Clerics & Paladins of The Shattered Realm

[Elliot Kane]

Most of my notes on my latest game world were lost along with my old computer, but fortunately for me I'd sent Steve copies of the most arduous part of the whole process - my redefinition of Paladins.

They've always annoyed me, Paladins. They just make no sense. They have to be a single alignment, they're all servants of good deities, there's no evil counterpart that is more than an echo of the good guys, and all in all they really rather suck.

Worse - they are just not interesting. They're part of a hierarchy, their behaviour is limited by a code to the point that far too often they are boring clones of each other...

Something had to be done. My answer was to redefine exactly what a Paladin is, and then to create Paladin variants for each of the Shattered Realm deities. As these are basically archetypes, the idea holds if anyone wishes to adopt them.

[Elliot Kane]

Clerics & Paladins

Introduction

The prime servants of the Deities of the Shattered Realm are their Clerics - who preach the doctrines of their Deity, preach sermons and generally minister to the faithful, and their Paladins, who are the martial arm, entrusted with promoting the Deity's interests in the world and dealing with any problems that might arise.

Please note the word 'Paladin' is NOT used in the Shattered Realm in the way it is in most Role-Playing Games (RPGs) to describe a warrior who is good, noble and just. A Paladin is a champion of his deity who seeks to exemplify the virtues and vices his or her Deity favours.

Such Paladins may vary widely in their doctrinal interpretations, alignments, and interactions with others. A Paladin of Aylena, Goddess Of Death, for example, may consider it his duty to kill all living things (rare and usually suicidal, but it does happen sometimes...), while another may involve himself in every conflict and adventuring group around, taking no prisoners. One may swear to celibacy, believing the creation of new life to be a sin, while the other may simply take precautions (such as killing everyone he sleeps with). No two Paladins of the same Deity are likely to be identical. Indeed, it is not unknown for Paladins of the same Deity to kill each other over a point of difference in doctrinal interpretation.

As may be imagined, Paladins are feared, respected, and most often avoided by those who have no reason to deal with them.

The Clergy of each faith are recruited by the Clergy themselves. Promising youngsters are recruited and trained in the tenets of the faith, moving up through Acolyte to Priest and finally to Bishop or Archbishop if they are lucky. There is one Archbishop in every city-state, though no religion has an overall leader except for their Deity.

Paladins are individuals who have petitioned their Deity directly with their offer of service. Not everyone is accepted, of course, although it is not always clear to mortal observers why an individual petitioner is accepted or rejected. Obviously each Deity has their own criteria, and they do not share these with mortals. A Paladin is answerable only to himself and his Deity.

Sometimes Paladins will hear the voice of their Deity directing them. Or so they say. Many observers put this down to an excess of zeal or total insanity (or both) but a Paladin knows what he knows, and his faith is unshakable.

The majority of Paladins are male, although this seems to be primarily due to a lack of female interest rather than deliberate policy on the part of the Deities.

Clerics & Spell Casting

All Clerics use the normal 'spells by level' table in the Player's Handbook to determine the number of spells they may cast between meditations. This basically represents the trust level between Deity and servant. The more the Cleric proves him/her self, the more power the Deity is prepared to grant them.

When a Cleric meditates, they are basically in communion with their Deity, requesting that the Deity grants them a small portion of His/Her power. This trance is far deeper than normal prayer, and if it is interrupted there is a chance the Cleric will be driven insane. Fortunately, it takes a lot to break this trance. A forceful blow or serious shaking will do it, but accidental bumping or a few loud noises will not. Two small groups attempting to kill each other would be unlikely to disturb a meditating Cleric.

Note that this communion is not a conversation. The Cleric feels a sense of their Deity's presence, but the concept is more akin to recharging a battery than hanging out down the pub. Requests for additional aid or direction may not take place during meditation.

A full meditation takes eight hours, at the end of which time the Cleric will be fully rested and their spell casting abilities restored to maximum.

When a Cleric casts a spell s/he takes a small portion of the power s/he has been granted and shapes it with his/her prayers and the force of his/her will into the desired effect. This may be any spell of the appropriate level in either the Player's Handbook, Unearthed Arcana or The Tome Of Magic.

