Paladin

The typical Paladin, note the colors, and the symbol of the eagle, an important core of their faith

Paladins are a class from Dungeons and Dragons, inspired by a mixture of the idealistic views of the Crusades in late 70s/early 80s Western culture (never forget, Gary Gygax was a devout Jehova's witness) and the "Knight in Shining Armor" archetype of Chivalric Romances and the Arthurian Mythos. They are divine warriors of a somewhat more martial bent than Clerics, receiving a variety of powers generally focused around smiting the enemies of their god, and tend to have high Charisma scores to fuel their holy powers. Many a fictitious maiden that hasn't been seduced by the party's bard has benefited from a Paladin's Laying On of Hands. (Purely to heal their injuries, you understand. Unless they're into that sort of thing, of course. Not every god demands chastity of their warriors, after all.)

In addition to consistently being little different from a cleric/fighter multiclass character, they have earned a rather unfair reputation as a "troublemaker" class in D&D circles, the kind of class that must be watched because That Guy tends to be drawn to them. Rather like the Xaositect or the Kender... except, of course, the Paladin actually has numerous saving graces, so it has earned defenders, unlike either of the aforementioned troublemakers.

The cause? Simple: in the 1st through 3rd editions of the game, due to their "holy knight" origins, Paladins were game-mandated to uphold a Lawful Good alignment (which makes no sense, since any god would have use for paladins, not just LG ones). If they failed, they lost the bulk of their special abilities, leaving them as at-best a sub-par version of the Fighter until and unless they either Atoned - a process that could be very painful and often railroady - or changed classes entirely.

Now, this wouldn't be so bad in and of itself - alignment restrictions are hardly unique in any of those editions, even if most of them moved to much broader requirements under 3e and Pathfinder. However, for some reason, Paladins just seem to bring out That Guy in DMs. Why? Nobody really knows. The most logical reasons are a three-part combination; the "Fall from Grace" angle is a pretty well-worn story-angle, especially for more lackluster DMs, it makes a handy hook for railroading the party on, and most importantly of all: "Old School DMing". See, back in OD&D's day, D&D hadn't come far from its wargame roots, and so there was still a pretty strong "competitive" mindset in the culture. DM vs. Players was very common, if not the norm, with players trying to get all the loot and power they wanted and DMs trying to stop them. Thusly, the Paladin's "you must do what the DM thinks is Lawful Good behavior or lose all your power" ruleset was a built-in weakness. Of course, none of these may be true; some DM's are simply put, for the lack of a better word, little Cartmans who want "their authoritah to be respected", and likes to abuse and make people squirm because their lives were miserable.

This magnet for "moral dilemmas" and similar bullshit was bad enough, but on top of that, you had players who overplayed themselves, often for sheer fear that if they didn't act Lawful Stupid, the DM would strip them of their power. And whereas the "I drop my pants and piss on the King!" Chaotic Neutral, the "of course I steal from the party too!" klepto-Rogue or the friendly-fireball Wizard were purely a player using fluff to be a dick, in this case, the Paladin had actual mechanical enforcement to make it be a dick.

And from these roots, their reputation grew.

Eventually, after two decades of it, WoTC made the decision to try and fix this undeserved reputation - first by dropping the alignment restriction requirement entirely in 4e, and then switching from the annoyingly vague and open to interpretation "Must be Lawful Good" to "must follow this specific oath, which requires you to do X, Y and Z" in 5e. Although this has been met with the usual amount of rage and skub, and hasn't completely shaken off the stigma yet, it has opened up the Paladin and attracted a lot more players than it's ever enjoyed before.

Dragonladieshere and Beldak_Serpenthelm tell it like it is

We said SLAY the dragon, not LAY the dragon!

There is none of that, "Oh well if you're truly sorry, there's nothing I can do." horseshit. No, he coup de graces your ass because he's a goddamn paladin. His job is killing evil. You know what his job doesn't entail? Being a sympathetic ear for every whiny NE or CN or LE douchebag who's only being evil because the world is unfair to him or every punk that lets his own dislikes or laziness overcome his own personality. You know what unfair is? Being able to know what kind of person everyone is before you even talk to them. Smelling evil so potent on a motherfucker that you want to sink your fingers in his chest and pull that tar out until the screaming stops. Having the psychotic urge to murder people that you've never even met, for the sole reason that your God decided that you ought to be his right hand without your choice in the matter, that's unfair.

But unlike Evil McBlacknails over there, that Paladin puts on his helmet, sharpens his sword, and then continues walking through crowds of people day by day, resisting the urge. Seeing evidence of injustice so black it makes him sick. Seeing murderers and rapists walk the street, watching good men hang as evil ones pull the lever. Saving his righteous violence for when the situation exactly, specifically, precisely calls for it. Surgically removing that which is most evil. Because he's a Paladin. And if he gave in to the urge, what would he be? Who will right the true wrongs if not he? It's not about not falling as a Paladin. It's about falling so fucking hard you crash through the planet and stand up on the other side.'
 - Dragonladieshere

