A cruel Paladin?? [Archive] - Wizards Community

A cruel Paladin?? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
lancean
03-29-04, 04:48 PM While we're on the subject of Paladins, allow me to interject an idea from my own campaign.

The campaign itself has a lot of grey areas as far as alignment goes. Just because a fellow is a certain alignment, there's no guarantee you're going to get along or even see eye to eye. So the question was... can you have a holy order, even an order of paladins, whose lawful good duties seem cruel to an observer? Yes, it's possible. And here's the setup from my campaign...

Enter Alaetan, a greater deity whose aspects include Righteousness and Protection. The nation of Karandor was forged hundreds of years before by Tarin Karandor, a sorceror-paladin of Alaetan, who overcame his own frail nature and rose to show all the way in righteousness and zeal. He ruled for over 200 years, and in that time, the Church of Alaetan became the official state religion, supporting an order of clergy, 2 orders of Paladins, and numerous warrior brotherhoods of Crusaders.

Fact - all nobles of the land are somehow distantly related to Tarin Karandor, and all have inherited at least a tiny bit of his sorcerous ability.

Fact - an order of Paladins acts as an honor guard for all the nobles of the land.

Now the eerie part. (and it sent chills down the players' spines when they uncovered it all. :D ) Tarin Karandor was a half-demon. He was able to overcome his nature and turn to the path of good, but his demon blood flows in the veins of all his decendants, powering their sorcery.

The church knows this, the church has buried this knowledge well and deep. Only an order of inquisitors knows the truth... and the paladins who are assigned to guard each noble have a double duty of watching for spellcasting ability, and demonic influence, for Pyrathi, demon goddess of fire and destruction, is most eager for one of Tarin's decendants to pick up her failed plans from so long ago.

When one of the nobles is seen to have fallen into the grasp of darkness, the order has no choice but to abduct or hunt down the sorcerer. Once captured, they are taken to the depths of one of the temples to Alaetan, and thereby subjected to a cleansing. None of Tarin's decendants must be allowed to travel to a lower plane upon death, and to this end they use all manner of interrogation and Ravages (from Book of Exalted Deeds) in order to break the will so that the soul dies a neutral alignment and not an evil one.

Abduction? Torture? How could a lawful good church condone this? Simple. They are the victims of their own falacy. They serve Righteousness, therefore they themselves must be Righteous. And they have proof, do they not, for the god of Righteousness still grants them their divine powers!

It is a religion that borders on the oppressive, and is a dichotomy in and of itself. Will the Church finally stray too far and be cast out? Will only part of it cross the ultimate line, resulting in a schism and a holy civil war? That remains to be seen as the plot continues to unfold in my campaign. :cool:
Sunrider
03-29-04, 05:12 PM That setting's almost *asking* for a renegade, along the lines of Mara of the Acoma (Empire trilogy).
Thorak
03-29-04, 09:02 PM The church in question is a Lawful Neutral organization; their cause is noble and right, but they're willing to dastardly things to ensure it gets done.

This doesn't make this a conflict for the Paladins. A brilliant plot-point, especially if one of your PCs is one of said Paladins, is to have the Paladin honor-guard kept in the dark about what happens when they turn over one of their 'fallen' nobility. They hand them over, for 'questioning' and 'to imprison them to ensure they cannot harm anyone else'. And then the inquistors carry on with their tortures and nastinesses.

Key point being that the paladins don't know what happens after they turn these guys over. They think it's all lollipops and puppies. When it's really hooked knives and nasty poisons.

IMHO, the kind of tortures the Church is applying breach a Paladin's code of Ethics, even if they are 'ravages' and not technically poisons. They're still inflicting it on those who cannot resist. So, while you could have noble Knight types, they would more likely be Fighters rather than Paladins.

