PALADIN ------- A Paladin is the Lone Ranger, Captain America, Superman, Paladin in Have Gun - Will Travel, Solomon Kane. A Paladin dedicates their life to a set of ideals. Their unwavering principles and faith gives them special powers beyond the normal fighter. The Paladin's special powers come from their extreme devo- tion to these ideals. A Paladin is a Lawful Good knight errant who wanders the land seeking to help those in need and to fight for the innocent and defenseless against the evil powers of the world and the lawless who prey upon and oppress the lawful. A Paladin is Brave, Chivalrous, Honorable, Just, Loyal, Charitable, Hopeful, and perserveres no matter the odds or hard- ship, has an unshakable faith, and always serves the well-being of others before serving their own needs. Paladins do Good and uphold what is right. A Paladin's Word is stronger than any signed contract. They will never swear an oath lightly, and will strive to fulfill any and all oaths they make or face dishonor. Paladins sacrifice themselves for others. They will never put their own safety first! Paladins may be lone servants of Good or belong to an order. An order will usually have a fortress/temple complex hidden in an out of the way location. Paladins belonging to certain organizations may have additional special powers such as the flaming sword ability of the Paladins of Tyor! Because Paladins get their powers from their faith and conviction, any evil deed will result in the loss of those powers(representing their own awareness of their failure to live up to their standards and remain stead- fast in their faith), and will require atonement for their trespass by performing certain deeds such as undertaking a dangerous and difficult Quest. A Paladin will intuitively know what must be done to find redemp- tion and restore their abilities. It IS possible for the loss to be per- manent of the transgression was severe enough(especially if it was done knowingly). In this case, the Paladin becomes a normal Fighter and loses 2 levels of XP. --------------------------- Lone Ranger Creed(in part): "I believe... That to have a friend, a man must be one. That all men are created equal and that everyone has within himself the power to make this a better world. That God put the firewood there but that everyone must gather and light it themself. In being prepared physically, mentally, and morally to fight when necessary for that which is right. That a person should make the most of what equipment they have. That all beings should live by the rule of what is best for the greatest number. That sooner or later ... somewhere ... somehow ... we must settle with the world and make payment for what we have taken. That all things change but truth, and that truth alone, lives on forever. In my Creator and my fellow man." --------------------------------- "He was . . . a strange blending of Puritan and Cavalier, with a touch of the ancient philosopher, and more than a touch of the pagan. . . . A hunger in his soul drove him on and on, an urge to right all wrongs, protect all weaker things. . . . Wayward and restless as the wind, he was consistent in only one respect--he was true to his ideals of justice and right. Such was Solomon Kane." ---------------------------------- * Paladins are LAWFUL GOOD and must never commit any act which is EVIL or which serves CHAOS. * HIT POINTS: D6+1 + CON bonus per level. 3pts/level after 9th level. * +2 to ALL Saving Throws. * Can wear any armor and use shields. * Can use any weapon. * Paladins get a number of melee attacks against 'Normal Men'(or creatures of basically that strength, i.e., goblins, kobolds, dwarves, orks, men, gnomes, giant rats, etc) equal to their level each round. So, a 3rd level Paladin would have 3 attacks/round against these. * Paladins may use any Clerical or Magical scroll, wand, or item involving healing, detection of evil, protection, turning undead, dispelling evil, divination, or contacting beings from the higher planes. They can also use all general magic items and those usable by fighters. * Languages: Begin with Common, Lawful Alignment Language, and 2 other languages of choice. Fighting Ability: Begin with +1 to Normal Man THACO. Add +1 at levels: 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16. (STR)Athletics: Begin with +1. Add +1 at every level. (PER)Listen/Spot: Begin with +0. Add +1 at levels 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 (PER)Tracking: Begin at +0. Add +1 at levels 3, 6, 9, 12, 15. (INT)Wilderness Survival: Begin with +0. Add +1 at levels 3, 6, 9, 12, 15. * +4 to reaction rolls by all Good-aligned fantastical and higher-planar creatures. * In combat, Evil creatures, if they are powerful, will seek battle with the Paladin before all other foes. Evil creatures that are weak will try to avoid the Paladin unless they have a great advantage in numbers. * Paladins are immune to Fear and to the paralyzing touch of ghouls. * Paladins are 90% resistant to Charm and other mind control spells such as Hold, Hypnotism, Magic Jar, Geas, and the like. * Animal Handling: Anybody can ride a horse, but a Paladin can ride a trained warhorse into battle and couch a lance. They can also appraise, train and care for war mounts. At 4th level, this also includes flying mounts(griffons, pegasi, skydragons, etc). Any intelligent and lawful mount will be extremely loyal to the Paladin