Class: Paladin Rewrite Proposal

[Sanjin Koukyu]

An interesting conversation came up in the OOC room about Paladins and their former ‘Dark’ versions, which resulted in me looking over the Paladin class and really mulling over it. It feels that there’s quite a bit of flavor missing from the Paladin class (an issue that was brought up), so I’d like to take a hand at offering some revisions to the Class (rather than suggesting a whole new class or a replacement for the previously removed Dark Paladin).

Class Name: Templar of (Deity) [Or just Templar]

Reasoning for Change: While the ideas behind a Paladin and a Templar are, fundamentally, similar, Templars tend to hold more zeal (Crusade-like Inquisitions, for example) for their motivations, as well as having a neutral naming convention. It also lends itself better towards the style of theism that I feel fits better in with the world of Belariath, as the group (The Templar vs. a Paladin) is supposed to be the physical hand of the deity they worship.

Allowable Races:
Any that fit into the roles of Knight or Cleric
Cat People, Centaur, Chirot, Dark Elf, High Elf, Dwarf, High Human, Merfolk, Minotaur, Sithian, Wemic, Drak Sen (Bejeweled), Drak Sen (Mineral)

Reasoning: Previously, only a select few races could become a Paladin/Templar compared to the races that the base classes (Cleric & Knight), opening the class up to the others makes sense, as those races don’t inherently lose their connection to their deities and should have the capacity to advance their zeal and worship. There isn’t really a limit to what races can worship what deities either (to my understanding). This opens up new avenues for roleplay potential (imo).

Qualifying Classes: Cleric, Knight
No reason to change this. While there might be Templars who worship Gaea, there is also the Druid to Heirophant class growth option.

Type of Class: Advanced Physical
No reason to change this. Further down, I will be explaining a few changes to what spell spheres they can access and which spells specifically they can use depending on the deity they worship, the Paladin/Templar is primarily a physical advanced class with a splash of magic/faith.

Spell Spheres Allowed: Common, Racial, [Added] Necromantic, Nature, Divine, Arcana, Sexual

Reasoning:

I have two proposals for this:

1. There are several different Deities (as well as other beings of equal strength, such as the Ancient Dragons) in the world of Belariath that are recognized, and it stands to reason that they would bestow their blessings upon those that worship them. Since they are not spell casters or of the Priesthood, they would not have access to the full list of the Spell Sphere associated with their deity, but a small selection of carefully curated spells.

Examples:

A Templar of Uvelcra would access the Arcane Sphere to be able to take Burning Fingers, Strength of my Enemy, and Heat Metal.
A Templar of Ishtar would access the Sexual Sphere to be able to take Divine Ecstasy, Serpent, and Essence of Grace
A Templar of Kirva would access the Necromantic Sphere to be able to take Dark Armor, Fear Aura, and Death Touch

In most cases, the spells that the Paladin/Templar is given access to are defensive or close magical in nature (Exception for Ishtar and Sexual Sphere due to how the spells are built). This cements them in as physical powerhouses (You can’t run from a Templar of Kirva and you wouldn’t want to run from a Templar of Ishtar, for example). I’d go as far as to limit the options based on the five primary Gods acknowledged by the Empire (Ishtar, Kirva, Gaea, Aden Ver, and Uvelcra, though you could add a sixth in those that worship Stormbringer and giving access to the Air Sphere [Palm of Wind, Defensive Winds, and Lightning Bind])

2. Another option is that the Templar/Paladin can choose 1. The Deity that the Worship and 2. The gifts granted through said worship. Since most deities have multiple ways to worship (While Kirva is known as a ‘dark’ goddess, cruel and heartless, she is also seductive and powerful, enabling them to touch upon the three Sexual Sphere spells or while Gaea is generally known about Growth and Nature, Death and Decay is equally part of nature, leading to a Templar of Gaea accessing the three spells from Necromancy) this option leaves it far more open for roleplay potential compared to the far stricter guidelines. The connection of Deity to Spell Sphere has to make sense, however. Uvelcra would have nothing to do with Air/Water/Sexual Spheres, Ishtar and Necromancy, etc.