Oh, another nifty plot point; the PC who's a paladin. If one of the other PCs is his chosen 'protectee', then have that PC display a little too much magical ability for the church's liking. His paladin buddy will haul him down and hand him over, to get him 'cured' and made all better. Then, have paladin-boy somehow find out what really goes on down in the pits. And go on a truly righteous crusade against the church; not to destroy it or stop it entirely, but to save his friend and all the other damned souls being tortured. They're evil, sure, and they need to be helped. But torturing them isn't the answer. It might work, sure, but it brings the rest of you closer to Evil in the process, which may be exactly what the demon wants. Especially if the bastard son of a noble gets a job as an inquisitor. And really starts to enjoy his work.

Dammit, I gotta stop giving people good plots and get back to my freaking book already.
lancean
03-30-04, 09:05 AM Yes, the Paladins of the order that guard the nobles are generally kept in the dark about the inquisition's methods and true goals. Those that find out wind up doing some serious pennance, or burn out, losing their paladin abilities and going on to positions in one of the crusader brotherhoods.

One of my players is playing a sorceress, a daughter of a noble house of Karandor. She was a bit too free spirited, and the church "asked" her father to keep a lid on her. She pulled the classic "balks at authority and runs away" stint, and left the country. The inner circles of the church fear the worst (perhaps because in part they are CAUSING it?) and have made it a priority to get her "back into the light."

Another player in the group is playing a cleric of that religion. He's not FROM that country and knew nothing of the church secrets at first. He only knows that the followers of righteousness are acting pretty darned UN-righteous in their attempts to get this woman back. So, true to his faith, he's been covering for her against what he sees as deviants in his own order.

By now, the cleric has learned the truth. He refused to believe it at first, and is now looking for another way. But one paladin has died already in a duel with one of the other players, as the cleric and sorceress told noone about this problem, and the paladin did not identify himself! :eek:

So the group is coming to terms with having slain a paladin and his retinue in order to save one of their companions. The cleric is THIS close to a crisis of faith, and still thinks that good intentions can save this wayward sorceress. Meanwhile, the wayward sorceress PC is hearing voices... and promises of new arcane powers, a great destiny, and freedom from those who persecute her...

Some days, I just love being the DM. :devil:
Sunrider
03-30-04, 09:53 AM I can see where this is heading...

Somehow you have to force their hand. Whether through public exposure (including making the paladins aware of their cruelty), organised rebellion, a popular coup or another means. Turn the organisation (not the paladins) from LN to LE (or even NE); the paladins will then be faced with a choice. Leave the organisation and join another one. Rebel against the now-evil organisation. Or, for those more inclined towards Law than Good, become Blackguards.

What then? By that stage you should have gained popular support, as the church will then have to become openly oppressive in order to further their goals. Initiate rebellion, if it hasn't happened already. If multiple, isolated rebellions spring up, unite them into a single alliance; this shouldn't be too difficult with a party of levelled characters, including both a charismatic paladin and a noble sorceress. At this stage the church and its lackeys will probably be stronger than the rebellion, so it's time to go into guerilla mode. Hit-and-fade operations, raids on isolated outposts, etc. And high-level operations by your levelled party.

Then there's the guerilla infrastructure. You will need to create an army, to counter the army that the church and its blackguards will undoubtedly put together. Possibly set up training schools for mages and paladins, possibly recruiting spellcasters suppressed by the church or recruited from outside national borders. Bide your time, slowly build up strength and keep up a strong public relations/propaganda campaign. Spells benefiting the populace will be useful here.

Inevitably, you will need to go after the church leadership and its corrupted paladins. I won't discuss the possible strategies here, since I don't know the layout and land or the organisation of the church, but, needless to say, there are a lot of possibilities...
lancean
03-30-04, 10:24 AM What then? By that stage you should have gained popular support, as the church will then have to become openly oppressive in order to further their goals. Initiate rebellion, if it hasn't happened already.
Well, that's just it, the church ISN'T oppressive to the majority of people. Lawful and structured, it gives the people of an entire nation protection and pride. It's guilty of conspiracy and shadow-government, but try PROVING that to the devoted masses! And even all this objectionable behavior is for the sake of protecting the people!

