At the end of episode 5, fire.
Greetings players,
A TL/DR will be at the bottom for impatient readers.
For a new 5th ed. FR game I wanted to step outside my comfort zone and play something not only new to me mechanic wise but in attitude/role-playing depth. I chose a paladin of conquest and then went really in-depth with random generation tables. All the roles eventually steered me into following Sune, the Deity of beauty, etc. At first, I didn't think it would work but when I dug into her lore I discovered the Brotherhood of the Ruby Rose. Perfect! I wrote up the back story, cleaned up loose connections and began to play. During the five levels, everything is fine as I try to learn the mechanics and playstyle a paladin requires. It is slow, but I'm finally getting there.
So, the problem comes from last nights session with myself and one other player -'A'- doing a one-shot run by our current DM -'D'. They both express misgivings that being a Paladin of Conquest and following Sune don't play together lore and principally. It looks and feels off to them and I should consider changing to another archetype. I shall list their arguments.
- A- Sune is a Chaotic Good deity, her nature/philosophy puts her at odds with the nature of the Paladin of Conquest Archetype.
- A- I am not roleplaying the intent of the Paladin of Conquest the way it's (fully) intended.
- D- The Dogma of Sune and the Oaths of Conquest don't mix.
- D- It's suggested that I chose the Conquest Archetype more for the powers it grants than the RP aspect.
- A- The Brotherhood of the Ruby Rose is written to have its paladins following clerics around doing acts of good, not conducting warfare and ruling with an iron fist.
They are both good guys and very knowledgeable, so I listened to their arguments openly and felt they were justified in bringing it up to me. I myself am no newbie to Faerun lore, but admitted some struggles adapting fully to 5th ed. We are all open-minded adults with experience on both sides of the screen. My counter-arguments are as follows.
- The Brotherhood of the Ruby Rose, being established canon, allows for paladins to serve in her name. Since there is no lore/crunch reason specifically stating against a paladin of conquest cannot serve, I opted to explore a more militant approach to serving in her name.
- I politely pointed out the D, while being a strong DM, simply hasn't presented the opportunity during play thus far (we are playing Storm King's Thunder) for me to directly
which one would be easier?
I play a lvl 2 NG paladin of Sune. Thinking of which oath to take:
I like the Vengeance spells better, especially after lvl 9.
But the Ancients path felt in line with my character, as she is primarily focused on curing evil whenever possible, and mercilessly killing it only when proven unhealable.
If I add heartbreaking RP events to make my change of heart justified, would Sune let me change my oath, without touching my powers?
She already has enemies, to justify vengeance on, but the deity will later reveal to her that they are not dead, like she thought.
I will make sure to be serving both oaths' 4 rules before her change of heart happens.
I would not want to touch my relationship with Sune, for RP reasons too. Just my own aim of what "doing right" means.
I love this stat because it includes the most iconic hitter of each decade. Here are the numbers:
1900s: Honus Wagner, 1014 runs
1910s: Ty Cobb, 1049 runs
1920s: Babe Ruth, 1365 runs
1930s: Lou Gehrig, 1257 runs (in 9 seasons)
1940s: Ted Williams, 951 runs (in 7 seasons)
1950s: Mickey Mantle, 994 runs
1960s: Hank Aaron, 1091 runs
1970s: Pete Rose, 1068 runs
1980s: Rickey Henderson, 1122 runs
1990s: Barry Bonds, 1091 runs
2000s: Alex Rodriguez, 1190 runs
2010s: Mike Trout, 878 runs (in 9 seasons)
Trout is the youngest player ever to top this list. He is trailed by Ian Kinsler (877), Andrew McCutchen (868), and Joey Votto (824).
Dark Power jealous of character devotion for Sune - Sorcerer (1)/Warlock(3) - Shadowfell patron
In case of need help: Sune. When something happened accordling how he have plan: Thanks Sune. And so on. In his background, his mother was seduced by a fiend and then get pregnant of him. In a try to protect she offered the baby son's soul to Sune. The goddess accepted but demand to give up her son in a temple. So he have been raised by Sune's priests. A little tiefling boy.
He grown up, and get his first class: Sorcerer
The life is tought for a teenager tiefling. Then a patron showup, cut a deal and, boom, second class: Warlock, patron from Shadowfell. Third (that's was where the campaign begins) and now fourth level go with warlock.
I would like to have your opinion: One of the Dark Powers will be his patron. Maybe Shami, Lady of Delights, and my toughts are simples. She is jealousy. Afterall most of his powers came from the deal they are made, and she need to punish him, and maybe (if he insist in this Sune thing) made him lose his sorcerer powers. But this is very extreme.
Until that extreme consequence, Shami will punish him, making his sorcerer power fail, grow weak, and for that he get some battle scars. And then start to give some boons.
Any thougts to do that?
Velk, Solomon, Gaz, Hungry and Wil, look away now.
One of my players, in an attempt to extort money from a Zhentarim agent, found himself instead manipulated into joining the Zhents. So I need to come up with a cute little heist to force him to prove his worth to the mob. I have a broad idea, but I need help fleshing it out.
The heist will be set in Neverwinter, where the local temple of Sune has been destroyed in the eruption of Mount Hotenow. They have partnered with a local greenhouse to run a bath-house / temple / greenhouse until such time as the they can raise enough funds to properly rebuild the temple and restore the gardens at the east end of town.
My impulsive PC will be sent to steal a ruby necklace hanging around the neck of the statue of the goddess, deep in the luxurious recesses of the bathhouse.
What I need are ideas to flesh this out. Traps or protections in place, temple protectors for them to fight, complications, etc.
