Does a paladin lose his powers while he's mind controlled by an evil entity?

No, they would honor the god and use it's tenets to inform their decisions, but they would not gain power from them.
The point of the paladin was the classical hero that is not bound to any greater calling than doing good in the land.

Alright thanks mate.

No, Paladin only loses his powers when he willingly goes against what he believes for selfish reasons

I would remove his powers temporarily till he gains control of himself because he isn't serving Good and so Good won't power him. No, I wouldn't make him fall or strip him out of his powers after that because he wasn't himself.

Old editions of D&D specifically stated that a Paladin falls if he is mind controlled into committing an evil act (he doesn't fall as hard and can repent later, but the point still stands)

>No, they would honor the god and use it's tenets to inform their decisions, but they would not gain power from them.
Wrong. Paladins in FR need a god to grant them power. Every paladin order is dedicated to a god, and there are no atheist paladins.

1. You don't know what Atheist means
2. You should read the rules

all divine casters in forgotten realms need a deity, even rangers and druids. or at least that's how it was in 3e. it's dumb but there you go.

That's just blatantly false.

No. A Paladin falls only if he breaks his code(whatever it may be) willingly.

If he's mind controlled into doing it, or is put into a situation where he literally can't avoid breaking his code (like some That GM stories you'll see here) they don't fall either.

Depends on the setting.

What the manual says doesn't matter, Forgotten Realms states that all divine casters powers come from a god you have to pray to

>acknowledging the existance of divine beings but not praying to them is being atheist now
Wut?

>Does a paladin lose his powers
No.

I'd say it depends on what kind of control we're talking about. If the paladin has been made to perceive their teammates as demons or undead or whatever, the pallypowers still work since the paladin thinks they're doing the right thing. Still, smite X only gets its bonuses if the teammate actually is X.
If we're talking something like demonic or ghostly possession otoh, the powers are switched off. The pally obviously failed a will save pretty hard to have their body used as a meat puppet, but the possessing entity will have no access to the paladin's special powers.
I could see an argument for allowing a lawful or good entity possessing a lawful good paladin to be able to use SOME of the powers, but that's a highly hypothetical scenario.

I see things like suggestion, charm, or domination as the greyest area, where the paladin might be compelled to knowingly act against their better judgement. On the one hand they don't have a choice on a failed saving throw, on the other hand it should cause some repercussions.

In either case I wouldn't say the paladin falls and has to go through the whole atonement thingy. That's way to steep for one (or even ten) failed saving throws. But the cosmic powers that power the paladin's powers shouldn't continue to not react at all either.

I'd propose a mechanic by which a possessed or mind-controlled paladin grows weaker and as such becomes less desireable to control, and possibly also deteriorates physically, seeming to grow older and more frail unnaturally fast to tip off others that something is wrong. When the possession/control ends the paladin could then regain their strength/powers over a similar period of time as the possession lasted.
That way, mind-controlling a paladin can still be useful but is not a win-button or good long-term strategy, and the paladin has to go through a period of reduced effectiveness without falling.
I think that's a fair compromise.

You lot need to read Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide.
EVERYONE needs a patron Deity to not end up on the wall of the Faithless. Paladins, Rangers, and some Druids are not empowered by gods, but by other overarching forces.
You need to prove it now, user, since you are the one who is claiming I'm wrong (even though I know you can't).
Come on, post some screen rips of what the paladin fluff in the phbs say, I fucking dare you.

Only temporarily

I'm gonna assume older edition D&D that actually had Paladins that fell and shit.

Probably depends on the control. If the Paladin hits any "Fall" conditions they'll use their powers, but be able to regain them through atonement. This would probably happen if the controller used the Paladin to commit any serious alignment violation, or if the Paladin's alignment was changed (By being operated via possession or as actually came up in a game I was in, Symbol of Persuasion off a caster of different alignment) The more subtle forms of control would leave the Paladin empowered, but also probably with enough free will to not do evil shit directly even if they were manipulated to evil ends, which is usually not considered fall-worthy.

sorry dude, you're just wrong. i know it's retarded.

>Unlike clerics, druids and paladins, Faerunian rangers do not have to choose a patron deity until they reach 4th level and acquire divine spellcasting ability (without a patron deity, a ranger cannot cast spells).

>Like clerics, the druids of Faerun receive their spells from a particular patron deity, always a deity of nature or animals.

>All paladins of Faerun are devoted to a patron deity, chosen at the start of their career as paladins.

that's from the 3e setting book. the 5e SCAG is more coy about rangers and doesn't say their powers come from a god, but it does say that explicitly about paladins.

>Some people are warriors of superior virtue. They exemplify a host of traits that folk consider honorable, just, and good. These warriors aspire to be the best people they can. When such a warrior also has great devotion to a particular deity, that god can reward the faithful with a measure of divine power, making that person a paladin.

...

underrated