A Plethora of Paladins

The paladin has always been a class that vexed me. Paragons of human virtue and justice in the wildly unjust and unvirtuous world, the paladin serves his (or her) Lawful Good patron deity with unwavering faith (or else).

Humans only. Lawful good only. Ridiculous stat prerequisites. Now, I'm sure this is meant to indicate the rarity of the paladin. They are truly one in a million (okay, maybe a thousand).

Why do only deities of Lawful Good have paladins? Why only humans? What's with the laundry list of stat prereqs? These questions received treatment in later editions by broadening the terms under which a paladin could be borne to service. However, in Dragon magazine #106, an article titled A Plethora of Paladins (by Christopher Wood) explained who and what paladins of other alignments were (except the Anti-paladin which is from Dragon #39). The result was a compiled list of classes (NPC only) that made me jealous not to be permitted player access. I highly recommend getting your hands on a copy of this issue if you can find it. Having been published in 1986, that would be unlikely. I know there are some .PDF copies hosted online for those of us unscrupulous enough to download them (got my digital copy from 4shared, I think).

Here are the class names and alignments, as well as some highlight features of the classes:

The Myrrikhan (NG): Pretty dull entry when compared to some of the others, the Myrrikhan has decent advantage in a favoured weapon and enmity for giants (large sized humanoids). This one feels a bit like a paladin/ranger hybrid.

The Garath (CG): As the weapons master paladin, the Garath is a bristling armadon and church defender. Otherwise, booooooring. They seem too preoccupied with staying in one place to be effectively chaotic good.

The Lyan (LN): A juggernaut with a d12 Hit Die. The Lyan is the hand of the Arbiter, a god of justice. He is unconcerned with good and evil, only the letter of the law.

The Paramander/Paramandyr (N): What a concept! Protector of the balance between good and evil or Destroyer of the imbalanced. While the Paramander is a paragon of peaceful balance, it would likely be difficult to play such a diametrically unopposed character and the Paramandyr is completely inappropriate for any party unwilling to lose PCs to infighting.

The Fantra (CN): The most shamanistic paladin (and possibly most interesting) is a defender of his people and servitor of his wild gods. Basically, this is the holy barbarian class as it is written and I am totally okay with that.

The Illrigger (LE): Conniver, deceiver, plotter. The access to devils, assassination tables and thief skills is kind of boss as you sow ruin among your enemies.

The Arrikhan (NE): 25% chance of a Nightmare mount at level 5. 'Nuff said. Actually, there's quite a bit more: thief skills, poisons, bonuses against good-aligned magic and enemies.

M and Ms

Malaise and Meme-hunting

I shouldn't be surprised that someone beat me to the meme (Rule 35 should be about memes).

Lately, my gaming brain has gone berserk finding
a half-dozen different ideas for new things to run. I'm certain this happens to every player, but this is getting nuts. Here's a brief list of shit that I have currently under construction or a deep and uncontrollable desire to run:

FlailSnails: I have been working a while on a Tokyo setting.
Pros: Roll everything awesome about Japan and anime up in one bundle and go bananas. Might be good times if I ever get the thing going.
Cons: I never feel ready enough to start it up. I always feel like something is missing.

4e: Now that Fourth edition is gasping its death rattle, I find it so irresistible. I haven't actually run any published adventures, even though I own quite a few of them. I would really like to run some of this crap I have clogging up my shelves.
Pros: Played and run a lot of 4e this year. Know it best of all the editions.
Cons: Played and run a lot of 4e this year. Burn out factor is high.

• Dungeon Delve: level 1 to 30 dungeon material. 30 sessions, 30 levels. BAM!
• Draconomicon: Dragon Hunters episodic campaign. Short and sweet and killing dragons.
• Sceptre of Spellguard: level 2 to 4 Forgotten Realms. I am not sure why I like this adventure, but I keep reading it through bit by bit.

Next:  After noticing the new play packet contained adaptation notes for Realms of Horror, I couldn't help but go scanning through the old modules to look at running them.