Now the church is NOT popular in the neighboring nation where the campaign is taking place. Twice in the last 20 years, the crusader orders of Alaetan have marched to war against a hobgoblin nation and saved the butts of this neighboring realm in the process. The people of this nation resent them for robbing them of pride, for building a temple that outshines all the others, for having more money, and a host of other grudges.

But that doesn't mean the church isn't politically necessary. It is. It's a powerful political ally, and the government of this other nation isn't willing to take action against them, even if the people don't like them.

So the players can't DO anything at this point, lest they be branded outlaws with little to no support. The cleric of the party is the only one taking action. He's writing letters, telling his fellow priests the TRUTH. His intent is reform, but it may very well get him excommunicated.

SO... and here's the other part I like about being a DM... what happens when you have a faithful priest who has been cast out of a religion and is no longer receiving spells, despite the fact that he sees himself has having done nothing wrong? Why would the diety forsake him when it is the followers who err?

Clearly, something deeper is afoot. :smirk:

And the best thing... this is only a SUB PLOT !! There are 2 other plots haunting the PC's with this amount of depth. No end to the drama, and so MANY choices for the players to make. :)
Sunrider
03-30-04, 03:17 PM The cleric wouldn't necessarily lose his spells even if he is excommunicated from the church. Spells are granted by the deity, not the church. And if he stays true to his god, he will receive his spells regardless of where he stands in relation to the church.

About the church being oppressive... at the moment it may not be oppressive to the majority of people, so you have to make it oppressive, relative to the alternative, at least. This would require a vigorous PR campaign - what you need is for spellcasters to be seen doing good, and for the church to be seen as trying to take away that 'good'. A mage's school would be ideal for this, as a large number of low-level spellcasters would probably be more beneficial to commoners than one or two high-level mages. It's the 'bread and circuses' concept - make people's lives easier and gain their support. Start with a province, then expand.

What can the church do about it? They could crack down on spellcasters; however, since the mages would have have a support base among the populace, the church would be forced into open oppression. They could retreat, in which case you would have won anyway. They could go on an all-out offensive, which would mean brutality, hardship and discontentment - all of which favour change.

Or you could expose the church through subterfuge. If the campaign is morally grey in a lot of areas, play it that way. Through whatever means (infiltration, rumours, etc. are key here, possibly aided by a few illusions), incite the church to openly conduct a vile act against the populace - a massacre, mass arrests, anything. Incite a witch-hunt against the innocent, under the auspices of the church. Anything that will turn people against it.
lancean
03-30-04, 03:42 PM The cleric wouldn't necessarily lose his spells even if he is excommunicated from the church. Spells are granted by the deity, not the church. And if he stays true to his god, he will receive his spells regardless of where he stands in relation to the church.
Correct. Yet this cleric is about to lose spellcasting ability anyway. There is a reason (i'm not fishing for one), but the players have yet to discover it. Things run deeper still in Karandor. :smirk:

This would require a vigorous PR campaign - what you need is for spellcasters to be seen doing good, and for the church to be seen as trying to take away that 'good'.
Read my first post again. The church doesn't hate arcane spellcasters. They're trying to stop their demon-blooded ruling class from hearing the call of their ancestor. They just all HAPPEN to be sorcerers, and many of them never develop it.

Through whatever means (infiltration, rumours, etc. are key here, possibly aided by a few illusions), incite the church to openly conduct a vile act against the populace - a massacre, mass arrests, anything.
Again, re-read my first post. The church doesn't persecute commoners, they actively support them by faith and community. The only demon-decended folk they do routinely police is their own ruling class. The church is bound by a solemn oath, a divine right of kings, yet the kings are anything BUT divine. So they must support the ruling class while at the same time quietly protect the people from it.

