Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Phobos Dec 17, 2014 11:14:55	So, I'm a halfling Paladin, Urchin background. (default Forgotten Realms)   Raised on the streets, beaten, abused.  Learned to steal, cheat, and do what was necessary to survive.  Hardened and believed to be without hope for a better life.  Eventually joined a gang of thieves.   Often treated like a child, due to size, and eventually put in charge of the younger members.  A position that only resulted in more beatings and abuse when they did poorly on jobs.    It was a moment of surprise, by Cade, and those around him, when he took up arms to defend a small hobbled, and likely to be abandoned, girl that was picked up by the gang.   Cade lost the fight.  He was severly beaten that night and left for dead in an alley.  The body of the girl he tried to help beside him, his blood stained finger prints on the blade that kileld her.  What happend that evening is a mystery.  In his haze and swollen vision, a figure came to him that evening, touched him and filled his body with warmth.  A voice, almost a memory now, spoke to him.     So here is what I'm thinking.  A Paladin of Vengence.  Someone who's own life is not clean.  Someone who will use their thievery skills, may cheat or steal.  Someone who understands law, but is out to punish both rich and poor, when they strike out at the underbelly of life.   What I'm stuck on is who is sponsoring Cade?  The party is not lawful, but no one is evil.  I considered Mask, due to the years of thievery, but does mask care for the urchins?  Shar seems too voilent.   I see no deity that has the domaisn of balance, justice, protection without hitting the LG gods.
#2 LuisCarlos17f Dec 17, 2014 11:24:43	Halfling and gnomes aren´t good to be warriors with heayv armour.    My suggestion is to create a subrace for warrior classes, and a racial class level for halflings. Heavy armour and bonus for stealth could be swamped by a feat .     Have you thought about to get the 3.5 swashbuckler class and to add any paladin spells?
#3 Phobos Dec 17, 2014 11:39:09	LuisCarlos17f wrote:
#4 mellored Dec 17, 2014 11:42:15	LuisCarlos17f wrote:
#5 LuisCarlos17f Dec 17, 2014 11:44:21	Little humanoid races have got racial traits about stealth, and to use no-stealth classes would be to waste those racial traits.    Maybe we need subraces to play fighter, stealth or spellcaster classes.
#6 mellored Dec 17, 2014 11:47:41	LuisCarlos17f wrote:
#7 shpelley Dec 17, 2014 12:02:21	mellored wrote:
#8 Phobos Dec 17, 2014 12:05:10	I'll looked up Arvoreen, not being familiar.   LuisCarlos17f, here is what you seem to be missing, and forgive me if I make an assumption.  You seem more focused on making the most of the class/race traits than the "story".  That's fine, and how many play.  We don't.  Its about making the most of the character for us.   I have a party of non-lawful good players.  A barbarian "sailor" (read pirate currently out of work), a self absorbed cleric of war, and a monk (we envision Shepard Book) out to experience the world. I wanted a character with some depth.  We needed some rogue, and some fighting.  I needed a way to drop me into the story with basically a group of thugs and an oblivious monk.  A beaten and abused halfling that found "god" was a perfect story, especially since I am not bound to LG.   Think about it, this guy has been eating worms to survive, living in dumpsters.  Stealing to make ends meet, and there are bodies never found that he is responsible for.  One act of courage and kindness, and his life changes.  Not so far that his previous life is lost, and not so new that his new life takes over.  There are no "class" or "racial traits" for this.   I'm just trying to tie the ends up and decide who "claimed" him.
#9 bawylie Dec 17, 2014 12:16:42	Vengeance isn't justice. It isn't protection.    Its making them pay for the wrong they've done, the wrong done in their name, and the wrong they've let happen.    Vengeance has no Deity. It is its own deity. It takes the followers of other deities and claims them for itself. It is an unquenchable thirst and an undousable Fire. It has no home nor makes any peace. It has no room for mercy or compassion for the wrongdoer and infinite forgiveness for the wronged.    I strongly suggest no deity.
#10 Phobos Dec 17, 2014 13:05:15	Hum interesting approach bawylie.
#11 shpelley Dec 17, 2014 13:33:18	Could be any "Fate" God's blunt instrument to fulfill some prophecy. Could be a Lawful Good God's "wager" to see you redeemed. Possibly a wager between two Gods and someone who is contrary to you (someone who was Good and is now Fallen) to see which could complete X inscrutable task first.
#12 SterlingRat Dec 17, 2014 13:52:25	Kelemvor Lyonsbane would be good if he's still around. No PHB handy, so I can't say for sure at the mo... He's a Lawful Neutral god and the Judge of the Dead. He's not "Good" according to the words written next to "alignment", but he's definitely not evil, most of his allies are good (Mystra and Lathandar, mainly) and he's made several enemies among the truely evil gods. He's also a former mortal who rose to power during the Avatar Trilogy, so your character could have a link fairly easily... perhaps the girl you tried to protect was, without realizing it, special to Kelemvor - distant relative or child of a mortal friend.   Her death caused Kelemvor to draw close. You were the nearest mortal vessel who could take up his cause.
#13 Istbor Dec 17, 2014 14:13:35	The Lesser deity Hoar is the deity of revenge, retribution, and poetic justice.  If memory serves Hoar is neutral...something?
#14 Diffan Dec 17, 2014 15:08:51	Helm, simple enough.    If you want a more in-depth reason, read the novels Downshadow, Shadowbane, and Shadowbane: Eye of Justice by Erik Scott deBie.    Or read the brief synopsis here -> HERE
#15 Orethalion Dec 17, 2014 15:20:39	Phobos wrote:
#16 Psikerlord Dec 17, 2014 16:54:06	Most important is what is your code as a vengeance paladin. The code of the other two paladins is pretty clear. Vengeance on the other hand is rather murky. But it's the most important part of any paladin.