There needs to be a set selection of Spheres and only three basic spells within those spheres that a Paladin can access to, preferably Defensive or Close Combat, but not necessarily relegated to such depending on the sphere.

Personally, I lean towards the latter option, as it allows more roleplay freedom (imagining how dangerous a zealot Templar of Gaea with access to the Necromantic Sphere with Death/Decay aspects of nature being their motif).

The Templar/Paladin absolutely must swear an oath to a deity however (In the case of Drak Sen, their Dreamer/Ancient Dragon is a suitable subject to swear to).

Armor: A B C D
No reason to change this

Weapons: A B C D
No reason to change this

Bonus Stats:
No reason to change this

Mindset: (Cleaned up some verbiage)
As much as the Priesthood are the voice of their deity, the Templar/Paladin is the hand that guides their will. An enforcer or defender of the faith, driven by a consuming zeal to convert as many as they can into the folds of their religion by any and every means necessary. They believe, without a shadow of a doubt, that their faith is the only true faith that can guide them through the chaos that thrives in Belariath. There is very little in the form of personal morals – the call of their deity binds them together in a faith stronger than anything a single individual could ever muster.

Due to the bond and oath that the Templar/Paladin offers to their deity, they are gifted with abilities as well as limited access to spells within their spheres of influence in their all-consuming desire to serve. Whether it’s through sexual desires, the Nature of Creation, or even a lonely path of personal strength, they harbor an overwhelming drive to seek and follow a liege who sympathizes with their own beliefs and one whom the Paladin/Templar believes can guide them along their path of divinely spiritual growth (or unrelenting zeal and obsession). Without this faith, there is no bond to their divine and without that bond, the Paladin/Templar cannot access the gifts granted to them through that faith.

Concept: (Cleaned up some verbiage)
Spiritual Conviction and surety of purpose is apparent to anyone who encounters a Templar/Paladin. They are the willing instruments of their deities, the fist to smash their enemies, the blade to cut away the unbelievers like chaff from wheat. There is nothing else that matters to the Templar/Paladin than striking down those that would decry their deity and religion.

The Templar/Paladin’s ways are as varied as the deities they serve – no God or Goddess is one-dimensional. Highly spiritual in nature, something that is unseen by mortal eyes and untouched by the faithless, the Divine is as powerful as any other tool and becomes tangible and visible through the unwavering devotion a Templar/Paladin shows through their actions.

The Templar/Paladin’s demeanor is entirely dependent on the facet of their deity that they worship. They can be calm, firm and sure or they can become the epitome of their deity’s rage, their belief’s rampant sexual desires and passions, or something else entirely. They are, above all, committed, unshakable and unwavering in their battles to set their deity and belief system as the predominant one.

Advantages:

Faith Affirmed (Changed):
It is through their deity that a Paladin/Templar is able to use a sliver of their power. Once their bond and oath are set, the Paladin/Templar may choose a Magical Sphere to access three spells from. They may cast these without concern of having their hands uncovered (allowing Plate and D class armor to be worn) as it is their faith that guides them.

Mechanics:
When the Paladin/Templar choose the advanced class, they also cement in their faith to a particular Deity. As such, they can choose from a Spell Sphere that makes sense to their Deity and access three spells from that Spell Sphere (that are predetermined by HC/Admin) and may cast these spells while wearing D-Class armor/plate gauntlets.

Reasoning for Change:
Honestly, the +1 (and later, -1) to initiative felt flat. It doesn’t really contribute anything to roleplay, character growth, or the like, it’s just a very bland statistic that, at the bare minimum, doesn’t get any proper use (either because people are free forming or people are using quest dice).

Undeniable Faith: (Changed from Sense of Threat)
Templars/Paladins are the cornerstones of their faith and are relied upon by those of lesser faith as an act of dependence. So powerful is their zeal in their deity and religion that the Templar/Paladin can shrug off mind-influencing spells and effects that would potentially make them act counter to what is expected, and demanded, of them.

