Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Vashwood 12-27-05, 05:56 PM	"Day must be countered by night, cold by heat, love by hatred ... and seven must be countered with seven." --Qouted from The Master, by Louise Cooper Due to general lack of interest by others, and the fact that I'm not entirely in the mood to work on the Riven Mind, I've decided to throw out the concept for my next unusual class: The Paladin of Balance. This is, of course, another variation of the Paladin of Honor/Freedom/Tyranny/Slaughter variant found in Unearthed Arcana. A paladin, of course, is the champion of any cause, though many associate it with the whole knight in shining armor bit. My paladin of balance is somewhat more analytical than the average heroic knight: he strongly espouses that there should be an equal reaction for every action, and that too much of anything is a bad thing. Daylight is warm and comforting, but too much and we might never know restful sleep. Happiness is wonderful, but without sadness we might never even know it existed. In other words, he believes that contrast defines existance. I expect this class will be psionic or arcane (or perhaps lacking in any spellcasting talent or anything like that at all), as these lend themselves best towards true Neutrality. The Code of Conduct should be interesting to re-work as well. Anywho, I've made a half-assed attempt at creating a few interesting abilities and converting old ones to help out ... enjoy, and any helpful feedback would be appreciated. I'll prolly do a proper write-up later. Paladin of Balance abilities: 1) Detect Extremes: A Paladin of Balance can detect any alignments that lack a neutral component (that is, Lawful Good, Chaotic Good, Chaotic Evil and Lawful Evil), which they often use to determine likely sources of disruption. This ability is otherwise identical to the Paladin of Honor's Detect Evil ability. 2) Equalizing Strike: A Paladin of Balance may attempt an Equalizing Strike against anyone who has successfully dealt damage in the past hour. A Paladin of Balance adds their Charisma modifier on their attack roll, and may choose one of the following: 1) either deal an additional amount of damage up to their class level to both themselves and recipient of the Strike (as they pay the price for disrupting the balance), or 2) to deal half their class level in additional damage, as well as healing the same amount to one person injured by the recipient of the Strike (in an effort to right the wrongs already committed). This damage is empathic in nature, and therefore is not reduced by damage reduction or energy resistance.
NineInchNall 12-27-05, 08:01 PM	Could you format your post so that mortals can read it without developing migraines? Thanks, man. ;)
Vashwood 12-27-05, 08:09 PM	Ah, sorry about that, it's the Fiend in my veins, I suppose. I'll see what I can do ... better?
NineInchNall 12-27-05, 11:34 PM	Ah! Delightful! I think I can collect all the melted bits of brain from the floor now. :P
NineInchNall 12-27-05, 11:43 PM	Now, as for thoughts on the class. Um, I like the Detect Extremes. Very nice. As for Equalizing Strike ... Hmm, wouldn't something like the various rilmanis' Antithesis ability be more appropriate? I know it's a greater departure from the standard paladin mold, but it seems to fit better. Using that ability as a template, how about adding Charisma to attack and then having the damage bonus be dependant upon how far the target's alignment is from Neutral. A target one step away takes half the character's paladin level in extra damage, and a target two steps takes the character's paladin level in extra damage. Hmm?
Vashwood 12-28-05, 05:42 AM	Heh, it's kinda odd ... I finished working for the class for the night, then had amazing ideas for it right before falling asleep, and now can barely remember them. I do recall that I was planning on giving them a little of both good and evil abilities, and that I wanted them to be somewhat empathic in nature. Aside from that, I was considering the idea that the Paladin of Balance was going to be something of a contentious fellow ... whenever there was a powerful force for good, evil, chaos or law that had no real rivals, he'd be there to stand up to it simply to even the odds. Barring that, he'd simply help who he chose to, most likely his friends, and would pay the price for tipping the scales. Rilmani ... never read much about them. Something like the Antithesis would be interesting ... however I do sorta like how I've worked things out thus far. I like the idea that the Knight is thoroughly knowledgable about how things upset the balance of power, and that him simply smiting someone who hasn't necessarily instigated a shift of power would cost him something. I could try to combine the rules for the current smites and the Antithesis, but I worry about either over or under powering the class ... I suppose I could say his smite deals damage equal to his level to him, and damage equal to his level to his enemy. This is then either halved (in the case of a True Neutral enemy) or doubled (in the case of an extreme alignment), or left along (for all other alignments). I could also use a similar ruling for what I've begun to simply term "the Equalizer" which heals half his class level and deals damage with the rest (I really do like the idea of a smite that heals and hurts at the same time ^_^) . Anywho, thanks for the help, we're looking good so far.
