Orc Paladin - How would you justify it?

[WhiteEagle888]

Out of all there race-class combinations this would be the hardest to explain, if we can crack this, any race could be anything like in DnD.

[Cwimge]

goblin shaman exist
cow pallys exist
night elf mages are recognised and playable

Fuck the lore, blizzard certainly has. There is ZERO need to justify ANYTHING these days. Make any and everything happen

[Alastian]

As far I know, the blood of Mannoroth sealed the Orcs from Shamanism. After his death Shamanism appeared again, but orc's honor and the paladins faith cant go together.

[Frumpy Frumpy Frak]

There's no reason why a Orc couldn't be a paladin just like there's no reason a a medieval Scottsman couldn't use a katana. They just wouldn't because it's not a part of their culture.

That having been said, piss off, the sanctity of the paladin class has suffered enough.

#cowsarefoodnotfriends

[cuafpr]

hopefully this never happens.... even if it would be ironic watching Orcs become the very thing that helped destroy them in the second war....

[AwkwardSquirtle]

goblin shaman exist
cow pallys exist
night elf mages are recognised and playable

Fuck the lore, blizzard certainly has. There is ZERO need to justify ANYTHING these days. Make any and everything happen

Mate goblin shaman lore is the best lore.
They bribe the elements to work for them. That's canon. It is my favourite detail in class lore.

[Astalnar]

You cannot.

Orcs do not praise the Light, but instead spirits. Thus it makes sense they have shamans. Paladins and Orcs are incompatible. That said, any class that has priests available, should have Paladins as well. So I guess that means Night Elves, Trolls, and Pandas. Although I'd cut Pandas and Goblins personally.

[Irian]

Lorewise there is likely at least one orc paladin already. Orcs have no curse or debilitation that prevents them from wielding the Light like broken draenei do, it's more just that paladins are the practical opposite of orcish culture. Orcs are on the entire opposite end of chaotic good whereas paladins are unquestionably lawful good. The spirits are for orcs what the Light is for humans.
If I had to justify it in lore, like if Blizzard came to me and said "Listen, we're putting orc paladins in and we're leaving you the sole responsibility to explain them to the playerbase, do what you can." This is about what I'd do:

Orcish culture venerates those who fall in battle against their most hated enemies. Upon witnessing the fall of Tirion Fordring, many orc members of the Argent Dawn pledged their blades with renewed vigor in honor of the organization, their respect for their fallen Highlord being barely distinguishable from devotion to the Light itself. Though they don't have a true, direct connection to the Light as other paladins do, their sense of duty to uphold Fordring's ideals tempers their savagery into an iron discipline strong enough to emulate a true connection to the Light.

[WhiteEagle888]

Lorewise there is likely at least one orc paladin already. Orcs have no curse or debilitation that prevents them from wielding the Light like broken draenei do, it's more just that paladins are the practical opposite of orcish culture. Orcs are on the entire opposite end of chaotic good whereas paladins are unquestionably lawful good. The spirits are for orcs what the Light is for humans.
If I had to justify it in lore, like if Blizzard came to me and said "Listen, we're putting orc paladins in and we're leaving you the sole responsibility to explain them to the playerbase, do what you can." This is about what I'd do:

Orcish culture venerates those who fall in battle against their most hated enemies. Upon witnessing the fall of Tirion Fordring, many orc members of the Argent Dawn pledged their blades with renewed vigor in honor of the organization, their respect for their fallen Highlord being barely distinguishable from devotion to the Light itself. Though they don't have a true, direct connection to the Light as other paladins do, their sense of duty to uphold Fordring's ideals tempers their savagery into an iron discipline strong enough to emulate a true connection to the Light.

Very nice, I particularly like your intro of a representative coming to you and saying those exact lines xD
The reason why I choose this race class combo to be justified is precisely the lawful- chaotic conflict inherent between them which you described.

[huth]

Would probably even work. The Light reacts to faith and belief, regardless of what that faith is targeted at. That's why the Scarlet Crusade still had access to it: they believed in their cause, misguided as it was.

Pandaren are fit for it also, every race is fit for every class, one just need to explain it reasonably. Do you happen to know something called "fantasy"?
DnD does not restrict race and class I fully expect WoW that as the story gets tighter every race will be able to learn from another and become everything. Having their own version of the story for that particular class.

Modern D&D doesn't. Back in the day, Dwarf and Elf were basically classes.

Keep in mind that Paladin ingame is just a catch-all term and mechanics set for holy warriors, and their particular workings in Lore can be quite different. A Tauren Sunwalker has a completely different approach to things than a Paladin of the Silver Hand order.

[Grobovshik]

Undead monks exist, why not?

[WhiteEagle888]

Would probably even work. The Light reacts to faith and belief, regardless of what that faith is targeted at. That's why the Scarlet Crusade still had access to it: they believed in their cause, misguided as it was.


Modern D&D doesn't. Back in the day, Dwarf and Elf were basically classes.

