I’m all for keeping the “traditional” Paladin. I like the fact that she/he is LG and bound by tenets. Heck I liked the old rules when the paladin had to give away all of his or her wealth and only maintain enough to get by. Or the fact they could only have so many magic items.
I get that there is a community of players that want to do away with alignment restrictions or see some other changes. I also know that no matter what Paizo does there will always be a subset of people that are unhappy.
For those of you saying that this breaks the game or I’m going to drop PF and move to 5e, that’s your prerogative. Instead how about giving it a chance? Or better yet – as many Paizo staff have said over the years – these rules are guidelines. House rule it any way you want.
In my 40+ years of gaming experience (I started in 1978 when I was a mere 13 year old snot nosed teenager) more often than not it’s an obnoxious player that ruins a class and not the class itself. We’ve been playing with paladins since first edition and never once (never, yes I used the word never) did we ever have a contentious moment with a paladin or a player playing a paladin. Maybe we’re unique (or dysfunctional) but at the end of the day we got together to have fun. If we debated a rule we talked it out or house ruled it but ultimately the DM/GM had the final say.
So I say give the pally a chance. Playtest him and provide your feedback in a calm and rational way. Stop the name calling and ultimatums. Lose the I’m right and you’re wrong attitude. Give Paizo a ton of credit for trying to improve the game we all love and help them make it better without derailing the boards. Constructive feedback – not criticism always wins the day.
Just my 2 coppers since I had to tithe my excess gold away to the orc orphanage down the road…
