Orc Paladin Proposal

Lightwielders can wield martial weapons and functionally be paladins but there’s a distinction in stuff like role, responsibilities, and upbringing.

SLIGHT EDIT: Granted I’m mostly contemplating strictly Silver Hand and the “traditional” cultures/people that make that up, but it doesn’t quite seem to be invalidated by stuff like Blood Knights or Sunwalkers or Prelates.

Hell if anything the Sisterhood of Elune could also be cited as a great example of a paladin-esque organization (though obviously predating it).

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Orcs look great in plate. There’s some really nice paladin gear that isn’t banana colored that looks pretty sick on orcs.

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Then I could be down with it.

The more I think on it, the more I like the idea of a tauren or belf or zandalari paladin taking on an orc squire and teaching them the ways of the light.

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Race/class restrictions are goofy. Should’ve had Forsaken, orc, night elf, and gnome paladins forever ago.

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Maybe now that they’re relaxing it with death knights, we’ll get other classes next?

The reasons could really just be “Well we’re both factions, maybe we should teach each other our knowledge if you’re down for it.” They do it in Final Fantasy without ruining class identity at all and it’s very cool.

EDIT: you could argue this currently happens with crafting too. Otherwise how does a nelf engineer make sense? They’re learning from gnomes, of course!

Just got really distracted by the idea of some Forsaken teaching medical courses by demonstrating on cadavers. Each other.

It’d be a neat way of remembering the order hall stuff from Warcraft since they have that as a starting point if they’re really (somehow) strapped for ideas.

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i definitely think class/race restrictions should go the way of the dinosaur.

that is, as long as there’s an explanation for the role of each class within each respective racial group.

Personally, I think the MU Orcs should not be able to use the light at all.

I’d actually say that only the Mag’har should be able to use the light since, for the moment, that is what has been established. Also something something demon blood something something longstanding corruption. Orcs don’t exactly have a Sunwell removing their corruption.

I’m like one of the only ones who likes restrictions. I think some of the pairings are too loose. I don’t care enough to actually complain about it but I thought they have race and class a bit more purpose and mastery. Now it would be too restricting to implement them so I agree they should go away altogether with minor alterations

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The challenge of orc paladins, to me, is that it’s an inherent contradiction; orcs and by extension most of the Horde are a capital-C Chaotic society where might essentially makes right, whereas paladins are almost always depicted as being champions of Law. I think there’s a way to do it by leaning into the sacrificial aspects of being a paladin, though.

The paladin fantasy, for a really long time, involved a pretty clear vein of self-sacrifice; there was stuff like Hand of Sacrifice, which literally had it in the name, Divine Intervention which straight-up killed you so you could save someone else, and examples in lore from Tirion to Maraad to Bolvar and back. I think it would be way more interesting if orc paladins leaned into that theme, as opposed to being more on the Deus Vult side of things.

We know orcs value self-sacrifice, since they venerate people like Grom, for whom they feel he giving his life to fix his mistake no only redeemed him but made him a hero. Orc initiates could be mostly rejects and-or those with nothing left to lose - criminals, washed-out peons, veterans of the Old Horde haunted by their past, and the like. Giving up something major would be a requirement of joining - something like “my place in society,” forcing themselves to become a nomadic knight-errant; “my identity,” to become a helmed, anonymous crusader, such that no one will know of or mourn their death when it comes, or even body parts, in the Shattered Hand tradition.

Orc paladins would “learn” to use the Light from humans and draenei, but only in the loosest sense; given that they’re factional enemies, orcs wouldn’t so much learn their traditions as co-opt them from second-hand experience in neutral organizations like the Argent Dawn. That way, the tradition of orc paladins isn’t dependant on another race to exist, and they’re allowed to keep only the things that are valuable to them and change the rest, as opposed to being Blood Knights 2.0 or Vindicators 2.0 or whatever.

This also allows orc paladins to avoid the Earthen Ring Problem, where everyone basically gets along with zero mention of tensions along racial or philosophical lines, despite large chunks of the rest of the game being about that. Horde paladins could be chuffed that orcs didn’t learn from their traditions despite being allies - with the orcs countering that Blood Knights are ultimately selfish, and Sunwalkers are basically just advanced druids anyway - and Alliance paladins could find it anywhere from offputting to downright insulting that their largest hereditary enemies essentially stole and twisted their religious teachings without permission.