BEWARE HOWEVER: the Deities of the Shattered Realm understand that spells may be used in many different ways. Animate Dead, for example, may be used to raise troops for an army or it may be used to walk dead friends and allies to a place where they can be restored to life in situations where carrying the bodies is impossible. A Cleric who uses spells in a way his/her Deity may not approve of is risking the wrath of that Deity. Flagrant and repeated wrongful use of spells WILL result in consequences...

NB: There are NO Plane Shift or other-dimension spells (Gate etc) on The Shattered Realm. There are also no Teleport/Transport spells such as Wind Walk. Despite being in the manuals, these spells may NOT be used.

Paladins

While the duty of a Paladin to his Deity remains constant, each Deity grants different powers to His/Her Paladins according to His/Her nature. By general agreement, all Paladins gain the following:

Use the EXP Table of Paladins from the Player's Handbook. They also use the Spells Gained By Level Table.

Gain 1 Aura; 3 Immunities; 3 Spell-Like Powers each usable 3 times per day.

A Paladin's Aura is constantly in effect in a 10' radius around him at all times. The effects of these Auras are accumulative.

A Paladin's Immunities are proof against most spells, but not against artifacts or other magics of an exceptional nature.

All Spell-Like Powers are 'at will' and do not require the casting time of the normal spell. They are cast at the Paladin's level.

Where one Paladin's abilities directly conflicts with another's, the highest level Paladin's power wins. If both Paladins are of equal level, a simple die roll determines the winner.

All are, of course, expected to act in their Deity's interests at all times.

NOTE: the descriptions below often refer to 'friendly' creatures. This is not the same thing as 'allied' in any way. If your character is unfriendly towards the Paladin for whatever reason, the Paladin's aura will consider your character to be 'hostile'. This is usually a bad thing...

Kode

Aura: Protection from Evil
Immunities: Fear, Charm, Hold
3/day Abilities: Detect Lie, Remove Fear, Cure Light Wounds
Alignment: May not be Chaotic or Evil.

Krovak

Aura: Immunity to Fear
Immunities: May not be Backstabbed, May not Fumble, Avoid Critical Hits
3/day Abilities: Enchanted Weapon, Shield, Phantom Armour
Notes: The Immunities given to Krovak's Paladins mean that Thieves and Assassins may not gain extra damage when attacking them from behind; they treat a combat roll of 1 as a normal miss with no chance of dropping their weapons; any combat roll against them of 20 is treated as a normal hit with no possibility of double damage. These abilities do NOT prevent assassination rolls succeeding against them, or special weapon functions that require a 20 to affect them.
Alignment: No restrictions. Krovak does not care WHY his Paladins fight, only that they do.

Hoil

Aura: Competence (+1 bonus on all non-combat ability checks)
Immunities: Heat (not Fire), Strength Drain, Dexterity Drain
3/day Abilities: Heat Metal, Stone To Flesh, Mending
Alignment: No restrictions. Craftsmanship is all.

Zagor

Aura: Protection From Good
Immunities: Detect Illusion, Know Alignment, Detect Evil
3/day Abilities: Undetectable Lie, Ventriloquism, Mask
Alignment: May not be Good.
Notes: The Mask ability allows Zagor's Paladins to look like someone else. It lasts for one hour, and covers physical appearance only. It does not extend to voice or clothing, meaning that it is rarely used to directly impersonate others in a situation where such deception might easily be uncovered. The Mask need not be an exact copy of someone, and can be a total invention if so desired.

Fian

Aura: Inspiration
Immunities: Song Based Attack Forms, Deafness, Musical Attack
3/day Abilities: Chant, Audible Glamour, Enthrall
Alignment: Any. Few are Evil.
Notes: The Aura of Inspiration gives +1 bonuses on all saves vrs fear, hopelessness and all other negative emotional attacks. Song Based Attack Forms includes the song of a Siren or a Kelpie, not just damage. Musical Attack includes Drums Of Panic, Horns Of Blasting etc.

Marlik

Aura: Cool
Immunities: Dehydration Attack, Pressure Attack, Liquid Poisons
3/day Abilities: Create Water, Water Breathing, Purify Water
Alignment: Any.
Notes: The Aura of Cool reduces all Fire damage by 1 per die. Dehydration Attack includes such things as Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting. Pressure Attack is obviously of most use deep under water, but is also useful against telekinetic crushing or some of the Bigby's Hand spells.

Krakow

Aura: Electrical Resistance
Immunities: Magical Gas, Wind Attack, Call Lightning
3/day Abilities: Feather Fall, Gust Of Wind, Whispering Wind
Alignment: Any
Notes: The Aura of Electrical Resistance reduces all damage from Lightning by 1 point per die. Wind Attack includes all wind spells, such as Gust Of Wind, Wind Wall etc, and telekinetically generated wind. Call Lightning is simply the Druid spell of the same name.

Solaris

Aura: Glow
Immunities: Heat (not Fire), Light Attack, Blindness
3/day Abilities: Light, Fire Resistance, Produce Flame
Alignment: Any.
Notes: The Glow Aura is a constant general light source that provides soft illumination. It is good enough to read by, but not harmful to the eye. Magical darkness can reduce or impinge upon it, but such spells are reduced to half duration. A Continual Darkness spell will have the same duration as a normal Darkness spell rather than being permanent. Light Attack includes spells such as Prismatic Spray. It would also include Lasers, although it would not prevent laser guidance from targeting the Paladin. As a general rule, it only prevents damage or harm.

Lovis

Aura: Commerce
Immunities: Fool's Gold, Nystul's Dweomer, Charm
3/day Abilities: Identify, Mending, Detect Magic
Alignment: Any
Notes: The Aura Of Commerce grants the Paladin and his friends the ability to sell items for 5% more than their normal value, and buy for 5% less.

Zarnik

Aura: Calm Thinking (+1 on all saves vrs Charm and Domination)
Immunities: ESP, Charm, Feeblemind
3/day Abilities: Augury, Sanctuary, Detect Illusion
Alignment: Any. Few are Chaotic.

Ikoro

Aura: Whispering Voices
Immunities: Disease, Degeneration Attack, Insanity
3/day Abilities: Cause Disease, Cause Light Wounds, Poison
Alignment: May not be Lawful or Good.
Notes: Immunity to Degeneration Attack protects against Staves of Withering and similar spells/abilities. The Aura of Whispering Voices grants a +1 bonus to all saves vrs mental attacks (Charm, Domination, Feeblemind etc) by suddenly rousing from silence into millions of tiny voices whispering things that cannot quite be heard. The Aura is quiescent unless needed. It is also a useful warning system, of course...

Aylena

Aura: Death
Immunities: Death Magic, Con Drain, Level drain
3/day Abilities: Destroy Water, Putrify Food & Drink, Summon Death
Alignment: Any. Few are Good.
Notes: The Aura Of Death causes all creatures hostile to the Paladin to die when they reach zero hit points instead of merely going unconscious. The Summon Death ability reduces the morale and saving throws of all unfriendly creatures in a 50' rad of the Paladin by -2 for the next hour. This effect in non-cumulative.

Aylissa

Aura: Life
Immunities: Death Magic, Con Drain, Level Drain
3/day Abilities: Create Water, Purify Food & Drink, Summon Life
Alignment: Any. Few are Evil.
Notes: The Aura Of Life allows all creatures not hostile to the Paladin to survive damage that would otherwise kill them. In game terms, if a PC goes below zero HP they are usually unconscious until they go below minus their Con, when they die. The Aura Of Life holds life in the body unless damage taken is greater than minus Con X2. The Summon Life ability increases the morale and saving throws of all friendly creatures in a 50' rad of the Paladin by +2 for the next hour. This effect is non-cumulative.

Ala

Aura: Sight
Immunities: Light Attack, Scrying, Mind Reading
3/day Abilities: Undetectable Lie, Darkness 15' Rad, Invis. Purge
Alignment: Any.
Notes: The Aura Of Sight allows the Paladin and his friends to see in total darkness, normal or magical, as if it were daylight. It does not affect hostile creatures in any way. Immunity to Light Attack is identical to the ability of Solaris' Paladins. Immunity to Scrying means that the Paladin is invisible to remote viewing devices such as Clairvoyance, Crystal Balls etc, although the results of his actions are not hidden. Immunity to Mind reading protects from magical and psionic means alike.

