Scampir

I've published a big update on Heroes by Hearthlight and finished my first run of Baldur's Gate 3, so I've been thinking a lot about the D&D classes. I thought it would be fun to write a bit about my experiences and expectations with those classes and how they informed their design for HbH. And of course, I'm gonna start with my favorite class, the Paladin.

My journey through D&D was meandering but probably similar to many people. I got into it when 4E dropped, it was accessible and shiny and got us to the table. However, we quickly started noticing the rails and issues with the mechanics and one of our players had us jump back into 3E which he knew better- about a year or so later Pathfinder dropped and we never looked back. Since then I've obviously become and indie degenerate but I played those games nearly every Sunday for about 6 hours for years. I was in a horrible depressive and isolationist place and it saved my life. So as much as I don't really like playing/running those games anymore as systems, they will always have a fond place in my heart. I also think it's why Heroes by Hearthlight works is because people do love being adventuring heroes doing dumb shit but also want things more streamlined and open.

But all that is to to say- my first characters in 4E and 3E were paladins. When I play rpgs I tend to go for the more heroic options, I like those kind of fantasies. But the most interesting thing to me about Paladins was always the fact that as powerful as they were- they had a mechanical restriction.

By the time I started playing the game, this had already lead to many memes and reputations of a Paladin being a buzzkill cop at the table. You can't go do dumb chaotic shit because you've got a boy scout. But parties would still suffer a Paladin because, in the right situations, they were the most dangerous person at the table.

Using Pathfinder as an example, Paladins were terrifying warriors who got to add the Charisma bonus to about everything. You get to add it to every Saving Throw in addition to the base stat. When you smite you add your bonus to your Attack and AC until your target is dead, and you add your level to damage on top of that. Those are class features from the first two levels and its already terrifying, the rest of the class just gives you more and more immunities and options. Pathfinder is a game that assumes the party will be heroes, you are usually going to be fighting evil villains and so the Paladin can smite and become the most terrifying player at the table- they are broken by design. And that's why their oaths are there. If you ever break them you lose everything, you are now a fighter without the bonus feats, you have become the weakest member of the party. And I find it such a fascinating piece of design because its the only class that does this, that has that kind of mechanical restriction on how the player uses their character. Their are a handful of other restrictions in the game, a druid can't use metal armor, barbarians and monks also have alignment restrictions, but those are all things you know from the jump like the Paladin being lawful good. Its part of their DNA when you make them and from that point you don't really need to think about it going forward, the druid can't wear some armors. But the Paladin has to roleplay or lose everything, and in the hands of a good GM this leads to amazing story conflict.

There's a few mindsets I can think that I've seen at tables with paladins and their gamemasters.

1. The Hall Monitor: This is a player who treats their oath the way a druid treats metal armor. It is something they think I cannot do this. It's like any choices that would break their vows are greyed out on the selection screen- they don't even consider it because its not something they are allowed to do. Most GMs here will either just stop throwing temptation at them because the Paladin will no-sell them or, if they suck, proceed to the next option.

2. The Gotcha: The GM "tricks" the Paladin into doing something evil. That goblin you just killed? Actually a child with minor illusion on it- all your powers are gone. That rock you picked up? Super evil and cursed, your god hates you now- lose all abilities do not collect $200. This is the kind of Gygaxian tomb of horrors bullshit design that I think turned a lot of people off D&D- where the GM is treating the players as opponents to best.

My personal favorite way to view a Paladin is that if you are going to play them, you are asking your GM to test your oaths, and either choice you make should be interesting. I think the most interesting question a Paladin can answer is what are you willing to sacrifice your powers for. You are THE HERO. That's your archetype. And you have been granted all this power by covenant with your god so you can protect others... Would you sacrifice that bond to save yourself? To save your family? Would your Paladin damn themself to save the world? Hell, would you throw it all away because if you don't you know this villain will just come back and hurt more people and that's enough for you to walk away. All playing a paladin is about is having the GM ask you "What's more important to you in this moment?" again and again- stripping away your plate and flesh until the core of their being is revealed.

I've seen the arguments that there are other classes like this, usually warlock and clerics. We will get to fucking warlocks and my opinion on them another time- but there is NOTHING mechanically that says a patron can or will strip you of your powers. Clerics do have the same clause as paladins where powers can be stripped away... but its a completely different beast. Paladins have to be Lawful Good, their choice of god is strictly limited and so they will always find their hands bound in similar ways. Clerics can serve any god, and there's so many you can just find one that will suit your playstyle/character you've made and never have to think about it. You wanna serve the god of sex and revenge? Go for it. The god of getting blasted on grain alcohol? Hell yeah. You wanna just go around waving a sign saying THE END IS NIGH? There's a god for that.

I am going to try and pull out of a grognard rant about any changes in modern editions- just that these editions were where I developed my tastes. So lets switch over to HbH and look at how we try and replicate a Paladin in a forged in the dark system and if I feel like we need to make any changes.

The Paladin's power is obviously SMITE which lets them ignore protection/immunity on an attack. A foe can posses protection with removes the highest die from a roll, or immunity which removes the highest 2 rolls. It is brutal and forces players to come prepared or from a different angle. The paladin can simply bypass that entirely. I like this a lot as a mechanic and let's you cut the gordion knot. A single smite may not be enough to take down a powerful foe but it could be what turns the tables and keeps the party from wiping. And down the line if the paladin unlocks all four uses they can stand toe to toe with any threat you throw at them.

