THE PALADIN

A paladin character is a fighter sub-class, but unlike normal fighters, all paladins must begin as Lawful Good in alignment and always remain Lawful Good or absolutely lose all of the special powers which are given to them. 

They have both fighting abilities and limited spell powers (at high level). 

To become a paladin a character must be human, have a Strength of not less than 12, a minimum Intelligence of 9, a Wisdom of 13 or more, a minimum Constitution of 9, and not less than 17 Charisma. If a paladin has both Strength and Wisdom in excess of 15, he or she gains the benefit of adding 10% to the experience points awarded by the Dungeon Master.

Law and good deeds are the meat and drink of paladins. If they ever knowingly perform an act which is chaotic in nature, they must seek a high level (7th or above) cleric of Lawful Good alignment, confess their sin, and do penance as prescribed by the cleric. 

If a paladin should ever knowingly and willingly perform an evil act, he or she loses the status of paladinhood immediately and irrevocably. All benefits are then lost, and no deed or magic can restore the character to paladinhood; he or she is ever-after a fighter.

• Prime Requisite. Strength and Wisdom (16+ adds a 10% experience bonus)

• Minimum Ability Scores.  Strength (12), Intelligence (9), Wisdom (13), Constitution (9), Charisma (17)

• Hit Dice. d10; Maximum 9d10

• Alignment. Lawful Good only

• Player Character Races. Human (U)

• Armor. Any

• Shield. Any

• Initial Weapon Proficiencies. 3

• Non-proficiency Penalty. -2

• Added Weapon Proficiencies. 1 per 3 levels above the 1st (4th, 7th, 10th, 13th, 16th, 19th, etc.)

• Weapons Allowed. Any

• Use of Poison. Never

MULTIPLE MELEE ATTACKS PER ROUND

[See the Fighter.]

PALADIN BENEFITS

The benefits of a paladin are:

1. Detect evil at up to 60 ft. distance, as often as desired, but only when the paladin is concentrating on determining the presence of evil and seeking to detect it in the right general direction. All such detection requires not less than one round of stillness and concentration. Therefore, the character must stop, have quiet, and intently seek to detect the aura.

2. Make all saving throws at +2 on the dice.

3. Immunity to all forms of disease.

4. The ability to “lay on hands”, either on others, or on his or her own person, to cure wounds; this heals 2 hit points of damage per level of experience the paladin has attained, but laying on hands can be performed but once per day.

5. The ability to cure disease of any sort; this can be done once per week for each five levels of experience the paladin has attained, i.e. at levels 1 through 5: one disease per week, at levels 6 through 10: two diseases, at levels 11 through 15: three diseases, etc.

6. The continuing emanation of a protection from evil in a 1” radius round the paladin.

7. At 3rd level, the paladin gains the power to affect undead and devils and demons as if he or she were a 1st level cleric, and this power goes upwards with each level of experience the paladin gains; so at 4th level the effect is that of a 2nd level cleric, at 5th it is that of a 3rd level cleric, etc. 

8. At 4th level—or at any time thereafter—the paladin may call for his warhorse; this creature is an intelligent heavy warhorse, with 5 + 5 hit dice (5d8 plus 5 hit points), AC 5, and the speed of a medium warhorse (18”); it will magically appear, but only one such animal is available every ten years, so that if the first is lost, the paladin must wait until the end of the period for another (see below).

9. At 9th level (through 20th level) of experience, paladins gain the ability to employ cleric spells. They may never use scrolls of spells, however, except those normally usable by fighters.

10. If a paladin has a “holy sword”, he or she projects a circle of power 1” in diameter when the holy sword is unsheathed and held; and this power dispels magic at the level of magic use equal to the experience level of the paladin.

THE PALADIN'S WARHORSE

When the paladin reaches 4th or higher level, he or she will eventually call for a warhorse. It will magically appear, but not in actual physical form. 

The paladin will magically “see” his or her faithful destrier in whatever locale it is currently in, and it is thereafter up to the paladin to journey to the place and gain the steed. 

As a rule of thumb, this journey will not be beyond seven days ride, and gaining the mount will not be an impossible task. The creature might be wild and necessitate capturing, or it might be guarded by an evil fighter of the same level as the paladin, and the latter will then have to overcome the former in mortal combat in order to win the warhorse. 

In short, the gaining of the destrier is a task of some small difficulty which will take a number of days, possibly two or more weeks, and will certainly test the mettle of the paladin. Once captured or won, the warhorse knows its role and relationship to the paladin, and it will faithfully serve thereafter for 10 years. 

Thereafter, the paladin must seek another mount, as the former one will be too old to be useful. The Intelligence of a paladin’s warhorse is 5-7 points. The number of hit points per hit die of the steed will never be fewer than 50% of the level of the paladin, i.e., a 4th level paladin means the warhorse he or she gains will have at least 2 hit points per hit die, excluding the additional bonus of +5, while a 16th level paladin’s special steed will have maximum hit points (8) per die, of 5 x 8 = 40 +5 (additional hit points) = 45 total hit points for 5+5 hit dice. 

If the character loses paladinhood for any reason, there will be an immutable enmity between character and mount, and the former will not be able to ride the latter, while the steed will escape at first opportunity. 

PALADIN STRICTURES

The following strictures apply to paladins:

1. They may never retain more than ten magic items; these may never exceed:

   • armor, 1 (suit)

   • shield, 1

   • weapons*, 4

   • any other magic items, 4

*  These include daggers, swords, etc.; and such items as magic bows and magic arrows are considered as but 1 weapon.

2. They will never retain wealth, keeping only sufficient treasures to support themselves in a modest manner, pay henchmen, men-at-arms, and servitors, and to construct or maintain a small castle. Excess is given away, as is the tithe (see 3. below).

3. An immediate tithe (10%) of all income—be it treasure, wages, or whatever—must be given to whatever charitable religious institution (not a clerical player character) of  lawful good alignment the paladin selects.

4. Paladins will have henchmen of Lawful Good alignment and none other; they will associate only with characters and creatures of Good alignment; paladins can join a company of adventurers which contains non-Evil Neutrals only on a single expedition basis, and only if some end which will further the cause of Lawful Good is purposed.

5. If possible, paladins will take service or form an alliance with Lawful Good characters, whether players or not, who are clerics or fighters (of noble status).

6. Paladins do not attract a body of men-at-arms to service as do regular fighters.

Furthermore:

• • Paladins are affected by unholy water. The liquid causes the affected creature to suffer a burning as if struck by acid.

  • A paladin can be turned by an evil cleric.

MAGIC ITEMS

A paladin can use magical items as fighters and can use items normally restricted to use by fighters.