Mechanics:
Any Spell, Effect, or Ability that would alter a Templar/Paladin’s mind (Fear Aura, Siren’s Lullaby, Arousal, etc) can be shrugged off once a day. Additionally, any such effect that would make a Paladin/Templar act in a fashion that is contradictory to how they are expected to act (in service of their religion & deity), cannot take hold. A Paladin/Templar would rather die than bring shame to their order and deity.

Reasoning for Change:
The ability to sense threat is ambiguous – what is dictated as a threat? Rather than leave it as open ended as it was, I offered up a complete change that I feel makes more sense to what a Paladin/Templar is. Threats to their standing within their Order and the bond they share with their Deity is far more dangerous than the threat of physical or sexual violence.

Disadvantages:

Oathbreaker: (Changed)
The Bond and Oath a Templar/Paladin swears to the Deity and Order are no mere lipservice. It is scored into their very essence and the Gods do not take kindly to those that would break their oaths. When a Paladin/Templar does something worthy of breaking their oath, they are struck with a debilitating malaise until they find some way to return to their Deity’s good graces.

Mechanics:
Breaking the Templar/Paladin’s oath and bonds of service is not something to take lightly. Any Paladin/Templar that does so invokes their deity’s wrath. The Oathbreaker Paladin/Templar automatically drops to the bottom of any initiative order for combat and no longer is able to benefit from their Undeniable Faith Advantage until they reaffirm their bonds, and their Deity finds their service acceptable.

Reason for Change:
Like the change with the old Faith Affirmed, Question of Faith, by itself, seemed a bit lackluster, having no real impact on roleplay since ‘Initiative’ in and of itself isn’t used too often in the old sense. As far as Freeform or Quest dice are concerned, the Oathbreaking Paladin/Templar simply goes last and cannot use Undeniable Faith to mitigate spells or effects that would alter their mind (which could make it even harder to re-find their faith, as roleplay dictates).

Removed ‘May my Faith be Shield enough’

Reason: Oathbreaker is a big enough disadvantage that this second disadvantage can be removed. Also, it also can be baked into Oathbreaker if the issue is big enough to their religion/deity that accepting outside aid is worthy of their scorn.

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Thank you for giving it a read! I don't know if there are any Paladin changes in the works, but I figured I'd give my input and ideas to try and flesh out a class that has a lot of potential! (they all have potential, but Paladin, I felt, was severely lacking compared to a great many of the other classes).

[Eucep]

I think the idea of the Templar setting in stone the deity and spheres is important.

I would not limit it to the 5 since races like Chirot you wish to include are pretty much Sheara only for their faith.

Overall I think the idea of Templar fits in with the world of Belariath better then a Paladin and it's connotation towards lawful good behaviour. The previous rewrite of the Paladins making them pretty much 'human culture only' was the reason I had to reset my Chirot Paladin/Healer Eucep.

[miyuka]

as kewl as it would be to add spheres to it like that. We attempted the idea with Paladin already and were not able to implement it for reasons beyond my knowledge of how the bot and database work. When design a class, each class has 2 advantages and 2 disadvantages. One rp, one Mechanical.

[Sanjin Koukyu]

Oooh, I wasn't aware of that limitation!

That gives me ideas. I'll brainstorm and slap ideas in here when I come up with a few more concrete options.

[miyuka]

Definetly would like to give them something similiar to having magical access but maybe not in the way of just givne them sphere based access/specific spells. If anything it'd prolly just be better to give them a generic few abilities and then just let the players flavour it to their god. A paladin here in Belariath is not necessarily good or evil. Holy or unholy. They are simply champions of their Gods so I culd certainly see them having various kinds of auras, not just the holy theme. Of course in their minds they would be holy and just or what have you but someone that worships a god like Cham-Er, the god of destruction, and goes and destroys a village in his name, is def not going to be seen as a righteous individual by those getting their village stomped out.

[CallieO]

I know this is a losing battle, because I've mentioned it before, but I would personally like to see full vulpines have access to the paladin (and cleric) classes, on account that a lot of them have deeply rooted religious beliefs.