Imagine a relatively low level Paladin that suffers a major setback and "retires" from adventuring. They don't break their Oath (in this case Oath of the Crown) in that they will still interpose themselves to defend justice but they do not go out of their way to seek injustice either. During this time they use their martial skills but do not call upon their spellcasting or anything divine. They seek out whatever church as a lay person even tithing. They get by with whatever mundane job supports them and effectively are not an adventure. After several years, or even decades, they are given an order or request (perhaps even by their deity directly) to protect a particular person for reasons known only to that deity. With such a direct order, and being true to the core of their oath, they take up the sword and return to adventuring devoted to defending that person.
OK I like back stories WAY too much but I am thinking of an Oath of the Crown Paladin. The old grizzled adventurer pulled back into the life not necessarily by desire but by something they take to be divine command. This is a new adventuring party that will likely be starting at 5th level so we need some background to explain how this older 5th level character came to be involved and how this adventurer is only 5th level. I Intend to play it as more of a background character and let the focus of roleplay be through my daughter (10 years old, just starting to play) using my character as a background character / protector (she likes to play sorcerers). I really like background stories for my characters and am looking towards this as being suitable but don't want to come in out of nowhere with some complex and technically illegal background. Its been decades (3.5E) since I have played and I have been trying to come up with a cool support character.
That sounds fine to me. Seems like it would be fun.
One big thing to note, paladins in this edition do not have to be linked to a god. They can be, and some tables play that way. But by RAW, you don't have to be. You just need to uphold your oath. In the case of crown paladin in particular, you have lots of non-divine choices "The Oath of the Crown is sworn to the ideals of civilization, be it the spirit of a nation, fealty to a sovereign, or service to a deity of law and rulership." So, you can have your power come from a god. Or it can just be you're super-patriotic and love your country (or your region or your town). Or you love your king, or the duchess, or the mayor.
If you go the non-divine route, it can really open up some options for you. Maybe things were going along swimmingly for a bit, but now trouble is brewing, and there's a "Rambo, your country needs you" moment.
By the rules, not really. That is to say, there is no rule concerning whether taking a break counts as breaking a paladin's oath.
From a story perspective, I think it's a pretty rich background for the player and the DM to work the character's challenges and opportunities into a larger adventure.
What constitutes breaking an Oath and what are the consequences for doing so is entirely up to DM. As DM i personally would go with what's best for the compaign's story, likely keeping the Oath of Crown unless it serves a purposes not to for the story and or instead possibly be an Anti-Paladin with Oathbreaker if evil for exemple, provided the player would actually want that. I don't think we need to be that extree here if it's more a matter of Backstory.
Here's the guidelines in the Player's Handbook regarding Breaking Your Oath ;
BREAKING YOUR OATH
A paladin tries to hold to the highest standards of conduct, but even the most virtuous paladin is fallible. Sometimes the right path proves too demanding, sometimes a situation calls for the lesser of two evils, and sometimes the heat of emotion causes a paladin to transgress his or her oath.
A paladin who has broken a vow typically seeks absolution from a cleric who shares his or her faith or from another paladin of the same order. The paladin might spend an all-night vigil in prayer as a sign of penitence, or undertake a fast or similar act of self-denial. After a rite of confession and forgiveness, the paladin starts fresh.
If a paladin willfully violates his or her oath and shows no sign of repentance, the consequences can be more serious. At the DM’s discretion, an impenitent paladin might be forced to abandon this class and adopt another, or perhaps to take the Oathbreaker paladin option that appears in the Dungeon Master’s Guide.
I think the background sounds fine. As Plaguescarred points out, there are no hard and fast rules about what constitutes breaking an oath and consequences are entirely up to the DM. In addition, as mentioned, a character that makes a mistake can atone for it. Issues only really come up if they have willfully and intentionally broken their oath. In your example, at worst, the paladin has allowed their oath to lapse a bit - they continued to live more or less according to their code but perhaps weren't as diligent in pursuing things as they might otherwise have been.
However, as others have alluded to, the paladin in 5e is completely different from earlier editions. The paladin has a wide range of possible viewpoints and alignments. They can be pretty much any alignment and are not limited to Lawful Good. You can have a Chaotic Neutral paladin if you like - the important thing for the paladin are the tenets of their specific oath. In addition, the paladin's spell casting power comes from the willpower of the oath itself (their spellcasting is based on charisma). It isn't explicitly or only a divine power as in previous editions though it often might be.
