On The Paladin

A Paladin is a Lawful human fighting-man of at least fourth level who is recognized by God as one of His best warriors against evil.

Responsibilities of the Paladin:

A Paladin must always remain Lawful. Furthermore, he must promote the philosophy of Law and the Word of God to his fellows and other Men (but not to the point of boorishness.) A Paladin must strive to live by the following words:

“So help me God, uphold this Oath: The Paladin is Chaste and Temperate, Charitable and Diligent, Grateful and Humble, Valorous and Just; and so will I remain.”

 

It behooves the player to keep this saying at the top of the Paladin’s character sheet.

 

The Path to Grace:

 

It takes a full year to train to be a Paladin. Upon February 2, Candlemas, the Lawful fighting-man presents himself at a monastery of his denomination and humbly asks to serve as  “God’s sword-and-scales on Earth.” (He informs his particular church of his intent beforehand.) Until March 25, Lady Day (or the Feast of the Annunciation,) he must stay inside the monastery and its grounds. He will pray, fast and study theology there. All the while, he will serve as the sexton or assistant sexton.

He is then released until the end of harvest on September 28. During this time, he must be available to whatever church is nearest to him on Sundays and Holidays.  On Christmas Day, he must report back to his monastery. There he will pray, fast and study again until January 6th, Epiphany. Then he is released again. 

He must return to the monastery on Candlemas, February 2. Upon the final day of Candlemas, February 5, he will be anointed by the abbot there and released from his toil. He has earned the title and privileges of a Paladin.

 

Privileges of the Paladin:

 

A Paladin is immune from laws which apply only to commoners. He may dispense justice upon them as needed. Commoners will seek out a Paladin to adjudicate their disputes and so maintain the peace. If not already nobility, the Paladin is raised to a noble rank equal to a Count, and must Squander same in order to maintain his station and standard of living.

 

Powers of the Paladin:

• The Paladin is immune to disease and poison. He is immune to all touch attacks from the undead.
• He may Turn Undead as a Cleric three levels lower.
• He may Lay On Hands and cure 1d6 + character level in Hit Point damage once per day, to himself or to another willing target. Against an unwilling target, this is a touch attack (Armor bonus does not apply.) This touch attack damages the undead instead of healing them.
• At level 6, he may cure one disease in the same manner, once per day.
• At level 8, he may break one curse in the same manner, once per day.
• At level 10, he may banish an evil outsider or disjoin an evil magic item once a day as a special attack at a range of 3 scale inches.
• He may call forth a special war horse. See below.
• In his hands, a Holy Sword is a +5 weapon instead of a +3 weapon.

The Laying of Hands abilities are discontinuous and situation-sensitive, like clerical spells are. 

Falling from Grace:

 

Should a Paladin’s alignment change through play or by foul magic, he will immediately fall from grace. This means he loses all of his special powers until he seeks out his priest, does penance for 3d6 weeks, and fulfils a special quest the priest assigns such as aiding pilgrims or slaying a particular evil beast.

The Paladin’s War-Horse Quest:

Those fighting-men both lawful and devout may undertake the quest to win a war-horse of exceptional quality.

To do so, they will pray for 24 hours during a quarter or cross-quarter holiday and thereafter receive a vision of an ideal steed. The steed will be 1d8 days’ ride away and be guarded by a foe equivalent in strength to the fighting-man himself, such as an Antihero or equivalent evil fighter, or a cunning monster or monsters. This horse might be of any color or colors or of any breed (as researched and determined by the player,) except for this: the horse may never be fallow, (the color of misfortune for Lawful riders.)

 

A fallow horse.

The horse, once captured and broken, will serve the fighting-man. It will consume a Retainer slot, never check morale, and be exceptionally smart (INT 11) and brave for its kind.

A lady fighting-man of intact virtue will instead find and tame a unicorn.

Should such a fighting-man change alignment, his steed will desert him immediately. Should he atone and become lawful again, he may call a replacement steed in a year and a day.

Should his steed die, he may not call another for a year and a day.

In the case of the lady fighting-man who loses a unicorn in any fashion, she may never call another, but may call an exceptional equine mount instead.

Should she become married, or should she or lose her maidenhood in manner fair or foul, the unicorn will desert her forever.