The paladin is a staple of fantasy TTRPGs. Initially introduced in 1975 as part of the Greyhawk campaign setting, they’ve shown up in various forms in all of the subsequent editions. Sometimes as a subclass. Sometimes with hard restrictions on their actions. Sometimes they’re powerful caster/fighter hybrids. Other times, not so much. But regardless of their mechanics the idea of a strong champion of a cause has seated itself firmly in our fantasy brains.

For this article, though, I’m not going to be talking about the class of paladin. I’m going to be talking about the trope. In the D&D cultural zeitgeist, the paladin is often characterized as a stick-in-the-mud or worse, a narc, but there’s so much more to this trope beyond the memes. So let’s take a closer look and figure out how to use the fantasy of a stalwart champion to create absorbing character arcs.

The Paladin

Whether it’s truth and justice, holy orders, or an assassin’s code, the paladin is the one who makes an oath and keeps it.

The Fantasy:

The paladin is the one with a code. A set of rules they’ve sworn to uphold. These rules can come in a variety of forms. If we’re thinking of the stereotypical “good guy” paladin, then these rules could look like divine dogmas, moral frameworks, or even local laws. But here’s the thing, “good guys” aren’t the only ones with codes of conduct. In The Professional, Léon’s “No women, no kids” rule puts him squarely into the paladin camp. Criminal organizations have rules, and people who enforce those rules. The fae courts, as chaotic as they can seem to some, are sticklers for contracts. Hell (literally), even some versions of demons act the same way.

The point is, the fantasy of a paladin isn’t about alignment, it’s about believing in and following the rules of something bigger than themself.

Examples:

• Wonder Woman, DC Comics
• Steve Rogers, Marvel Comics
• Prince Zuko, Avatar the Last Airbender
• Furiosa, Mad Max
• Jack Reacher, Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novel series
• Amy Santiago, Brooklyn 99

Why This Doesn’t Work in a TTRPG:

I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed this, but a good number of TTRPG sessions usually end up with the PCs breaking at least one local rule or city ordinance. Dragging a tried and true rule-follower along on a heist can often feel like bringing your mom to a high school kegger. Not ideal and definitely not comfortable.

On the paladin’s end of things, it can be hard to square your character’s actions with the party dynamics if the party is dead set on crime (regardless of their intentions). In the worst situations, you might run into a situation where the paladin feels they have to stop the other PCs from doing the thing they’re going to do.

Having a player trying to shut down other players’ actions is a recipe for PvP or worse, hard feelings among the players themselves.

Making it Work:

Long-time readers of Gnome Stew will already know the answer to this problem lies in a good session zero. If you were already thinking that while reading the last section, congratulations. Get yourself a treat the next time you’re out and about. You deserve it.

Here are some questions to ask your would-be paladin player during session zero. They’ll help you set expectations for the campaign, and they’ll also give you the hooks you’ll need to make the paladin’s story interesting and satisfying.

• Do they want to be tempted by the “dark side”? – If the trope fantasy is all about following a code, then find out how much they want to test the limits of that code. How far are they willing to explore the alternatives to their oaths? This is probably the most important question when working with the paladin trope.
• Do they want to fall from grace? – Parlaying off of that first question, do they want to bend their code so far that they actually break it? A lot of meaty character stories are about whether or not the person who lives by a simple set of rules will ever break those rules.
• If they fall from grace, do they want to be redeemed? – This could be a “play to find out” question, but if they have a definite answer at the start, it’s good to know.
• How much PvP is everyone comfortable with? – And I’m not just talking about combat here. If the paladin’s code is going to run up against other characters, make sure everyone’s on the same page when it comes to the conflict that could arise.

Challenging the Trope:

As you might have guessed, the key to creating interesting story conflict for a paladin is challenging their code of conduct. Think of it as Chekhov’s Oath. Their rules are set out from the very beginning; all you have to do is put the paladin into situations where following or breaking those rules is the central conflict.

But here’s the thing, you can’t just toss them into a moral quandary right off the bat, because it’s easy for a freshly minted character to stick to their rules and reject your temptation.

Start out with simple challenges. Easy, binary thinking stuff. An obvious right answer. And use those to establish how the paladin reacts in the best circumstances. Then, over the course of the campaign, make the choices harder and harder, slowly turning up the heat and adding layers of complexity to the situations until you hit them with a moral dilemma that rocks them to their very foundation.

Stopping a mugger who just robbed an elderly person? Easy set up for a first session challenge. Finding out that the street urchin they’ve been helping has been stealing bread to feed her family? A little grey, but still probably a pretty easy choice to make. Finding out that same urchin (whom they’ve been helping and mentoring for half the campaign) is fated to destroy the world unless she’s sacrificed to reset the cosmic balance? Now that’s a campaign-defining choice dilemma right there.

Here’s the secret sauce that will really level up your storytelling — don’t stop with the choice. Play out the consequences and ask, “what happens next”? How does the paladin change after they’ve made their choice? How does their party’s perception of them evolve? And what happens to the rest of the world after they’ve decided?

Your Decision

If you want to see more articles like this, check out the one I wrote on The Loner trope.

What character tropes do you think I should cover next? Drop your recommendations in the comments!