authored several works of fantasy, historical novels, and a prodigious number of short stories...
novel "Three Hearts and Three Lions
Three Hearts and Three Lions
Three Hearts and Three Lions is a 1961 fantasy novel by Poul Anderson. It is also a 1953 novella by Poul Anderson which appeared in Fantasy & Science Fiction.-Plot:...
," which was in turn based on the epic poetry of "Chanson de geste
Chanson de geste
The chansons de geste, Old French for "songs of heroic deeds", are the epic poems that appear at the dawn of French literature. The earliest known examples date from the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries, nearly a hundred years before the emergence of the lyric poetry of the trouvères and...
." Also mentioned as a basis were the paladins of Roland, the palatine guard of Augustus deified, the papal guard of the same name, and the Christian myths of King Arthur.
Dungeons & Dragons (1974-1976)
The paladin was introduced in Supplement I - GreyhawkGreyhawk (supplement)
Greyhawk is a supplementary rulebook written by Gary Gygax and Robert J. Kuntz for the original edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game...
(1975), as a subclass of fighting man
Fighter (Dungeons & Dragons)
The fighter is one of the standard playable character classes in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. A fighter is a versatile, weapons-oriented warrior who fights using skill, strategy and tactics....
.
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977-1988)
The paladin was one of the standard character classes available in the original Player's HandbookPlayer's Handbook
The Player's Handbook is a book of rules for the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons . It does not contain the complete set of rules, but only those for use by players of the game...
. In the 1st edition of Dungeons & Dragons the paladin class had very high ability score prerequisites, requiring a 17 Charisma and a 12 Strength (surpassed only by the ranger
Ranger (Dungeons & Dragons)
The ranger is one of the standard playable character class in most editions of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. They are protectors of nature, skilled woodsmen, and often live reclusive lives as hermits....
, which required two ability scores over 13 and two more over 14). On top of ability score restrictions, the first edition of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons stipulated that only human characters could be paladins. Of course, as with any Dungeons and Dragons rule, this was subject entirely to mutual player decision and Dungeon Master fiat: several Dragon magazine
Dragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
articles describe paladins of other races besides human and of other cultures besides the Western European chivalric romance notion of a true Christian knight.
In the Players Handbook, paladin appeared as a sub-class, and while a paladin was now much more powerful, paladins have to satisfy more rigorous criteria. When Unearthed Arcana
Unearthed Arcana
Unearthed Arcana is the title shared by two hardback books published for different editions of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game...
was first published in 1985, the paladin class became a sub-class of the newly introduced cavalier
Cavalier (Dungeons & Dragons)
The cavalier is a playable character class in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, and the related Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.-Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition :...
class.
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition (1989-1999)
The paladin, as part of the "warrior" group, was one of the standard character classes available in the second edition Player's HandbookPlayer's Handbook
The Player's Handbook is a book of rules for the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons . It does not contain the complete set of rules, but only those for use by players of the game...
. The second edition Player's Handbook gives a several examples of heroes throughout legend and history who could be called paladins: Roland
Roland
Roland was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. Historically, Roland was military governor of the Breton March, with responsibility for defending the frontier of Francia against the Bretons...
and the 12 Peers of Charlemagne
Paladin
The paladins, sometimes known as the Twelve Peers, were the foremost warriors of Charlemagne's court, according to the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. They first appear in the early chansons de geste such as The Song of Roland, where they represent Christian martial valor against the...
, Sir Lancelot
Lancelot
Sir Lancelot du Lac is one of the Knights of the Round Table in the Arthurian legend. He is the most trusted of King Arthur's knights and plays a part in many of Arthur's victories...
, Sir Gawain
Gawain
Gawain is King Arthur's nephew and a Knight of the Round Table who appears very early in the Arthurian legend's development. He is one of a select number of Round Table members to be referred to as the greatest knight, most notably in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight...
, and Sir Galahad
Galahad
Sir Galahad |Round Table]] and one of the three achievers of the Holy Grail in Arthurian legend. He is the illegitimate son of Lancelot and Elaine of Corbenic, and is renowned for his gallantry and purity. Emerging quite late in the medieval Arthurian tradition, he is perhaps the knightly...
.
With the release of AD&D 2nd Edition the paladin class reverted to being tied to the fighter
Fighter (Dungeons & Dragons)
The fighter is one of the standard playable character classes in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. A fighter is a versatile, weapons-oriented warrior who fights using skill, strategy and tactics....
group. With elements of the cavalier class, it was reintroduced as a character kit in The Complete Fighter's Handbook
The Complete Fighter's Handbook
The Complete Fighter's Handbook is a supplemental rulebook published in 1989 for the 2nd edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Contents:...
, published in 1989, and finally got its own recognition in The Complete Paladin's Handbook, published in 1994.
As in 1st edition, the paladin class had very high ability score prerequisites, and stipulated that only human characters could be paladins.
Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition (2000-2007)
While there are no specific ability score requirements, a Paladin character in 3rd edition is still advised to have some high scores in order to be effective. These abilities are:- Strength & Constitution: As their class makeup and general honour code favour front-rank combat, Strength and Constitution are both important to Paladins in order to deal and withstand damage in melee.
- Charisma: Charisma is key to the Paladin's most crucial abilities: Lay on Hands (for healing) and Smite Evil (to harm malign creatures) both function relative to Charisma bonus, as does Divine Grace, which grants improved saving throws (commonly used to resist harmful magic). Turn Undead is also bolstered by Charisma.
- Wisdom: Though generally less critical than Charisma, a good Wisdom score is necessary in order for a Paladin to access divine spells at higher levels.
Other Paladin class abilities include the ability to detect evil at will, immunity to fear and disease, the ability to cure disease, the opportunity to use "holy avenger" swords with imbued divine spells or extra damage to evil creatures, and to summon a "special mount" - usually a heavy warhorse of unusual strength and intelligence. Their spell-casting and Turn Undead abilities are similar to, but weaker or more specialised than, matching cleric abilities.
Typical tenets of the Paladin code are as follows (though many variants exist):
- A Paladin must be of Lawful Good alignment.
- A Paladin may never willfully commit an Evil act.
- A Paladin cannot associate with any character that persistently commits acts which would cause the Paladin him/herself to Fall - notably Evil creatures.
- A Paladin must remain truthful and forthright at all times.
- A Paladin must give fair warning and due quarter to enemies.
- A Paladin holds stealth, subterfuge, attack from the rear, missile weapons and especially poison as weapons of last resort.
Occasional, necessary, minor deviations are permissible, but a single gross violation of his/her code of conduct will strip the Paladin of powers until he/she Atones. Acts of Evil or alignment shift always qualify. (Atonement typically involves a quest or undertaking by way of penance, but forced or accidental violations may waive this requirement.)
The Paladin class is available to all races, although most Paladins are still human. The class is notably uncommon among savage humanoids such as orcs and goblins, where good-aligned beings are rare.
Similarly to Monks, Paladins cannot consistently multiclass. Adding levels to any other class permanently halts progression as a Paladin, to reflect the devotion and single-mindedness of purpose expected of the class. However, all class abilities are retained in such cases. Certain feats found in the Complete Adventurer and the Eberron
Eberron
Eberron is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, set in a period after a vast destructive war on the continent of Khorvaire...
campaign setting permit normal multiclassing (e.g. Eberron's Knight Training feat permits multiclassing with any one chosen class, and permits the same benefit to monk levels if that is the class chosen). Some prestige classes also waive this restriction (typically classes built especially for Paladins). A Fallen Paladin can choose to trade-in their levels for equivalent Blackguard powers.
Certain accessory products, most notably the Unearthed Arcana
Unearthed Arcana
Unearthed Arcana is the title shared by two hardback books published for different editions of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game...
, feature variant paladins such as the Lawful Evil Paladin of Tyranny, the Chaotic Evil Paladin of Slaughter, and the Chaotic Good Paladin of Freedom (with the base Paladin being called "Paladin of Honor"). Under this scheme, Paladins become complementary to Druids
Druid (Dungeons & Dragons)
The druid is a playable character class in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Druids wield nature-themed magic. Prior to 4th edition, they gain divine magic from being at one with nature, or from one of several patron gods of the wild, while in 4th edition, they gain primal magic...
, championing the extreme "corner" alignments just as Druids are champions of the partly-Neutral "cross" alignments. However, issue 310 of Dragon
Dragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
magazine featured a "Paladin" for each alignment (for example, a Neutral Good Sentinel).
Aasimar
Aasimar
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, aasimar are a fictional race of humanoid creatures who are descended from celestials, angels and other creatures of good alignment...
have Paladin as their favored class.
Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition (2008-)
With the installment of Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition, paladins have seen nearly complete restructuring. Paladins are now champions of a chosen deity rather than just being a righteous warrior. As such, paladins may also have a different alignment from the traditional lawful good, however the paladin's alignment must correspond with his/her chosen god. Another new feature is the permanence of paladinhood. Once a character is ordained as a paladin, he/she cannot fall or have powers stripped in any way. This can allow players to avoid having to "police" their fellow party members, but depending on one's god, it may be encouraged to curb any excessively evil behavior. It is stated that failing to live up to one's deity's tenets will result in that paladin's compatriots hunting down and judging their wayward members.Smite Evil has also been replaced with various "smites" and "strikes" as part of the paladin's power set, which are defined as Prayers (the term used for divine classes' powers). Two builds are presented in the Player's Handbook: the Avenging Paladin, based on Strength and offense, and the Protecting Paladin, based on Charisma and defense. Strength-based attack prayers are generally weapon-based and limited to melee range, while Charisma-based attack prayers include both melee weapon attacks and ranged implement-based attacks. Paladins also have the divine challenge class feature, which causes a targeted opponent to take damage when it makes an attack which doesn't include the paladin, as well as "marking" that opponent, which penalizes any attack roll the opponent makes against a target other than the marking character. In place of a bonded mount, they can have powers at later levels that allow them to teleport across the battle field to aid endangered allies. The paladin was initially the only class in 4th edition to have plate armor proficiency at first level. Since then, the Knight (a variant of the fighter, first presented in Heroes of the Fallen Lands) and two more paladin variants, the Cavalier (Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms) and the Blackguard (Heroes of Shadow), also have this ability. Paladins may also take special feats related to their deity with their Channel Divinity class feature.
