101 Paladin Falls


Pathfinder First Edition General Discussion


Fallen paladins are some of the most tragic beings in fantasy: they become their own antithesis, giving up everything they once valued. But what triggers it? Why do these paragons of Good become the vilest of villains?
I'm starting this thread because I can only think of a few reasons why a paladin would become an antipaladin. I hope it will create a repository of good ideas for antipaladin backgrounds.
So, to start off with a classic:

1. Blood Vengeance: some creature, or group of creatures, has caused the death of someone you cared for. Now, your only purpose is to destroy them, and you will stop at nothing, even if it damns your soul.


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2. Denied Your Due (As You See It): You were to be King's/Queen's Champion, The Head of your Order, Husband/Wife to the Loveliest/Handsomest Lad/y in All the Land, etc. It was promised; or if not precisely promised, it was understood. Well, at least it was the obvious choice—in your eyes. Yet they overlooked you, bypassed you ... even, indignity itself, consciously snubbed you. And now someone you never heard of is giving you orders ... or this upstart shields the Monarch, and stands at their side ... or your greatest rival has wedded and bedded your chosen (and strangely enough, he/she has shed no tears over the arrangement [and in fact seems quite satisfied, no pun intended]). Someone will pay.

Everyone will pay.

(This caused the fall and descent into darkness of the greatest paladin in my campaign: He was to be Head of his Order, and the god inexplicably chose his brother—who was younger, less powerful and sorely lacking [insofar as our "hero" was concerned] in the "great deeds accomplished" department. First he challenged the ruling ... and when rebuked by the god, repudiated his faith in a fury and returned months later at the head of an army to claim what was obviously his by right. In the moment he killed his brother, he became an antipaladin. What eventually drove him mad was the revelation from the god he once served that his brother's reign would have only lasted a few months before the god would have called him home; he would just have had to humbly submit for that time, and all the glory he'd ever craved would have been his. In response to that little revelation, he called on the Dark Powers and became a Death Knight. Fun guy.)

Dark Archive

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3. Tall staircase leading down to the royal court, where the princess awaits your introduction. Badly fitted sollerets. Cue Yakety-Sax, much social humiliation, a broken-off engagement, and epic rage.

Yes, it's a paladin falling that came from a paladin falling.


Set wrote:

3. Tall staircase leading down to the royal court, where the princess awaits your introduction. Badly fitted sollerets. Cue Yakety-Sax, much social humiliation, a broken-off engagement, and epic rage.

Yes, it's a paladin falling that came from a paladin falling.

Really? All the brilliant stuff we've gotten from you in the tiefling and aasimar threads and you offer us paladin fans that?

As Cris Carter would say, "Come on, man."

Liberty's Edge

From the records of the Marchwall Paladins, dated AW 847 10th of Thirdmonth.

4. Sir Martius, you had a three-way with two succubi where you, and I quote, "got the atomic clap from one succubus and gave it to her sister." This "orgy of crapulence," again, your words, lasted for thirty-six hours and resulted in the deaths of six children at the hands of goblins and the conception of your half-demon children, both of whom you immediately sold to the gypsies for a Kwalish's Apparatus and an Alchemist's Jug.

5. Sir Alen killed a halfling's wife, children, and everyone blood-related to him, but let the halfling live so as to "reflect on his sins." This was over the matter of a spilled drink at Julia's Tavern. When the halfling offered to clean your tabard, you threatened to "turn his head into a soup mug" before you decided what you did "was funnier."

6. Lady Iocasta, you actually commissioned five scrolls of Locate City Bomb. I didn't even think that was possible. While the dwarves of Glinn Oelkirk will recover, in time, I don't think their city will ever be inhabitable again considering you used those scrolls to redirect their largest city from the mountains to the bottom of the Northern Ocean.

7. Finally, we turn our attention to the leader of this odious opus, Sir Haris. You wanted to use a Ring of Three Wishes to bring The Dragon of Athas (emphasis in original text) to our planet "for the lulz."

Summary Judgement: Sir Martius Klein, Sir Alen Fordemere, Lady Iocasta Gardkan, Sir Haris Bruco... ugh, the hell with formalities. You're all ex-paladins. Turn in your swords, and your holy symbols, you're no longer divine magic users. Get. Out. My. Sight.


