DnD/Class Handbooks/Paladins/Call of Duty - Paladin

Call of Duty – A Paladin’s Sourcebook: Chapter 2: Roleplaying Paladins
Paladins and Alignment
Being lawful good means that you are honorable
and compassionate. You are willing to risk
yourself to protect the innocent and to fight evil in
an honorable way. You keep your
word and follow the laws of legitimate
authority. You see the value of
organization and teamwork.
However strict paladins may be,
they sometimes commit acts that are
not purely lawful good. Typically,
paladins and organizations of paladins
lean in one of two directions when
straying from the perfect path of lawful
good: They lean towards lawful
neutral or neutral good. These
leanings are the “tilt” of a paladin or
paladin organization.
Remember that if a paladin’s
alignment actually changes to one of
these alignments, then they violate
their Code of Conduct and become
ex-paladins until they atone. A tilt
merely defines which way a paladin
errs when confronted with a moral
dilemma requiring him to choose
between the ideals of law and good.
Some paladins do not have a tilt, or go
back and forth between the two ideals,
and a few paladins (but almost no
organizations of paladins) are beyond
reproach and tread the difficult path of
law and good with perfection.
Lawful Neutral Tilt: A paladin with a lawful
neutral tilt is sometimes more concerned about law
and order than the well being of others. Such a
The Code of Conduct
“You must understand that the Code is more than
a set of guidelines, rules, or even religious laws. It
is our strategic plan for defeating the forces of evil.
You may win a few battles without the Code.
However, those who are called must rise above
our enemies; only by fighting from a higher moral
ground can we hope to win the war.”
- An unnamed mentor
The paladin is one of the few examples in the
d20 system of using roleplaying restrictions to
balance game mechanics. That is because the
paladin is a special class, and worthy of such an
exception. The fantasy genre would not be
complete without them.
Unfortunately, the Code makes the paladin
hard to play. Its interpretation is subjective. The
40
Does Alignment
Determine Behavior?
Remember that you are
not required to roleplay in
accordance with your
alignment. Instead, your
alignment should be
determined by the way you
play your character, as
interpreted by the DM. You
choose your starting
alignment, but after that, the
DM decides what it is, based
on your behavior.
In other words, the DM
should never say “You’re
lawful good, you can’t do that!”,
but could say “Are you sure
you want to do that, it may
affect your alignment?”.
If the DM feels you have
committed an evil act, you
could end up playing an expaladin.
If that seems too
restricting, do not play a
paladin. The class is
subjective and challenging to
play, and may not be fun for
you.
paladin might prefer to fight a chaotic evil monster
on a rampage rather than topple the regime of a
lawful evil ruler.
They tend to prefer open combat
rather than tactics requiring stealth,
ranged weapons, or deception. They
never lie, even if innocents might be
hurt, but might stay stubbornly silent.
Orders that have this tilt may place a
heavy emphasis on honor and
tradition, and often promote the ideals
of chivalry.
Neutral Good Tilt: Paladins with
this tilt sometimes go with the belief
that the “end justifies the means”. To
a paladin with this tilt, service to the
forces of good is slightly more
important than a dedication to law.
This tilt is more common, because
the paladin’s Code of Conduct
promotes good behavior more
vigorously than lawful behavior.
Paladins with this tilt are more
likely to use deception, sneak attacks,
and disguises to protect the innocent
and fight evil. They still do not lie or
defy legitimate authority. However,
such paladins have been known to
use loopholes in the law, omit certain
facts, and ask for forgiveness rather
than permission.
Orders of paladins with a neutral good tilt tend
to place more importance on individuality and
occasionally go on covert missions, frequently
using the undetectable alignment spell.
goal of this section is to explain the paladin’s Code
of Conduct in detail. It is one view of the Code,
and not necessarily your DM’s view, so be sure to
talk to your DM about their interpretation before
play.
The paladin’s restrictions on associates
technically are not part of the Code of Conduct, but
are a part of the Code in spirit and so are
commented on here.
The Code, Line-by-Line
“A paladin must be of lawful good
alignment…”
Remember that while the player chooses the
initial alignment of a character, the DM may
change it to reflect your actions (see the Player’s