Even some of the nobles who study sorcery and are contacted by the demon goddess are still devout people. At least at first, until Pyrathi tells them the truth. Once they know the truth, they have to be dealt with somehow. A credible source revealing the secret would threaten the entire royal lineage, which the church is sworn to uphold and protect.

Ironicly, if the royal line was wiped out, this would free the church from it's obligation and they would no longer need to watch their own so closely. This would likely result in a scism anyway, as part of the church returns to what it should be, while part of it goes off in search of something else to inquisit and oppress.

Dark, eh? :cool:
lancean
03-30-04, 03:53 PM Oh, and that last bit is the reason the cleric PC hasn't done anything openly. If the populace became aware of the demon-blood coursing through the veins of their rulers, there might very well be a civil war in a few years. That would force the church of Alaetan to place itself between the royal line they've sworn to uphold, and the very people that fill their temples. It's a rock and a hard place that no one wants to bring about, yet the cleric can't simply stay quiet.

I figure by the time the actions he HAS taken start bearing fruit, the sorceress he's protecting will start manifesting some demonic power. That cleric gets too much sleep as it is anyway. :devil:

No one is wrong, no one is right, faith be thy guide choosing sides for this fight.
lancean
03-30-04, 03:55 PM Oh, and obviously the emphasis in this campaign is on the role playing. Wouldn't have it any other way. :cloud9:
Sunrider
03-30-04, 06:13 PM In my campaigns roleplaying and roll-playing go hand in hand... just that these rolls are more than just damage, saves and attacks. Anyone who tries to play an 18 Str, 18 Con, 3 Int, 3 Cha brute in one of my games is going to find it tough, regardless of what magic items they have... same goes for anyone with no points in non-combat-related skills (e.g. Speak Language, Disguise, Forgery, etc.).
Count Arioch the 28th
03-30-04, 06:40 PM You act as if that's unique to your world, every homebrew world I've seen was also like that, along with quite a few FR campaigns I've seen.