"Although many paladins are devoted to gods of good, a paladin’s power comes as much from a commitment to justice itself as it does from a god."
"Your oath and alignment might be in harmony, or your oath might represent standards of behavior that you have not yet attained."
"As guardians against the forces of wickedness, paladins are rarely of any evil alignment."
The Order of the Crown is clearly very lawful oriented ... but whether that is good, neutral or evil may depend on the laws of the land you serve. The one unifying element for paladins of different oaths is that they all oppose "evil".
TENETS OF THE CROWN
The tenets of the Oath of the Crown are often set by the sovereign to which their oath is sworn, but generally emphasize the following tenets.
Law. The law is paramount. It is the mortar that holds the stones of civilization together, and it must be respected.
Loyalty. Your word is your bond. Without loyalty, oaths and laws are meaningless.
Courage. You must be willing to do what needs to be done for the sake of order, even in the face of overwhelming odds. If you don’t act, then who will?
Responsibility. You must deal with the consequences of your actions, and you are responsible for fulfilling your duties and obligations."
"Often, paladins who swear this oath are members of an order of knighthood in service to a nation or a sovereign, and undergo their oath as part of their admission to the order’s ranks."
None of this says you can't come out of retirement - just that you need to deal with the consequences of your actions. Perhaps, the character became disillusioned or tired of their work for the crown and retired to a quieter life.
Thank you all. I was unaware of the non-divine Paladin concept and it frees up a ton of back story narrative. It also firmly separates Gardus from another character concept I have been working on which helps me
Dwarf - Gardus Blackmight Served an a military for character X (daughters character) ancestor out of devotion to said ancestor. When that person died (I’m thinking assassination or battle (though an adventure gone wrong might be better) with some details about why Gardus was not right there / did not die there Gardus retired to being a blacksmith which explains why he has not lost strength and dexterity. Using Wisdom / Int as dump stats as Gardus has, basically, kept his head down and done his work. When he hears of X taking up adventuring he interprets his oath as defending the “last of the bloodline” of this former great ancestor. I’ll have to fill in some there.
Follow up question: I seem to be reading that 5E Paladins gain their spells through daily? meditation. If a Paladin believed they had failed but did the ritual to honor their lost patron is it possible to have the spells without the character knowing? Sure they feel the power but as they are not actively channeling it they mistake it as just being normal. As some of these spells have only vocal components is it possible to have a character misidentify themselves as a Fighter but mechanically be a Paladin only fighting that out later?
Talk with your DM, but you can generally flavor the spells any way you like. In practice, however, you’ll end up using more than 90% of your spell slots for smiting, so casting likely won’t come up much.
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Imagine a relatively low level Paladin that suffers a major setback and "retires" from adventuring. They don't break their Oath (in this case Oath of the Crown) in that they will still interpose themselves to defend justice but they do not go out of their way to seek injustice either. During this time they use their martial skills but do not call upon their spellcasting or anything divine. They seek out whatever church as a lay person even tithing. They get by with whatever mundane job supports them and effectively are not an adventure. After several years, or even decades, they are given an order or request (perhaps even by their deity directly) to protect a particular person for reasons known only to that deity. With such a direct order, and being true to the core of their oath, they take up the sword and return to adventuring devoted to defending that person.
OK I like back stories WAY too much but I am thinking of an Oath of the Crown Paladin. The old grizzled adventurer pulled back into the life not necessarily by desire but by something they take to be divine command. This is a new adventuring party that will likely be starting at 5th level so we need some background to explain how this older 5th level character came to be involved and how this adventurer is only 5th level. I Intend to play it as more of a background character and let the focus of roleplay be through my daughter (10 years old, just starting to play) using my character as a background character / protector (she likes to play sorcerers). I really like background stories for my characters and am looking towards this as being suitable but don't want to come in out of nowhere with some complex and technically illegal background. Its been decades (3.5E) since I have played and I have been trying to come up with a cool support character.
That sounds fine to me. Seems like it would be fun.