Vashwood 01-02-06, 12:35 AM	Several things ... Skill points: 4+int modifier Class Skills: Autohypnosis, Appraise, Climb, Concentration, Craft, Gather Information, Jump, Listen, Profession, Sense Motive, Spot, Swim HD: d8 "I am the scale by which you are measured, and the whetstone by which your blade is sharpened." 1) Code of Conduct: A Paladin of Balance must be of True Neutral alignment. The paladin's code also requires that he stand up to any force (be they man, monster, or even army) that is clearly unopposed or who clearly holds an overwhelming advantage over their rival. Though they need not necessarily fight, they must attempt to even the odds or challenge the force in some form. For example, a paladin might take on the role of the cunning catburgler to confound a tyrranical group of the Watch or nobles, or defeat a band of mauraders who attack undefended villages, or provide information, supplies or offers of aid to the king of a small country who's militaristic neighbors are preparing for an assault. A Paladin of Balance need not challenge a dormant force (such as retired heros, sleeping monsters, etc), though they may if they wish, so long as they follow their code and attempt to make the conflict as equal as they can. 2) Able Learner: A Paladin of Balance is often called to use skills that many of a similar calling may never use. Paladins of Balance need only spend 1 skill point to receive a full rank in any cross-class skill. 3)Antithetical Smite: Once per day, a Paladin of Balance may attempt to smite a foe with one normal melee attack. He adds his Charisma bonus to the attack roll, and his paladin level to his damage roll. This damage is doubled if the enemy has any extreme alignment (that is, an alignment with no Neutral component), and halved if the enemy is True Neutral. At 5th level, and every 5 levels thereafter, the Paladin of Balance gains one additional smite. 4)Equalize: A Paladin of Balance gains an additional form of smite attack, which can be used on any enemy who has successfully dealt damage in the past hour. When using the Equalize ability, a paladin adds his Charisma bonus to the attack roll. If the attack is successful, the paladin deals additional damage equal to half his paladin level, and one creature injured by the enemy is healed an equal amount. This damage (and healing) is empathic in nature, and so is not reduced by damage reduction or similar abilities, and is not based on positive or negative energy. The Equalize ability uses up one smite attempt.
JL3712 01-02-06, 03:23 PM	In order to even in out, just as smite good doesn't work on good guys and vice versa with smite evil, than you should eliminate the whole half-damage to True Neutral beings and make them immune to the effect, afterall their on the same side, the Great Balance or whatever. Also if played in a Greyhawk setting they chould be divine magic users, wielding neutral varients of paladin and blackguard spells and being the chosen paladin order of Boccob, being that balance is his thing. Hey they might even be (as an order) good allies of Mordenkainen. As for spells, you could take the low level spells given in the Balance clerical domain. Its in the Underdark book. You could even include high level spells as daily limited spell-like abilities of the class such as word of balance and weighed in the balance.
Ioreck 01-02-06, 07:06 PM	make the paladin able to choose if this smite attack is smite good or smite evil. his lay on hands can heal or harm etc etc etc The downside: he always fights for equality. He may have helped you stop the demon army, but he has nothing against killing you to keep a balance.
Vashwood 01-02-06, 09:21 PM	In order to even in out, just as smite good doesn't work on good guys and vice versa with smite evil, than you should eliminate the whole half-damage to True Neutral beings and make them immune to the effect, afterall their on the same side, the Great Balance or whatever. Doh, forgot to change things around when I was messing with the smites. Originally, I had planned that he would choose an number up to his level, and that would be the base damage for the smite, and the same amount would be done to him. Sort of a sacrifice for the power he uses ... though I could remove his damage to True Neutrals. Any feedback on which is preferred would be appreciated. make the paladin able to choose if this smite attack is smite good or smite evil. his lay on hands can heal or harm etc etc etc If I do that, then it's just another paladin of honor/freedom or slaughter/tyranny. He represents balance itself ... thus, his powers should reflect that. In fact, I had an interesting idea for how his lay on hands/harm touch works ... The downside: he always fights for equality. He may have helped you stop the demon army, but he has nothing against killing you to keep a balance. Again, that's part of the flavor of the class ... similar to how a paladin of honor won't allow evil people in his group, or how the paladin of slaughter tends to murder most people he comes across. He's excellent for any campaign in which the PCs tend to be the underdogs, and helps provide control once the group starts to get a little cocky with thier powers (your wizard may find themselves reluctant to fireball the statue in the town square or turn peasants into mice when his friend is a skilled warrior with sometimes questionable scruples and a tendancy towards helping the little guy). Ah yes, and before I forget, I'd like to set down the rules for the Empathic Touch ability. This ability replaces Harm Touch and Lay on Hands. Empathic Touch (soon to be renamed): A Paladin of Balance may transfer hit points with a successful touch attack. Each day he may transfer a number of hit points equal to his paladin level X his Charisma modifier. This ability may be used to heal others as a standard action by transferring the Paladin's hit points to the subject, or as a full round action to transfer hit points from one target (unwilling targets may make a Will save equal to DC 10 + 1/2 paladin level + Charisma modifier to halve the damage, and the resulting healing) to another, both of whom must be within reach. This ability may also be used as a standard action to drain hit points from an enemy and bestow them upon the paladin. Later, the paladin will learn to transfer ability damage, poison and disease ... this, of course, will require a bit more time than I feel like using right now to write down. Constructive questions and comments appreciated as always.