and be able to travel 1 1/2 times the normal distance before tiring. At 2nd Level ------------ * At 2nd level, a Paladin can detect evil at a range of 6" if concentrating on determining the presence of evil. At 3rd Level ------------ * Paladins can "lay on hands" to cure wounds or diseases in others (two points of damage for every level the Paladin has attained, one disease per five levels). Curing wounds can be performed once per day at level 3, twice per day at level 9, and thrice per day at level 15. Cure Wounds also includes things like blindness, poisoning, and drained ability scores. Cure Disease can be performed once per week for every 5 levels the Paladin has(e.g. 2 diseases per week can be cured at level 10). The disease can be of any type. Paladins are not themselves subject to disease. * At 3rd level, the Paladin gains the power to affect undead as if he or she were a 1st level Cleric, and this power goes upwards with each level of experience the Paladin gains; so at 4th level the effect is that of a 2nd level Cleric, at 5th it is that of a 3rd level Cleric, etc. This power is the result of the Paladin's ability to channel the force of Natural Law against what is an abomination to the natural world. At 4th Level ------------ * +2 on Reaction Rolls with Intelligent and Good-aligned Normal Types. * +2 to Morale of any troops the Paladin is leading in combat. * The Paladin causes Intelligent Normal Types of Evil disposition to check Morale at -2 when the Paladin charges them. * All good-aligned troops or characters within 60 feet of the Paladin will receive a bonus of +1 to their attacks. At 5th Level ------------ * At 5th level, Paladins radiate Protection From Evil in a 10 foot radius. At 6th Level ------------ * Beginning at 6th level, a Paladin has a 2 in 6 chance of receiving a psychic vision when in, or passing near, a location where a recent attack by evil men or monsters occurred. These visions(with possibly aural and emotional components included) will be of the event and may give both the perspective and emotions of the victims and their attackers. Information such as number of attackers involved, direction of travel, fate of any survivors, etc, can be gleaned from these visions. At level 10, the chance is 3 in 6. At level 14, 4 in 6. At 7th Level ------------ * At 7th level, a Paladin gets 2 attacks/round. * At 7th level, a Paladin can sense invisible/out of phase creatures nearby and can fight them without penalty. This also applies to fighting when blindfolded or in the dark. At 8th Level ------------ * +4 on Reaction Rolls with Intelligent and Good-aligned Normal Types. * +4 to Morale of any troops the Paladin is leading in combat. * The Paladin causes Intelligent Normal Types of Evil disposition to check Morale at -4 when the Paladin charges them. * All good-aligned troops or characters within 60 feet of the Paladin will receive a bonus of +2 to their attacks. * At 8th level, a Paladin may dispel spells and spell-effects created or chann- eled by evil sources. The base chance for success of a Dispel Magic spell is 50%. For every level of experience of the character casting the dispel magic above that of the creature whose magic is to be dispelled (or above the effi- ciency level of the object from which the magic is issuing), the base chance increases by 5%, so that if there are 10 levels of difference, there is a 100% chance. For every level below the experience/efficiency level of the creature/ object, the base chance is reduced by 2%. A Dispel Magic will not affect a specially enchanted item such as a scroll, magic ring, wand, rod, staff, miscellaneous magic item, magic weapon, magic shield, or magic armor. It will destroy magic potions (they are treated as 12th level for purposes of this spell), remove spells cast upon persons or objects, or counter the casting of spells in the area of effect. The Paladin may also dispel evil enchanted or summoned creatures(elementals, efreet, invisible stalkers, balrogs, demons, creatures summoned via the monster summoning spells or comparable items (horn of Valhalla, etc)), sending them back to their own plane or place. It will also force a possessing spirit (via magic jar or similar) out of its host body. The Dispel ability may be used once per day at 8th level and twice per day at 16th level. * At 9th level, Paladins gain the ability of True Seeing which can be used once per day. * At 10th level, add a D6 to damage rolls. * At 13th level, a Paladin gets 3 attacks/round. * At 16th level, add another D6 to damage rolls. * The Paladin may at any time he chooses obtain a medium warhorse** which is like- wise gifted, but may never obtain a second within ten years of the first, so if one is killed it is not automatically replaced. The horse is AC 5, MOV:24", has 5+1 HD and greater than normal intelligence. The two will be closely joined by a bond of friendship and loyalty and the mount will be able to travel twice the normal distance of a light warhorse before tiring. ** It is possible for the mount to be another type of creature. * Paladins will never be allowed to possess more than four magical items, excluding their armor, shield, and up to four weapons they normally use. They will give away all treasure that they win, save that which is necessary to maintain themselves, their men, and a modest castle. Gifts must be to the poor or to charitable insti- tutions.