- Location
- E-Girl Deseret
- Pronouns
- She/Her
More or less, though as I own both Libris Mortis and Lords of Madness, I may utilize more 3.5 in the early stages of the Bolton and Dayne starts.
Fear Cuts Deeper Than Swords: A Song of Ice and Fire/D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder Quest
- Thread starter Miriam
- Start date
More or less, though as I own both Libris Mortis and Lords of Madness, I may utilize more 3.5 in the early stages of the Bolton and Dayne starts.
- Location
- United States
Lords of Madness? So I take it we'll be seeing Deep Ones and Squishers around the Iron Islands?
- Location
- Brazil
Paladins and stark D&D morality are a complicated topic, because the potential is there to make an epic story, but at the same time, it can go real bad real fast.
Still, I think it could work, as long as we can play as "essentially a super nice guy, willing to stand up for his fellows and fight the evils of the world, but still a human being, with flaws and doubts and moments of weakness."
Also, not getting "unchilvarous" confounded with "being evil".
One easy example in how we could easily play a paladin without having to be a saint is the Knighthood Vows: be brave, be just, defend the young and innocent.
Still, I think it could work, as long as we can play as "essentially a super nice guy, willing to stand up for his fellows and fight the evils of the world, but still a human being, with flaws and doubts and moments of weakness."
Also, not getting "unchilvarous" confounded with "being evil".
One easy example in how we could easily play a paladin without having to be a saint is the Knighthood Vows: be brave, be just, defend the young and innocent.
Most of them do
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- Location
- United States
GRRM has an unfortunate admiration of Lovecraft, yeah. There is far too much material for eldritch in this setting.
Even the freaking Seven have a distant connection to the Bloodstone Emperor.
- Location
- E-Girl Deseret
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Basically this is how I would like to run a Westerosi paladin. Brienne's whole "true knight" ethos.
- Location
- Earth
[X] Domeric Bolton, Cleanser of the Dreadfort
- Location
- Brazil
Besides, what counts as "Justice" in Westeros is starkly different from what counts as justice today.
There's a bunch of bandits terrorizing the country, Justice is to go forth and kill them to a man, freeing any captives you find, if any. Spoils of battle are spoils of battle, even if I expect anything very clearly marked to get sent back to the owners, but that brings its own rewards too. Deities are shaped by their worshippers, so that also plays into what would theoretically limit our actions.
"Essentially Brienne" is a perfectly functional way to play. Be nice, be honorable, act in good faith and there you go.
There's a bunch of bandits terrorizing the country, Justice is to go forth and kill them to a man, freeing any captives you find, if any. Spoils of battle are spoils of battle, even if I expect anything very clearly marked to get sent back to the owners, but that brings its own rewards too. Deities are shaped by their worshippers, so that also plays into what would theoretically limit our actions.
"Essentially Brienne" is a perfectly functional way to play. Be nice, be honorable, act in good faith and there you go.
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I don't thinkit's quite that simple. Brienne had no real power and so she would never come against the sort of utility vs honor decisions that a lord, or a lord's heir might
- Location
- Brazil
I can see the point, but can you exemplify?
Because while I can see "being a just and merciful lord is much harder than being a just and merciful knight", I don't quite buy "it's impossible to be a succesful just and merciful lord".
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Sure, to keep this relatively abstract, let's say we have an opportunity to profit by trade with say Lorath and we can make a lot of money for our various profits, but we know the trader making the offer is a slaver or just an all around unpleasant individual. By helping him make money and gain power Domeric would be indirectly leading to quite a bit of human suffering.
The example intentionally eschews the mystical or the tactics of war but both of those have plenty of instances when being ruthless can be immensely profitable.
- Location
- United States
I hope this doesn't happen. This policy would limit trading in Essos to only Braavos, and even the Braavosi don't have that limitation in spite of their First Law.
- Location
- Brazil
A fair point, but I've made some edits to the above post.
Essentially, yeah, being utterly ruthless does bring with it great opportunities for profit.
The key aspect here, and the challenge for the character, is to both weight the moral quandaries- say, trading with the Lorath slaver gains you enough gold to prepare much better for winter, but also trying and be smart about it: try and trade with Braavos, or use your influence as a fairy tale hero to form a rock-solid coalition against slaver-backed traders with Braavos and White Harbor.
That is also dependant on what our patron is: in a place as unforgiving as Westeros, I doubt some pragmality isn't allowed. So, does the good you do by trading with Lorath outweight the evil you indirectly commit?
There's being a paladin, and there's being a Saint.
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Kufufu
Adequate at best
- Location
- What's it to ya?
[X] Imry Florent, Voice of Fox and Faerie: Nephew to Lord Alester Florent, you are heir to nothing, save the ears of your parents and their parents before them. You are young and vigorous, and dream of martial glory, the clash of steel, and the honor of a lady. Yet your concerns of glory and valor are swept aside one day when a fox, the traditional symbol of your house, walks up to you and speaks, claiming to be the legendary ancestor of your house, Florys the Fox, and telling you of a destiny of tree and stone and sky. Will you accept the beast's strange message? (Druid Variant – Green Faith Inititate, Age 20, Early Fey Focus. Starting Location: Brightwater Keep, the Reach)
That's all very nice, but we can't have Domeric crusade against all the evils of the world at the same time, the more power you have the more you have to choose who you are helping and who you are hurting.
Brienne did not have to make that choice.
- Location
- Brazil
Of course we can't, and that's the point of being a paladin with actual power beyond one adventurer party: realize you can't help everyone, and help those you can anyway. You don't stop because it's futile in the grandest scope, because there's worth even in the smallest acts.
Honestly, I'd expect him to run far more Lawful than Good. Because needs must when the devil drives, and a worthy Patron should either provide a way himself, or accept that.
And that's another interesting variable, too: we have literal divine intervention on our side.
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I generally agree though 'running more lawful than good' is why I suggested a LN paladin to @Zioneer
- Location
- Brazil
I don't particularly mind a LN Paladin. I'd prefer it, even. "Your patron is LG, but accepts a LN with strong Good leanings as his best bet" sounds pretty good.
As long as we can still Smite teh evilz.
I think the sort of more subtle and contained powers of a Paladin would play really well in a westerosi setting, especially when magic hasn't even drawn its first breath in its new life.
As long as we can still Smite teh evilz.
I think the sort of more subtle and contained powers of a Paladin would play really well in a westerosi setting, especially when magic hasn't even drawn its first breath in its new life.
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- Location
- Brazil
Given that example, I think LN Paladin might be best after all.
Follow a largely "Good" code and there you go.
- Location
- North Carolina
Basically, be what Jaime Lannister wanted to be, not what he ended up being.
New goal: Make Jaime Lannister jealous of our ability to be an actual knight in shining armor.
Edit: I kind of see Domeric's story as having the possibility of being a storybook knight.
1) Magical powers from on high
2) Evil relatives that may end up as adversaries or be redeemed
3) A looming evil beyond the giant wall that will totally not come crumbling down at an inopportune time
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