Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="SHARK" data-source="post: 220306" data-attributes="member: 1131">Greetings!Elder-Basilisk wrote:____________________________________________________"SHARK, I find it interesting that your code seems to be almost a legal code complete with provisions for enforcement by the various orders of your world's paladins. How do paladins who are not a member of an order fit into this? And what if the paladin violates the code but doesn't get caught? Do the gods of Vallorea nod and wink at such indiscretions, leaving it to their followers to mete out punishment upon transgressors? Or do they take decisive action from removing the aura of courage that surrounds the paladin to stripping him of his spells to perhaps even sending a team of Hound Archons with numerous fighter levels led by a Deva after truly wicked or apostate ex-paladins."____________________________________________________End Quote.Hey Elder-Basilisk!<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> Well, some very interesting questions! I would say that paladins that are not a member of the order--well, they may be paladins, and not members of the specific order of Knight-Templars, and thus not gain the benefits thereof, but they enjoy a more decentralized chain of command. That means that while they are not necessarily Knight-Templars" and thus not obligated with some of the same duties, ranks, and so on, they are still paladins, and still trained and sponsored by the church. They are still under the authority of the sponsoring church, regardless of the denomination chosen. They are not free to just ride about, answerable to noone, and just doing whatever they want. They are still held to the same standards, just not all of the formal duties and obgligations. Thus, if a paladin was to breach the code of honour, then the paladin would suffer the same consequences!<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />Paladins that violate the code, but don't get caught, well, they may escape temporal judgment, for now, but they will not escape divine judgment. Initially, there may be nothing that appears to happen. The errant paladin is simply given enough divine rope to hang themselves with! The paladin may experience penalties to saving throws, sickness, ailments, and all sorts of problems, until the paladin either repents and confesses his sins, and prostrates himself before the gods in abject humbleness and seeks to correct his errant ways, or the paladin either formally rejects the faith, or even reaches a point of such spiritual rebellion that the paladin is judged entirely and condemned. This can take the form of all powers being stripped, and the paladin is simply a fighter, or such divine judgment may be highlighted in an official manner by Hound Archons being sent to punish the evil rebellious paladin by slaying him, or fighting with him, and simply tearing him down, and leaving him naked in the wilderness, forever forsaken. Of course, up to this, the church itself may become aware of such transgressions, by various means, and proceed to take specific actions, ranging from counsel and passionate encouragment, to public condemnation and arrest. Generally, though, many of the more minor breaches are left to the earthly church to deal with. The gods do not necessarily sweep in with a hammer for the slightest infraction. There is room for mistakes and failure, in order to grow stronger and more righteous. Thus, there is a span of time, circumstance, and mercy for the paladin, until such a point in the individual's life as to demand relentless judgment.<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />How does that sound? What do you think?Semper Fidelis,SHARK</blockquote>

Verification