Some of the misconceptions that I am aware of some people having are: self-righteously throws fights by using the word "dirty" to refer to "realistic fighting", doesn't care about murderous tyrants as long as they gave themselves legal permission, believes that strategic retreats are always "cowardly", doesn't believe in letting the other people fight when "talking" would be more "right" in a "fighting" game."
Counter: A paladin’s code of honor is not about throwing fights; it’s about not starting them. If someone is as evil and dangerous as you think they are, then they will have no problem throwing the first blow, and if they do not do so, then perhaps they are not as dangerous as you think. How many have been killed in fights that they picked with somebody whom they FALSELY believed would’ve attacked them first, but who in fact had no intention of doing so until he himself was attacked and had to defend himself? And yet, how many people have killed in self-defense in the same circumstance, when they in fact could’ve simply incapacitated their attacker and learned that his only real crime was stupidity?
More importantly, a paladin learns to pick her battles, but BEFORE the battle actually starts. If you attack something that you know to be dangerous, and then run off without planning to finish the job, then you have put others in danger by angering the enemy you attacked and encouraging him to lash out. If you plan to help people by deposing a tyrant, and you don’t bother gathering enough allies to ensure that you actually defeat him when you engage him, then the tyrant needs to know that when – not if – he defeats you, his quarrel with you will be finished, and he needs not burn entire villages to the ground looking for where you fled to and who helped you. If he was not the kind of ruler who would do that after a half-assed assassination attempt, then you would not have needed to depose him in the first place, and thus, if you are stupid enough not to bring enough allies to ABSOLUTELY guarantee victory, then you would need him to know that you acted alone and never had a chance worth him getting worried about after you are dead.'
 - Beldak_Serpenthelm

For a player who understands what a paladin is like, see also Powder Keg of Justice.

Paladins in different editions of D&D

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BECMI

Introduced in the Companons Set for Dungeons & Dragons, the Paladin in this iteration of D&D is a kind of proto-prestige class. A Fighter with a Lawful alignment who reaches 9th level can choose to swear fealty to a Lawful church to be inducted into their order. This causes them to gain certain abilities as if they were a Cleric of much lower level, namely casting clerical magic and turning undead, as well as an innate ability to detect evil. Their only restrictions are that they must obey their churchly superiors (unless commanded to do evil), and they must offer what assistance they can to non-evil people in need of help, unless already on a mission for a higher authority.

This same edition introduced the Avenger as the Chaotic counterpart to the Paladin, essential a proto-Blackguard.

AD&D 1st Edition

Lawful Good. If you fuck up at being Lawful Good, you're busted down to Fighter at the same level, and your church shuns you. The controversial Unearthed Arcana book adds the chance to play Paladin-Cavaliers, who are incredibly ridiculous in power level (can stay conscious and retreat at negative hit points, can boost Str, Con, Dex, and Cha a little bit each level up, immunity to fear, etc).

Only humans can become Paladins in this edition.

AD&D 2nd Edition

A sub-class of Warrior, 2e Paladins are notable primarily by their potential to use Holy Avenger swords, which inflict an additional +10 damage versus Chaotic Evil foes (which is a lot for 2e), and create a circle of power that is a selective antimagic field versus lower level magical effects (so all enemy buffs and enemy magic items created by a level 12 wizard power down when a level 13 paladin walks up). The Paladin's kits have their own brands of notoriety. Most notably, the Cavalier kit recreates about half of the abilities they used to have for a Paladin; in fact, the 3e Paladin actually takes its Fear Immunity trait from this kit, rather than the core AD&D Paladin. Meanwhile, the Inquisitor was probably pound-for-pound the best anti-mage fighter in the game, with a redonkulous amount of Dispel Magic spells per day so potent Monte Cook still has bitch-fits at the thought of adapting the Inquisitor to 3.X. A straight Paladin probably does not have a good chance of being worthwhile compared to a fighter if they cannot expect to find their holy sword, however.

As in 1e, Paladin is the most racially restricted class, only being open to humans, for the most part. However, certain other races were also able to become Paladins:

• Rakasta could be Paladins in Basic, but in AD&D, only the Sibasta strain from Dragon #247 retained this trait.
• Lupins could be Paladins in Basic, and the Maremma, Golden Retriever, Zvornikian Sentinel strains and "Mongrel" breeds from Dragon #237 were Paladin-capable for AD&D.
• Saurials of the Finhead strain had a special "pseudo-paladin" fighter kit available to them, called the Saurial Paladin.
• Aasimar could become straight-up paladins, as you'd expect given they are the children of angels.
• Bariaur males could become paladins since their introduction in the Planescape campaign setting - surprisingly, given the race's association with the Chaotic side of the Upper Planes.
• Earth Genasi, at the DM's discretion, could be paladins - ironically, they could reach 15th level, whilst the aasimar could only reach level 14!
• Irda could be Paladins when they came out in AD&D.
• Black Swanmays (Dragon #266) can be Paladins, Clerics or Crusaders, whilst the White Swanmays can only be Druids or Rangers.
• Daergar, Hylar and Theiwar dwarves could be Paladins in the Dragonlance Monstrous Compendium.
• Silvanesti elves could be Paladins in the Tales of the Lance boxed set and in the Dragonlance Monstrous Compendium.
• Dargonesti and Dimernesti sea elves could be Paladins in the Dragonlance Monstrous Compendium.

3rd Edition

Lawful Good, with an explicit Code of Conduct, in exchange gains a number of immunities to various status effects, their famous ability to Smite Evil, and the service of an intelligent and useful mount. Splatbooks introduced various alternative-alignment variants. The first and most well-known is the Blackguard prestige class from the DMG, which could be any flavor of evil and could gain additional abilities for every level of Paladin that the player had prior to becoming a Blackguard. Later, Complete Divine introduced the Holy Liberator prestige class as a Chaotic Good version of a Paladin. There are also options to make the Paladin more cleric-like in Dungeonscape, or completely remove spells such as in Complete Warrior.

3rd Edition Paladins are tier 4: Good (but not amazing) at destroying evil creatures, competent at diplomacy and good at pretty much nothing else. They also suffer from a severe case of MAD, relying on Strength and Constitution to be decent in combat, and Wisdom and Charisma for spellcasting.

D20 Modern

Urban Arcana adds the (Un)Holy Knight prestige class which requires one have Good or Evil allegiance. As a prestige class, it's fairly late to qualify for (8 BAB in a system where full BAB is rare) but it packs the main Paladin abilities into five levels. Since it gives Divine Grace at first level, it's a good way to finish off a Sorcerer or Telepath build and is still solid for any combat brute.