Keep in mind that Paladin ingame is just a catch-all term and mechanics set for holy warriors, and their particular workings in Lore can be quite different. A Tauren Sunwalker has a completely different approach to things than a Paladin of the Silver Hand order.

Exactly what I said in my second post in this thread.

[Friendlyimmolation]

Some peon goes
"Dying da poop, no more!" And the. He pops bubble.


In all seriousness I doubt orcs are the race that would become paladins but if blizzard wants it there are worse class combos out there

[Selastan]

Quilboar bodies cover the ground more densely than leaves cover the tender soil of Ashenvale. There is a disturbance among the corpses of the battlefield. From a pile of quilboar corpses emerges an orc warrior, his armor and his skin indistinguishable under the thick paste of blood and bile. More are coming. He raises his blade, slashing apart more and more. His rage is unending, but his strength is not. Soon his blade falls slower, and slower. Finally he lacks the strength to wrench it out of one of his foe's skull. More are coming. Most orcs seek an honorable death, and here among hundreds of fallen enemies, many orcs would be glad to die. But not this orc. Honor means nothing. Should he die, more would be left. He wouldn't stop, he couldn't die. He pulled at his weapon, but he could not get it free. They were almost upon him. He gave one final pull, giving it every ounce of his fading strength. Veins pulsed, eyes bulged. He gave a mighty roar, terrifying the quilboar even with their victory assured. His vision slowly faded, white replacing the crimson of the battlefield. In the back of his mind, he heard a soft chiming. It soothed him somewhat. He relaxed his muscles. He took a deep breath. He pulled the blade from the creature effortlessly. The orc's strength was gone, but something beyond him had lent it's own. This wasn't a matter of honor, he would gladly accept any aid in his fight. No, it wasn't honor, it was retribution.

Now, blind rage replaced with a sense of duty and justice to raze these creatures from his homeland, Mankrik, the first orc paladin, ends his war and begins his crusade.

[WhiteEagle888]

Some peon goes
"Dying da poop, no more!" And the. He pops bubble.


In all seriousness I doubt orcs are the race that would become paladins but if blizzard wants it there are worse class combos out there

What would be your worst case scenario class combo?

- - - Updated - - -

Quilboar bodies cover the ground more densely than leaves cover the tender soil of Ashenvale. There is a disturbance among the corpses of the battlefield. From a pile of quilboar corpses emerges an orc warrior, his armor and his skin indistinguishable under the thick paste of blood and bile. More are coming. He raises his blade, slashing apart more and more. His rage is unending, but his strength is not. Soon his blade falls slower, and slower. Finally he lacks the strength to wrench it out of one of his foe's skull. More are coming. Most orcs seek an honorable death, and here among hundreds of fallen enemies, many orcs would be glad to die. But not this orc. Honor means nothing. Should he die, more would be left. He wouldn't stop, he couldn't die. He pulled at his weapon, but he could not get it free. They were almost upon him. He gave one final pull, giving it every ounce of his fading strength. Veins pulsed, eyes bulged. He gave a mighty roar, terrifying the quilboar even with their victory assured. His vision slowly faded, white replacing the crimson of the battlefield. In the back of his mind, he heard a soft chiming. It soothed him somewhat. He relaxed his muscles. He took a deep breath. He pulled the blade from the creature effortlessly. The orc's strength was gone, but something beyond him had lent it's own. This wasn't a matter of honor, he would gladly accept any aid in his fight. No, it wasn't honor, it was retribution.

Now, blind rage replaced with a sense of duty and justice to raze these creatures from his homeland, Mankrik, the first orc paladin, ends his war and begins his crusade.

And the winner is... xD

[Friendlyimmolation]

What would be your worst case scenario class combo?

Undead pally or Draenei lock for sure.

[Triggered Fridgekin]

I wish it to be on a purely aesthetic level because I hate how Male Blood Elves have dislocated their shoulders to puff out their chest and Tauren for not making stompy boots look like stompy boots.

But it'd be a stretch to find a Priest let alone a Paladin. You'd have to one-up Thrall in the Jesus department and that's no easy feat to achieve especially with Metzen gone.

[Techno-Druid]

I wouldn't.

Race/class combos I would justify though:

Night elf Paladins - Similar to the Sunwalkers, but channelling the powers of Elune.

Pandaren Druids - Not traditional druids, but monks that have crossed over and trained in the Emerald Dream, channeling the powers of thr August Celestials.

Draenei Rogues - Self-explanatory

Pandaren Death Knights - Since each player character is essentially being pushed as a legendary hero, you could easily have individual cases of pandaren from the Wandering Isle being caught in the wrong place at the wrong time and rasied by the Scourge.

Undead Paladins - Essentially a shadow priest-equivalent of a paladin.

[Arrashi]

Undead Paladins - Essentially a shadow priest-equivalent of a paladin.

That's not how it works.

[Rhonen]

If there are Orc pallies before Undead ones, I'm coming after the OP with a hammer and a libram...