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Rangers and Paladins Supplement

Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2011 4:05 pm
by Solomoriah
Post your comments here for the Rangers and Paladins supplement.

https://basicfantasy.org/downloads.html ... ndpaladins

Re: Rangers and Paladins Supplement

Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2011 11:06 pm
by Hywaywolf
where is the info on the paladin? all you have is the level table

Re: Rangers and Paladins Supplement

Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2011 7:09 am
by Solomoriah
It's not done yet.

One of the main rules of open development is to "release early, release often." So this is the "early" release.

Re: Rangers and Paladins Supplement

Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2011 5:27 am
by artikid
Hullo,
since BFRPG doesn't use alignments, I think it would be nice for Paladins to be generic divine warriors instead of good-only divine warriors.
The supplement could include three basic templates, for example:

Lightguards,
need to follow strictly a path of virtue, turn undead as Clerics half their level. They cast standard clerical spells but may not cast them in reverse form.

Marauders,
chaotic warriors, may only cast cleric spells in reverse form, turn undead as Clerics half their level.

Forest keepers,
must follow the druidic path of respect for nature, may cast druidic spells instead of standard cleric spell.
May turn animals instead of undead as a Druid half their level.

What do you think?

Re: Rangers and Paladins Supplement

Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2011 5:59 am
by artikid
Something slightly more complete:

Paladins are warriors consecrated to a cause, their mission is to support and defend a religious faith.
Paladins, like Clerics, must keep true to their faith or risk losing their powers and become normal Fighters of a level equiparable to that of the accumulated experience points.
Paladins usually operate alone, wandering the lands and never staying in the same place for long.
Paladins are expected to obey orders from the clergy of their faith.

Requirements: To become a Paladin, a character must have a Strength score of 9 or higher (just as with any
Fighter), a Wisdom of 11 or higher, and a Charisma of 11 or higher.
They may use any weapon and may wear any armor.
Humans, only may become Paladins (but you could change this to Marauders: open to humans and half-orcs, Lightguards: open to humans, half-elves and dwarves, Forest keepers: open to human, elves and half-elves - see below).

Special Abilities:
All paladins, no matter what their faith, share some common special abilities.
All paladins have the Turn Undead power as Clerics of a level equal to half their own (round down), from 10th level on they get to cast divine spells as a caster of level (paladin level-9).
Paladins also emanate a protection form evil/good aura in 10 feet radius, also they can detect evil/good at will.
Furthermore they can Smite: once per day per level they can make a melee attack as if their weapon was magical, thus becoming able to hit creatures immune to non-magical attacks.
Last, from 5th level onwards they can cast a spell specific to their faith once per week.
Paladins must abide to their code of conduct or lose their powers.
paladins can not use magic items that can be used by Clerics (or Druids, see below) only, including Scrolls.
here follow some examples of Paladins:

Lightguards,
Need to follow strictly a path of virtue.
Cast detect evil, emanate protection from evil.
Turn undead as Clerics half their level.
They cast standard clerical spells but may not cast them in reverse form.
They can cast Cure Disease once per week from 5th level onwards.

Marauders,
Chaotic warriors, bent on a path of destruction and mayhem.
Cast detect good, emanate protection from good.
May only cast cleric spells in reverse form, turn undead as (evil) Clerics half their level.
They can cast Cause Disease once per week from 5th level onwards.

Forest keepers,
Wardens of the woods and protectors of nature, they must follow the druidic path of respect for nature.
Cast detect evil, emanate protection from evil.
Cast druidic spells instead of standard cleric spell.
May Befriend animals instead of undead as a Druid half their level.
They can cast Call Woodland Beings once per week from 5th level onwards.

What do you think?

Re: Rangers and Paladins Supplement

Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2011 7:25 am
by Maliki
For me, I just can't see the Paladin as anything but the stereotypical "champion of good", anything else is just not a paladin.

Re: Rangers and Paladins Supplement

Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2011 8:02 am
by artikid
Maliki wrote:For me, I just can't see the Paladin as anything but the stereotypical "champion of good", anything else is just not a paladin.
I'd agree with you Maliki, I just wanted to suggest a few options: an Anti-paladin (like the Avenger in BECMI and the ones offered in various magazines) and a "druidic paladin" (since the ranger as done by Solomoriah has lost its druidic bent)

Re: Rangers and Paladins Supplement

Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2011 8:03 am
by SmootRK
Rangers and Paladins seem to be very popular topics to explore. Perhaps instead of this supplement we might pool the various Rangers together in one supplement. The supplement can begin with a commentary such as:

"There are different ways to approach classes and abilities, and each of these versions have their own merits. As always, the Game Master has the ultimate authority on whether or not to include such material. Likewise, the GM should decide upon which optional version of a class will be included in his or her campaign."

Then the Supplement can begin with
Ranger Version 1, by Chris Gonnerman (originally presented in Fighter Subclasses Supplement)
blah, blah, blah

Ranger Version 2, by R. Kevin Smoot (originally presented in Quasi-Classes Supplement)
blah, blah, blah

Ranger Version 3, by....

The Supplement could continue with the other Fighter Subclasses, but personally, I think they would be better presented a little more compartmentalized into their own Supplements (makes it a little more plug-n-play for GM, he can opt out of any class individually, rather than including 'all fighter subclasses').

So we would have a "Paladin Supplement" that might include the original offering, the Holy Quasi-Class, the proposed versions mentioned in these threads, or another listed elsewhere. Following could be a Barbarian Supplement, and perhaps a Knight/Cavalier supplement (although I only know of the Knight subclass that appears in the Quasi-Class supplement).

Re: Rangers and Paladins Supplement

Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2011 8:22 am
by artikid
@SmootRK:
Your idea has its merits.

I'd wait for Chris to express an opinion, on my part I can't avoid thinking that I sort of "invaded his space" voicing my opinion on a supplement he was working on by himself.

Re: Rangers and Paladins Supplement

Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2011 8:33 am
by Joe the Rat
Maliki wrote:For me, I just can't see the Paladin as anything but the stereotypical "champion of good", anything else is just not a paladin.
Split the difference: Give the class-concept an archetype name (Champion or Crusader or some such), with Paladin being the Good (and Lawful) (and default) version. A short list of possible variants (much like Smoot's alternatives to the Fey in Fey-Mage) may be enough to cover the other concepts - or other concepts we don't get fully cooked-up beforehand. This is an easy way to get the spell-casting "Nature's Champion" version of the Ranger (artikid's Forest Keeper). Just don't call it a Ranger - We've got enough of those already. It's a pretty good fit, really. 1st Ed had similar (albeit broader) behavior limits and fall-to-fighter results for Rangers.
SmootRK wrote: So we would have a "Paladin Supplement" that might include the original offering, the Holy Quasi-Class, the proposed versions mentioned in these threads, or another listed elsewhere. Following could be a Barbarian Supplement, and perhaps a Knight/Cavalier supplement (although I only know of the Knight subclass that appears in the Quasi-Class supplement).
... I need to type faster. Sounds like we're about to the point of spinning off a separate supplement for 'Paladins and other Champions' rather than just adding to Chris' work.

I'd say a fallen Paladin should land as a Fighter of equivalent level, dropping XP to one point below the next level if need be. This is a Bad Thing, and should invoke some penalty (beyond simply losing powers). Call it an energy drain if you like. Falling from grace shouldn't result in gaining a level (Not directly, at least. Given how this could turn into some interesting roleplay/character development, if you give roleplay XP bonuses, it should come after the 'Fall adjustment').