Shadow Paladins get special Shadow Paladin plot sometimes, Light Paladins don't. For the most part, speaking of PCs, more Shadow Paladins are shady, morally flexible, or otherwise less fully Good than the Light Paladins. When I learn someone is a Shadow Paladin, my baseline assumption is that they fight against Malediction and evil, but are less honest, stalwart, or otherwise discriminating about how they do it. With exceptions, of course, like Create_Universe's character.
My impression is shadow=subtle/stealthy, light=blatant/straightforward, with some exceptions. You can take that how you want, I guess, though I don't necessarily interpret it as a good/shady dichotomy. Ditto on the plot stuff, though. Shadow paladins supposedly have the IG ability to be less detectable to people with mystical scrying ability, which means they are occasionally really useful. Light paladin, other than being the powergame header of choice for eluviar, has no such useful application, generally. I've seen a mod or two where light paladins were required, but I think there are generally more of them.
How do most people think of it? Honestly, they don't.create_universeAugust 3 2009, 23:15:57 UTC
I'm pretty sure the majority of Madrigal players wouldn't have a very good answer to tell you about how differently they view Paladins of Light and Shadow. In practical terms of the skills, the roleplay and plot the differences are really small and not easily distinguishable
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Re: How do most people think of it? Honestly, they don't.tom_bulmerAugust 3 2009, 23:42:02 UTC
"Despite their prevalence it is frankly quite difficult to spot paladins of either sort in game unless you happen to catch them using one of the specific powers."
The way I'm approaching Madrigal (so far), I don't want to just use a header - I want it to be an integral part of my character. If I play a Paladin, I want that to be a huge part of who the character is, and I want that to be obvious. What sort of roleplaying or other signs would make it clear that someone is one kind of Paladin or the other?
bakeneko pretty much stated it the way I understand it. Paladin is not a role, a belief system, or a moral point a view. It has no standard practices or organization built around it. I know of no PC who is "The Paladin Guy". I know several PC's who are this or that, and who also happen to be paladins.
That being said, I don't want to suggest that you can't do things with being a paladin, or that there is no difference between Light and Dark. But the details and differences tend to be internal and personalized things. They aren't so big and overt and standard that there is some outward thing you can do that people will instantly say "Oh, that's him doing the paladin thing."
What follows is my opinion as to Paladins, and how I'd run plot for them if I ran plot for Madrigal. The way I see it, Paladins of Light are beacons of Creation, the pillars upon which Fate's tapestry is hung, and the glowing light within the weave of Creation that stands like a flame against the darkness of Malediction that would seek to devour all and see it reborn in a Real of slavery, misery, and despair. They draw their power from what is, from the aspect of Creation that they hold within their hearts and souls. They are Champions of Creation, made by Creation and empowered by the Fate's to serve as her sword. Paladins of Shadow are the mirror opposite in many ways, as they are the mortals who have transcended the Tapestry, and are in many ways unbound by Fate. They draw their power from within the weave, in the areas between where the fates cast their line. They are not bound by Fate, and cannot draw power from the Real, but in the darkness there is infinite potential for them to draw upon. They are empowered by the formless,
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Silway
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We suspect they become a Dark Paladin and that that's really corrupt and evil, but I don't know if it's ever happened.
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Ditto on the plot stuff, though. Shadow paladins supposedly have the IG ability to be less detectable to people with mystical scrying ability, which means they are occasionally really useful. Light paladin, other than being the powergame header of choice for eluviar, has no such useful application, generally. I've seen a mod or two where light paladins were required, but I think there are generally more of them.
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The way I'm approaching Madrigal (so far), I don't want to just use a header - I want it to be an integral part of my character. If I play a Paladin, I want that to be a huge part of who the character is, and I want that to be obvious. What sort of roleplaying or other signs would make it clear that someone is one kind of Paladin or the other?
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That being said, I don't want to suggest that you can't do things with being a paladin, or that there is no difference between Light and Dark. But the details and differences tend to be internal and personalized things. They aren't so big and overt and standard that there is some outward thing you can do that people will instantly say "Oh, that's him doing the paladin thing."
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