Pathfinder

Seelah, Pathfinder's Iconic Paladin/Champion

Pathfinder made a number of mechanical improvements (beefy ones, Pathfinder paladins are badass), but mostly left them alone conceptually. Now they cast spells off charisma rather than wisdom (and praise Saerenrae for that. One unusual consequence of this is that thanks to high natural will save and adding charisma to all saves, Paladins are now free to dump wisdom as low as it can go.), and their Smites, on top of granting better defensive and offensive bonuses, keep Smiting until they either Smite something else or the Smitee is dead. (Sure, it can theoretically run out in twenty-four hours, but almost nothing suffering from a Smite is going to live that long). The Code of Conduct was also softened a little to allow paladins to more easily be team players and not 100% stick-in-the-mud party cops. One problem, if you can call it that, is that the paladin is too specialized (even with Pathfinder's improvements he still won't break tier 4): If the DM keeps throwing evil outsiders or undead into the campaign as BBEGs a modestly-well-prepared paladin will be able tear through them like a holy-powered buzzsaw without a lot of effort, since he deals better "burst" damage than almost any of them and has great saves and immunity to shit like mummy rot, so he won't be afraid to charge in and rip and tear when another class would be adverse to taking risks around one. If the final boss keeps getting one-shotted by a well-timed Smite Evil litany of righteousness power attack/deadly aim combo, it may very well be time to invest in "moral complexity." (Read: throw some constructs or wild animals at him.). Despite this the Paladin still struggles to be worthwhile outside his niche. A major reason for this is that Paladins have only 2+int skill points per level, being the only player class in the system aside from Fighter to have only 2 skill points without getting at least 6th level spells. Their class list is at least much better than the Fighter’s, and they do have some spellcasting and healing for out of combat utility.

Thanks to their variety of class abilities that can be traded away, a Paladin has some of the most varied archetypes in the game, second only to Monk. These range from simple (Divine Hunter, which trades melee abilities for ranged ones) to "free planar ally and more casting" (Sacred Servant, which can shoot a Paladin up to tier 2 if they worship a deity that gives a good planar allies and tier 3 even if they give something lame like elementals).

Pathfinder 2nd Edition

Pathfinder Second Edition decided to drastically change the class, with the least of these being its name: Yes, the Paladin is now called the Champion. This along with the option for any good alignment (evil later featured in Advanced player's guide and neutral is TBD) rather than the explicit Always Lawful Good nonsense. The limited spellcasting has also been condensed into Focus Casting (meaning you have spells that you cast using limited points, but you recover them with a 10 minute rest). Smite has been removed and replaced with a counter-attack based on the Champion's specific alignment (Either a flat counter-attack while protecting an ally, force the enemy to choose between dealing no damage or dealing less damage and being weakened, or giving an ally a chance to break free of a restraining condition and escaping with protection. The evil versions spin on this by making it revenge whenever the champion takes damage, either forcing them to kneel lest they take mental damage, extra damage resistance or taking bonus damage that's reflected onto the enemy). Like the 1E Paladin, you also get a Divine Bond, though you also have the option to use it on a shield (to make it capable of absorbing more damage than normal) instead of a weapon or summoning a steed.

All in all, the Champion focuses on being a defender/striker (depending on alignment) and supporter type, with spells being a minor feature that's not quite as hamstringing thanks to how Focus Points and how some feats grant more of them (Especially when taking from a Cleric Domain) and how the class itself is practically divorced from needing any spellcasting stat.

4th Edition

In 4th Edition, the paladin must be the same alignment as their deity; no more Lawful Stupid out of fear of falling. The slightest deviation from one's alignment no longer results in a DM bitchslap and losing class features; instead, you get vague threats that the other faithful of the paladin's religion will seek you out to administer chastisement for your failings. You would think that since this removes one of the oldest mechanical complaints about the class, fans would be happy, but "Paladins must be Lawful Good!" is such a sacred cow that people were bitching over its loss even as they bemoan the Lawful Stupid Paladins and Orc Baby Dilemmas of old editions. Because of this beloved sacred cow, /tg/ likes to joke that this applies literally, making a meme out of 4e-paladins taking no falling damage.

As they were mechanically slotted to the role of Divine Defender, Paladin abilities are more focused on being a meat-shield than being a holy avenger; for more smite-evil action, you want the Avenger class from Player's Handbook 2. What this enabled, though, was the ability to focus your paladin into two different styles: either the full Str-meathead attacking tank pally and the Cha-based casting-and-curing paladin. Regardless of which path you picked, Paladins have two features by default: Divine Challenge (Your alignment-neutral Smite Evil that now forces an enemy to fight you or suffer damage that scaled by tier) and Channel Divinity (Your 1/fight special powers weren't part of your leveling scheme that you only get more of by getting feats). There is ultimately one way paladins can differentiate yourself, and it was only realized with the advent of the Divine Power splatbook:

• Lay on Hands: That old staple that the PHB held onto. You spend one of your Healing Surges to heal an ally as if they spent it.
• Ardent Vow: A damage-focused power that dealt extra damage the next time a paladin hit the designated enemy as well as designating them to the newly-made Divine Sanction (A challenge-lite that also hurt an enemy when they don't target a paladin but has far less restrictions on usage).
• Virtue's Touch: Not quite as strong as Lay on Hands, but this allowed a paladin to cure various conditions they might run into.

The Essentials books later gave the Paladin two variant classes: The Cavalier (a very simplified paladin that pretty much exemplified the stereotypical "Essentials Class") and the Blackguard (A sort of bizarro-paladin that went more offensive and gained powers from their vices without becoming completely evil).

