If you don’t care one bit about Dungeons and Dragons, or any tabletop role playing game, then click away now. These blog posts aren’t for you. But… maybe you are one of the fantasy fans that still hasn’t played… and kinda wants to…
Maybe you have seen some D&D inspired candles on our site…
Or maybe your friends have invited you to play D&D…
Or maybe you have read The Lord of the Rings every year like Chrstiopher Lee, and now you want your own adventure…
Or maybe it’s Renaissance fair season ended and you miss acting like a noble lad or lady…
If, for whatever reason, you are thinking about giving it a try… well by all means… keep reading!
If you are going to be playing D&D, then you are going to need to create a D&D character.
And when you inevitably ask “what character should I create”?, it will lead you down a lot of detailed and overwhelming rabbit holes. We here at Firelight Fables don’t want that for you, so we have created various “beginners guides”. These are NOT exhaustive super guides with every details and fact imaginable… that would be overwhelming again!
Rather, they simplify the details so you can have an easier time learning the game and making a choice of what class to play.
Each of the following blog posts in this series will offer a few details about the classes of D&D characters, as well as the type of players that would find those classes fun to play.
THE PALADIN
The Paladin is considered one of the Best Classes in D&D 5e. If that isn’t reason enough to play one, consider whether or not you are one of the players that would particularly enjoy this righteous warrior.
Players that Want to Relive The Knights of the Round Table
There is no “knight class” in D&D. And it is very easy to make your character look/feel like a knight: just give them some heavy armor, a horse and lance, and the noble background and BAM… they look the part!
But only the Paladin actually feels like you are a sworn brother or sister of the Knights Templar. Or a trusted Knight in Arthur’s Court. And that’s because Paladin’s take OATHS.
Starting at Level 3, every Paladin must swear an OATH. It is a strong conviction of the character to something or someone.
Through it they uphold justice and righteousness and fight against all evil from the local to cosmic level. With this oath comes different spells and channel divinity powers.
It goes farther than the mere bonds of other characters… your oath is a life-long pledge… not easily kept or easily broken. Here are the different oath options:
Ancients: For those with a love for all things green and beautiful.
Conquest: Like Alexander, your Paladin will weep, for there are no more worlds…
Crown: Pax Romana, Britannica, Americana! For King, Queen, and Country!
Devotion: Philosopher knights, serving the high ideals of heaven and a brighter future.
Glory: Like Achilles, your Paladin will be tempted even if their doom is foretold.
Redemption: For those that see the world clearly, holding the tension between mercy and justice… knowing even a small light can overcome the deepest darkness.
Vengeance: When the justice of kings and courts fail, it becomes your job to arrange evil doers meeting with the Raven Queen.
Watchers: Stand on the borders, guarding against the wilds and the planes of existence, so that mortals may live in peace and ignorance.
Oathbreaker: For when your Paladin breaks any of the above oaths… they are fallen, consumed by shame and anger. Go full Anakin Skywalker.
Players that Want Some Guidance with Role-Playing
D&D is “the worlds greatest role-playing game”. To role- play is to act like your character in some way. But there is no script… so you’ll have to creatively improv your character. And understandable, that makes some new players a bit nervous.
No matter what class you choose, you can usually role-play your D&D character anyway you like. The main exception is the Paladin class. Alongside the Personality, Ideals, Flaws, and Bonds of every single D&D character, the Oath of each Paladin has tenets which dictate what kind of character they are. These tenets will dictate how your character will react to different situations.
Here is the catch: if you DO NOT follow the tenets, then your DM has every right to take away all your special Paladin abilities and powers!
Long story short: the Paladin class comes with further structure to a player’s role-playing. And for some people, people who might be nervous with improv-creativity expectations, the additional structure may be welcome!
Players that Want to Hit a Bad Guy REALLY HARD
Some players want to twirl around with a saber, slicing and dicing with precision. But others… Others want to pick the 15ft monster’s head off the ground after a single swing of their longsword.
The Paladin has some spells and magical/divine abilities, but they are mostly a martial class: they rely on their weapons in combat. Barbarian’s are strong like a Paladin, and Fighter’s can use every weapon like a Paladin, but only a Paladin can SMITE.
A smite is when a Paladin, fueled with righteous, faithful fervor, channels divine energy into an attack. You can choose to do this AFTER you know you hit… and even if you score a critical hit (roll a natural 20).
The result? When you smite… you leave a BIG mark!
Players That Want to Be the Rock of the Party
While a lot of classes are VERY good at different things… very few are good at A LOT of things. And considering A LOT can go wrong in combat, its especially good to be good a A LOT of COMBAT things.
This is why the Paladin is considered “the best” 5e class: they have an answer for everything in combat.
Lots of evil guys? Use two attacks. Need someone to distract the monster? You have heavy armor and a shield (high Armor Class). Someone down and needs healing? Use Lay on Hands. Need to take out the big evil guy? Smite their ass.
I had a Paladin player survive for 4 rounds one on one with a young adult dragon. Nuff said.
Conclusion
Even from these brief insights, you can probably see why the Paladin class is one of the most popular classes in D&D 5e.
They are… just… well… hella good.
But while they are super powerful and fun, a word of caution: there is a lot of customization that comes with Paladin… which can make an already overwhelming game a bit more overwhelming.
But if you are excited and up to the task… then have fun donning your armor, bending the knee, and fulfill your oath!
Riley Rath
Based out of Spokane, Riley is a freelance copywriter that combines his love of reading, writing, and people into something useful! He is thankful to be applying his passion for imaginative role-playing to help DnD related businesses communicate their value in the best way possible. He's kinda like a bard giving inspiration, except without the annoying pop covers!