Would you allow this paladin in your game? (new fiction added 11/11/08)

[Squire James]

I think I've said this before (I voted on the poll long ago), but here goes...

If someone were to bring Cedric's character sheet to my game and start going over his background, I'd look at him funny and tell him he must have brought the wrong Cedric to the game because the story doesn't go with what's on the sheet at all! If he asks me what the problem is, I'll point to the word "Paladin" and declare that the background indicates that word should be "Rogue" (or, if "Complete series" classes are allowed, "Favored Soul"). He can even stay Lawful Good, and think he's a paladin.

This isn't saying Cedric wouldn't be a darn interesting character, I just gotta shrug my shoulders and say "not in my game" if he wants that word "Paladin" to stay there.

 

[shilsen]

Canis, I have removed the religious content from your post. Real-world religion is not permitted on EN World. Please stay far, far away from that topic in the future.

Thanks.

Thanks for just firing a warning shot, Piratecat!

 

[Wild Gazebo]

I thought for sure it was toast...again.

 

[shilsen]

I thought for sure it was toast...again.

Oh, ye of little faith - just like those who don't believe in Cedric

 

[Orius]

Oh, ye of little faith - just like those who don't believe in Cedric

Heh heh.

 

[Torm]

It just occurred to me, reading Rel's prostitute thread: Cedric should have a small group of ex-prostitute paladin cohorts!

Here's my train of thought. Rel said the characters in his game looked at the prices at a brothel, looked at their gold, and determined they could stay pretty much as long as they wanted. Which got me thinking that it would be cheaper and cleaner, in the long run, to set up their own place and put the women on retainer there. And that got me thinking about what the long-term results, in a medieval society, of having daily access to a Paladin's healing would do to a young woman as she grew into her 20s - she'd be perfect, relatively speaking, as though she had access to modern health care or better.

If Cedric has been providing Divine healing to the women of the brothel regularly, and teaching them occasionally of his god, and some of them started (as they may have, in a medieval society) in their mid-teens, Cedric may have done more than kept them clean - he may have affected their development to the point where he has created a small group of women with Charisma high enough and Knowledge (Cedric's deity) enough to warrant THEM being called as Paladins, too!

 

[kigmatzomat]

It just occurred to me, reading Rel's prostitute thread: Cedric should have a small group of ex-prostitute paladin cohorts!

Well, if prostitution is not seen as an evil, they could be current-prostitue cohorts. It would seem hypocritical for Cedric to frequent a place and then force any followers you cultivate to quit.

 

[Torm]

Well, if prostitution is not seen as an evil, they could be current-prostitue cohorts. It would seem hypocritical for Cedric to frequent a place and then force any followers you cultivate to quit.

I wasn't thinking they'd be forced to quit, so much as they'd be too busy doing Paladin stuff, and only hooking as a sidebar, if at all.

 

[Desdichado]

Yep. As a neurobiologist, I can tell you that we are wired to think "sex=fun."

Unfortunately, our culture decided "fun=bad."

As always, the interaction between "nature" and "nurture" is what tells the story, so you do the math.

That's as ridiculous in the D&D milieu as it is in the real world. Sure, sex is fun. I'll be the first to admit it. Sex outside of carefully controlled scenarios leads to all kinds of complications. Teen pregnancies, or heck, any single mother or unwanted pregnancy scenarios are only the tip of the iceberg. STDs is another tip of the iceberg. Pretending that there aren't any reasons to be careful about sex other than cultural is a bit quixotic.

However, in terms of responding to this post as a response to The Sigil's post, there seems to be very little in the D&D milieu that says sex or even prostitution is evil or chaotic either one. In fact, in the FR at least, there seems to be a fair amount of circumstantial and indirect evidence to the opposite viewpoint.

 

[kigmatzomat]

That's as ridiculous in the D&D milieu as it is in the real world. Sure, sex is fun. I'll be the first to admit it. Sex outside of carefully controlled scenarios leads to all kinds of complications. Teen pregnancies, or heck, any single mother or unwanted pregnancy scenarios are only the tip of the iceberg. STDs is another tip of the iceberg. Pretending that there aren't any reasons to be careful about sex other than cultural is a bit quixotic.

I agree that potential real-world health consequences make prostitution a risky business, ignoring any disagreement on morality.

In a fantasy world where a guy says "Be Healed!" and you are, STDs become a minor issue (kinda like the 70's but with better penicillin). While herbal contraceptives are only moderately effective IRL, one would imagine that the combination of magically cultivated plants and alchemists would eliminated unwanted pregnancies.

At that point the only rationale against prostitution would be if it were evil.