Many paladin prayers benefit from high Wisdom, and like clerics, paladins can use holy symbols as implements. Paladins no longer have the innate ability to remove disease or have immunity to diseases or fear, but can gain powers that allow other characters to make saving throws for status ailments that can be ended as such, as well as bolster resistances to negative status effects. Paladins also have the highest amount of healing surges out of any class, which when combined with their lay on hands ability, allows them to act as emergency healers. In 4th edition, Paladins use the standard multiclassing rules instead of having special multiclassing restrictions like they did in the previous edition.
Party role
Paladins exist primarily as melee combatants with limited divine spellcasting options. Outside of battle, paladins often function as diplomats or negotiators due to their high Charisma scores. Prior to 4th Edition, they lack raw focus on a certain aspect of the game, like a rogue attacking from the shadows or a wizard casting spells, but in turn they rather combine high hit point totals with overall good martial combat options and access to some divine spells and feats. In 4th Edition, paladins belong to the defender role, focusing on protecting allies both directly and through deterrence. In addition to their defender capabilities, paladins also possess some buffing and healingHealer (gaming)
A healer is a type of character class in video gaming. When a game includes a health game mechanic and multiple classes, often one of the classes will be designed around the restoration of allies' health, known as healing, in order to delay or prevent their defeat. Such a class can be referred to...
abilities.
Paladins are usually very effective at fighting undead opponents. Prior to 4th edition, this is due to their ability to turn undead, their immunity to diseases, and their strong resistances to level draining, mind domination, and other harmful effects, while in 4th Edition, this is due to their ability to inflict radiant damage with many of their powers, to which many undead creatures are vulnerable. Paladins with holy weapons, and, in 3rd and 3.5 Editions, their Smite Evil ability, are often able to do tremendous damage to undead and evil opponents, and in some editions of D&D can even dispel the magic of evil spellcasters. Prior to 4th Edition, Paladins also have access to a magically powerful mount, often a warhorse, but sometimes a more exotic animal such as a griffin or dragon. This enables them to be more mobile, and they often act as cavalry in combat.
In video games
The paladin's specialties in most Dungeons & Dragons video games are its high defense, its ability to cast spells and especially its proficiency against undeadUndead (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, undead is a classification of monsters that can be encountered by player characters. Undead creatures are most often once-living creatures, which have been animated by spiritual or supernatural forces....
monsters. Software versions of Dungeons & Dragons such as Neverwinter Nights
Neverwinter Nights
Neverwinter Nights , produced by BioWare and published by Infogrames , is a third-person perspective computer role-playing game that is based on third edition Dungeons & Dragons and Forgotten Realms rules. It was originally to be published by Interplay Entertainment, but the publisher's financial...
often loosen the requirements for playing a paladin to simply being lawful good in alignment, and the paladin's unique position and alignment restriction is very rarely apparent in these software versions (with the exception of The Temple of Elemental Evil
The Temple of Elemental Evil (computer game)
The Temple of Elemental Evil is a computer role-playing game by now-defunct Troika Games. It is a re-creation of the classic Dungeons & Dragons adventure of the same name using the 3.5 edition rules. The game was published by Atari, who then held the interactive rights of the Dungeons & Dragons...
) where the paladin can search dead bodies and unprotected chests and lockers without moral penalties. This bothers many "hardcore" pen-and-paper role-players who see the paladin's limitations as part of what makes it an interesting class to play. For example, in the game Icewind Dale II
Icewind Dale II
Icewind Dale II is a role-playing video game developed by Black Isle Studios and published by Interplay Entertainment, released on August 27, 2002. Like its 2000 predecessor Icewind Dale, the game is set in the Forgotten Realms fantasy setting in the Icewind Dale region...
paladins will often refuse the rewards for quests if they represent the party to the quest-giver, since "[the] paladins of Icewind Dale do not accept monetary gain for their just deeds."
Paladins are more rarely represented in early role-playing video game
Role-playing video game
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
s.
External links
- D&D Wiki has all the SRDSystem Reference DocumentThe System Reference Document, or SRD, is a set of reference role playing game mechanics licensed under the Open Game License by Wizards of the Coast and based upon their Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game. The SRD forms the basis of WotC's various d20 System role-playing games, including the...
Classes, along with the Paladin.