5th Edition

Mechanically speaking, 5th ed paladins have a few minor differences; their "detect evil" is now 1+Cha mod uses per day, and can no longer be used on the same turn as a smite because move actions no longer exist. Additionally, it has changed from detecting alignment to detecting Celestials, Fiends, and Undead, as well as if areas have been consecrated or desecrated, meaning that the paladin can now be caught by surprise by mundane evil (Which makes sense, since Alignment is now strictly for roleplaying purposes, and has little to no mechanical backing). Smiting now uses spell slots, with higher spell slots dealing more damage. They also get different types of Smite spells as they level up, with additional effects. And their "lay on hands" power taps into a reservoir of hitpoints-per-day that expands with each level, rather than healing for a fixed value a fixed number of times per day, and, taking a page from Pathfinder, removes diseases and poisons. This new setup sacrifices raw healing power for flexibility of use to let them fill in a different niche from, say, a Life domain Cleric.

Really got the shaft, like the other half-caster this edition, with "dead levels" where they literally gain nothing but hitpoints, proficiency, and a single spell slot, are heavily-reliant on a very limited resource pool that only ever recharges on a long rest, and generally suffer, like the bard of previous editions, from being not quite good enough at any one thing to outshine the specialists, but at least, unlike the ranger, they have some abilities that scale naturally with their level, and they get a better version of the ranger's third-level Nature Sense power at level one, that also doesn't eat a spell slot to use. And their animal companion is summoned via a re-castable spell rather than an archetype feature, so they don't have to spend their own actions getting the damn thing to move and attack.

However. The best Paladin in 5th edition is not actually a paladin, but a Hexblade, Sorcerer, or Bard with some levels of Paladin. Because spell failure is no longer a thing, a Paladin who soon multiclasses into a normally squishy arcane caster class will still be rocking heavy armor and a shield. To start with, a single level dip into Warlock lets the Paladin pick the Hexblade feature, making her melee attack and damage scale off of charisma rather than strength or dexterity. This has the tremendous benefit of making them highly single-attribute dependent as they literally cut people in half with their sexiness-boosted melee attacks. Levels of Bard and Sorcerer, apart from the obvious benefit of giving the Paladin access to powerful charisma-based arcane spells, increase their smiting ability much faster than actual Paladin levels... meaning a "Paladin" who has six levels in Paladin and eight in Sorcerer is going to be laying sown hugely damaging smites all day long. While giving the party huge boosts to saving throws. And they can use sorcery points to supercharge their spells while also having massive single-damage melee capability.

In 5th Edition, paladins no longer must adhere to any alignment (though the fluff still talks like they're all Lawful Good and are effective against fiends and undead regardless of alignment). However, when they reach 3rd level they swear their Paladin Oath, which gives him a code of conduct for him to follow. Also, since paladins have their codes of conduct clearly stated in the PH, rather than leaving it up to the nebulous personal decisions of a DM as to what actually constitutes "Lawful Good" and its required behavior, it's a lot harder for DMs to force a paladin to fall on grey area moralities. A paladin that breaks his oath must seek atonement and absolution. An unrepentant paladin, a paladin who abandons their quest for justice, or a paladin whose repeated oathbreaking demonstrates an unwillingness to follow their chosen path may become an Oathbreaker (see Blackguard).

If you want to add more complexity to the Paladin Oath, maybe because you want to push it more towards the flavor of the elder editions, the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide gives an example of "general oaths" for Paladins. No mechanical crunch is enforced, so you don't have to uphold everything, but they offer great examples for more ways of fleshing out paladins in your setting, with tenets like "be honest and keep promises" or "be generous and tolerant".

There are three oaths in the corebook: the Oaths of Devotion, the Ancients, and Vengeance, each of which requires behaving a specific way and which gives specific powers.

• Oath of Devotion is the closest to the iconic Paladin archetype. This Oath requires you uphold the principles of Honesty (don't lie or cheat, let your word be your promise), Courage ("Never fear to act, though caution is wise" in the book proper, which basically means "don't be a coward, but don't be Leeroy Jenkinsing dat shit either"), Compassion (Aid others, protect the weak and punish those who threaten them, show mercy to your foes but temper mercy with wisdom), Honor (treat others fairly, do as much good as possible with as little harm as possible, be an example to others) and Duty (be responsible for your actions and their consequences, protect those entrusted to your care, obey those who have just authority over you, so you don't have to obey the local tyrant because s/he is technically the ruler now).

In exchange for all that, you get iconic Paladin type spells like protection from evil, lesser restoration, beacon of hope, etc, the Sacred Weapon (you can charge up a weapon to become a glowing magical weapon) and Turn the Unholy (make undead and fiends flee from you) uses of Channel Divinity, the Aura of Devotion feature (immunity to charm and give this to close-by allies), the Purity of Spirit feature (constant Protection From Evil on self) and the Holy Nimbus (create an aura of radiant damage-dealing, fiend & undead spell-weakening light once per day).

• Oath of the Ancients is a bit of an oddity, and possibly owes its origins to the Warden of 4th edition. Basically, this is a paladin who sides with the light due to their appreciation for beautiful, life-giving things of the world, making them allies of more benevolent druids, wilderness fae like dryads and nature deities, in theory. In reality, this is a class people take because it has by the far the best defensive aura in the game, halving the damage from all spells taken by allies in their aura. Between passively boosting saves and passively cutting incoming spell damage in half, Ancients Paladins are one of the most potent anti-magic classes in the game. An Ancients Paladin with levels in Bard for counterspell purposes will make your DM cry any time he tries to throw casters at your party.

They're frankly kind of hippyish, with the tenets of "Kindle the Light" (promote hope in others with mercy, kindness and forgiveness), "Shelter the Light" (protect beauty, love, good and laughter), "Preserve Your Own Light" (try to avoid turning into a bitter cuss) and "Be the Light" (serve as an example of why hope and joy are important to believe in).

