Tell me, have you heard the one about:

The Paladin who forced a Ring of Regeneration upon the finger of an orc and
then proceeded to torture him in order to
make him repent his sins?

The Paladin who saved the countryside from a band of gnolls by poisoning
the monsters water supply?

The Paladin who, during an extremely
perilous wilderness adventure, scouted
ahead of his group only to find, when he
returned, that in his absence they had
slaughtered a group of Lawful Good pilgrims? And who was then told by the DM
that he could neither share in the loot
(for it was wrongfully come by), nor
leave the group (which would have been
deserting them in their hour of need),
nor even take revenge (that would have
been treacherous), without, losing his
Paladinhood?

Or, were you aware that:
To become a Paladin, a first-level
character must defeat a Red Dragon,
randomly rolled for age and size?

A Paladin must attack every evil crea-
 ture he sees, and not retreat — no matter
what the circumstances — or lose his
Paladinhood?

A Paladin may never attack an evil
player character except in self-defense?
(I hear this one the most, particularly
when some evil deed is about to be perpetrated or when a player has decided to
go “Paladin hunting.”)

As one may guess from the above (examples taken from personal experience
and hearsay), I consider the Paladin to
be the most misunderstood and most
prone to abuse by DMs of all of the
player-character classes. And something
should be done about this!

Bar none, the Paladin is the most powerful of all character classes at low levels
of experience, being immune to the physical touch of all undead and evil enchanted creatures, green slime and any
other disease-causing monster, and having a +2 on all his saving throws. Yet
some DMs, and even other players, seem
to take an unholy delight in setting up
rules that are so unreasonable as to
make playing a Paladin highly undesireable, if not impossible.

The root of the problem is in the fact
that a Paladin may never commit an evil
act without being stripped of his Paladinhood. Now, while it is relatively easy
to define the general behavior of an
alignment, automatically knowing the
difference between good and evil in any
given act is not. What is needed is a uniform code of behavior that everyone can
refer to and agree upon. The best place
to look for such a code is the historical
past from which the Paladin came.
In the 11th century A.D., as the knights
of western Europe set out for the Holy
Land to rescue it from the Moslems, they
were given a list of commandments by
the Church to serve as guidelines for
their behavior. It went like this:

    1. Thou shalt believe all that
    the Church teaches and shalt
    obey all her commandments.

    2. Thou shalt defend the
    Church.

    3. Thou shalt respect all weaknesses and shalt constitute thyself the defender of them.

    4. Thou shalt love the country in which thou wast born.

    5. Thou shalt not recoil before thine enemy.

    6. Thou shalt make war against the infidel without cessat i o n a n d w i t h o u t m e r c y .

    7. Thou shalt perform scrupulously thy feudal duties, if they
    be not contrary to the laws of
    God.

    8. Thou shalt never lie, and
    shalt remain faithful to thy
    pledged word.

    9. Thou shalt be generous
    and give largesse to everyone.

    10. Thou shalt be everywhere
    and always the champion of the
    Right and the Good against Injustice and Evil.

With a few minor revisions, these commandments can be made to be compatible with the AD&D™ game system and
will serve as an excellent guide to the
handling of the Paladin character. They
are as follows:

1. THOU SHALT ACCEPT THE COUNSELS OF THY MENTOR AND OBEY ALL HIS COMMANDMENTS.
From the ages of seven through fifteen, prospective young knights were often
sent to the keep of a neighboring baron, where they were instructed in both
clerical and military matters. These tutors were available for aid and advice
throughout the knight’s career, and in return he was expected to avail himself to
perform certain services for them.

To reflect this, the DM should make available to the Paladin player character a
lawful good Cleric of at least 10th level to serve as counselor. This Cleric would
have his own religious stronghold (as per the AD&D Players Handbook) and too
many responsibilities to do any traveling, and so would be unavailable for
anything other than informational and curative spells. The spells he does give to
the Paladin, however, will be sold at half the price listed in the AD&D Dungeon
Masters Guide, minus whatever amount of gold the Paladin has given in tithes.

The DM should keep a running record of how much gold, if any, the Paladin
has to his credit. If the Paladin is in debt, however, the DM should keep track of
the amount owed on a spell-by-spell basis to later determine the likelihood of
sending the Paladin out on a quest. The low prices for these spells will be
available to that one Paladin only. Other player characters, associated characters, henchmen, followers, etc., should not receive any special benefits from the
mentor Cleric.

Note: Player character Clerics of 10th level who request to have a Paladin in
their tutelage should be reminded that a mentor Cleric is always on call, and
such a role will severely curtail any adventuring by that Cleric.

2. THOU SHALT DEFEND THY MENTOR.
In return for the services mentioned above, the Paladin will agree to come to
the mentor Cleric’s aid whenever the Cleric demands it. The DM should make a
roll at the end of each game month to see if aid is needed. If it is, then the next
time the Paladin drops by, the Cleric will place a Quest spell upon the Paladin
and send him out to do whatever needs to be done. The Paladin must accept this
quest without protest, on penalty of losing all further services from that Cleric.
The base chance to be so quested is 5%, plus 1% for each spell that the Paladin
has not yet paid for. DMs should grade the difficulty of these quests by the
amount of gold that the Paladin owes, thus effectively squelching any tendency
by the Paladin to be sluggish in paying his debts. Examples of some really
difficult quests might be the breaking up of the local Assassins Guild, recovering
a holy artifact, and the delivery of something (or someone) of importance to a
neighboring king.

