Pimping the Paladin's Ride

[Wolv0rine]

Good lord, people. It may be exceptionally intelligent, it may have the celestial template, but this is a horse we're talking about. If the Paladin wanted to pimp out his little sister, yes That would be morally dark. Horses do not view intercourse the same way we do. If the mare is in heat, then the stud is pheromonally happy to oblige (AFAIK). This isn't a moral problem, this is just a matter of animal husbandry. How uptight IS your god if (s)he gets their divine tights in a wad because you bred your horse?

I think, personally, that too many people try to impose the moral qualms of prudish christianity upon the poor Paladin. A Paladin of a fantasy diety is about as likely to have to adhere to the moral 'purity' rules of christianity as a Paladin of Odin is. Which is, not even remotely.

Yes, the Paladin is meant to be a difficult class, one with restrictions and responsibilites, but I've seen far too many people treat the Paladin as a kind of punishment to the player. "You're a Paladin, you can't do.. well... anything enjoyable. You fight evil, that's it." Even a Paladin is a person; with feelings, needs, wants, dreams, and a life.

 

[Nifft]

"We had a donkey and a celestial warhorse, and an evening of Barry White music. Now we've got a whole herd of Assimar."

-- N

 

[Hypersmurf]

On the other hand: Local cleric gets a vision of an invasion that will take place a few years down the line. Every effort must be made to raise a sufficient force to counter it. Including a calvary unit dedicated to defend the temple. Mount gets to work making more mounts, Paladin gets to work training every local who can sit a horse.

Ca-val-ry.

I remember listening to the RotK cast commentary, and cringing whenever Brad Dourif went on about how the Rohirrim were such great calvary, and Sauron's big problem was that he had no calvary, and how important it is to have calvary...

Gah!

-Hyp.

 

[Fieari]

Well, from a christian perspective, maybe Sauron's problem was that he had no calvary.

 

[Driddle]

Good lord, people. It may be exceptionally intelligent, it may have the celestial template, but this is a horse we're talking about. ...

Only on a board like this will someone ever have to utter those words.
Sorta puts life in perspective, ya know?

 

[Falkus]

Good lord, people. It may be exceptionally intelligent, it may have the celestial template, but this is a horse we're talking about

And it's a sapient horse, not a dumb animal. That's a big difference.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Good lord, people. It may be exceptionally intelligent, it may have the celestial template, but this is a horse we're talking about. If the Paladin wanted to pimp out his little sister, yes That would be morally dark. Horses do not view intercourse the same way we do. If the mare is in heat, then the stud is pheromonally happy to oblige (AFAIK). This isn't a moral problem, this is just a matter of animal husbandry. How uptight IS your god if (s)he gets their divine tights in a wad because you bred your horse?

In a previous game, I played a fighter-mage who had a hawk familiar. I loved that familiar for the RP of it, and one point I stressed was that when the ordinary hawk became a magical beast, its entire world was changed. It became alone in the world, its sentient intelligence forever separating it from its species. Mating with an ordinary hawk became as distasteful to it as mating with bigfoot would be for a human being.

I'd treat the paladin's special mount the same way. It is still horse-shaped, but it's no longer the same type of creature as an ordinary horse, and that is, IMO, a meaningful distinction.

I think, personally, that too many people try to impose the moral qualms of prudish christianity upon the poor Paladin. A Paladin of a fantasy diety is about as likely to have to adhere to the moral 'purity' rules of christianity as a Paladin of Odin is. Which is, not even remotely.

This may be a personal spin on the class, but to me the paladin archtype is inherently tied to Christian morals. Sir Galahad. St. George...they're Christian knights holding Christian ideals. The idea of a paladin of an extremely non-Christian-like god, such as Odin, strikes me as ill-fitting in the extreme. The Norse Gods would be far more likely to have Holy Liberators, rather than Paladins. But again, perhaps it's just my personal take on the paladin class.

Yes, the Paladin is meant to be a difficult class, one with restrictions and responsibilites, but I've seen far too many people treat the Paladin as a kind of punishment to the player. "You're a Paladin, you can't do.. well... anything enjoyable. You fight evil, that's it." Even a Paladin is a person; with feelings, needs, wants, dreams, and a life.

This I agree with, though I don't see the feeling as a justification for pimping out a loyal comrade, whether he be horse-shaped or human-shaped. It certainly wouldn't be acceptable if we were talking about the party barbarian, and it's entirely possible that the holy steed is significantly smarter than the barbarian.

 

[Wolv0rine]

I don't know. I just.. don't agree with this. It's sentient, it's intelligent, but it's still a horse. It still has the basic instincts of a horse IMO. Which means when it's in the vicinity of a mare who's gone into heat, there's every likelihood that the horse wants to go mate with said mare(s).

As far as the party Barbarian.. hey, if he's okay with being pimped out, who are you to forbid him?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

One poster sez:

Whoremongering[pimping] is one of the Be cast into the Lake-O-Fire things in the Christian religeon.

Another repliez:

Good lord, people. It may be exceptionally intelligent, it may have the celestial template, but this is a horse we're talking about

(I know the first poster was kidding, but...) The monk, Gregor Mendel, did some wonderful early work on breeding and genetics. And even Christians tended to cross-breed and stud out their livestock. Whoremongering was expressly for humanity.

So I'd allow it...so long as the horse agreed. FORCING the horse to do stud service would still be against a Paladin's ethical code.

You can lead your horse to fillies, but you can't make him schtupp.

 

[Gynsala]

I really have no opinion on the "pimping" angle of this thread.

But am I the only one to read this and get the idea to throw a few mares in heat around next time a paladin in my campaign calls in the warhorse?

"Alright Ember, it's time to attack those evil sorcerers. In the name of all that is holy...... CHAAAAARRRRGGEEEE!!!!! Ember, I said, CHAAARGE!!!!!! Wait... what are you doing??? Oh, sweet merciful Pelor, are you mounting her??? Wait! Let me get off!!!" *Scrambles madly at the straps* "AAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH"

Or even better yet!

The paladin, weary from hours in the saddle, dismounts and attempts to get a better look at the tracks he's following. His warhorse patiently waits behind him.... until the evil wizard who's been following them gets a brilliat idea and casts suggestion on the warhorse that his master is a willing and able mare...