Luciana

Aura: Pain Reduction
Immunities: Pain effects, Con Drain, Attacks/Spells that target the Heart
3/day Abilities: Cure Light Wounds, Prot. Evil, Purify Water
Alignment: May not be Evil
Notes: Usually used to reduce pain during childbirth, the Paladin's Aura also has the effect of reducing damage taken by all non-hostile creatures by -1 per die.

Dionetta
Aura: Prophecy
Immunities: Slow, Time Stop, Aging attacks
3/day Abilities: Haste, Slow, Augury
Alignment: Must be Lawful
Notes: The Aura Of Prophecy allows the Paladin and his friends a slight precognitive ability in combat, allowing them to react to a coming blow a little sooner than they otherwise would. The result of this is to improve AC by -1. Note that this ability can allow an AC of -11 to be reached, where -10 is usually the limit.

Clarona

Aura: Good Fortune (+1 to all saving throws)
Immunities: Bad luck spells & effects, Fumbling, Charm
3/day Abilities: Re-Roll Die, Good Luck, Bad Luck
Alignment: Must be Chaotic
Notes: The Re-Roll Die ability may be used at any time to allow the Paladin a second chance at making a stat check, saving throw, or whatever else. This ability may be used more than once to affect a single outcome, but the final result will always stand even if it is not the best one. Immunity to Fumbling means that the Paladin treats any combat roll of 1 as a normal miss rather than a fumble. The Good Luck ability grants +1 on all die rolls to a single target creature for the next hour, the Bad Luck ability is simply the reverse. The Paladin can target himself if he so desires.

Ruitha

Aura: Renewal
Immunities: Natural poisons, Insect Spells, Animal Attack
3/day Abilities: Speak With Animals, Speak With Plants, Speak With Insects
Alignment: Any
Notes: The Aura Of Renewal slowly renews the fertility of the land around the Paladin, and regenerates and rejuvenates all plant life in the area. As a useful side-effect, all plants and plant-like monsters will consider the Paladin and his group to be friends and benefactors rather than threats or food. Obviously, the actions of the Paladin or his group may affect this perception. Immunity to Insect Spells protects the Paladin from spells such as Creeping Doom, which call forth natural insects to damage or harrass the targets. Such insects will simply not view the Paladin as a viable target, unless he does something to provoke them. Immunity to Animal Attack prevents all natural animals not under outside control from attacking the Paladin, who is viewed as potentially friendly. Note that this does not automatically extend to the Paladin's companions, although if he takes the time to reassure the animal(s) and his party does nothing threatening, peace can usually be achieved. Obviously, adverse actions by the Paladin or his companions can affect this.

Merana

Merana has NO Clerics or Paladins. The Mages of The Shattered Realm effectively fill both roles.

Azure

Aura: Animal Calm
Immunities: Poison, Climatic Extremes, Disease
3/day Abilities: Create Food & Drink, Purify Water, Create Campsite
Alignment: Any.
Notes: The immunity to Climatic Extremes allows Paladins of Azure to withstand all temperatures that fall within the normal climatic range of an Earth-type world. It provides no protection from spells such as Cone Of Cold, which falls well below the normal range, even in the arctic regions. Similarly, it provides no protection against fire, lightning, lava, or other naturally occurring phenomena. The Aura of Animal Calm makes all normal animals react to the Paladin (and anyone else inside the Aura) in a neutral fashion, which is to say s/he will be regarded as neither hunter nor prey, friend nor foe. Obviously, the actions of the Paladin (or his/her companions) may affect this neutrality. Note that this ability does not affect creatures that are under a magical compulsion.

Meliora

Aura: Wisdom
Immunities: Int drain, Wis drain, Mental Attacks
3/day Abilities: Augury, Know Alignment, Sanctuary
Alignment: May not be Chaotic.
Notes: The Aura Of Wisdom gives a +1 bonus vrs Charm and other emotion based attack forms. Immunity to Mental Attacks protects the mind of the Paladin from ESP, domination etc. It does not prevent a psi using TK or other physical abilities on him. It does not prevent emotion based attacks in any way either.

Rebekah

Aura: Healing
Immunities: Reverse Healing Spells, Disease, Poison
3/day Abilities: Heal (all damage), Cure Disease, Neutralize Poison
Alignment: May not be Evil.
Notes: The Aura of Healing adds +2 to all healing spells cast within its area and increases the natural rate of healing by +2 points per day.