If you take this Oath, you get druidic spells like ensnaring strike, speak with animals, moonbeam and tree stride. Your Channel Divinity can be used to create entangling vines with Nature's Wrath, or to Turn the Faithless and so repel fiends and fey. Your Aura of Warding grants you and nearby allies resistance to damaging spells. Undying Sentinel lets you cheat death once per day and makes you immune to aging. Finally, the Elder Champion is a nature spirit-like form you can assume once per day for a number of benefits, including regeneration and more potent paladin spells.

• Oath of Vengeance is similar to the Grey Guard of 3rd edition, and probably best fits characterization like Batman or Judge Dredd. It's all about punishing the wicked and the sanctity of vengeance. Of course, you don't have to portray this guy as a total asshole - in fact, the 3rd edition Greyhawk Knights of the Chase are pretty applicable examples for a Vengeance Paladin.

The tenets of this creed are "Fight the Greater Evil" (basically, measure the evil you see vs. the evil your sworn enemy would do; if the guy you really have a hate-on for is less of a threat, then focus on stopping this douchebag first, otherwise focus on your sworn enemy), "No Mercy for the Wicked" (you can spare lesser foes, but sworn enemies need to die or otherwise be punished), "By Any Means Necessary", and "Restitution" (it's your fault that your enemies hurt people, so you have the responsibility of helping those that they hurt).

A Vengeance Paladin's spells, as you might expect, focus on impeding the ability of enemies to escape and enhancing the paladin's ability to go after them - hold person, dimension door, scrying, etc. They can Channel Divinity to Abjure Enemy (frighten an enemy so bad they can't move) or declare a Vow of Enmity (make it easier to kick that creature's ass), gain the Relentless Avenger feature (free move if you score an attack of opportunity), gain the Soul of Vengeance feature (Vow of Enmity lets you get free attacks if the target tries attacking), and culminate with the Avenging Angel feature (transform into an angelic form once per day).

• Oath of the Crown essentially more fully embraces the knight archetype of the Paladin's history, with the paladin's devotion being given specifically to society and the laws that built it up from the wilderness. You could alternatively flavor it as a hyper-patriotic (or nationalistic, depending on alignment) character like Stephen Colbert in the picture up top.

This is a breed of paladin that focuses more on Law than on Good, with its tenets being Law (respect the law and hold it paramount), Loyalty (your word is your bond), Courage (do what needs to be done for the sake of order, no matter the odds) and Responsibility (the shit you do is all on you, so keep that in mind - also, you have duties & obligations, so you better damn will fill them). This means that Crown Paladins are the most likely archetype to fall back into the Lawful Stupid behavior feared and condemned of old, but they can also be sources of old-school Lawful douchebag character themes (i.e. "you lie, cheat and steal; you are scum and I must punish you!") and arrogant prick character themes (e.g. hating druids, barbarians, and nature clerics for being primitives that don't appreciate the value of civilization).

Because the Crown Paladin's focus is on the sanctity of law and society, with the specific ideology that the paladin is an Agent of Authority, their spells all fit into that theme, from the likes of zone of truth to outright mind-control spells like command and geas. They can use their Channel Divinity to issue a Champion Challenge (compel a creature to try and fight you) or to Turn the Tide (mass heal for allies). Divine Allegiance lets them soak up hits for nearby allies, Unyielding Spirit makes them harder to paralyze or stun, and their Exalted Champion feature means that, for an hour once per day, they can gain damage resistance vs. mundane weapons and grant advantage on death saving throws and Wisdom saving throws to themselves and allies.

A comment on using Crown Paladins in homemade worlds in the back of the SCAG admits their magical powers don't quite mesh with the knightly archetype, but notes they make excellent examples of theocratic knightly orders - or even mystic ones, if one simply changes their flavor from "divine" to "arcane".

• Oath of Conquest is at best a fairly Lawful Stupid themed Oath and at worst goes all the way to Lawful Evil levels of tyranny; it dictates that its adherents should Douse The Flame Of Hope (use fear to intimidate defeated foes so badly they will never dare oppose you again), Rule With An Iron Fist (brook no dissent from those you have conquered) and to hold Strength Above All (what goes around comes around; if you can't beat someone, then either get stronger or be crushed in turn- there's no place for weakness in this Oath).

Because Conquest Paladins are often allied to arch-devils, their bonus spells have a fairly Warlockish feel to them, with spells like Armor of Agathys, Hold Person and Bestow Curse. Their Channel Divinity can be used to deliver a Conquering Strike (inflict fear with your weapon attack) or Guided Strike (big bonus to your To Hit roll), they exude an Aura of Conquest (disadvantage on saves vs. fear) at 7th level, they gain immunity to charming from their Implacable Spirit at 15th level, and at 20th level they become the Invincible Conqueror. This lets them buff themselves up for 1 minute once per day, during which time they Resist all damage, gain a bonus attack each turn, and deal critical hits on a 19-20 when making melee attacks.

• Oath of Redemption, in stark contrast to the Oath of Conquest, is an oath dedicated to personal redemption for past misdeeds, using combat as a last resort. Of course, some morons might see this as an excuse to be That Guy and try to not help their allies in combat. However, the subclass is very good for support. They have shielding abilities and have an emphasis on rebuking those who attack first.

• Oath of Glory, first printed in Mythic Odysseys of Theros and later reprinted in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, focuses on emulating legendary semi-divine heroes, such as Gilgamesh, Hercules, and Achilles. Its tenants are Actions Over Words (gain renown by actually doing awesome things, not just boasting), Challenges Are But Tests (don't get discouraged by hardship), Hone the Body (be swole), and Discipline the Soul (work to overcome your flaws).

