I strongly disagree, it is absolutely necessary …Wotc didnt say in explicitly in the book because I guess they wanted to give players a choice. Well ok, its a choice that makes absolutely no sense to make imo.
It’s fine if it doesn’t make sense to you to have a paladin without a deity, and everyone I’ve seen here agrees that paladins should be able to pick one. You could then stick to playing traditional holy warriors and not worry about the alternative options.
But the fact you can’t make sense of a paladin not sworn to a god or granted powers by a specific god doesn’t seem a reason to deny those who can the opportunity to play one if they want, and given that it’s within the rules I don’t think there’s any need for them to justify this choice to those wedded to a more limited view of what a paladin can be. I certainly wouldn’t support Larian being more restrictive than WotC on this front: that would seem unnecessarily mean.
Okay so I did some light reading on the wiki for this. All magic has to come from SOMEWHERE. We must reject "ex nihilo" arguments concerning magic.
The first class of magic is arcane magic, seemingly tied to the Weave, its variants, and other planar/otherwordly forces and covers Wizards, Sorcerers, and Warlocks. Wizards study this material/substance/realm/entity to gain power over its usage, sorcerers are born with innate ability to manipulate it, and Warlocks get the ability to use it through pacts with otherworldly entities. It seems like INT and SOME (but not all) CHA casting occurs here. Also bard?
The other class of magic is Divine Magic, which seems to get its power from a "deity" or potentially some sort of other divine force, and covers Clerics (obviously deity-based), Paladin (questionable), Druid (???), and Ranger (also ???). It seems like WIS and some CHA casting occurs here.
Instead of viewing the paladin like a cleric, we can view it as a cross between a druid (Divine Magic user) and a bard/warlock (CHA casters). Druids apparently don't NEED deities for their abilities, but derive their powers from a devotion to a certain thing, like nature and its aspects. That doesn't stop Druids from revering certain deities and gaining power from them, though, as seen with Sylvanus. Warlocks have pacts with otherworldly entities, and their commitment to these pacts is what allows them power. So paladins don't NEED a deity, but it makes sense that one might revere one for power. Also, it needs to be explained HOW the paladin's oath grants them power, as that is not clear. How does devotion to a particular code open a path to Divine Magic?
Edit: According to Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 3rd Edition, it seems that Druids only THINK that their powers come from nature, when in fact they are drawn from deities relevant to that aspect of nature. I think this helps to explain Paladins... perhaps they THINK they are drawing power from their oaths, but they are in fact drawing divine magic from relevant divine beings which overlap with the nature and content of the oath. With Helm's significant status and relevance to Ao, and Helm's status as a God of paladins and protectors, it is possible that Paladins gain their significant power simply through drawing on Helm's nature.
Edit 2: It is also implied that Druids who revere nature could be drawing their unique magic through SEVERAL deities at once, despite potentially not revering one, as their devotion to nature has overlapping qualities. Paladins can be the same. Revering the thing a deity represents, and not the deities themselves, and all that.