Pros: Classics!

Cons: Geez. . . Can't think of any.

Street Fighter RPG: There was a bit of a chit chat on a Google+ the other day that strayed from oWoD to this gem. I've never played it. I've always been keen to get into it, running a game or two would solve that.

Pros: Hadouken!

Cons: So many d10s.

Tenra Bansho Zero: I could not believe my luck when I found this little gem at Yellow Submarine in Shinjuku. It's this book that has me grumbling about my FlailSnails. This is almost exactly what I want that to be.

Pros: Giant Robots and super-human samurai.

Cons: I don't know where to begin in running this. It's so outside my safe zone.

Heroes Unlimited or TMNT: The first games I ever really truly campaigned were Heroes Unlimited/TMNT. I have had the books in my shelf boring a hole in my a long time.
Pros: Nostalgia.
Cons: Palladium combat is difficult to adjudicate swiftly after so long away from the game.

So, what is the solution? Pick something and roll with it? Poll for potential gamers? I think I will have to decide soon, but the summer burns away a lot of my motivation to play.
The marvellous thing about being part of the Google+ communities has been finding and connecting with like-minded folks.

Something will be decided, eventually.

Eventually.

Avenger Week, Part 3

Oaths Fulfilled

With this short week of Avenger-themed posts, I hope that it has become clear that I love the Avenger class. It appealed to me in a way that only a handful of the 4th edition classes could and it sparked my imagination. I could clearly see the oath-driven, single-minded warrior cloaked in the nimbus of divine power.

What separates an Avenger from a cleric or a paladin? Not much, truth be told. By the weight of their words, the Avenger will carry out the will of their god. He is no priest and no bringer of light to the people. The Avenger is the fierce mortal blade serving their churches and temples in the dark and terrible places. Why does an Avenger need divine guidance at all? I suppose they do not. Let’s say that some Avengers take up a course of vengeance and receive support from a greater magical source: a devil, arch-fey, or cosmic source. Different source, same powers: the Oath-Sworn.

Avenger/Oath-Sworn

Avengers are the zealots, the partisans and the bloody blades of religious orders. They sometimes serve as assassins and interrogators. They are the brutal, aggressive and unyielding in their pursuit of enemies, using the words of their gods to gain insight in battle and deal death.

The Oath-Sworn are different. They are driven by vengeance. Men and women who have suffered. They are granted their power by an unknown source; some greater power has taken an interest in your oaths and bestowed the knowledge to mete justice or sow destruction among your enemies.

Prerequisite: Str 9, Wis 9.

Prime Requisites: Str; Str 13, Wis 13 +5%xp; Str 16, Wis 16 +10%xp.

Weapons: Any.

Armour: cloth only.

Spells: as below, cleric spell list.

Hit Dice: 1d6, +1d6/level.

Saves: as cleric.

Attack: as fighter.

Level	XP	Smite	Smite dice	Spells I	II	III	IV
1	0	1	+1d6	0
2	1,565	2	+1d6	0
3	3,125	2	+1d8	1
4	6,251	3	+1d8	2
5	1,2501	3	+2d4	2	1
6	25,001	4	+2d4	3	2
7	50,001	4	+1d10	3	2	1
8	100,001	5	+1d12	3	3	2
9+	+100,000	5	+2d6	4	3	2	1

Weapons: Avengers and Oath-Sworn favour brutal two-handed weapons, but they may wield any weapon like fighters.

Armour: none. Avengers are cloaked in their faith (or trained to evade danger), but can not wear armour at all. If an avenger dons armour, he is unable to cast spells and -2 to hit and damage.

Armour of Faith: add your Wisdom modifier to AC (this is in addition to any Dexterity bonus to AC).

Aeofel Elhromanë, sufferer of chronic uvulitis

Oath of Enmity: Swear your Oath of Enmity upon one enemy and gain a deadly insight to defeat that foe. Roll twice to attack the target of your Oath, use the better roll.