Oath of Glory paladins get spells related to buffing themselves and others, like Heroism, Enhance Ability, and Haste, with a few 'ask the gods for help' spells thrown in. Their Channel Divinity can make them a Peerless Athlete (you're extra swole for a while) or deliver an Inspiring Smite (heals allies after you hit an enemy really hard). At 7th level, they gain an Aura of Alacrity, which increases the speed of anyone in its area of effect. At 15th level, they can mount a Glorious Defense, which makes an enemy attack more likely to miss, and allows the paladin to counter-attack if that happens. At level 20, they become a Living Legend, allowing them to draw upon the stories told about them to buff themselves, granting them boosts to charisma checks and saving throws, plus allowing them to hit an attack they would have missed.

• Oath of the Watchers is Men In Black Paladin or maybe HFY Paladin sworn to protect mortal realm from extraplanar beings - this includes the obvious culprits like fiends, aberrations, genies, slaadi and elementals, as well as less malicious types, such as fey and celestials. Because they're dicks to mortals too, using us as pawns in their games. Their oath requires them to be vigilant to the point of paranoia and beyond and put the interest of mortals above all.

Watchers get a set of spells best suited for locating, protecting from and BTFOing outsiders back to their planes, can turn all kinds of extrapanar creatures like priests turn undead, or give their allies advantages for most common saving throws used by outsiders. Their aura gives bonus initiative which is always nice, they can retaliate with force damage when someone casts spells around them and as a capstone get to channel the power of HFY to get truesight, advantage on attacks against outsiders, banishing them on a successful hit.

Also, got several new fighting styles with the new Expanded Class Features UA, namely a sweet new fighting style to let them poach two cleric cantrips for a ranged combat option and some extra utility, as well as the fighting styles everyone else got, namely 1)Blind fighting, which lets you effectively fight a creature you can't see as long as it's not hidden from you; 2)Interception, which works like the protection fighting style except that it a] reduces damage by 1d10 plus your proficiency bonus instead of imposing disadvantage, and b] works with either a shield or a weapon instead of just a shield; 3)Thrown weapon fighting, which lets you draw a thrown weapon as part of the attack you make with the weapon, and grants you a +1 to the damage roll; and 4)unarmed fighting, which changes your fists to 1d6 plus strength (1d8 if both your hands are free) instead of the flat 1 plus strength, although it isn't clear if divine smite even works on your fists it has been stated that RAI you can't smite enemies using your fists; RAW however smite merely requires you to make a attack in melee with something other than spells so it works.

How to play a Paladin that won't get lynched by the party

As mentioned above, the Paladin has a reputation for strict "moral conduct" requirements, and at worst can range from insufferable to unplayable in a party. Now, assuming that you care about roleplaying and aren't just doing whatever you want to the point that their codes are meaningless or reskinning your oaths so much that they're unrecognizable, how would one play a Paladin that isn't so pants-on-head stupid that they're despised? These ideas might help:

General tips

• Remember that you're playing a character, not a label. They can have diverse feelings and nuanced or evolving views even if they strive to uphold their codes. Heck, figuring out what their faith means to them and discussing it with others can be good roleplaying opportunities.
• Define what "Lawful Good" means to your character. There's a difference between "help the community and keep it safe" and "we must commit ourselves to the cosmic struggle, and if you don't you're a filthy heathen"; both could be Lawful Good, but one plays with others a lot more easily.
• Work out your Paladin's personality with your DM and group so that you're all on the same page. That way, even if they butt heads, it'll hopefully play out more like an expected scene of conflict instead of a plot-derailing argument. The "Teammate Nobody Likes" or being the resident naysayer can be an acceptable trope...if it's mostly agreed-upon.
• Don't make your Paladin in a vacuum. Be somewhat aware of the setting or the party so that you're not just throwing in a Lawful Good character that doesn't fit.

Pre-5E

• If you're allowed to serve ANY god or come from ANY culture, you could serve a deity with values that aren't the stereotypical "LAW AND JUSTICE" fodder. For example, you could pick a more chill deity of the harvest and say "According to my god, it is Good and Lawful to help the land to flourish". Though of course, be careful that you don't use it as a loophole for disruptive behavior like "I serve a trickster god, so it's Lawful and Good for me to be a self-serving kleptomaniac".

In 4e

Some might say that being a paladin in 4e is easy mode in regards this issue, since 4e paladins don't have to stay true to a generic alignment, but instead must uphold and obey the tenets of a patron deity. That said, this isn't entirely a free lunch. For starters, you probably shouldn't want to play a paladin devoted to an Evil or Chaotic Evil deity - though there are two notable exceptions, in the form of Bane and Vecna. Secondly, remember that you're playing a paladin; your theological role is more the protection of the church and the faithful, by force if necessary. If you really want to focus on the "smite the heathen, burn the heretic" approach to faith, you're honestly more suited by temperament to the Avenger class... not that Avengers don't have similar issues to paladins, but still.

Avandra:

• Luck favors the bold. Take your fate into your own hands, and Avandra smiles upon you.
• Strike back against those who would rob you of your freedom and urge others to fight for their own liberty.
• Change is inevitable, but it takes the work of the faithful to ensure that change is for the better.

Bahamut:

• Uphold the highest ideals of honor and justice.
• Be constantly vigilant against evil and oppose it on all fronts.
• Protect the weak, liberate the oppressed, and defend just order.