One big thing to note, paladins in this edition do not have to be linked to a god. They can be, and some tables play that way. But by RAW, you don't have to be. You just need to uphold your oath. In the case of crown paladin in particular, you have lots of non-divine choices "The Oath of the Crown is sworn to the ideals of civilization, be it the spirit of a nation, fealty to a sovereign, or service to a deity of law and rulership." So, you can have your power come from a god. Or it can just be you're super-patriotic and love your country (or your region or your town). Or you love your king, or the duchess, or the mayor.
If you go the non-divine route, it can really open up some options for you. Maybe things were going along swimmingly for a bit, but now trouble is brewing, and there's a "Rambo, your country needs you" moment.
By the rules, not really. That is to say, there is no rule concerning whether taking a break counts as breaking a paladin's oath.
From a story perspective, I think it's a pretty rich background for the player and the DM to work the character's challenges and opportunities into a larger adventure.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
What constitutes breaking an Oath and what are the consequences for doing so is entirely up to DM. As DM i personally would go with what's best for the compaign's story, likely keeping the Oath of Crown unless it serves a purposes not to for the story and or instead possibly be an Anti-Paladin with Oathbreaker if evil for exemple, provided the player would actually want that. I don't think we need to be that extree here if it's more a matter of Backstory.
Here's the guidelines in the Player's Handbook regarding Breaking Your Oath ;
I think the background sounds fine. As Plaguescarred points out, there are no hard and fast rules about what constitutes breaking an oath and consequences are entirely up to the DM. In addition, as mentioned, a character that makes a mistake can atone for it. Issues only really come up if they have willfully and intentionally broken their oath. In your example, at worst, the paladin has allowed their oath to lapse a bit - they continued to live more or less according to their code but perhaps weren't as diligent in pursuing things as they might otherwise have been.
However, as others have alluded to, the paladin in 5e is completely different from earlier editions. The paladin has a wide range of possible viewpoints and alignments. They can be pretty much any alignment and are not limited to Lawful Good. You can have a Chaotic Neutral paladin if you like - the important thing for the paladin are the tenets of their specific oath. In addition, the paladin's spell casting power comes from the willpower of the oath itself (their spellcasting is based on charisma). It isn't explicitly or only a divine power as in previous editions though it often might be.
"Although many paladins are devoted to gods of good, a paladin’s power comes as much from a commitment to justice itself as it does from a god."
"Your oath and alignment might be in harmony, or your oath might represent standards of behavior that you have not yet attained."
"As guardians against the forces of wickedness, paladins are rarely of any evil alignment."
The Order of the Crown is clearly very lawful oriented ... but whether that is good, neutral or evil may depend on the laws of the land you serve. The one unifying element for paladins of different oaths is that they all oppose "evil".
"Often, paladins who swear this oath are members of an order of knighthood in service to a nation or a sovereign, and undergo their oath as part of their admission to the order’s ranks."
None of this says you can't come out of retirement - just that you need to deal with the consequences of your actions. Perhaps, the character became disillusioned or tired of their work for the crown and retired to a quieter life.
Thank you all. I was unaware of the non-divine Paladin concept and it frees up a ton of back story narrative. It also firmly separates Gardus from another character concept I have been working on which helps me
Dwarf - Gardus Blackmight Served an a military for character X (daughters character) ancestor out of devotion to said ancestor. When that person died (I’m thinking assassination or battle (though an adventure gone wrong might be better) with some details about why Gardus was not right there / did not die there Gardus retired to being a blacksmith which explains why he has not lost strength and dexterity. Using Wisdom / Int as dump stats as Gardus has, basically, kept his head down and done his work. When he hears of X taking up adventuring he interprets his oath as defending the “last of the bloodline” of this former great ancestor. I’ll have to fill in some there.
Follow up question: I seem to be reading that 5E Paladins gain their spells through daily? meditation. If a Paladin believed they had failed but did the ritual to honor their lost patron is it possible to have the spells without the character knowing? Sure they feel the power but as they are not actively channeling it they mistake it as just being normal. As some of these spells have only vocal components is it possible to have a character misidentify themselves as a Fighter but mechanically be a Paladin only fighting that out later?
Talk with your DM, but you can generally flavor the spells any way you like.
In practice, however, you’ll end up using more than 90% of your spell slots for smiting, so casting likely won’t come up much.