Why aren't there evil or neutral Paladins?

[DrakenKorin]

Originally posted by Throrgrim: u'll guyz will hav a go at me i no buuuuuuuuut: i think Paladins cant b evil. If ne1 has read the D&D 2nd edition rules and seen how they describle paladins u would know. it more or less says paladins r a cross between fighters and clerics, who strive to rid the world of EVIL and hope those of GOOD and r in need. so in my opinion, i dont think u should get evil paladins. there is also a picture of a paladin fighting thru hell and he is burning bright light of goodness and u hav all these evil creatures attacking him. this is just my opinion, though, and every1 is entitled to their opinion.

Oh, yeah, and we ALL know theres no non-good clerics in D&D!

Shyeah.

[Legolas]

Well, the main reason is that, traditionally, good is pictured as a small force of elites whereas evil is seen as countless hordes of weaker creatures. The quality vs quantity so to speak.
Paladins often appear near-perfect (in several ways such as fighting, ethics and hygene) and are one of the better examples of the quality. Get the forces of evil paladins, and you'll upset the balance.

At least, that's how I heard it be explained

[andrewas]

Originally posted by LennonCook: quote: Originally posted by 9_1_6: wot u mean that lose their good powers???

Healing. Inquisitors don`t have Healing.
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The paladin is considered the holy of holies - but he works not for a god, more for society in general. He does what he feels is best overall for society to function properly and keep as many people as possible happy.
But, I personally think a Paladin should be limited to *Neutral* Good. A Paladin does what he feels is best for society as a whole, whereas a Lawful Good person would simply uphold every law. A Paladin should have no bias toward law or chaos, but should work for society.
Laws don`t matter to a Paladin. He doesn`t do his utmost to uphold them, but by the same token he doesn`t go around breaking them for that very sake. If it is forbidden to dance with a Widow, but she is depressed in a corner, the Paladin will dance with her to make her happy. He believes that some laws, but not all, have a purpose; so, he acts as such.

Basically, I agree with the Quest for Glory series of games. [img]smile.gif[/img] [/QUOTE]Paladins follow the laws of their order, strictly. If the paladin was forbidden to dance by his order, he woudnt do it. He is lawful, he just dosent necaserily follow the same laws as the general society hes in.

[Myrddin L'argenton]

Originally posted by Gammit: I understand that the paladin was created the be the romantic, dragon-slaying, god-fearing warrior... but considering that there are PLENTY of neutral and evil gods in the FR pantheon, why shouldn't you be able to create a neutral or even an evil paladin? You know, somebody who fights for his/her gods ideals with the same fervor that a Lawful Good paladin would? I think this would be a really fun RP experience.

Yeah but you've got to remember that the original type of Paladin serves the three gods, Helm, Tyr and Torm, God of Guardians, God of War and God of Loyalty and Duty. These gods might make the Paladin only fit into one catergory Lawful Good. The Paladin stands for justice. However, as you can see from the comments, Gods like Cyric, have created their Anti-Paladin who is the opposite of the normal Paladin.

[Morgeruat]

Paladins are a human Ideal, the epitome of chivalry, and romantic society, they are bound by two sets of laws, the laws of their god(church or order), and the laws of the land, when the two are in conflict the laws of their god almost always prevail, however as Paladins are lawful beings if there is a law they do not agree with, they work within society to correct it, or change it, by petitioning the rulers, nobles, merchants or anyone with any kind of sway that can be converted to their ideology to correct the laws, only in the case of a lawful/chaotic evil ruler would they actively break the laws, likely causing the people to revolt against tyranny.

also, forgotten realms Paladins don't worship all three gods, Tyr, Torm, and Helm, they usually revere one of them as their patron, and respect the others, there are also paladins of Ilmater or any other lawful good diety, or in some rare cases, such as Helm, Lawful Neutral gods

[Sythe]

Bah Paladins I would still like it if they were evil. But isn't there a palaidn in the D and D world that a Paladin seves his god? Surly there are evil Palaidns out there that were born and bred to start chaos throughout the land for their god or for the joy of it. I think a palaidin schould have three alinments Goody Goody 2 shoes (Lawful Good) True Neutral and Chaotic Evil

[pritchke]

My understanding of a paladin is that paladin is just a word for a goody goody knight, and therefore evil knights cannot be paladins and would have a different term applied to them like dark knight, dread knight, anti-palidin etc.

[ 11-21-2002, 07:07 PM: Message edited by: pritchke ]

[Morgeruat]

I suggest you pick up the 1st edition Unearthed Arcana book, it has info on neutral and evil Cavaliers (it is it's own classification, like warrior, priest, magic user, etc) in that book paladins became a subclass of cavalier (rangers are a subclass of fighter, and druids are a priest subclass)

[Shaide]

I think you cannot get a neutral paladin, 'cause when you're winning a group of bandit, then the neutral paladin must fight again you for get the neutral state.
And a evil paladin... uff is so bored, 'cause you must kill all your band...
I think is imposible

[Myrddin L'argenton]

Originally posted by Morgeruat: Paladins are a human Ideal, the epitome of chivalry, and romantic society, they are bound by two sets of laws, the laws of their god(church or order), and the laws of the land, when the two are in conflict the laws of their god almost always prevail, however as Paladins are lawful beings if there is a law they do not agree with, they work within society to correct it, or change it, by petitioning the rulers, nobles, merchants or anyone with any kind of sway that can be converted to their ideology to correct the laws, only in the case of a lawful/chaotic evil ruler would they actively break the laws, likely causing the people to revolt against tyranny. also, forgotten realms Paladins don't worship all three gods, Tyr, Torm, and Helm, they usually revere one of them as their patron, and respect the others, there are also paladins of Ilmater or any other lawful good diety, or in some rare cases, such as Helm, Lawful Neutral gods

What I meant by serving these gods is that the Paladin's traits resemble the gods mentioned and respect them. If you see the Paladin Stronghold it has all three gods that I have mentioned in it. That's what I mean. Anyway, anyone wanting to know about the Paladin idealistics should read their description in the game as nit he manual and when you create a character. I like Paladins anyway, I can't see the point of a evil or neutral Paladin