For special abilities let's start with SUSTAINED BY FAITH which gives an alternate use for Smite charges. This lets you spend a use of Smite to ignore a harm's penalty for the rest of an adventure. I like this one a lot because it gives the paladin some durability without stepping on the Fighter's or Cleric's toes- the damage is still there they just aren't affected by it. They can also use this to ignore lethal wounds but they will die once the adventure ends. I love this being the same resource as smite because its your sword and shield, so while you could use both to force through a final boss and die laughing- you have to use charges on both and be smart about it. Is it better to use the charge to get more dice, or to survive the repercussions of your roll?

Speaking of harm, we also have LAY ON HANDS, one of the most iconic Paladin abilities. I went for the older interpretation where you don't heal a wound but instead take it onto yourself. This obviously combines really well with Sustained by Faith, and if a player wants to go that route they can also pick up abilities like No Time to Bleed from Berserker that make penalties from Harm one less severe- which means a Paladin could take level 1 harm from their allies and suffer no ill effects besides filling up harm slots.

I don't know if I'll put this in the book as this seems a choice to be made at your own table, but as Sustained by Faith lets you survive a fatal wound, I would probably allow a Paladin to use Lay on Hands to save someone who is dying by taking it onto themself. Of course it would depend on the fiction and could require a roll to get there in time- but this has its own consequences that are interesting enough I might not call for a roll, or if I did I'd make the consequences something else, perhaps as the Paladin heals their dying friend, it leaves another party member open to attack or gives the villain a chance to flee or fill a clock.

Representing the codes of conduct for the Paladin are OATHBOUND and IRONCLAD VOW. Oathbound is simple enough, it gives you an XP trigger that gives you an extra XP at the end of each session if you did the right thing at the cost to the party or yourself. While I personally like the harsh edge of older editions when it comes to Paladin oaths, I know players respond better to rewards than punishments. It also requires a cost which means the Paladin can't simply be passive and will cause drama and get the party into trouble which is what we are here for. Ironclad Vow lets you make a promise with someone and if either breaks it then you take the level 3 harm, Cursed. Here is our punitive aspect, but it allows the player to specifically choose the vows they make one at a time over the course of the game. Since harm upgrades if a slot is taken, if the Paladin already took a level 3 harm during an adventure and breaks an oath, this is potentially deadly- and even if it isn't they will likely be rendered helpless. I also love the narrative possibilities of sharing a promise with another- if the Paladin feels a vow break then they will have to find out what happens. Did that thief return to his life of crime? If so, why? If a vow releases when someone dies, it also means the Paladin would become aware when it happens which is a great level of tragic to throw at a player in the right moment.

DIVINE SENSES is incredibly powerful but useful only outside combat. You can always tell when someone is lying which is a classic FitD move that can create wonderful tension because while you may know they are lying, that doesn't mean you can call them on it, know which part of what they said is a lie, know why they lied, or know what is actually the truth. The other aspect lets a Paladin ask who here is evil with a successful perception roll. I really love being able to ask what here is evil but I think this part might need to be reworked as it currently feels more like a PbtA move than anything else. I don't know if I want to let a player simply ask if someone is evil as that can just defuse mysteries or shapeshifter scenarios... the most fitd thing would be to allow you to gather information by looking someone in the eye to attempt to learn their true motives/nature. So overall happy with the idea of this move but I think it needs to be tweaked.

AURA OF COURAGE makes you immune to fear and intimidation and gives allies a bonus to resisting those effects. This is a good enough ability but also... I don't think GMs are throwing fear and intimidation at PCs a lot as consequences. I could help this a bit by having those as examples and moves in the foe section- but I think a lot of players would be upset if they entered the dragon's cave to have it roar and then find themselves fleeing, abandoning their friends. I could see that as a good example of a choice on a failed roll though? Offer the coward's way out: the gm can give offer the hard bargain of taking a consequence or fleeing/giving in to fear or cowardice. Yeah, I like that, but am still not 100% about this move. I am gonna let it live unless I come up with something I like better.

CHAMPION is still gold I think. It gives a push ability, every playbook has them and when you spend stress to push yourself you get to also activate one of these two abilities. You can either bless something to make fiends/undead want to avoid it at all costs or you can protect a large group from oncoming harm. Bless is a little circumstantial but its a tool I think players can be really clever with and surprise the GM. Protecting a group is probably going to be the more used ability- since you activate this when you push yourself this means you can pretty much negate collateral damage that could come from your move. Also if the goal of your move is already to protect people (say you are rushing in to save people from a collapsing tunnel) this will ensure their safety and force consequences away from them being harmed. I think both of these still work- I'm curious if Bless isn't better suited to Cleric but I'll wait till I get to that playbook to check it out.

Finally, we have TIP OF THE SPEAR which means you don't suffer anymore than 1 stress in a group action and.... God this is boring isn't it. Flavor-wise this should definitely be Paladin or Fighter but it has been pointed out to me that Group Actions are a bit busted in FitD games once you get to a higher level. So I really need to look them over and see if I want to keep them, change them, or replace them. Right now I could replace this with like- when you charge in to help someone else, heedless of danger, you have great effect on your first roll. Which fits the name and is WAY more exciting and flavorful.

Overall, I'm pretty content with Paladin. The aspects I like with making vows with your deity that grant powers you can lose is something I'm actually adding in the expansion and will allow anyone to pick that up and have fun. I am mostly happy with basic moves from other FitD games here, and I need to fight the urge to just rip out anything that isn't mine because I have 12 playbooks which already more than any other FitD game and I need to stop being so extra about this shit.

Anyway, I don't know if anyone will read this but if you do then feel free to comment about which class I should talk about next.