Anyone with several 3's and no skills have problems, regardless of where those threes may reside.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
lancean 03-29-04, 04:48 PM	While we're on the subject of Paladins, allow me to interject an idea from my own campaign. The campaign itself has a lot of grey areas as far as alignment goes. Just because a fellow is a certain alignment, there's no guarantee you're going to get along or even see eye to eye. So the question was... can you have a holy order, even an order of paladins, whose lawful good duties seem cruel to an observer? Yes, it's possible. And here's the setup from my campaign... Enter Alaetan, a greater deity whose aspects include Righteousness and Protection. The nation of Karandor was forged hundreds of years before by Tarin Karandor, a sorceror-paladin of Alaetan, who overcame his own frail nature and rose to show all the way in righteousness and zeal. He ruled for over 200 years, and in that time, the Church of Alaetan became the official state religion, supporting an order of clergy, 2 orders of Paladins, and numerous warrior brotherhoods of Crusaders. Fact - all nobles of the land are somehow distantly related to Tarin Karandor, and all have inherited at least a tiny bit of his sorcerous ability. Fact - an order of Paladins acts as an honor guard for all the nobles of the land. Now the eerie part. (and it sent chills down the players' spines when they uncovered it all. :D ) Tarin Karandor was a half-demon. He was able to overcome his nature and turn to the path of good, but his demon blood flows in the veins of all his decendants, powering their sorcery. The church knows this, the church has buried this knowledge well and deep. Only an order of inquisitors knows the truth... and the paladins who are assigned to guard each noble have a double duty of watching for spellcasting ability, and demonic influence, for Pyrathi, demon goddess of fire and destruction, is most eager for one of Tarin's decendants to pick up her failed plans from so long ago. When one of the nobles is seen to have fallen into the grasp of darkness, the order has no choice but to abduct or hunt down the sorcerer. Once captured, they are taken to the depths of one of the temples to Alaetan, and thereby subjected to a cleansing. None of Tarin's decendants must be allowed to travel to a lower plane upon death, and to this end they use all manner of interrogation and Ravages (from Book of Exalted Deeds) in order to break the will so that the soul dies a neutral alignment and not an evil one. Abduction? Torture? How could a lawful good church condone this? Simple. They are the victims of their own falacy. They serve Righteousness, therefore they themselves must be Righteous. And they have proof, do they not, for the god of Righteousness still grants them their divine powers! It is a religion that borders on the oppressive, and is a dichotomy in and of itself. Will the Church finally stray too far and be cast out? Will only part of it cross the ultimate line, resulting in a schism and a holy civil war? That remains to be seen as the plot continues to unfold in my campaign. :cool:
Sunrider 03-29-04, 05:12 PM	That setting's almost asking for a renegade, along the lines of Mara of the Acoma (Empire trilogy).
Thorak 03-29-04, 09:02 PM	The church in question is a Lawful Neutral organization; their cause is noble and right, but they're willing to dastardly things to ensure it gets done. This doesn't make this a conflict for the Paladins. A brilliant plot-point, especially if one of your PCs is one of said Paladins, is to have the Paladin honor-guard kept in the dark about what happens when they turn over one of their 'fallen' nobility. They hand them over, for 'questioning' and 'to imprison them to ensure they cannot harm anyone else'. And then the inquistors carry on with their tortures and nastinesses. Key point being that the paladins don't know what happens after they turn these guys over. They think it's all lollipops and puppies. When it's really hooked knives and nasty poisons. IMHO, the kind of tortures the Church is applying breach a Paladin's code of Ethics, even if they are 'ravages' and not technically poisons. They're still inflicting it on those who cannot resist. So, while you could have noble Knight types, they would more likely be Fighters rather than Paladins. Oh, another nifty plot point; the PC who's a paladin. If one of the other PCs is his chosen 'protectee', then have that PC display a little too much magical ability for the church's liking. His paladin buddy will haul him down and hand him over, to get him 'cured' and made all better. Then, have paladin-boy somehow find out what really goes on down in the pits. And go on a truly righteous crusade against the church; not to destroy it or stop it entirely, but to save his friend and all the other damned souls being tortured. They're evil, sure, and they need to be helped. But torturing them isn't the answer. It might work, sure, but it brings the rest of you closer to Evil in the process, which may be exactly what the demon wants. Especially if the bastard son of a noble gets a job as an inquisitor. And really starts to enjoy his work. Dammit, I gotta stop giving people good plots and get back to my freaking book already.