3. THOU SHALT RESPECT ALL WEAKNESSES AND CONSTITUTE THYSELF
THE DEFENDER OF THEM.
It is most unchivalrous to harm in any way someone who has pleaded for
mercy, or through inaction allow that person to come to harm. Under no circumstances will a Paladin torture a captive or stand idly by while torture is being
conducted. Otherwise, the Paladin is empowered to exact retribution in any
manner he sees fit. A preferred method in my campaigns is for the Paladin to see
his prisoner to a place of safety and then confiscate his possessions. Items
confiscated may not include gold, gems, jewelry, etc, but only the weapons,
armor, mounts, magic items and other equipment of the individual(s) concerned. The Paladin may not use or sell any of these items for one game month,
thereby allowing the captive an opportunity to ransom them back. The goods
should be stored with the mentor Cleric, so that he can see to the details. Any foe
who asks for mercy in an attempt to take unfair advantage of the Paladin may
(and should!) be slain out of hand.

4. THOU SHALT BE FAITHFUL TO THE MENTOR WHO REARED THEE.
The Paladin will make every effort to turn in his tithes to his mentor Cleric and
no one else. Nor will he ever receive another mentor Cleric after the death/estrangement of the previous Cleric. This makes it difficult for a Paladin to cheat by
not being nearby when he thinks that his mentor has a task in store for him. It
further insures that if the Paladin fails in his duty to protect the Cleric, he will not
be given a second chance. This does not free him from paying his tithe, however.
He must still give it to some lawful good, charitable institution — without
receiving any benefit for doing so. (In the event that a quest comes up at the end
of the game month and the Paladin doesn’t bother to check in with his mentor,
the DM should say nothing and secretly roll at the end of each further game week
that the Paladin does not show up, to see if the mentor Cleric has perished while
trying to deal with the problem himself. This death is not necessarily a violent
one. The Cleric could, for example, have a stroke from worrying about the
problem too much. The base chance for this death is 1% (cumulative) per
successive week that the Paladin fails to come in and take the problem off the
mentor Cleric’s hands.

5. THOU SHALT NOT RECOIL BEFORE THINE ENEMY.
Irresolute courage is the Paladin’s stock in trade. He need not attack every foe
he sees — but if he does make the decision to attack, he may not retreat. “live to
fight another day” is not a phrase which the Paladin would understand. Further,
the Paladin’s special upbringing restricts him from the use of certain weapons.
He may not use bows and other missile weapons, poisons, or any other device
that would allow him to attack from a distance. Such weapons were seen as
cowardly by medieval knights (a belief they would pay for at Agincourt). On the
other hand, the Paladin is required to be instructed in the use of the lance and to
have a warhorse under him whenever possible, simply as a matter of prestige if
for no other reason.

6. THOU SHALT MAKE WAR AGAINST EVIL WITHOUT CESSATION AND
WITHOUT MERCY.
If, by chance, the Paladin should encounter a foe too powerful for him to
handle, he should never say, “Oh, well, it’s the problem of someone else now.”
What he should do is employ every means within his ability to get the power he
needs to destroy his foe, neither resting nor putting it out of mind until he has
done so. Nor should he ever be so busy in his adventuring that he could not take
the time to destroy most of the evil beings that he meets. Remember, the Paladin
was given the ability to detect evil for a reason. He should use it as often as
possible.

7. THOU SHALT PERFORM SCRUPULOUSLY THY DUTIES TO THY MENTOR.
If the mentor Cleric has a task for the Paladin to perform and the Paladin is
informed of this, he is obliged to drop whatever he is doing and see to that task.
No promise made to any other being may take precedence over this.

8. THOU SHALT NEVER LIE, AND SHALT REMAIN FAITHFUL TO THY PLEDGED
WORD.
Simply put, a Paladin may never tell a lie, no matter what the circumstances.
Similarly, he is obliged to keep his word, even if such a promise is forced out of
him. The only two exceptions to this rule would be if he has made a promise that
would cause him to lose his Paladinhood, or if he receives a call from his mentor
Cleric. In the first case, he is free of his word, and in the second case, while not
being free, he must accomplish his task for his mentor first.

9. THOU SHALT GIVE LARGELY OF THY WEALTH.
A Paladin should have as many henchmen, hirelings, and servitors as he can
reasonably afford. To have a large retinue of followers is a matter of great
prestige to the Paladin. A Paladin without followers is a Paladin shamed! Furthermore, a Paladin is nearly always able to inspire fanatical loyalty in his servants,
and a player who does not take advantage of this ability is probably a new player.

10. THOU SHALT BE EVERYWHERE AND ALWAYS THE CHAMPION OF THE
RIGHT AND THE GOOD AGAINST INJUSTICE AND EVIL.
This is basically a “golden rule” for the Paladin to follow. The DM should
invoke this rule whenever he feels that the Paladin is straying from the straight
and narrow path,

I hope those DMs who have been giving Paladins a hard time for any reason will
consider adopting these guidelines or something similar. DMing for a Paladin character can be just as entertaining as coping with those neutral and evil characters.

Sources:
Chivalry by Leon Gautier. Pub. Phoenix House, London, 1965
Caxton’s Ordre of Chyvalry, Oxford University, London, 1926