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Paladins falling

A paladin falling can be an amazing story element, and I'm glad you recognize that. Coming up with reasons for this doesn't need to be too complex. It just needs to make sense. In most cases, this probably means that you just cease being a paladin - taking that turn toward Blackguard territory is pretty frightening.

8. Tired of Fighting

The paladin is a paragon of virtue that's on an impossible quest to stop evil. Period. A paladin must always be an example of what it means to be a hero, to be good, and to be willing to sacrifice everything for a cause greater than one's self.

A lot of paladins, therefore, die rather young. But what of those paladins who have lived long lives dedicating themselves to that sort of cause? Here you have a hero who's been fighting evil since she was fifteen, and at the age of fifty she's still going at it. She travels from town to town, never able to stop moving because there's always evil cropping up somewhere; there's always some new, terrible menace to face. How long can anyone live that sort of life before they crack? Friends fight alongside her; friends die alongside her; and over the years her friends simply disappear, either killed or having given up on this adventuring thing themselves.

Moreover, good doesn't always win. This is someone that has gone to a village and uprooted the dark forces surrounding the town only to see evil return years later. This is someone that saves a man's live only to learn that same man was killed by robbers days later. She may rescue a merchant from orcs only to later see that same merchant extorting peasants in a time of crisis. Evil cannot and will not simply go away, and only a small portion of the world's evils can be dealt with by the sword.

This is the story of someone that is tired of it all. They give up. They throw the sword down. They've lost faith because they can't continue on like this. Such a paladin can come back to their senses, remember what they stand for, certainly - but at such a time, they are the most vulnerable, the most susceptible to the meddling of dark powers.

A related version of this type of fallen paladin is "there is too much suffering." Namely, a paladin that feels there's too much suffering in the world and the best thing one can do is end the world's suffering... well, that's a paladin that's even more prone to falling.

9. They Are All Evil

And then there is the paladin that looks at the world with such pervasive evil, evil that refuses to be banished for good, and demands of Heaven "Why?" Why does it keep coming back? Why is it ALLOWED to keep coming back? Is the paladin's struggle even making any real difference? Is the paladin even fighting for the right cause?

"No," he says. It's all futile. He's been on a fool's errand all these years. Evil cannot be beaten. Evil is not simply a fact of life. Life is evil; evil is life. Neither can exist without the other. Therefore, to destroy evil, life must be destroyed.

It's a madman's prospect. But then what is a paladin but a madman himself? He throws himself at challenge after challenge, risking life and limb time and time again, sees things that no mortal should have to see and then continues to hunt it down. Such a man of zeal must be prone to zealous madness; that same dedication that makes the paladin so heroic a warrior can make him that frightening a murderer.

It is that zeal, that same mentality that allows a paladin to chase after a quest that few others have the bravery or will to pursue, that makes a fallen paladin one of the most terrifying villains one can face.

And now for an off-topic ditty about paladins and how MOST people include falling in their campaigns:

A Ditty On Paladins:

If you drink too much beer
If you happen to feel fear
If you don't bless me when I sneeze
If you pass gas into a breeze
If you step u[on a flower
You'll find at that very hour
That the paladin must fall
Yes, the paladin must always fall

If you kill the nasty orcs
If you DON'T kill the nasty orcs
If you break the law to save the land
If you DON'T do that for the land
If you travel with a thief
You'll find to your disbelief
That the paladin will fall
Yes, the paladin will always fall

It matters not if you're brave
Nor how many lives you save
It matters not what your choice
And don't you dare raise your voice!
Wherever a paladin may exist
This just simply can't persist
We'll make that paladin fall
Yes, make certain the paladin falls

Dark Archive

10. You kill the Goblin babies
11. You don't kill the Goblin babies and they come back 5 years later to burn down the village.
12. You adopt the Goblin babies, raise them into an army, and use them to crush the nonbelievers.


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Akari Sayuri "Tiger Lily" wrote:

10. You kill the Goblin babies

11. You don't kill the Goblin babies and they come back 5 years later to burn down the village.
12. You adopt the Goblin babies, raise them into an army, and use them to crush the nonbelievers.

Yeah, that's how some GMs treat the paladin when anything like goblin babies comes up. THERE'S NO RIGHT ANSWER. PALADIN FALLS.