The Avenger will pursue this target with relentless abandon and he can not swear another Oath until this target is defeated or killed. Attacks made against other targets deal -2 damage.

Smite: The Avenger can Smite his Enmity target for +1d6 additional “divine” damage (holy, unholy, thunder, fire... whatever the domain of their god, this must be chosen at the time of character creation). The Avenger can perform this Smite a number of times based upon his level and noted in the chart above. The damage also increases as noted in the chart.

Divine Guidance: When an ally attacks and misses the Oath of Enmity target, the Avenger can call to that ally to redouble his efforts. Once per day, an ally can reroll a miss against the Avengers Oath of Enmity target.

Spells: Avengers can cast spells from the cleric spell list. They advance as a cleric 2 levels lower and can not learn spells above 4th level. Avengers can not turn undead and perform healing poorly (-1 effect/die on healing spells).

Avenger Week, Part 2

Hello! My name is Inigo Montoya...

Kick-ass Avenger and Rumoured Dread Pirate

Oaths. All we got out of 4e was some Enmity. How about some other oaths? I've done my prerequisite twenty minutes of googling. Oaths abound! After all well-known oaths of allegiance, citizenship and fealty are put aside, there are still a few left over.

• The Oath of the Horatii: you shall go forth with your brothers to defend the honour of Rome against three brothers from Alba Longa. This oath is fairly situational - you need 2 brothers, first of all. Probably a time machine wouldn’t hurt.
• The Oath of Tyndaeus: you shall protect the fella that marries Helen of Troy. This oath sucks.
• The Hippocratic Oath: you shall do no harm. Mechanically, zero fun. May be a heal-venger. That sounds especially crap-tastic.
• The Oath of Inigo: “My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die!” (Greatest. Oath. Ever.)

Avenger Oaths should be as varied as the oaths spoken in the vastness of history, art and film. What follows are a few ideas about Avenger Oaths; homebrewed ideas. While I have tried to think about balance and measuring the cost versus reward for these Oaths, I also have to take into account that I don't actually care about balance and if you do - don't use these powers. It is all just homebrew, after all.

At the cost of a feat, an Avenger can acquire a second Oath option. I recommend that an Avenger only be permitted one type of Oath (and use the complementing Channel Divinity power once) per encounter. I would only encourage this to reduce confusion.

At no cost, an Avenger can replace Oath of Enmity and Divine Guidance with another paired Oath and Channel Divinity effect. These alternate Oaths behave as the Oath of Enmity (unless otherwise noted); targeting a single enemy target until it is defeated and the Oath can be sworn upon an new enemy.

Gods of war and destruction (Kord, Bane, Gruumsh) encourage followers to inflict devastating damage on their enemies. Avengers of these deities wield massive two-handed weapons to maximize effect.

Oath of Onslaught, roll one additional damage die, drop the lowest result. Level 16, 2 additional dice, drop the lowest.

• Channel Divinity, Incur the Onslaught: when an ally rolls 1 on a damage roll against your Oath target, reroll the damage die and add Int mod or Dex mod to the damage.

Gods concerned with justice, freedom or vengeance (Avandra, Bahamut, Melora, Tiamat) seek to set right that which is wrong.

Oath of Justice/Vengeance, deal additional damage to target when it deals damage to allies. [+1W] on next hit, target is marked.

• Channel Divinity, Make Vengeful the Meek: when an ally is struck by the Oath target, that ally makes a basic attack in retaliation with +Wis mod to hit.

Gods of darkness, trickery and secrecy (Sehanine, Lolth, Vecna, Zehir)  make great assassins of their avengers. They attack from the shadows and wrap themselves in defensive blackness.

Oath of Secrecy/Shadow, gain concealment from target on successful hit or partial concealment on miss.

• Channel Divinity, In Shadow We Prevail: target ally misses Oath target with an attack, ally gains partial concealment and combat advantage against Oath target until end of their next turn.

