ingenuus's page

Honestly, after the very first session it already seems super fun. We played earlier this week and I loved the change in play style due to the alignment and HAVING to stick to it. My other two characters have both been Chaotic Good (both looking a lot different), but this was definitely a challenge in the best way possible. As obvious as this sounds, playing LG adds a lot to my actual role playing experience in the game.

Super helpful Aboniks...thanks! Here are thoughts in response to some of your questions as well as a list of duties that I would love folks thoughts on. This is a mix of in game Duergar history, some flavor stuff I made up for this guy, a little inspiration from my favorite movie (at the duty part):

Stonelords are those Duergar chosen at birth to protect their people and carry out the will of Kols. The more they do the bidding of Kols, the more they start turning into living stone. This is the highest sign of enlightenment and a reflection of standing with the Stonelords.

When the Seven Patriarchs (leaders of Duergar in general) originally broke off from the Dwarves to worship Droskarr, the Seven were granted immortality by the dark smith. While this happened, a new order of both Dwarves and Duergar was formed. The Duergar version of this order, the Stonelords, had their leader granted immortality as well. Muradin, Son of Thrake, Lord Protector of Kols, Thane of Fellstrok is stone brought to life and the living will of Kols. All higher ranking Stonelords report directly to Muradin.

Kols speaks directly to Stonelords who have achieved a certain level of dedication to his cause. Grymlar (my PC) is at that point, so he hears directly from Kols. He also upholds his word to his order through obeying the decrees of Muradin.

Duties:
o Uphold the laws of Kols and your people at all costs (with my "people" being both followers of Kols and the Duergar in general)
o Follow the laws of all other people unless it conflicts with the will of Kols.
o Show no fear in the face of your enemies.
o Be brave and upright so that Kols will protect thee.
o Speak the truth always, even if it leads to your death.
o Safeguard those unable to protect themselves.
o Show courage on behalf of those who cannot defend themselves.
o Support the political leadership, but never stray from the teachings of Kols.

Thoughts?

"Kols (LN), known to his faithful as "Oath-Keeper", is the dwarven demigod of duty. His personal duties are following and serving his father Torag and protecting his brother Grundinnar. He is also the deity tasked with exacting punishment on those poor souls who shirk their responsibilities or break sworn oaths and solemn promises."

Definitely get with your GM on this. Yes, you're playing a paladin, and so that comes with some restrictions. On the other hand, the god you worship could just as easily have LE clerics that follow him. It makes no sense to assume that you couldn't work with one of your gods own clerics...who could be the one casting an atonement for you.

IMO, you really need a code of conduct specific to the deity for this situation. If working with this group in order to achieve a goal for Kols is part of your duty, then there needs to be some thought put into the code.

2cp: Always take the deity alignment and their domains into account before deciding what one of their followers should/would be expected to do.

Initially, I was thinking that Kols and the fact that I am a Duergar could make my lawful evil look a little different. The example I gave my DM was the following. Duergar culture is built on slavery, so my PC, like other Duergar, has had slaves before. With him being a LG Stonelord (who I made, basically, a law enforcement character in his home city), he treats his slaves like a part of his family (since this slavery is based on the caste system in his society). Playing off that line of thinking, how would this sound as a code:

As a Stonelord of Kols, I swear to follow through with all oaths and duty laid before me for the betterment of my people. I am also tasked with finding all individuals who break their oaths or abandon their duty to my people. With the backing of Kols, I will bring them to justice at all costs to make things right.

That is very much a first stab at writing something up and, with me being new to LG, I am not sure if any of that is too far or doesn't fit into what a LG PC would live by. Either way, I just talked to the DM and we are going to talk more tomorrow. I would love some feedback on what I wrote above so I can have something to show him when we talk.

All the information shared so far has been tremendously helpful, so I appreciate the time everyone has taken so far!

Was looking for a bit of advice on a new character idea I am looking into. For my next campaign, I want to make a character that can soak of a lot of damage and can help the group by playing a battlefield control role. The class I saw that looks most appealing to me is the Dwarven Paladin archetype of Stonelord. I talked to my GM and he was cool with me rolling a Duergar into that class. He is going to be very anti Dwarf (obviously) and Drow, but not quite kill on sight. Was planning on playing him as an obstinate, untrusting guy begrudgingly coming to the surface to accomplish his overarching character task.

With this set up, I have two main questions:
--How does my level 1 set up look for what I want to do?
--I am very set on Stonelord for the character idea I have in mind, but am open to prestige classing into SD. What are everyone's thoughts on me going into Stalwart Defender at level 8? I have heard that this may not be as good an idea as it may seem on paper.

Here is what I was thinking of going for at level 1:
(20 pt buy)
Str: 14
Dex: 12
Con: 17 (+2)
Int: 10
Wis: 10 (+2)
Cha: 7 (-4)

Traits:
--Militant Merchant (+1 perception and it becomes a class skill)
--Steel Skin (+2 intimidate, don armor in 1/2 the time, helmet has family crest on it)
--Convincing Liar (+1 trait bonus to bluff or Intimidate, and one of these skills becomes a class skill)
--Drawback: Pride (When threatened/accused/challenged, take a –2 penalty on diplomacy and Sense Motive involving that person until the creature apologizes to you.)

Feats:
Feat (lv 1): Dodge (+1 dodge to AC)

Any thoughts on how to play out my Stonelord are greatly appreciated!