This would all combine to paint a picture of a group who’s liked by basically nobody and is not exactly sunshine-and-rainbows to be a part of, but who are free to do the right thing because it’s the right thing, as opposed to doing it for tactics or Honor™ or any external factors.

I’ll leave their level of self-awareness about the Horde’s past to the reader’s taste.

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Oh, and I’m also Gentarn now, by the way.

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this is a decent explanation for MU orcs, for sure.

This is such a good explanation and I love it. Do you mind if I roll an Orc Paladin using this idea?

How is it these forums consistently make better ideas than blizzard? If I was in charge I would just start stealing ideas from here.

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you think you want it, but you don’t

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if i were me id steal ideas from me but im not me so i wont

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Well, that’s an exceedingly questionable decision.

Here’s some secret ideas about my orc paladin proposal. Sint secrets…

The creation of Paladins on Draenor did not come without controversy. Due to strained relations after the Iron Horde crisis, the Orcs wanted to keep distant from the Draenei. Understandably, the draenei felt mostly the same way. Victimized so harshly by a people they never wronged, the Draenei hardly could look at the orcs. So why would they give any of them a chance?

Faith in change, perhaps. Yrel had been forcibly wizened by this conflict, many years of youth ripped away from her by witnessing atrocities and death. Made wise by the death of many, by the faces that sacrificed themselves for her and for Draenor, Yrel looked to the Mag’har with some sympathy. They had been lied to, manipulated, and even betrayed. Though some who still survived were the very manipulators who allowed this crisis to happen, most were doomed. The Legion and Azeroth destroyed whatever civilization the orcs had to stop Grom’s Horde, leaving the orcs with little more than ruins.

While it could be perceived as a just punishment, Yrel saw opportunity. For Yrel had learned many things through this conflict, through the information given by the Gorians and the Azerothians. She knew of the origins of the orcs; their very core nature was made clear to her. Yrel remembered the tales of the soul of Argus, that the arcanists and heroes of the eredar could speak to something that was considered the spirit of their world. To know that there was reasonable suspicion that another being like the soul of Argus, a being called “Aggramar”, had indirectly caused the creation of all breakers greatly intrigued Yrel.

Aggramar was the first to stand up against Sargeras. His strength, his determination, and his iron will proved to be something impressive to the High Exarch as she traveled to the only place where the Draenei could find friends among the orcs. To Wor’gol.

The Frostwolves were kindred spirits to Aggramar, standing against chaos when it demanded they bend to its will. In speaking to Durotan, she picked a handful of names and began to cultivate friendships with them. In time, Yrel brought each of them to a rebuilt Shattrath, teaching them of the ways of a vindicator. Not only that, she spoke of the Titanic history of the orcs.

If they were to free themselves from a newfound legacy of hatred, the orcs required redeemers. For the Prophet’s successor, there was no better way than giving the orcs their own Aggramar. Their own champions. The Vadnod’rogahn rose to this monumental challenge, in hopes to clean the Orcish spirit of the depravity of Garrosh Hellscream. They would do this even in the face of Grom, as they feared no orc who would stoop to such lows to create an Iron Tide.

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As it was passed to me, so now it is passed to you…

Ideally, most classes should be available to most races, with Paladin, Druid, Shaman and Monk being things that, when you’re starting out as one of them as a ‘non-standard’ race, there should be a little mini-quest as a level 1 where you gain your first abilities and there’s some flavour-text from the NPCs about how strange your choice is, how proud the people are of you or how confused or hurt others are that you’ve chosen to ‘break’ with your people’s traditions in doing this.

Orcs, Highmountain Tauren, Pandaren and Mag’har could learn the Paladin’s Path from the Sunwalkers. Forsaken, Shal’dorei and Goblins could learn it from the Sin’dorei.

Amongst the Alliance, the Night Elves could learn from the Silver Hand, specifically the anointed Night Elf Character who leans more into an Elune-themed approach than the Human ‘Des Vult’ style, while Gnomes, Mecha-Gnomes and Kul’tirans might favour the more regimented and militant ways of the Light Forged Paladins, the former for the technological advancement and precision of the Lightforged Draenei, and the latter because unlike Human Paladins, none of the Lightforged have ever turned to darkness like Arthas did.

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I want Orc Paladin’s. Balthan, my Orc, would totally be one by now if not for the whole class-restriction thing.