lancean 03-30-04, 09:05 AM	Yes, the Paladins of the order that guard the nobles are generally kept in the dark about the inquisition's methods and true goals. Those that find out wind up doing some serious pennance, or burn out, losing their paladin abilities and going on to positions in one of the crusader brotherhoods. One of my players is playing a sorceress, a daughter of a noble house of Karandor. She was a bit too free spirited, and the church "asked" her father to keep a lid on her. She pulled the classic "balks at authority and runs away" stint, and left the country. The inner circles of the church fear the worst (perhaps because in part they are CAUSING it?) and have made it a priority to get her "back into the light." Another player in the group is playing a cleric of that religion. He's not FROM that country and knew nothing of the church secrets at first. He only knows that the followers of righteousness are acting pretty darned UN-righteous in their attempts to get this woman back. So, true to his faith, he's been covering for her against what he sees as deviants in his own order. By now, the cleric has learned the truth. He refused to believe it at first, and is now looking for another way. But one paladin has died already in a duel with one of the other players, as the cleric and sorceress told noone about this problem, and the paladin did not identify himself! :eek: So the group is coming to terms with having slain a paladin and his retinue in order to save one of their companions. The cleric is THIS close to a crisis of faith, and still thinks that good intentions can save this wayward sorceress. Meanwhile, the wayward sorceress PC is hearing voices... and promises of new arcane powers, a great destiny, and freedom from those who persecute her... Some days, I just love being the DM. :devil:
Sunrider 03-30-04, 09:53 AM	I can see where this is heading... Somehow you have to force their hand. Whether through public exposure (including making the paladins aware of their cruelty), organised rebellion, a popular coup or another means. Turn the organisation (not the paladins) from LN to LE (or even NE); the paladins will then be faced with a choice. Leave the organisation and join another one. Rebel against the now-evil organisation. Or, for those more inclined towards Law than Good, become Blackguards. What then? By that stage you should have gained popular support, as the church will then have to become openly oppressive in order to further their goals. Initiate rebellion, if it hasn't happened already. If multiple, isolated rebellions spring up, unite them into a single alliance; this shouldn't be too difficult with a party of levelled characters, including both a charismatic paladin and a noble sorceress. At this stage the church and its lackeys will probably be stronger than the rebellion, so it's time to go into guerilla mode. Hit-and-fade operations, raids on isolated outposts, etc. And high-level operations by your levelled party. Then there's the guerilla infrastructure. You will need to create an army, to counter the army that the church and its blackguards will undoubtedly put together. Possibly set up training schools for mages and paladins, possibly recruiting spellcasters suppressed by the church or recruited from outside national borders. Bide your time, slowly build up strength and keep up a strong public relations/propaganda campaign. Spells benefiting the populace will be useful here. Inevitably, you will need to go after the church leadership and its corrupted paladins. I won't discuss the possible strategies here, since I don't know the layout and land or the organisation of the church, but, needless to say, there are a lot of possibilities...
lancean 03-30-04, 10:24 AM	What then? By that stage you should have gained popular support, as the church will then have to become openly oppressive in order to further their goals. Initiate rebellion, if it hasn't happened already. Well, that's just it, the church ISN'T oppressive to the majority of people. Lawful and structured, it gives the people of an entire nation protection and pride. It's guilty of conspiracy and shadow-government, but try PROVING that to the devoted masses! And even all this objectionable behavior is for the sake of protecting the people! Now the church is NOT popular in the neighboring nation where the campaign is taking place. Twice in the last 20 years, the crusader orders of Alaetan have marched to war against a hobgoblin nation and saved the butts of this neighboring realm in the process. The people of this nation resent them for robbing them of pride, for building a temple that outshines all the others, for having more money, and a host of other grudges. But that doesn't mean the church isn't politically necessary. It is. It's a powerful political ally, and the government of this other nation isn't willing to take action against them, even if the people don't like them. So the players can't DO anything at this point, lest they be branded outlaws with little to no support. The cleric of the party is the only one taking action. He's writing letters, telling his fellow priests the TRUTH. His intent is reform, but it may very well get him excommunicated. SO... and here's the other part I like about being a DM... what happens when you have a faithful priest who has been cast out of a religion and is no longer receiving spells, despite the fact that he sees himself has having done nothing wrong? Why would the diety forsake him when it is the followers who err? Clearly, something deeper is afoot. :smirk: And the best thing... this is only a SUB PLOT !! There are 2 other plots haunting the PC's with this amount of depth. No end to the drama, and so MANY choices for the players to make. :)
