LOL.
The first things she read were the alignments and the flavor text for the classes. The first words out of her mouth were "I want to play a Chaotic Good Paladin!"
Now, I have the recent Dragon with the paladin varients in it, but I'm not really sure she should be playing a varient class for her very first game. Then she read the section on the different gods and declared that she wanted to be a paladin of Ehlonna. My immediate brainstorm was that the Code of Conduct for such a paladin might almost allow Chaotic behavior (at least, it would seem Chaotic to the traditional paladin), but being required to follow it to the letter would impose a sort of Law. A CG paladin could strike off on their own and do whatever the hell they wanted, but a LG paladin following a hippie-woodsie code would still be bound, in traditional paladin style, to do the Duty that is expected of her.
While a lot of the ideas presented are quite good, they are probably too complicated for somebody's first time. No mixing/matching abilities, no tweaking the spell list, etc... She'd probably go for the unicorn mount, but that's still a long way off.
What are the requirements to take levels of Beloved of Valarian? By the time she meets the requirements she might be familiar enough with the rules to try a PrC. Of course, then I have to buy DotF...
My wife's going to be playing in this game too, and we're all going on a trip to the gaming store tonight to pick up supplies. She wants to find the perfect mini. Wow, she'll need dice! I just thought of that. She's so new to the game! I've never DMed a complete newbie, so it'll be like re-living my early experiences vicariously. Heck, I had to explain Hit Points to her. This is going to be fun.
So, the Code of Conduct I've come up with so far is like this:
Paladin of Ehlonna Code of Conduct
1) You represent Ehlonna and all her grace and works. To bring dishonor to yourself is to bring dishonor to her and all she strives to accomplish. Thus, you shall act with honor and courtesy at all times. You shall treat all beings with kindness and respect, unless they be counted as enemies of Ehlonna. You shall not lie, cheat, or steal.
2) You shall not willingly associate with evil people, creatures, or beings. Though in certain isolated circumstances the short term goals of such entities might seem to be compatible with your current goals, in the long term anything that benefits those that are evil will bring nothing but mischief.
3) You will defend the sanctity of the woodlands. That which harms the forests, the Fey, the natural creatures of the woods, or people living in harmony with the woods, needs to be corrected. Your judgement determines the nature of the correction, but remember your other directives. Those who actively, knowingly, and deliberately seek to harm or destroy the woodlands are counted as enemies of Ehlonna.
4) You shall protect the innocent. Innocents are any people, creatures, or beings that are not seeking to harm others or the woodlands. If an innocent is in mortal danger you are to aid them if at all possible. Those who actively, knowingly, and deliberately seek to harm innocents are counted as enemies of Ehlonna.
5) You shall obey the official directives of the High Temple of Ehlonna, unless you percieve that such directives violate this Code. In such an instance, you are required to seek out and eliminate the misperception or corruption of her Temple.
6) To violate these rules is to break faith with Ehlonna, and you will lose her favor lest you atone for your misdeeds. If you find yourself in a situation where all paths seem to lead to violations of these rules, follow your heart and your conscience, and she will be lenient.
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Do I seem to be missing anything?
edit: fixed bits of the Code
