Paladin Requirements
It takes an exceptional character to become a paladin, as reflected in the
class qualifications listed in Table 1.
Table 1: Class Qualifications
Ability Requirements
Strength
| 12
|
Constitution
| 9
|
Wisdom
| 13
|
Charisma
| 17
|
Prime Requisites
Strength
Charisma
Races Allowed
Human
Alignments Allowed
Lawful good
A player who tries to generate a paladin by using Method I, described in Chapter 1 of the PH, may be rolling dice all day. Although the odds improve slightly when using Methods II-IV, only Methods V and VI give a reasonable, albeit slim, chance of producing
the necessary numbers.
Although the strict ability requirements may frustrate a player wanting to
create a paladin character, they're necessary to regulate play balance. Paladins
are among the game's most formidable characters. If they were as easy to roll up
as, say, warriors or mages, the surplus of powerful characters would make it
difficult, perhaps impossible, for the DM to come up with encounters challenging
enough for all members of a party. A DM may also have other reasons for
limiting the paladin population—for instance, the campaign world may discourage the
development of paladins—or may restrict the number of paladins simply to enhance
their mystique.
But if your DM is open to paladin player-characters, you might consider using
Table 2 instead of dice rolls to generate the required ability scores. Roll
1d12 and use the indicated statistics.
Table 2: Pregenerated Ability Scores
| D12
| Str
| Dex
| Con
| Int
| Wis
| Cha
|
| 1
| 12
| 8
| 16
| 10
| 15
| 17
|
| 2
| 17
| 10
| 10
| 9
| 14
| 17
|
| 3
| 12
| 9
| 12
| 10
| 16
| 18
|
| 4
| 15
| 13
| 15
| 11
| 14
| 17
|
| 5
| 14
| 16
| 9
| 15
| 18
| 17
|
| 6
| 12
| 11
| 11
| 9
| 13
| 18
|
| 7
| 18*
| 12
| 12
| 12
| 14
| 17
|
| 8
| 13
| 11
| 14
| 10
| 17
| 18
|
| 9
| 16
| 10
| 11
| 11
| 16
| 17
|
| 10
| 13
| 14
| 13
| 9
| 13
| 17
|
| 11
| 15
| 12
| 17
| 14
| 15
| 18
|
| 12
| 14
| 15
| 10
| 13
| 13
| 17
|
* Roll percentile dice for exceptional Strength.
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