Gods of the dead and undying (Vecna) convey upon their avengers the power to raise new allies from their fallen enemies.

Oath of Ghouls, attacks against the target deal necrotic damage and the target can be raised as a ghoul once it has been slain (as a standard action). This oath can not be sworn again while the ghoul is risen - however, the avenger has gained an ally for the day. Good-aligned avengers don't tend to take this oath.

• Channel Divinity, Growl of the Grave: target ally hits your Oath target, Oath target takes necrotic damage equal to Wisdom mod and suffers -2 to attack rolls until end of its next turn.

Gods of madness, fear and tyranny (Asmodeus, Torog) show their faithful how to invoke fear and menace their enemies with hellish visions.

Oath of Insanity/Fear, the avenger attacks against Oath target menace psyche; avenger attacks gain the psychic OR fear keyword and target Will defense, on a hit the target can be pushed 1 square.

• Channel Divinity, Eye of the Mad Gods: when an ally misses the Oath target with an attack, the attack is rerolled and affects the targets Will defense instead, the target is pushed 1 square.

The Horatii, Brothers in Arms 

Some Oaths require only the bonds of friendship or love to fuel them; unlike the above Oaths, these Oaths are sworn to aid allies. The Oath lasts the length of the encounter and can not be re-sworn as the Oath of Enmity.

Oath of Blood, deep brotherly Oath that forges a connection with an ally rather than an enemy; you can split damage and healing (50/50) between yourself and one ally (range 10).

• Channel Divinity, Band of Brothers: when your Oath ally is bloodied by an enemy, you may make a free charge attack (+Wisdom Mod to hit/damage) against the target if it is within 5 squares.

Oath of the Brave, the avenger speaks the Oath and his allies are emboldened; all allies within 5 squares gain +1 on saving throws. 

• Channel Divinity, Raise the Banner: an ally becomes bloodied, all allies in the zone gain temporary hit points equal to Wisdom modifier.

Oath of Chivalrous Protection, protect one ally in 5 squares. Granting a nimbus of protection, +1 to defenses until the end of encounter. When you hit any enemy, you grant temporary HP to your Oath ally equal to Wisdom modifier. If your Oath target falls, you suffer -2 to attacks until the Oath ally is raised above 0 HP. 

• Channel Divinity, Intervening Vengeance: an attack targets your Oath ally, the avenger can choose to intervene by teleporting adjacent to the Oath ally and taking the damage. The avenger then deals damage to the triggering enemy equal to half the damage taken.

Avenger Week, Part 1

Lo there do I see my Father...

Buliwyf sees the line of his people back to the beginning.  

In The 13th Warrior, while defending the shattered village the Northmen call to their ancestors for strength in battle. There is a decent bit of prose with some epic slow motion imagery and that plucks my very sensitive heart-strings every damn time. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it. I've been talking about the words that drive characters a lot lately and that has got me thinking about my favourite 4th Edition class: the Avenger.

In 4e D&D, the Avenger uses oaths as its core mechanic. Their power is called the Oath of Enmity (which is fucking wicked) and they draw upon divine might from their gods to smite the infidels in their path. Mechanically, the Oath of Enmity is totally mint: roll twice to hit the object of your ire. Confer a reroll on an ally attacking your Enmity target. Yes! YES! Gimme more! Unfortunately, there's the final word on oaths from 4e. This, to my mind, is a colossal failure to capitalize on a game mechanic that could go absolutely bananas and slam dunk some role-play on the roll-play.

The oaths of D&D (at my home table) can often be boiled down to: "Hey muthafucka! I'm gunna tear yer head off and shit down yer neckhole!" Terrifying and amusing, to be certain. Stay tuned, the Avenger is getting some chirurgeon treatment this week: new Oaths, new Oath-sworn Channel Divinity powers and a Labyrinth Lord compatible class. It's Avenger Week.

The Avengers of Comedic Blaxploitation

"By the Power of Greyskull"... a +1 bonus!

Battle Cries: By the power of Greyskull!

