DM Q&A: Merciful Sword Order

[Deleted]

I have heard some say that being a Tyrran paladin is not a requirement for membership in this order.
Just about all my FR knowledge comes from the FR wiki and this is what it says:

"The Knights of the Merciful Sword were an order of paladins that faithfully focused on the "good" tenets of their patron deity Tyr.

The Knights were very close to the Knights of Holy Judgment, both of whose members were the only faithful of Tyr who were eligible to join the ranks of the Hammers of Grimjaws."

forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Knights_of_the_Merciful_Sword

I have also heard it said that 'merciful' in this context refers to giving enemies a chance to live, by surrender or other means. This is not my understanding at all. I can't remember where I read it, but it is my belief that the meaning here is to give a mercifully quick and painless death to your enemies when possible.

Comments welcome.

[Munroe]

Jul 15, 2019 13:40:02 GMT -5 @cygnus said:

I have heard some say that being a Tyrran paladin is not a requirement for membership in this order.
Just about all my FR knowledge comes from the FR wiki and this is what it says:

"The Knights of the Merciful Sword were an order of paladins that faithfully focused on the "good" tenets of their patron deity Tyr.

The Knights were very close to the Knights of Holy Judgment, both of whose members were the only faithful of Tyr who were eligible to join the ranks of the Hammers of Grimjaws."

forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Knights_of_the_Merciful_Sword

I have also heard it said that 'merciful' in this context refers to giving enemies a chance to live, by surrender or other means. This is not my understanding at all. I can't remember where I read it, but it is my belief that the meaning here is to give a mercifully quick and painless death to your enemies when possible.

Comments welcome.

Every paladin order will include support staff that aren't paladins within their organization. It's still a paladin order though, so to have any clout as part of the order, one would need to be a paladin. A cleric with no paladin levels, for instance, that belongs to a paladin order organization, would fill a support role such as "advisor" in the organization, and not belong to the paladin order itself. A fighter with no paladin levels in a paladin order organization would, again, be in a support role, such as "guard," or potentially be in religious training to become a paladin. For it to be otherwise, with other classes as peers in the order, the order would cease to be a paladin order and would just be a general religious organization. It is possible for a general religious organizations to maintain a paladin order or monk order branch of the organization, but within those branches, only the paladin in the paladin order branch or monk in the monk order branch would be part of that "order" while others would just be part of the organization.

The Knights of the Merciful Sword have a description in Champions of Valor in the Minor Organizations section. The entry in Champions of Valor (on page 102) reads:

Knights of the Merciful Sword: This order of Tyr's paladins, currently seventy strong, focuses on upholding good in the world (as defined by Tyr). It regularly quests to find and slay all kinds of evil monsters, particularly demons. Members are on very good terms with the Knights of Holy Judgment, another large paladin order serving Tyr. Exceptional Merciful Swords of this order can be selected to join the Hammers of Grimjaws, an elite order of holy knights. Paladins of the Merciful Sword can multiclass freely as fighters and divine champions.

So there's nothing I see there that suggests that the Merciful Sword give enemies any exceptional opportunity to live. They're a monster-slaying order.

Note also that Hammers of Grimjaws order is not available for general availability to Tyrran paladin characters on FRC. Don't make a paladin of the Hammers of Grimjaws. Entry into this order is highly selective and there are less than a dozen paladins of this order in all of Faerûn. Allowing any paladin of the Hammers of Grimjaws on FRC requires DM discussion regarding the eligibility of the specific character.

[Deleted]

OK so the support staff would not be considered as member of the order if I understand correctly.

So what would YOU see as the meaning of 'merciful' in the name of the order?

[Munroe]

Jul 17, 2019 11:33:05 GMT -5 @cygnus said:

OK so the support staff would not be considered as member of the order if I understand correctly.

So what would YOU see as the meaning of 'merciful' in the name of the order?

Me personally? I interpret it to mean they grant a quick death to the monsters they slay. Though, I suppose I could also read it that they're bringing mercy to the people that have been tortured/hounded/hunted by the monsters, since they kill the monsters. Those, however, are both only interpretations.