Beyond Monks - The Art of the Fight

[Ranger REG]

Will Call of Duty includes tips on playing unusual paladin, such as a centaur? How does a centaur gain a special mount, considering he is already has some of the physical characteristics (i.e., body of a horse)?

 

[Chainmail Bikini]

Will Call of Duty includes tips on playing unusual paladin, such as a centaur? How does a centaur gain a special mount, considering he is already has some of the physical characteristics (i.e., body of a horse)?

You don't know how hard it was for me to resist posting on the other thread.

I am going to write a whole chapter on mounts for centaur paladins...

Seriously though, my thoughts on non-humanoid paladins - the rules for customizing the paladin class to replace certain abilities like the special mount will work...

James Garr
Chainmail Bikini Games, Ltd.
http://www.chainmailbikini.com

 

[Voadam]

My biggest complaint about 3e paladins is that they all have the same abilities so two paladins of the same level will have no class differences not dictated by their ability stats. I much prefer the D&D supplement Diablo's paladins who have choices of different levels of powers but all are in theme. (Careful though, it is not OGC) Making alternative swapping options for their powers is a great idea.

I was actually disappointed that core paladins were not a generic holy warrior class that could be put on different alignments or ethoses. The niche function role with powers but no choices at each level seems more appropriate to a prestige class than to a core class. Making them customizable will be a great addition to the class.

 

[enrious]

My biggest complaint about 3e paladins is that they all have the same abilities so two paladins of the same level will have no class differences not dictated by their ability stats. I much prefer the D&D supplement Diablo's paladins who have choices of different levels of powers but all are in theme. (Careful though, it is not OGC) Making alternative swapping options for their powers is a great idea.

I was actually disappointed that core paladins were not a generic holy warrior class that could be put on different alignments or ethoses. The niche function role with powers but no choices at each level seems more appropriate to a prestige class than to a core class. Making them customizable will be a great addition to the class.

I echo your sentiments above regarding making a 4th level paladin X different from paladin Y (such as in abilities), such as getting rid of cure disease for something else.

As far as making a paladin a generic holy warrior, I'm opposed to that for a number of reasons, such as name-brand confusion (every D&D player is trained to associate paladin with LG enemy of evil).

If you want to do as some others have done and make various alignment holy warrios (such as a CE Chaos Knight), then I'd welcome the effort but IMO, a paladin should be a LG holy enemy of evil. It may only be a name or a term, but as Bart Simpson pointed out, roses wouldn't smell as sweet if they were called stench blossoms.

 

[Heretic Apostate]

Chapter List?

I don't suppose we could get a chapter list, with a short synopsis of the contents? So that those of us who are, sadly, short of funds can be swayed into cracking open our wallets?

 

[Axiomatic Unicorn]

Chapter 1: New Classes

The Martial Artist Core Class and 10 monk and/or martial artist flavored prestige classes.

Chapter 2: Martial Art Feats and Styles

Numerous feats (>90) oriented towards monk style combat, but many of them are useful for other classes as well.

Plus Style Mastery feats

Chapter 3: Building a Master
The least "crunchy" chapter. Lots of guidelines for using monks and martial arts in a campaign.

Chapter 4: New Options

A variety of tools, from rules for more cinematic combat, rules for the effects of alcohol (including 3 feats to make you a BETTER drinker <grin>), magic items and a few other cool goodies.


I think it is really cool, but I am a biased, playtester/ minor contributer.

Bryon (aka Axiomatic Unicorn)

 

[hong]

I was actually disappointed that core paladins were not a generic holy warrior class that could be put on different alignments or ethoses.

The basic reason for this is that the niche you mention is already filled, by the cleric. The cleric had its original 1E roots in the "crusading warrior" concept -- Templars, Hospitalers, and the like. Things have changed a lot in the intervening 25 years, but the class is, at base, still a holy warrior -- notice the d8 hit die, heavy armour, weapons, and fair BAB progression. This hasn't stopped people from trying to use the class to represent more generic priests, of course, and it also leaves up in the air the question of what a multiclassed fighter/cleric is supposed to be. Nevertheless, the point remains that the cleric is the natural candidate for the role you mention.

What does this mean for the paladin? It means that the paladin's niche has to be narrow, to avoid encroaching on the cleric's space. There's not much point having two classes that are both meant to serve as holy champions -- it just results in confusion and makes it hard for the classes to be distinguished from each other. (An example of this can be seen in the wizard and sorc, who both essentially fill the same niche -- that of the arcane spellcasting specialist. D&D goes to great pains to give the two classes a distinct backstory, and yet people still keep coming up with ways to make wizards more like sorcs, and vice-versa.)

Personally, I think the paladin should have been made into a prestige class. Its focus is narrow rather than broad, which should be the prime requirement for a base class. But I guess we're stuck with the class as it is.

 

[Heretic Apostate]

:snip:
Chapter 2: Martial Art Feats and Styles

Numerous feats (>90) oriented towards monk style combat, but many of them are useful for other classes as well.

Plus Style Mastery feats

Chapter 3: Building a Master
The least "crunchy" chapter. Lots of guidelines for using monks and martial arts in a campaign.

:snip:

Ah, good, so it will have the martial arts styles? I thought those were cool, from the OA and the Dragon article.

I wonder if someone will do the styles listed in GURPS Martial Arts?

 

[Chainmail Bikini]

.....Personally, I think the paladin should have been made into a prestige class. Its focus is narrow rather than broad, which should be the prime requirement for a base class. But I guess we're stuck with the class as it is.

Me too. I was at Gencon in 2000 and asked the design team during a seminar on the new Player's Handbook "since the paladin in 3rd edtion is called into service, why isn't it a prestige class? It would have made more sense, as it would have made the class more prestigious. "

One of them, can't remember which, slowly answered "Very astute question..." and admitted that it was a marketing decision. They were very nervous about how the new edition would be received and were afraid that a Player's Handbook without paladins would receive a lot of criticism.

And maybe they're right. Plus I know a lot of players that like to play paladins from level one, and who don't want to wait 6 months or longer in real time to multiclass into a paladin prestige class and then die or get level-drained. So it's probably better that it was presented as a core class, since it's such an icon of D&D. In 4th edition, perhaps it will evolve into a prestige class.

That hasn't stopped me from writing up a prestige paladin as a variant though. I've used it in my campaign and have tweaked it considerably in the past few weeks. It will be in Call of Duty, after it is put through our playtest gauntlet (and probably will receive more testing than the rest of the book).

The biggest benefit of my prestige class paladin is that the player character has to earn the class by roleplaying like a paladin before taking the class. It teaches the player how to act like a paladin before earning the privilege, teaches the DM how to handle roleplaying issues with paladins, and teaches both the DM and player to communicate about these issues - all before there is a chance of becoming an ex-paladin. But it's still presented as a variant, as it's not for everyone. (of course, everything in the book is a variant, but this one will be marked as a variant, because it changes core rules instead of adding to them..)

James Garr
Chainmail Bikini Games, Ltd.
http://www.chainmailbikini.com

 

[Chainmail Bikini]

I think it is really cool, but I am a biased, playtester/ minor contributer.

Bryon (aka Axiomatic Unicorn)

Bryon wrote the excellent Sylvan Monk prestige class for us, and helped tremendously with playtesting. He'll be contributing even more to Call of Duty, if some big game company doesn't hire him first.

James Garr
Chainmail Bikini Games, Ltd.
http://www.chainmailbikini.com