Jump to content

Paladin (character class)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Kaziel (talk | contribs) at 20:16, 14 February 2006 (→Other computer role-playing games). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Paladin is a character class in Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) and later role-playing games, many of which were influenced by D&D. The class is loosely based on historical paladins. The name of this class is often abbreviated to "Pally" or "Paly" in Online Role-playing Games.

Dungeons and Dragons

The paladin is a holy knight, crusading in the name of a specific god (Divine Spellcaster). Generally, paladins are of the Lawful Good alignment, though some products of the 3.5 edition of Dungeons & Dragons have created variants such as the Lawful Evil paladin of tyranny, the Chaotic Evil paladin of slaughter, and the Chaotic Good paladin of freedom. Under this arrangement, Paladins become the champions of the "corner" alignments, with Druids (who must have some "neutral" component to their alignment) being the champions of the "cross" alignments. Originally, only humans could be paladins, but in later editions, there is no such limit in race.

In addition, the paladin class is one of the most difficult to roleplay due to the singlemindedness and utter devotion to good. Paladin characters are expected to demonstrate and embody goodness—they are not supposed to lie or use poison, and some interpretations say they should use stealth as a last resort. In older editions of Dungeons & Dragons, the paladin class has the most severe ability score prerequisites. These ability prerequisites were abolished for the third Edition of the game, but a paladin character is still expected to have high scores in order to be effective. The ability scores most usually important to paladin characters are Strength, as they are a melee fighter class, Wisdom, as they can cast divine spells, and Charisma, which is the basis of their "Lay on Hands" ability and their "turn undead" ability. High Constitution (to increase hit points) and Intelligence (to improve the paladin's poor skill progression) are also very helpful.

Software versions of D&D such as Neverwinter Nights often loosen what few requirements there are for playing a Paladin to simply being lawful good in alignment. 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.

The paladin's specialties in Dungeons & Dragons are its high defense, its ability to cast defensive spells, the ability to heal (with the class ability "Lay on Hands"), and especially its proficiency against undead monsters.

Quest for Glory

In the Quest for Glory adventure games, the Paladin's most important 'ability' is the Honour, which also shows alignment in that game's system. Fighters and Wizards can achieve the Paladin rank at the end of the second chapter of the series, and be imported as Paladins in the third chapter.

Other computer role-playing games

Other computer role-playing games featuring a paladin class or character include:

Further reading

  • Defenders of The Faith - A Guidebook to Clerics and Paladins D&D Accessory by Rich Redman & James Wyatt. 2001
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Paladin_(character_class)&oldid=39630008"