A Palladin's Hell

Walking the Alignment Tightrope
Introduced on pages 4 and 8 of Supplement I, the paladin is perhaps the iconic heroic adventurer, a pure do-gooder. A subtype of fighting man, or fighter as they are called in Greyhawk, "certain lawful fighters may opt to become paladins" according to the supplement. One way in which a setting or campaign can define itself is through custom character classes. Unlike the other new class introduced in Supplement I, thieves, the paladin doesn't have it's own level progression table, so I assume paladins progress as fighting men/fighters. The wording "may opt to become paladins" suggests to me that this opting may be done at any time in the PCs career and not necessarily limited to 1st level. Of course Supplement I doesn't specifically spell this out, that wouldn't be in keeping with the DIY approach of the white box, so there is room for interpretation. What Supplement I does say on page 8 is that fighters with charisma scores of 17 or greater have "the possibility of paladin status IF THEY ARE LAWFUL from the commencement of play for that character." So, I like to make a number of assumptions or interpretations regarding this statement which are not supported by the way paladins are described in later editions. Being free to do this is one of the reasons I really like the white box! I like to think this means that if the fighter establishes a consistent record of lawful action during play, there may be a possibility to achieve paladin status if their charisma is high enough. The possibility should come in the form of being approached by something like the order of paladins and being asked to join. This may occur at any level, but only after a fighter has proven them self worthy.
Alignment for many characters may mean relatively little, but for the paladin it can be a tightrope suspended above the pit. The root of this situation comes from Supplement I which states that after becoming a paladin "any chaotic act will immediately revoke the status of paladin, and it can never be regained". In other words, that paladin has fallen. Supplement I maintains the three alignment system of lawful, neutral and chaos from the LBBs and there is no good or evil alignment axis as such. The LBBs establish the alignment system of law, chaos and neutral, but don't really define what constitutes law or chaos (although there is some additional insight given in Spplement I, pages 6-7). That is left up to the player/referee and to establish guidelines for lawful, neutral and chaotic behavior. Thus each campaign develops its own unique alignment character. How tightly the referee monitors the paladin with respect to alignment behavior can vary widely from referee to referee.
So besides becoming a member of an elite (charisma 17 or higher) organization, what benefits compensate the paladin for the strict alignment adherence expected of them? The ability to "lay on hands" to cure wounds and disease in others is probably the aid most frequently identified with the Greyhawk paladin. Paladins themselves enjoy immunity to disease and benefit from an improved resistance to attacks other than melee (so basically saving throws). Upon reaching level 8 the paladin gains the ability to detect and dispel evil (what dispel amounts to is not really defined). The paladin gains immunity from magic while in possession of a "holy sword". Paladins may obtain a special horse, but have restrictions on replacing a lost horse and upon the number of magic items and amount of treasure they may possess and upon whom they may associate. On page 8, Supplement I states, "They will associate only with lawful characters." thus inviting some potentially obnoxious roleplaying if paladins try to police the play of other party members in an effort to insure lawful behavior.
According to gamer legend, the paladin class was inspired by the book Three Hearts and Three Lions by Poul Anderson. If true, Three Hearts and Three Lions may give additional insight into the paladin's relationship with alignment for law and chaos play a large part in the book. The requirement for paladins to have exceptional charisma scores suggests their role as leaders and exemplars. Although not published until 1992 and therefore much later than Supplement I, Elizabeth Moon in her Deed of Parksinarrion offers one interpretation of the paladin as "the sword of good defending the helpless and teaching by example...Because we (paladins) are likable, and other people will follow us willingly. And that's why we are more likely to choose a popular adept for a candidate rather than the best fighters."
The paladin as presented in Supplement I offers a unique set of challenges and restrictions as well as some nice benefits as a class. In my many years of roleplaying I have rarely played a paladin and have refereed with only a few at the table. I do like the idea of the paladin subclass and I think it adds a lot of flavor to the campaign which incorporates it. The player that takes on playing a paladin embraces a set of expectations unequaled. No other class seems as fraught with peril in terms of roleplay, yet the class benefits are not insignificant and the opportunity to play an exemplar is unique in fantasy roleplay. The addition of the paladin as a subclass helps form my "understanding" of Greyhawk because knowing who the actors are tells me a lot about what the campaign is all about. Add in the thieves class and the unique qualities of Greyhawk as a setting start to take shape in my imagination.