A Paladins Enterprise

[Mister Cicerone]

Sept 10, 2012 10:36:43 GMT -5 Thrym said:

...SHINIES!

"Why yes, I would like to make use of your bartering services, Miss Rosaline. Arvoreen might get mad at me if I did not use my resources responsibly."

- low level Frederick, bugging epic level nosy merchant mages to sell all the junk he picked up smiting evil

Paladins should tithe. Paladins should tithe a lot, even. But not too much. Remember, a paladins job is not to build orphanages, it's to smite demons who try to burn down orphanages and eat all the yummy babies. Paladins are the swords of capital G Good. They are supposed to stand at the frontline and protect their companions and all the innocents counting on them from fiends, dragons and undead monstrosities.

The astute observer might notice how all these things require magical weapons to defeat, and fling around dangerous supernatural effects that will totally hose you if you get hit by them. A paladin can't slay a demon with a rusty spoon, he will at the very least need a rusty spoon and a few hundred coin to buy himself a greater magic weapon scroll.

There's nothing wrong with a paladin owning ridiculously expensive equipment. Yes, you could likely build five orphanages if you sold all the bling an epic paladin wears. But you know what? In DnD land, that'd be stupid, and people in DnD land know that to be stupid, because people in DnD land are well aware that the second they anger some wizard and he calls a house sized demon, the only thing that can save them from certain death is a good aligned high level character, like say a paladin, showing up to stab the demon and wizard in the face with his Holy Axiomatic Demon Bane Mage Bane Sacred Greatsword +1 (+5 with GMW). Heck, in DnD land if as much as someone in your village commits suicide, there's a good chance your entire village will die horribly if no one with a magic sword shows up to stab the resulting allip in the face.

What a paladin definitly should not do is lavish in luxury. But he can and should save up thousands of gold to buy himself top notch equipment so he can do his god given duty.

Interesting reminder and a very good one at that. There has always been observations made of players never truly knowing how exactly modest they should be when it comes to handling their finances. Folks, adventurers need gear...nuff said.

However, after the quote above I got to thinking about another clausality in the financial department, which is, what of paladins marketing their crafted goods? Wands, scrolls...etc. Perhaps even smithing as I once played a paladin that did smith work. What's the opinion on that matter? If any? Single out the fabled Wand of Bless Weapon if someone wants...We all know this'll get dirty at some point. ;D

- Should paladins craft for personal use only?
- Should they always act the inquisitor over any would be clients? (background checks)
- Is it a silly concept for paladins to sell crafted goods to acquire wealth in general?
- So the paladin choses a client they trust, but the client isn't as sharp as the paladin, and ends up using the lawful-good oriented items with evil PCs...Is that an oops?

Obviously the question is open up to the public and not specifically directed at Thrym, but I trust he's got a thrympinion on it too

[Deleted]

For me, my paladin would make and sell things that are totally nonmagical, exclusively to people she knew would not use them for evil purposes. Things like food or regular clothes, she'd sell to anyone, because it's hard to use those things for evil purposes. My paladin would not sell anything that carried divine power though, as that feels disrespectful to the deity's power. As for giving the item away to even a cleric of the same faith, my paladin's outlook is, "If my (the paladin's) god wanted you to be able to use bless weapon, then he would grant it to you as a spell, himself. Since he doesn't, he must not want you using it."

That is my personal opinion.

[Pedantry INC]

My paladin crafts both armor and wands.

Priests of Ilmater (she is a paladin/cleric) are encouraged to brew potions and the like to help spread the blessings of ilmater to those in need. For her, wands are better as they help her with her duty more than potions ever could. She sells them to help with -both- tithing and improving her equipment. She is keenly aware that her duty requires her to face increasingly malevolent and magical opponents for the sake of the good people. If she dies, she can't shield anyone.

It's a bit hard deciding who to sell to. On one hand, mercy is to be provided without bias to those in need. So she's a little less choosy about things that protect and heal. But things that can be offensive? Like bless weapon or darkness wands? Then she is more choosy, she'll ask people questions before selling to them, and has opted to refuse to sell bless weapon wands to a few people. Ultimately though people can lie and deceive, and on frc we cannot use detect evil so it is possible to have these things wind up in the wrong hands.

Where paladins are concerned the ends may not justify the means, but if the means are truly investigated and considered for the best, they may be perfectly appropriate, even if ultimately that ends up paving the pathway to hell, ie: spare the life of the repentant evil person only to have him break out of jail and go on a murdering spree next year. Who knew, right?

[Deleted]

We can use detect evil, with DM supervision and if the player of the other character consents. Personally, it's a game mechanical paladin ability in 3E, so I think it should be hard coded as an at will ability, just like it's supposed to be. If someone doesn't want a paladin finding them out as benig evilly aligned, then they probably shouldn't be hanging around with paladins, but maybe that's just me.

[Charon's Claw]

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