D&D 3E/3.5 Are there any role-play differences between Paladin and Cleric?

[Dannyalcatraz]

Dear everyone... we talked about Role-play!

Yes. And mechanics can (and do) factor into role playing. A PC whose primary objective is spreading the faith and increasing/protecting the flock will play differently than one chosen by a god to be a warrior, and generally has none of the ceremonial abilities.

The mindsets are quite different.

 

[Mannahnin]

Depends on the world/setting what the exact differences are.

I do tend to agree that a common element is that clerics are part of a church hierarchy, and paladins often are independent operators, invested with power by their god but not necessarily beholden to the church.

In some worlds though, paladins are also knights invested with temporal authority by the church and/or a feudal lord.

I think in 1E AD&D, for example, paladins were usually knights of some kind, and clerics were generally ordained priests.

 

[Blue Orange]

The cleric's specific role is to convert others. The paladin's specific role is martial.

A cleric spreads the faith, a paladin defends it.

Clerics are the media, paladins are the army.

 

[James Gasik]

Although some priests are martial, and some paladins are hospitalers. The lines between both classes is somewhat muddled, and different editions (and even different campaign worlds) have treated them in different manners.

Sometimes the Paladin gains their powers from a God.
Sometimes the Paladin gains their powers from their enlightenment, but need a friendly God to cast spells.
Sometimes the Paladin has no need for Gods entirely, and must maintain an Oath. Or not.
Sometimes the Paladin is a knight errant, a champion of the meek and the humble.
Sometimes the Paladin is just an armored brute in the service of a particular religion, be it good or otherwise.
Sometimes the Paladin is one of the Peers of Charlemagne, sometimes they are a Palatine, a chamberlain of the Emperor.
Sometimes the Paladin can lay on hands, is immune to disease, can cast some Cleric spells, and can draw upon the special powers of a holy sword.
Sometimes they can Smite Evil. Sometimes they can't.
Sometimes they can fall from grace and lose their powers. Sometimes they can't.

Ultimately, the question of "what is a paladin?" can only be answered by the DM, who will tell you what a paladin is, in their campaign. I played a Fighter/Priest back in 2e who, by definition, was NOT a Paladin, but you would be hard pressed to tell the difference if they were standing next to a Paladin, and, in some ways, was more effective than one.

By the same token, in a 2e Dragonlance campaign, I played a Lawful Good Cavalier Fighter that my own party thought was a Paladin, to the point they would ask me why I never healed anybody!

Further, not all Church Knights are Paladins either; the Knights of the Elenium are great examples of this. They are pious, stalwart enemies of evil, and trained to wield magic granted to them by a God...but they are also very human, are bound by no oath, and the magic is more arcane than divine, and granted by a Heathen Goddess as opposed to their own God!

The Paladin is an archetype as much as it is a character class- in my opinion, it's someone who has chosen to embody an ideal. And as Superman says in DC Comics Presents #63:

 

[Voadam]

In 3.5 according to the PH the cleric is an intermediary of their god (or cause) using the power of their god to make manifest the will of their god.

"The gods, however, work mostly through intermediaries—their clerics. Good clerics heal, protect, and avenge. Evil clerics pillage, destroy, and sabotage. A cleric uses the power of his god to make the god’s will manifest. And if a cleric uses his god’s power to improve his own lot, that’s to be expected, too."

"Some clerics devote themselves not to a god but to a cause or a source of divine power. These characters wield magic the way clerics devoted to individual gods do, but they are not associated with any religious institution or any particular practice of worship. A cleric devoted to good and law, for example, may be on friendly terms with the clerics of lawful and good deities and may extol the virtues of a good and lawful life, but he is not a functionary in a church hierarchy."

A 3.5 paladin however is primarily alignment driven "A paladin need not devote herself to a single deity—devotion to righteousness is enough. Those paladins who do align themselves with particular religions prefer Heironeous (god of valor) over all others, but some paladins follow Pelor (god of the sun). Paladins devoted to a god are scrupulous in observing religious duties and are welcome in every associated temple."

"No one ever chooses to be a paladin. Becoming a paladin is answering a call, accepting one’s destiny. No one, no matter how diligent, can become a paladin through practice. The nature is either within one or not, and it is not possible to gain the paladin’s nature by any act of will."

The alternative paladin classes from Unearthed Arcana are similarly alignment focused, just on CG, LE, and CE.

"The three paladin variants presented here demonstrate examples of alternative-alignment paladins. Each one follows a specific code of conduct tailored to its specific alignment."

So generally in 3.5 as a baseline a cleric of the Dragon Queen works for her, while the CE or LE paladin is called to slaughter or tyranny and is aligned with the Dragon Queen.

 

[le Redoutable]

like Clerics are Warrior/Priests
Paladins are Champions ( i.e. helpful ) , but nothing ( well, it seems ) prevents a Warrior/Priest to ... ( oh no! Warriors surely rely on Str ( at professional Level ) like Paladins use Str ( at Champion Level ) ( or something like that ) ( lol ) ( so you can't be a Warrior ( or Fighter) / Paladin ...
by the way, if professional level means combativity, apart from Fighters ( using Str ) and Rogues ( using Dex ), what classes would fit stats named ( Int, Wis, Cha, Con ) on a combativity level ( lol ) ??
well, perhaps Rogues use Str in the Combativity Level, so by now you can be a Paladin/Fighter/Priest
( if the Fighter is based on Dex )