Corellon:

• Cultivate beauty in all that you do, whether you’re casting a spell, composing a saga, strumming a lute, or practicing the arts of war.
• Seek out lost magic items, forgotten rituals, and ancient works of art. Corellon might have inspired them in the world’s first days.
• Thwart the followers of Lolth at every opportunity

If you want an extra challenge as a Corellon worshipper, you could play your paladin using the rules for "elfpriests" from Dragon Magazine #394. These are the elf and eladrin-specific tenets, focusing on Corellon's identity as the patron deity of those races, and are meant to be followed alongside the core tenets above:

• Safeguard the elves and their holdings. Elvenkind is your paramount concern.
• Seek out and recover lost elven relics, for other races cannot be trusted with their safety.
• Be vigilant against the Spider Queen. Her lies and treachery promote ugliness and corruption.
• Wage war eternal against the banished darkness. The drow are your greatest foes.
• Suffer not the orc to live.

Erathis:

• Work with others to achieve your goals. Community and order are always stronger than the disjointed efforts of lone individuals.
• Tame the wilderness to make it fit for habitation, and defend the light of civilization against the encroaching darkness.
• Seek out new ideas, new inventions, new lands to inhabit, new wilderness to conquer. Build machines, build cities, build empires.

Ioun:

• Seek the perfection of your mind by bringing reason, perception, and emotion into balance with one another.
• Accumulate, preserve, and distribute knowledge in all forms. Pursue education, build libraries, and seek out lost and ancient lore.
• Be watchful at all times for the followers of Vecna, who seek to control knowledge and keep secrets. Oppose their schemes, unmask their secrets, and blind them with the light of truth and reason.

Kord:

• Be strong, but do not use your strength for wanton destruction.
• Be brave and scorn cowardice in any form.
• Prove your might in battle to win glory and renown.

Melora:

• Protect the wild places of the world from destruction and overuse. Oppose the rampant spread of cities and empires.
• Hunt aberrant monsters and other abominations of nature.
• Do not fear or condemn the savagery of nature. Live in harmony with the wild.

Moradin:

• Meet adversity with stoicism and tenacity.
• Demonstrate loyalty to your family, your clan, your leaders, and your people.
• Strive to make a mark on the world, a lasting legacy. To make something that lasts is the highest good, whether you are a smith working at a forge or a ruler building a dynasty.

Pelor:

• Alleviate suffering wherever you find it.
• Bring Pelor’s light into places of darkness, showing kindness, mercy, and compassion.
• Be watchful against evil.

Raven Queen:

• Hold no pity for those who suffer and die, for death is the natural end of life.
• Bring down the proud who try to cast off the chains of fate. As the instrument of the Raven Queen, you must punish hubris where you find it.
• Watch for the cults of Orcus and stamp them out whenever they arise. The Demon Prince of the Undead seeks to claim the Raven Queen’s throne.

Sehanine:

• Follow your goals and seek your own destiny.
• Keep to the shadows, avoiding the blazing light of zealous good and the utter darkness of evil.
• Seek new horizons and new experiences, and let nothing tie you down.

Bane: Achra, the God of War and Conquest, might seem like an odd choice to play a paladin for, but there's a bit more nuance to him than to his Forgotten Realms namesake. As early as Dragon Magazine #372, 4e pointed out that there are perfectly logical reasons for non-warmongers to worship him; Bane is also the god of discipline, order, the rule of law, and the triumph of civilization over the wilderness... and considering that most of the standard &D setting (the Nentir Vale especially) is a monster-haunted wilderness hellhole... yeah, you can see why people might want him on their team.

In the 4e Dungeon Master's Guide, Bane's tenets are given thus:

• Never allow your fear to gain mastery over you, but drive it into the hearts of your foes.
• Punish insubordination and disorder.
• Hone your combat skills to perfection, whether you are a mighty general or a lone mercenary.

The aforementioned Deities & Demigods article presents alternative interpretations, and a fundamental message for each of these in turn:

• Fear is a two-edged sword.
• Order is sacrosanct.
• Without strength, there is no victory.

Vecna: You'd think that the god of necromancers, undead and black magic as a whole would be the last choice to play a paladin of without getting short shrift from the rest of the party. And normally you'd be right. But there's two things giving Vecna an almost Bane-like level of potential playability. Firstly, Vecna is a subtle god, so you're supposed to be keeping your true faith under wraps in the first place. Secondly, Vecna is also the god of secrets, which means there are sects of his dedicated to the idea that there is shit in the world that man was not meant to know, and to making sure that they don't get the chance. In particular, there's the sect known as the Keepers of the Forbidden Lore, who worship Vecna as the god of secrecy and forbidden knowledge by rounding up the darkest, nastiest lore they can find and making sure it stays buried forever. Truenames of fiends, rituals to open rifts to the Far Realms, magics of mass destruction, the Keeper's job is to find this stuff and bury it good and deep.

The DMG offers these as Vecna's commandments:

• Never reveal all you know.
• Find the seed of darkness in your heart and nourish it; find it in others and exploit it to your advantage.
• Oppose the followers of all other deities so that Vecna alone can rule the world.

His Channel Divinity in Dragon Magazine #395, which talks about playing a Vecna worshipper without being evil, instead presents his fundamental tenets thus:

• Follow the Subtle Path: Enemies abound. Ostentatious displays invite their attention. Reveal nothing about yourself and never offer more information than is required. Hold back all that you can because secret knowledge gives you power over others. Vecna knows your spirit, so never risk yourself or your gains by revealing your devotion to nonbelievers.
• Nurture the Seed of Darkness: Search your heart, your mind, and your body for darkness and surrender to its power. Let the shadow consume you, fill you with its perfect darkness, and guide your actions in the world. Those who shine brightest cast the darkest shadows. Corruption’s potential is your greatest ally. Locate darkness’s seed in those around you. Nurture it until the evil flourishes. Once your subject is in its throes, he or she will be powerless to resist you and become your obedient thrall.
• Reject All Gods but Vecna: The Maimed God is the one true god of all gods. All others are lesser godlings, sycophants, and pretenders. They win mortal affection through trickery and fraud. Reject them and go forth confident in Vecna’s favor. Scorn the priests who prostrate at the altars to the false gods. Trust them not because they covet the blessings Vecna bestows on you. Oppose their efforts lest they steal from you what you have earned.