Sunrider 03-30-04, 03:17 PM	The cleric wouldn't necessarily lose his spells even if he is excommunicated from the church. Spells are granted by the deity, not the church. And if he stays true to his god, he will receive his spells regardless of where he stands in relation to the church. About the church being oppressive... at the moment it may not be oppressive to the majority of people, so you have to make it oppressive, relative to the alternative, at least. This would require a vigorous PR campaign - what you need is for spellcasters to be seen doing good, and for the church to be seen as trying to take away that 'good'. A mage's school would be ideal for this, as a large number of low-level spellcasters would probably be more beneficial to commoners than one or two high-level mages. It's the 'bread and circuses' concept - make people's lives easier and gain their support. Start with a province, then expand. What can the church do about it? They could crack down on spellcasters; however, since the mages would have have a support base among the populace, the church would be forced into open oppression. They could retreat, in which case you would have won anyway. They could go on an all-out offensive, which would mean brutality, hardship and discontentment - all of which favour change. Or you could expose the church through subterfuge. If the campaign is morally grey in a lot of areas, play it that way. Through whatever means (infiltration, rumours, etc. are key here, possibly aided by a few illusions), incite the church to openly conduct a vile act against the populace - a massacre, mass arrests, anything. Incite a witch-hunt against the innocent, under the auspices of the church. Anything that will turn people against it.
lancean 03-30-04, 03:42 PM	The cleric wouldn't necessarily lose his spells even if he is excommunicated from the church. Spells are granted by the deity, not the church. And if he stays true to his god, he will receive his spells regardless of where he stands in relation to the church. Correct. Yet this cleric is about to lose spellcasting ability anyway. There is a reason (i'm not fishing for one), but the players have yet to discover it. Things run deeper still in Karandor. :smirk: This would require a vigorous PR campaign - what you need is for spellcasters to be seen doing good, and for the church to be seen as trying to take away that 'good'. Read my first post again. The church doesn't hate arcane spellcasters. They're trying to stop their demon-blooded ruling class from hearing the call of their ancestor. They just all HAPPEN to be sorcerers, and many of them never develop it. Through whatever means (infiltration, rumours, etc. are key here, possibly aided by a few illusions), incite the church to openly conduct a vile act against the populace - a massacre, mass arrests, anything. Again, re-read my first post. The church doesn't persecute commoners, they actively support them by faith and community. The only demon-decended folk they do routinely police is their own ruling class. The church is bound by a solemn oath, a divine right of kings, yet the kings are anything BUT divine. So they must support the ruling class while at the same time quietly protect the people from it. Even some of the nobles who study sorcery and are contacted by the demon goddess are still devout people. At least at first, until Pyrathi tells them the truth. Once they know the truth, they have to be dealt with somehow. A credible source revealing the secret would threaten the entire royal lineage, which the church is sworn to uphold and protect. Ironicly, if the royal line was wiped out, this would free the church from it's obligation and they would no longer need to watch their own so closely. This would likely result in a scism anyway, as part of the church returns to what it should be, while part of it goes off in search of something else to inquisit and oppress. Dark, eh? :cool:
lancean 03-30-04, 03:53 PM	Oh, and that last bit is the reason the cleric PC hasn't done anything openly. If the populace became aware of the demon-blood coursing through the veins of their rulers, there might very well be a civil war in a few years. That would force the church of Alaetan to place itself between the royal line they've sworn to uphold, and the very people that fill their temples. It's a rock and a hard place that no one wants to bring about, yet the cleric can't simply stay quiet. I figure by the time the actions he HAS taken start bearing fruit, the sorceress he's protecting will start manifesting some demonic power. That cleric gets too much sleep as it is anyway. :devil: No one is wrong, no one is right, faith be thy guide choosing sides for this fight.
lancean 03-30-04, 03:55 PM	Oh, and obviously the emphasis in this campaign is on the role playing. Wouldn't have it any other way. :cloud9:
Sunrider 03-30-04, 06:13 PM	In my campaigns roleplaying and roll-playing go hand in hand... just that these rolls are more than just damage, saves and attacks. Anyone who tries to play an 18 Str, 18 Con, 3 Int, 3 Cha brute in one of my games is going to find it tough, regardless of what magic items they have... same goes for anyone with no points in non-combat-related skills (e.g. Speak Language, Disguise, Forgery, etc.).
Count Arioch the 28th 03-30-04, 06:40 PM	You act as if that's unique to your world, every homebrew world I've seen was also like that, along with quite a few FR campaigns I've seen. Anyone with several 3's and no skills have problems, regardless of where those threes may reside.