Hi! This isn't an attempt to justify the presence of a Paladin!

My question is, how do you guys view a cleric vs a paladin RP wise and thematically? I always felt like a cleric wss the "preachy" one, but some research shows that people believe the opposite.

This is for a character with Chauntea as deity in the 3.x time line

Hi! Long-time player of both paladins and clerics here. Also used the Realms for the entirety of 3E's run. Disclaimer: all of the below is off the top of my head.

The difference between paladins and clerics in the Realms is a matter of how they came into the faith. Clerics usually get there through scholarly means, by studying religious texts and finding their calling there. Some are raised into it, either with a family that follows the faith, or by being raised in a religious environment.

Paladins, on the other hand, are often compelled into service. They don't choose their faith as much as they are driven to it. The restrictions on paladins' behavior isn't a set of shackles to make things difficult for them -- rather, they're voluntary limitations taken on as a way to demonstrate their faith and devotion.

IIRC, the add-on book Faiths & Avatars had alternate paladin codes for some deities. A paladin of Helm is going to be quite a bit different from a paladin of Torm or Lathander.

Also, clerics are more tied to their sponsoring church, or the religious organization as a whole. Paladins, on the other hand, are more devoted to the faith itself than the church.

I always viewed the clerics as the voice and the shield of the faith, while the paladins were its sword arm (or deity-weapon-of-choice arm).

Faiths and Avatars doesn't have anything on Paladins, specifically. (I think. It's 2e.)

Anyway, in the 3.x Realms, I always saw Paladinhood as a set of rules defined by and under the jurisdiction of Torm - to the extent that other gods of Law or Good can have Paladins, it's by Torm's authority. Hence, Paladins must both serve the commandments of their god and the codes set by Torm (even if, say, Sune might not object to one of her followers murdering a dark wizard in his sleep, that's not what paladins do - or let their allies do). It isn't until 4e that you get Paladin redefined as simply "holy warrior of any faith."

Broadly-speaking, most any concept you can do as a Paladin can also be done as a Fighter-Cleric, but the reverse isn't true. A Paladin is a warrior specifically empowered by an appropriate god (either of Good or Law) to fight for them while embodying concepts of Good, Law, and honor (the Code). They are knights of the light. A Cleric, meanwhile, is a priest of any deity trained in combat and the necessary rites to invoke that deity's magic; it's a far broader and more general class. A combat-focused Cleric of good with fighter levels can look almost identical to a Paladin thematically; though they don't have the specific graces that are granted to a Paladin, they can absolutely do the holy-knight thing just as well.
This message was last edited by the user at 04:03, Thu 01 June 2017.

Excellent responses, I really appreciate everybody's time.

I really like the idea of answering to Torm and patron deity, but I wonder what paladins did before Torm became a deity?

My appeal to the Chauntea faith is that her paladin values focus also on compassion. I guess I have it in my head to play a paladin who was given the tools and the gift to be a paladin and "accepted" it, but doesn't necessarily want to do it. It's like "I can do this, not everybody can, so it's my responsibility".

Basically, I like aspects of the cleric and the paladin, and want to pick the right one for the setting.

Your answers have all helped very much :)