Riffing off +Reginald Mc Reynolds’ comment the other day on the article regarding Banter, I wanted to include a note about battle cries.

“Leeeroooy Jenkiiins!” was prepared to die for ultimate glory. Are you?

Battle cries are a huge part of the hero mythos. Call to your gods, homeland, people or yourself; for whatever you give your devotion, you have decided to lay it all on the line. Great battle cries need not be exciting or original at all. Among my favourites are those whose conviction in themselves is so great that they call on their own names. "Hot Pie!" in Game of Thrones and "Vicky!" from the Fistfull of Paintballs/For A Few Paintballs More episodes of Community are my absolute favourites. 

A simple call to your homeland might strengthen the resolve of your allies, stoke the fires of your own battle-lust or raise your flagging spirit to throw off a terrible magic spell. Like He-Man drawing his sword or Johnny Rico calling the troops to hold back the Bugs, you must set an example for your allies. It's a crucial time and every ounce of strength is important. More importantly, don't miss.

System: If a player has the conviction or motivation to perform great deeds, they can call out to it dramatically and apply a +1 bonus to hit or damage on an attack, or to make a save or check; additionally all allies gain a +4 bonus to morale. A character can summon this strength only once per day or game session, and only if they are in dire circumstances and their principles hold true.

Optional system: a battle cry roll that fails could be the proverbial straw that breaks the camel's back. Consider forcing allies to check their resolve if their brave warleader fails in his attack. Failed roll after battle cry require morale checks. Possibly also require a new d20.

"Come on, you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever?" -- Johnny Rico, Starship Troopers.

To Bant or Not to Bant...

The Banter Bonus

Bond: "Do you expect me to talk?"
Goldfinger: ". . . um. 22 with Lazorz vs. AC!"

Everyone knows that good banter makes good combat even better. Spiderman is all about the banter (and puns) and Deadpool won't shut up. Mr. Bond has inspired a generation of quippery and his villains have provided us with some of the best tropes.

I've been listening to the Penny Arcade 4e podcasts recently. They highlight all the pitfalls of 4e in irritating detail, but they are fairly funny. There is also a remarkable amount of banter between the heroes and villains; the kind of macho back and forth that really gets your table riled up. Having killed the dire-boar mount, the heroes face down the dwarven rider and Jim Darkmagic (greatest shit name ever) rises to his feet and says, "Now that your wife is dead, let's dance." He then proceeds to cast a magic missile that completely misses (back in 4e when they could miss). This is simply unjust. Quips need to be followed by epic devastation and enemy suffering.

I don't think I did a good job of generating banter when I last ran D&D. I will resolve myself to engage the PCs with more verbal barbs. I also hereby pledge to use the "Banter Bonus" in any game where a player initiates or participates in snappy dialogue with the villains.

The Banter Bonus would reward good role playing with a straight-up +2 bonus to a die roll for a single action (hit, damage, save or check) before the end of your next turn. This bonus can be granted by players as well. If you think someone is doing a good job, once per session you can throw them a bonus. This can be used as incentive for reticent or quiet players to jump in.

In Tenra Bansho Zero, there is the aiki system where players reward each other with chits which can be traded in for loads of different benefits. I wanted to take that concept and boil it down to a simple single session mechanic. Anyone can reward anyone else. Hell, if you think the GM is tearing it up, throw him some +2 love. (Even if you would rather not).

Not a battle-haiku.

So, to clarify:
The Banter Bonus
Each player at the table has a once per session Banter Bonus that they can confer on a another player for one action. The GM may confer this bonus on a player at any time, of course.
To gain the bonus, the player must have engaged in some kind of banter or verbal back and forth (using your "For my homeland!" battle cry on a quivering slime is insufficient to gain this bonus). Don't abuse this for just any old idle chit-chat.
The PC gains a +2 to hit, damage, save or make a skill check. (The player gaining the bonus may choose how best to use this, but if the Banter bonus remains unused for 1 round - it is lost for good.)