#17 DLfan Dec 17, 2014 17:33:41	I would say Sargonaas from Dragon Lance would make an excellent deity for paladins. He is LE so a LN paladin of vengence can worship him. It would  be a very delicate balancing act but then again I find it hard to believe that anyone pursuing vengeance would be anything but a few steps away from evil.
#18 Phobos Dec 17, 2014 19:14:58	Diffan wrote:
#19 Leugren Dec 17, 2014 21:01:21	Sounds like an interesting character.  I hope you enjoy playing him.
#20 lawrencehoy Dec 17, 2014 22:12:36	Brandobaris, of the Halfling Mythos, would also be an appropriate deity (Neutral alignement). He is the god of adventure and misadventure, concerning himself with the affairs of halfling adventurers, who he sees almost as proxy versions of himself; in particular, their behavior, rather than their formal alignments.
#21 SterlingRat Dec 18, 2014 5:55:09	Having read the backgrounds a bit more, I think I'll throw my support to Hoar. He may be an evil deity, but that wasn't always the case. Once upon a time, Hoar was neutral and being recruited by both Tyr and Bane as an Exarch. Tyr wanted to focus him on the bittersweet humor and shift his portfolio to favor irony and poetic justice, while Bane (who took Hoar's service when Tyr died) turned him into a servant of blind vengance and bitterness. There are some potential with your character... You aren't a good guy and have done a lot of bad things, as Hoar has, but you have the potential to be more, as does Hoar.   Torm took over Tyr's portfolio when Tyr died, and Torm is the Lawful Good Deity best known for Paladins of all flavor. Tyr could be using your character to reach out to Hoar. Your character is a murderer, a thief and has been a servant of Hoar's ideals, if not his name. Hoar, in his own way, liked you. Torm stepped in and tapped you as a paladin to show Hoar the honorable side of vengance in a bid to make one of Bane's exarch's "see the light". Of course, you would be making yourself a pawn of gods, but it could be fun.   So your power would come from Torm/Tyr (Paladins), but your philosophy would come from Hoar (Vengance)
(Reply to #21) Phobos	SterlingRat,   You are, at this moment, my favorite person.   While many answers have been good, some of them great, my hat is off to you on yours.  Granted, I am going to cheat and litterally steal your info, it fits my concept perfectly. In addition, I did look up Hoar, and saw this page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoar_%28Forgotten_Realms%29 and his Dogma is excellent.   Plus, since Diffan pointed out my similar story with Kalen Dren, I like your connection to a Paladin of "two worlds".
#23 Elfcrusher Dec 18, 2014 7:15:55	bawylie wrote:
#24 Azylynne Dec 19, 2014 6:37:10	Probably a bite late to the game but here goes... I actually play a Halfing Vengeance Paladin with a Criminal background...too within the Forgotten Realms setting.  Totally loving the character as in his earlier games other players were confused on whether I was a rogue or a pally, and actually didn't believe me when I said he was a holy Paladin.  Heh.  My take on the "Vengeance" Paladin is that once before, my character was a "hit man" or "assassin" type in his criminal days... since his conversion he has been fighting for the "greater good", helping the poor, yada yada yada, and time to time his diety will call upon him to vanquish whatever great evil is before him, mostly so he can get to the gold.  He plays a bit like Robinhood, but still metes out death and destruction (and more so 1hp Lay on Hand heals) against the greater evil. That said, since my character (and his companion character - the Halfling Barbarian Noble played by my friend) are in a way, joke characters, I decided to follow Holy Yamara as my Halfling God.  Although Yamara is technically not a Forgotten Realms Goddess, she did exist in a Dragon magazine comic many many years ago, and had indeed reach godhood in one point of the storyline.  So I'll often cite that I am a Holy Paladin of Holy Yamara, the Halfling Goddess of... Thei...err, Rog...err, Adventurers... and often give her credit when I make spectacular roles or get the killing blows on the BBEG (only really to taunt the other characters)... having a lot of fun with this halfling pally.  =)
#25 The_White_Sorcerer Dec 19, 2014 9:07:18	Going by what I understand to be traditional Forgotten Realms lore, "no deity" is not an option for paladins.
#26 Chaosmancer Dec 19, 2014 21:27:56	While I personally love the "no diety" approach to paladins, who instead draw upon their oaths for power I think I have a good idea.   Dallah Thaun. I'll link the best page I found on her below.   http://calcerun.wikidot.com/yondalla-dallah-thaun   A few things that make this a good choice.   1) Dallah Thaun is a halfling diety, and I prefer diety to match race when possible.   2) Dallah Thaun is not nice. She's a diety of vengeance and is also known as "The Aggressive Defender". This fits really well with a vengeance motif. Also, her people usually steal as part of their vengeance, which lines up perfectly with what your character seems to be like since he's also drawing on his days as a thief.   3) She is a secret. Halflings don't openly worship her, she hides in the shadows. Weakened by lack of worshippers but hidden and therefore able to act as needed. This allows you to really play up the mystery of the whole situation.    4) The story of Dallah Thaun, at least that I've found, is amazing, brilliant and makes me giddy.
#27 THEMNGMNT Dec 19, 2014 21:53:33	I love this character concept. It shouldn't work, but it does.
#28 Thunaer Dec 19, 2014 23:26:02	LuisCarlos17f wrote: