Comments on: Two Types of Paladin

By: Bushi

Bushi — Thu, 17 Mar 2016 18:06:13 +0000

Very interesting post. I never played the Crusader class in D3 (Witch doctor here) and I have only read the first Dresden book, but that’s an astute observation.

It’s funny, I recently did a little research on Paladins and their history going back to the legends of Charlemagne (and wrote a post about this on my blog /shameless promotion). Even the original Paladins seemed to be a checkered bunch. For the most part they were chivalrous and devout — see Rinaldo, for example. But there was also one who was an enchanter who summoned demons, and one of the Paladins was a Judas type who plotted against the emperor.

So I guess it makes sense that there would be varied portrayals of them, but it is indeed refreshing that they’re not always cast as zealots and religious bureaucrats.

By: Peter Martin

Peter Martin — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 00:47:15 +0000

I’ve heard a lot of good things about Bones. I really should get around to giving the series a try some day.

By: Peter Martin

Peter Martin — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 00:46:32 +0000

Samson is an interesting thought puzzle. In a lot of ways he kind of predates some of the ideas that make Paladins possible – religious hierarchies that include multiple strata of laity, formal honor codes, knighthood, and so forth. His powers are also pretty different from a paladin’s. In fact, I’d actually say Samson is probably a Barbarian if you were to put a character class on him (perhaps with a smattering of cleric levels so he can have the strength domain). His story is also almost certainly one of the origins of the Cleave and Sunder feats.

By: Joey Chapa

Joey Chapa — Sun, 24 Jan 2016 05:28:50 +0000

I don’t see people play paladins all that often, because of their bad rep, I suppose. Your early podcast on paladins re-ignited my interest in them, though, so I grabbed up The Paladins (a 4-book series by David Dalglish, $8 for the Kindle set, I think), which is an interesting, swords and sorcery exploration of the concept. What does a lawful good paladin do when he walks in on an interrogation that has taken a brutal turn? Can two friends, both paladins of very different deities, remain as friends over the long term? How does a paladin deal with deep doctrinal divisions within his own faith? Both the violence and the language in these books can be harsh, but I enjoyed how the warriors were forced at times to deal with really difficult situations – both moral and theological.

Right now, I’m mulling over the question of whether Samson was in any sense a paladin. A warrior, yes, and heroic in his mighty deeds. Divinely empowered? Check. But holy? Maybe we need a different character class.

By: Michael Sweeney

Michael Sweeney — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 06:46:06 +0000

Another really good example of a paladin done right, at least to me, was Agent Seeley Booth, at least in the first few seasons of Bones. He strives to always do what’s right without making sacrifices needlessly. There’s also a pretty good story arc of what happens when a paladin willfully commits a chaotic act and must atone.