What’s a paladin of law? Some kind of homebrew? Either way, alignment matters for precious little in their edition, so, possibly. But that would depend on what a paladin of law is.
There are plenty of examples in fiction of being chaotic while upholding the law.
One is the classic "loose cannon" cop/detective/whatever who doesn't mind bending the rules to ultimately bring someone to justice; that might mean planting evidence to guarantee a conviction (at a risk of being wrong about them or worse, found out), using extensive criminal contacts or even overlooking minor crimes in favour of pursuing more important ones. They might badly beat someone in an interrogation; whatever it takes to get to the truth or catch the bigger fish.
The other main example might be a vigilante; they're not operating in any official capacity at all, yet may be trying to do what the guards can't due to corruption, lack of resources etc. In terms of how they operate it's pretty similar to the "loose cannon" except with fewer official resources; maybe they have law abiding friends who feed them information, or maybe they shake down the local guards to get leads? All for the "greater good".
It's definitely possible, but you'd also definitely want to think about how the character rationalises their own actions; do they believe absolutely that they're doing the right thing (even though others, possibly with greater authority, may not agree)? Or are they jaded and doing what they can in spite of a flawed system? Or is it purely pragmatic, a matter of efficiency (who cares about small time thieves if working with them helps stop murderers)?
The other question is; which laws? The commandments set down by a god, the local laws, the laws of the universe? There are plenty of "laws" that may not care how something is upheld, so long as it is.
Lastly, one of the ways that D&D's alignment system can get weird is that you don't necessarily need to be chaotic for either of the examples above, though I would argue it is appropriate. In general terms chaotic is freedom, lawful is order, but you can maintain order by doing things that normally go against your creed (a lesser evil for the greater good etc.), while a chaotic character can do the wrong thing for the right reasons, in both cases they can have the same ultimate goal. It's worth remembering that alignment is mainly there to help inform your character, it describes how they might typically act but there are always exceptions.
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I'd take a look at Oath of Crown, if you want to take a oath to a sort of law of a society or civilization. Oath of the Ancients if there's some sort of "law of nature" you wish to serve (and would arguably entertain a chaotic disposition).
Honestly the descriptions of the Oaths aren't that arduous to work through. If you read through them, what one speaks to you as a an oath that best stands for "law" and go with it.
I was wondering, is there a way to plat a chaotic neutral Paladin of law? And what subclass would go best with that?
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What’s a paladin of law? Some kind of homebrew? Either way, alignment matters for precious little in their edition, so, possibly. But that would depend on what a paladin of law is.
There are plenty of examples in fiction of being chaotic while upholding the law.
One is the classic "loose cannon" cop/detective/whatever who doesn't mind bending the rules to ultimately bring someone to justice; that might mean planting evidence to guarantee a conviction (at a risk of being wrong about them or worse, found out), using extensive criminal contacts or even overlooking minor crimes in favour of pursuing more important ones. They might badly beat someone in an interrogation; whatever it takes to get to the truth or catch the bigger fish.
The other main example might be a vigilante; they're not operating in any official capacity at all, yet may be trying to do what the guards can't due to corruption, lack of resources etc. In terms of how they operate it's pretty similar to the "loose cannon" except with fewer official resources; maybe they have law abiding friends who feed them information, or maybe they shake down the local guards to get leads? All for the "greater good".
It's definitely possible, but you'd also definitely want to think about how the character rationalises their own actions; do they believe absolutely that they're doing the right thing (even though others, possibly with greater authority, may not agree)? Or are they jaded and doing what they can in spite of a flawed system? Or is it purely pragmatic, a matter of efficiency (who cares about small time thieves if working with them helps stop murderers)?
The other question is; which laws? The commandments set down by a god, the local laws, the laws of the universe? There are plenty of "laws" that may not care how something is upheld, so long as it is.
Lastly, one of the ways that D&D's alignment system can get weird is that you don't necessarily need to be chaotic for either of the examples above, though I would argue it is appropriate. In general terms chaotic is freedom, lawful is order, but you can maintain order by doing things that normally go against your creed (a lesser evil for the greater good etc.), while a chaotic character can do the wrong thing for the right reasons, in both cases they can have the same ultimate goal. It's worth remembering that alignment is mainly there to help inform your character, it describes how they might typically act but there are always exceptions.
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
I'd take a look at Oath of Crown, if you want to take a oath to a sort of law of a society or civilization. Oath of the Ancients if there's some sort of "law of nature" you wish to serve (and would arguably entertain a chaotic disposition).
Honestly the descriptions of the Oaths aren't that arduous to work through. If you read through them, what one speaks to you as a an oath that best stands for "law" and go with it.
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