party Paladin and his army

[Elf Witch]

In our weekly Kalamar campaign the paladin has managed to attracted 250 loyal trained soldiers. So far the party has helped feed this huge group because the pladin lacks funds to do so.

The paladin does not seem to trust some of the party members so he has given an order that this armed group of men are to take orders only from him he made it quite plain that they were never to take any orders from any member of the party.

So now it almost feels as the rest of us are nothing but glorified NPCs because we have no say in what this army does.

Has anyone else had a paladin in a game with this big a following and if you did how did it work out?

 

[Hammerhead]

Stop giving him money for food. The paladin may have a high Charisma, but that doesn't pay soldiers nor put food in their stomach.

 

[naturaltwenty]

Leave?

Is this the DM's doing? Here are some campaign implications that I, as a DM , would whip up. I mean, do the 250 soldiers have anything to do with the plot? If the current ruler of the kingdom (or wherever you are) hears about a rather sizeable force with unknown intent meandering around the countryside he may have something to say about that.

1. The ruler's forces are being depleted by soldiers deserting his army to join the paladin's. This will certainly cause a confrontation with the current ruler(s).

2. A religious rival of the paladin or opposition church may view this paladin's growing army as a threat to itself and launch a counter-offensive.

3. The church of the paladin may have something to say about a lesser member of the order growing an army and think they have a coup on their hands.

Other issues:

4. 250 men are hard to feed and will deplete a small village of it's resources quickly. Movement to a larger area will usually mean intruding on some other rulers turf (see 1 above).

5. If alignments are being used, 250 men are also hard to manage. Some of their more baser urges may cause friction with the local women.

6. What cause has the paladin used to gather this force to him? Is it his works? If so, unless he has blatanly lied about his exploits the party must have helped him to gain this reputation. A paladins code (chivalric) may prevent him from acting this way.

So, in my mind, there are many issues that this gathering of men may cause. Why hasn't your DM thought of it?.

If you haven't talked to you DM I would take him aside and let him/her know your concerns.

Later,

Greg Volz
Natural Twenty Gaming
www.naturaltwenty.com

 

[IcyCool]

If he has a good in-game reason to be a bit suspicious of the party's motives, I don't see why he wouldn't give such orders. Also, unless it's plot critical, why is it that you are upset that the Paladin won't let you play with his army? You could always pick up the leadership feat and get your own.

 

[Sejs]

Stop giving the paladin money.

If he wants it to be his army, and his alone, then he can pay for it all himself. If he doesn't have the funds, well that's just too bad.

 

[Sir ThornCrest]

In our weekly Kalamar campaign the paladin has managed to attracted 250 loyal trained soldiers. So far the party has helped feed this huge group because the pladin lacks funds to do so.

1st question: How did he attreact such a large following? 2) How did he qualify? 3)What feats what level? 4)Are they getting paid or are they all working for free


Also he needs to be able to provide for them ; a keep, some grounds at least funds to build a keep. He needs not only feed them but to armor weapon horse,,he needs a goal or a purpose, a bunch of guys didnt flock to his banner because it was a nice design.

Thorncrest

 

[Hammerhead]

Look, the paladin has this army, and it's probably not going to change. Isn't it best to assume that the DM is competent? What's with the 3rd degree routine?

 

[Sir ThornCrest]

Naturaltwenty nailed it!

I agree with natural twenty...

I was going to wait for a response from the thread originator but this will do. The DM is to blame for this if its causing party friction. He/she either didnt know what he was getting himself into or he's jackin with ya! Trying to get the party in a position where he springs some sort of campaign twist on you.

Maybe the Palidon was pushing for it and the DM was sick of him, maybe the DM feels the same way you do? Maybe the 250 will be 25 men in a week or two, eventually 0 will be left? Then when the Palidon really does have grounds and funds and a suitable cause he will attract less men do to his poor leadership skills.

Having the leadership feat doesnt make you a suitable leader in and of its self, it takes a cause a lot of money, suitable shelter and a cause they all the men can rally behind. The average guard makes several gold a month, the average guard needs about the same in supplies, about double that for weapons armor ......he is looking well into 1,500 gold pieces a month maybe more.

If the DM says he doesnt have to pay them, and the Palidon doest meet the above minamal criteria then your DM is up to something or hes assuming the Palidon hired a bunch of rich soldiers ie he's a fool.

Thorncrest

 

[Sir ThornCrest]

whos giving a third degree?

I think everyones questions are earnest with logical merit.

thorncrest

Look, the paladin has this army, and it's probably not going to change. Isn't it best to assume that the DM is competent? What's with the 3rd degree routine?

 

[Elf Witch]

The paladin aquired the army when the party saved them from being slaughtered by a group of warmages. The paladin is a follower of the Lantern whose main focus is fighting undead.

The main plot of the game right now is about a plague that is turning whole villeges into undead. Our group is the only right now able to go after the cure. Because of this the ruler of the kingdom we were in looked the other way about them men leaving the service. It was winter time and the term of service was up.

The paladin's church so far does not have a problem with this as long as the paladin controls the group and they follow the Lantern's teachings. Which they are doing right now.

The paladin knows he needs funds and a place to build for them to live and he may have found away to get those funds. The party killed an undead kracken and the area is loaded with sunken ships some ancient. With our party mages and druid they have come up with a plan to salvage what could be a huge load of gems. gold and magic items. He even has a site picked out for a stronghold.

The DM is a good DM and allowed him to do this and will use it against the paladin if the paladin is not careful. Like if he had not gotten premission from his church superiours. What I don't think he realized was the postion it would put the rest of us in. Because suddenly everything in the game has become about finding the money to take care of this army and build this stronghold. We are delaying our quest for the cure of this plague to do a major salvage and what looks like the start of building the stronghold.

I and the player playing the druid are in a tough role playing situation. We both are commited to finding a cure for the plague. Now her character has a lot of intrest in helping build this stronghold mine has none. As a matter of fact my character's family is in danger and in need of rescue and she has had to put that on hold because of the plague. Now she is being asked to delay looking for the cure as well so the paladin can get money to take care of an army that has no loyalty to her at all.

And the reason why the paladin gave the order he did was pure metagaming. He is afraid of what we might order the army to do based on past characters and games not on anything the current characters have done in this game.

I don't want to spoil his fun. I know he just loves this character of his. But the situation is starting to spoil my fun. There has to be some way to balence everybody's fun.