In 5E

While 5E is a lot more liberal with how players and DMs can interpret the strictness of their codes, some tips and ideas might be useful for the unique angles of each subclass.

Oath of Devotion

Closest to your typical Lawful Good types, what worked in earlier editions will probably work here.

• You are serving a brand of Lawful Good that is a lot more benign. More "build schools and hospitals, hold fair elections", and less "WE MUST ROOT OUT ALL IMPURITY".

Oath of the Ancients

Probably one of the most easygoing oaths this edition with plenty of room for interpretation.

• If you're going hard on their artistic, joyous side, then just have basic situational awareness so that you aren't ruining moments.

Oath of Vengeance

The Oath of Vengeance may seem like edgelord fodder, but it has some built-in safeguards so that your Paladin is aware of collateral damage and remembers to help people.

• A useful rule of thumb is to play them like a well-written Batman, who actually cares about people and is introspective about the cost and sustainability of vengeance.
• You still believe in bringing retribution to the wicked, but you have a life outside of it.
• You've actually achieved your vengeance. Now you're either wondering what to do next, or looking to help other victims/bring other monsters to justice.
• Ironically, the "by any means necessary" part of their code means the rules actually support you being a team player and going with the party's methods.

Oath of the Crown

Hews closer to Lawful Stupid territory, but political pragmatism can help you out here.

• You (or perhaps your whole party) are serving and cooperating at the behest of your government.
• Your government/order/agency gives you a lot of...operational flexibility.
• You and your oath only care about law and order in YOUR nation. Which can make you That Guy if you're not careful, but hey, it's a tip.

Oath of Conquest

Assuming you're not just in a flat-out evil campaign, Conquest is tricky but not impossible.

• Your god/order is aiming you at the BBEG in an 'Evil vs. Evil' situation.
• You're actually serving the side of good...by crushing evil thoroughly. Side of angels, but not one of them.

Oath of Redemption

In contrast to the others, this one might hearken back to Stupid Good.

• It's in-character to give most mortal beings a shot at redemption, but remember that you can still use your judgement (or at least an Insight check) to see if they're being sincere so that you're not wasting your (and everyone's) time with Starscream's 72nd bluff.
• Your interpretation of your oath is more along the lines of "remove their ability to do harm, THEN redeem them", so you find self-defense and neutralising threats acceptable.
• Even the write-up for your code gives you room to acknowledge "Yeah, you're too far gone, I have to take you out". Though if you make that choice too often, you're likely to be ignoring the spirit of your oath just to exploit the letter of it.

Oath of Glory

As written, your oath mostly focuses on being the best you in mind, body and deed, so you're less likely to be the moral police. You might, however, be Leeroy Jenkins.

• It's in-character to accept any challenge/quest/plot hook, but remember that you can still use your brain if it looks suspicious.
• You're a supportive gym-bro who wants to help others reach your level, and not a chad who looks down on anyone not as (wo)manly as they are.

Oath of the Watchers

The Watchers are defined by an external threat, so like the Oath of Glory, you're not going to be needling your allies that much. Unless they're trafficking with extraplanar beings, that is.

• You're a relatively pragmatic Watcher who is willing to work with or tolerate non-threatening Outsiders.

See Also

• Holy Opposites, a lengthy novel about two Paladins.
• Sameo, a short story about a Paladin who dies awesomely.
• Lawful stupid, a particularly annoying way to play a Paladin.
• Space Marines, who are like grimdark Paladins IIIIN SPAAAACE.
• Grey Knights, who are like the above, but even more so.
• Detect Evil, about a common problem with that spell/ability.
• Detect Evil Storytime, a short story about what Detect Evil feels like to the Paladin.
• Powder Keg of Justice, a short story about a Paladin who explains why his order has so many rules.
• The Orc Baby Dilemma, a topic of much debate amongst /tg/ regarding how a paladin falls
• Gideon Jura and Elspeth Tirel, Magic the Gathering characters based on the paladin archetype with varying degrees of success

Gallery

• 
  No John, you are the smiteings
• 
  Detect and smite paladin hard at work.
• 
  PRO DM SKILLZ
• 
  Intelligence and wisdom are sadly frequent dump stats for Paladins.
• 
  Nothing says "fallen paladin" like smiting your teammates. Though murdering her boss was what actually did the trick.
• 
  Evildoers, prepare your anus. That eighteen charisma is crazy "under the hood."

The Classes of Pathfinder 1st Edition
Core Classes:	Barbarian - Bard - Cleric - Druid - Fighter - Monk Paladin - Ranger - Rogue - Sorcerer - Wizard
Advanced Player's Guide:	Alchemist - Antipaladin - Cavalier Inquisitor - Oracle - Summoner - Witch
Advanced Class Guide:	Arcanist - Bloodrager - Brawler - Hunter - Investigator Shaman - Skald - Slayer - Swashbuckler - Warpriest
Occult Adventures:	Kineticist - Medium - Mesmerist Occultist - Psychic - Spiritualist
Ultimate X:	Gunslinger - Magus - Ninja - Samurai - Shifter - Vigilante

The Classes of Pathfinder 2nd Edition
Core Classes:	Alchemist - Barbarian - Bard - Champion - Cleric - Druid Fighter - Monk - Ranger - Rogue - Sorcerer - Wizard
Advanced Player's Guide:	Investigator - Oracle - Swashbuckler - Witch
Secrets of Magic:	Magus - Summoner
Guns and Gears:	Gunslinger - Inventor
Dark Archive:	Psychic - Thaumaturge
Other:	Archetypes