The Evolution of Fantasy Role-Playing Games - Michael J. Tresca [56]
PALADIN • The paladin was first introduced to Dungeons & Dragons in the Greyhawk supplement (Gygax and Kuntz 1976:4). Fighters of lawful alignment could become paladins from the outset and had a charisma score of at least 17, positioning paladins as exemplary leaders. Their lawful allegiance was much stricter than the other classes and paladins could “lay on hands” to cure wounds or diseases, resist disease and evil magic, wield a holy sword, and obtain a loyal warhorse. In exchange, the paladin was never allowed to possess more than four magical items (excluding arms and armor) and gave away treasure to charitable or religious institutions. Where the cleric was more a healer and less a combatant, the paladin was more combatant and less healer.
The term “paladin” was derived from “palatinus” which means “of the palace” and thus a palace official in Latin. From then it became the Italian “paladino,” which became the French “paladin,” a warrior. The term eventually came to denote one of the twelve knights in attendance on Charlemagne (Aeon 2002).
The paladin’s connection to the divine is derived from the title “judices palatine,” a papal judge in the Catholic Church, and the association of the twelve paladins with the twelve apostles. There were also the Templars and Hospitallers, knightly organizations ordained by the Church to go on crusades and protect pilgrims.
A paladin’s connection to the holy sword likely comes from Charlemagne’s sword, Durandal. But by far the most influential source in creating the paladin archetype is Poul Anderson’s novel Three Hearts and Three Lions. In the book, Holger Carlsen is thrust into a parallel universe where he becomes a paladin, complete with a magical warhorse named Papillon and healing powers (Anderson 1961).
My own experience playing a paladin was on BatMUD (2002) as a satyr, a flagrant violation of traditional Dungeons & Dragons human-only standards. Of course, the most famous paladin player was Stephen Colbert, host of The Colbert Report, who explained that he played an 11th-level paladin in high school and promptly lost his paladin status by tearing off a merchant’s head (Archer 2004:38).
Status
Of all the artifacts created by Dungeons & Dragons, the term “level” has probably caused the most confusion. The Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Player’s Handbook includes no less than four definitions of the term “level” (1978:8): as an indication of player character power, as a descriptor of the depth of a dungeon, as a measure of spell power (which is not directly correlated to the level of the player character), and as a gauge of a monster’s potential threat. Of all these terms, only two have remained in common usage for fantasy games: player character and spell power. Monster level is no longer distinguished from player level. The term “dungeon level” has fallen out of use primarily because the fantasy world has expanded well beyond dungeons and thus it is no longer a meaningful descriptor for most fantasy gaming environments.
Gygax explained that he originally wanted to term character level as “rank,” spell complexity as “power,” and monster strength as “order,” but “because of existing usage,” all four meanings of level were retained instead. It seemed the players were already shaping the language of the game independent of its creators (1978:8).
Dungeons & Dragons, with its levels and challenge ratings, is explicitly structured to provide the characters with a fighting chance. Dungeon levels are populated with creatures appropriate to a lower level of power because they’re encountered first. The deeper the dungeon, the more powerful the opponent. Similarly,