...Hey, that would be a pretty awesome name for a waterfall. Paladin Falls.


13. Late Bloomer: You were a shoe-in for the Order, one of the most dedicated and personable students. You enjoyed weapons training the most, but you were well-rounded in your education. Surely you'd be a crown champion.

But everything changed on your first day on the battlefield. The first day a living, breathing man died to your blade. His pale flesh made the colors of the world around him more vivid. His dying spasms held more lust for life in their shakes than all the dull stoicism of your home city. And the blood. You've always liked the color red, and the smell of grinding steel. But you'd never considered how blood brings the two together before, into something that rewards all the senses. The way it runs down your skin. That bittersweet taste. When you're still, in the quest, you can hear it pounding through your heart. You're so warm now it hurts. You spend longer than is strictly necessary... making sure the enemy is dead. Then you go look for another foe. And another. And another...

You're trembling when the first battle is over. A mixture of guilt and paranoia wash over you, and the bloodlust is gone. Did anyone see? Were you possessed by foul magic? Your cheeks flush as you imagine the judgmental stares of your peers; for the rest of the day, you are humble. But that night, you dream of the euphoria you found that day, and a new want overtakes you. It's not a sin if it's against the enemies of your god. This isn't murder--it's a crusade, or a jihad. You are always on the frontlines of battle, slaughtering your gods enemies, pushing it a little farther each time. And while the enemies of your realm are plentiful, it works; your new tastes are sated, the evils of the world are pushed back, and everyone regards you as a hero, a character of great faith and tireless zeal.

Then peacetime comes. The hunger becomes a gnawing pain at the base of your neck. You start daydreaming at random times in the day, wondering what this pastor or that maid would look like if their skin slowly peeled off. Your imagination is ten times worse than anything you've dared to do in the real world; it's taunting you know, showing you what glorious ecstasy you could find if you only gave up on these stupid rules. You are a HERO, after all! Everyone says so! Why shouldn't you be allowed to treat yourself. Who would really miss the thieves and footpads you capture for the inquisition?

But you can feel your god's faith in you wavering, threatening to flicker out. He DARES to threaten you, after you brought peace to his kingdom, good fortune to his favored children!? Worse yet, tormenting criminals for information isn't sating you--with your god in your heart and city guards and fellow paladins within walking distance, ready to condemn you, you can never go far enough!! It's cruel, that you can get so close to that bright moment, that period where the blood runs free and everything is so beautiful, but never reach its climax!

You could go a little farther... in private. But the rest of your order would find out. They'd stop you, they'd put you in chains, and you'd never feel that rusty warmth trickling down your chest again. No, if you are to be free to pursue your dreams, you'll have to strike them first.

Your subtle turn is not unnoticed. Patient evils that were sleeping in the dark rise like specters, and whisper to you great secrets. With gold from their own coffers, you buy the swords that will pillage and raise your headquarters to the ground. You lick your lips in anticipation. The light of your god fades as the hour approaches, but there is a new fire in your heart, something even better. You may not survive the night, but you will find out what the blood of the betrayed tastes like.


14. Party Bard/Rogue did not calculate the strength of his trusty old length of rope to accommodate heavy armor: A tragically common oversight that has led to many a fallen, sore paladin.


15. The goblins are raiding the town! What do you do?
We go to the restaurant.
You don't see any goblins.
Then we order a meal.
But the town is on fire and the citizens are dying.
Eh.
Goblins attack the restaurant. They get killed quickly. Then the party attempts to force the chef to cook the dead goblins bodies. Then they try to eat the chef. That was a very weird game.

This was after spending 5 minutes insulting the mayor, and refusing to discuss how to protect the town, and demanding treasure from the mayor.

Liberty's Edge

16. You made a Goblin Baby thread.
17. Natural 20 on a trip attempt; best way to make a paladin fall. XD


LN deity with rival 'orders' (1 LG, 1LE) that feud as often as possible. Think of them as Immortals from Highlander. Got into a bloody and ultimately fatal rivalry with the party Cleric (dif deity) that he refused to atone for. Really wicked role playing, especially for the rest of the party. The best part was Mr Goody Two Shoes helping my Ftr poison a village of Kender.


"poison a village of Kender."

But that is a Good deed. Protecting the sanity of future generations, stopping these thieving chaos-spawns before they can wreck more havoc!

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