Mephron's page

I've run multiple paladins. Rarely had a problem except one game where the GM put the entire party into a situation where we were all being screwed badly (captured by slavers: I was told if my paladin did not try to escape every day I would be abandoning my code and fall, despite stating I wanted to observe carefully to plan and get as many slaves out with me; the wizard had his hands broken over and over again and was issued permanent DEX penalties until he got a Regeneration; the cleric was tortured then made to heal other slaves; we all walked out when the fighter and rogue were put in a death match for no good reason other than GM being a jerk).

Another campaign had my paladin having to duel a noble who was evil. The party had a rogue who was mostly decent... just sometimes a little loose with people's items, and I would quietly remind him of this. He had a place in the party and I did too.

He snuck into the noble's home and found that the bastard had carefully poisoned a sword to use on me. He stole and and brought it back to me, to prove the guys was cheating.

"I'm disappointed in you. Not that you did this, no - it's part and parcel of your suspicious nature. No, I'm disappointed that you didn't have faith in me recognizing that might happen and thinking of a way to counteract that."

He took the sword back where he found it... then when the duel happened, produced two swords so both would have new blades without fatigue from combat.

THAT there is a Paladin/Rogue working relationship. It's not paladins that are a problem, it's the Lawful Jerkass players.

I just talked to him and got more background.

He wants essentially to play Albert from The Count of Monte Cristo, after the events of the novel end. Only assuming that he landed in a temple of Sarenrae afterwards, instead of heading off to war.

At the end of the book, Albert finds out his father is a mostly professional betrayer - at least three betrayals for profit (after selling the titular character to the law for a crime he didn't commit so he could have a woman for himself), leading to the death of others, the fall of a kingdom, and the implication that he's got a lot of very shady friends. Albert and his mother give up their money and opulent lifestyle in shame. (Fernand Mondego kills himself rather than lose everything.)

His mother joins a convent, and Albert joins the military, taking his mother's maiden name to replace his father's, so he can regain his own honor.

(Such a good book. Dumas is a great writer, even when it becomes obvious he was being paid by the word.)

If you want to play a paladin, absolutely required reading is Elizabeth Moon's The Deed of Paksenarrion. (which also brings the female part in.)

Play a female paladin and do something story-worthy to share with us :P

Done!

This is back in 3.5, so....

I had planned the character to be a fighter/sorcerer, and had 4 levels of fighter. We were going against a creature that had DR 10/magic, and we had no magic weapons. With a strength of 16, strongest in the party, even with a longsword, I couldn't hit it, and it had taken out our mage and priest first. In character, I said:

"Heironeous, we're going to die. I need help. Help us, and I will swear myself to your service."

Dice are rolled. 20. Confirmation roll: 20. It takes some damage. It misses me.

20. Confirmation 20. It takes more damage. It misses me again.

20. Confirmation 20. The GM says to me, "What's your Charisma again?" I tell him: 16.

"There's a burst of light from your sword, and a thunderclap, as you cleave through its neck and it dies."

When we get back to the city we reside in, I go to the temple of Heironeous, find a priest, tell him what happened, and ask what my next step is.

"You need to talk to one of our trainers, the Paladin Master."

------

Later in that campaign, I:

• offered myself to a dying god, which revitalized him (and got my paladin access to the entire Good domain for spells)
• saved a child who turned out to be the son of the spirit of the river of the city, and brought in his kidnapper alive
• made a LOT of money and turned most of it into helping the poorer parts of the city
• nearly-one-man took out an elder wyrm red dragon while the others (including a sorcerer and two priests) locked down the vampire
• and then in the climactic battle of the campaign proceeded to take down a balor singlehandedly while the others dealt with his minions.

And everyone said my character was basically an example to follow, one of the characters ending up changing alignment from CN to CG along the way.

Ask Felicia Day how much of a hate group that the GamerGaters are.

Hint: 30 minutes from "I'm afraid of their actions" to them actually taking those actions is not a good sign.

Full disclosure: my twitter account is on their ban list.

The young lady in the corner, who has been watching this while sipping from a goblet, rises from her chair and addresses the room, a Galtan accent in her speech.

"To deal with slavery... is a delicate task. I believe that it requires multiple acts. First," she says, raising her index finger, "one needs to make slavery less economically beneficial, which tends to mean causing the price of slaves to go so high as to not work for the buyers. Second, making it socially disfavored to own slaves. Third, convincing those who make laws to make slavery illegal." She looks thoughtful for a moment.

"The first requires a three-pronged effort. The first prong is to make the cost of gathering slaves too high to be worth the effort, which is best suited by the, er, convincing of slavers to cease their activities, whether through conversation, threats, or direct activity. The second is the freeing of slaves in covert ways - technically, one supposes, theft in those societies where slavery is legal - and making it clear to the slaveholders that it is improper. The third is resettlement of those freed slaves - a safe place for them to go, and, sadly, a way to care for those slaves so broken they cannot imagine any other way of existence anymore. That also would include training the freed slaves in other trades, as I would think many of them were simply manual laborers, and giving them a chance at a better life."

She takes a sip from her cup. "The second is, in a way, harder - how does one change such regard? One expects that the freeing of slaves would just cause the other slaves to be worked harder, but to those who see people as merely objects to be owned - no better than some kind of golem - there may be little care. To those who own slaves who are not, say, 'upper class'," the last said with a small smile at Ozymandias, "perhaps showing them that a worker who has a better investment in their job is more productive and the business is more fruitful might be helpful."

Another sip. "And then third, well, that is a place for statesmen and those invested in politics, not for a simple singer such at myself." She bows, with a small smile, and returns to her chair.