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4/06/2014 10:24 am  #1


Paladins of Hyperborea

What races do they hail from?

What gods do they worship?

I love the Paladin class across every edition of D&D and related RPGs, but I have a hard time wrapping my head around the concept of a do-gooder warrior empowered by gods of light and justice, in a world as grim and gods-forsaken as Hyperborea.

 

4/06/2014 11:00 am  #2


Re: Paladins of Hyperborea

I assumed Paladins would worship the lawful gods Apollo (light, sun, healing, archery, swordsmanship, music, poetry) or Artemis (hunting, forests, hills, chastity, fertility, independence), or some regional or local variant thereof. Admittedly, they are probably few and far between.


Blackadder23: Insanely long villain soliloquy, then "Your action?"
BORGO'S PLAYER: I shoot him in the face
 

4/06/2014 11:01 am  #3


Re: Paladins of Hyperborea

Just a quick thought: Apollo-worshiping Hyperboreans dedicated to reasserting their people's fallen dignity and sweeping away the Chaos gods and their peoples, who would be usurpers and part of the Hyperboreans' fall from grace? That could probably be adapted to Atlanteans, too.

How about a secret society of LG Apollo worshipers struggling in the hidden recesses of Ix, plotting to bring down the rotten necromancers one day? Sent out into the world to bring items of power back?

Gotta go game!

 

4/06/2014 12:09 pm  #4


Re: Paladins of Hyperborea

I've always liked it when the Paladin is a bit of lonely figure, always struggling for Good in a world filled with Bad and heaps of grey. In Hyperborea i think they would be even lonelier.

HandyHaversack wrote:

How about a secret society of LG Apollo worshipers struggling in the hidden recesses of Ix, plotting to bring down the rotten necromancers one day?

It's almost like you've read my campaign notes.

Last edited by Crisippo (4/06/2014 12:11 pm)


Níu man ek heima, níu íviðjur,
mjötvið mæran fyr mold neðan.
(Völuspá)
(Nine worlds I knew,the nine in the tree with mighty roots beneath the mold)
Realmsofmelpomene
 

4/06/2014 2:54 pm  #5


Re: Paladins of Hyperborea

Handy Haversack wrote:

Just a quick thought: Apollo-worshiping Hyperboreans dedicated to reasserting their people's fallen dignity and sweeping away the Chaos gods and their peoples, who would be usurpers and part of the Hyperboreans' fall from grace? That could probably be adapted to Atlanteans, too.

How about a secret society of LG Apollo worshipers struggling in the hidden recesses of Ix, plotting to bring down the rotten necromancers one day? Sent out into the world to bring items of power back?

Gotta go game!

 
Great ideas!

On the Ixian front, I've been thinking of a hidden monastery out in the desert, where Monks and/or Paladins pray to Mitra and train for the day when the necromancers will burn in their crypts and they will take Ix back for the worship of the Unconquered Sun.

     Thread Starter
 

4/06/2014 2:58 pm  #6


Re: Paladins of Hyperborea

The Butcher wrote:

Handy Haversack wrote:

Just a quick thought: Apollo-worshiping Hyperboreans dedicated to reasserting their people's fallen dignity and sweeping away the Chaos gods and their peoples, who would be usurpers and part of the Hyperboreans' fall from grace? That could probably be adapted to Atlanteans, too.

How about a secret society of LG Apollo worshipers struggling in the hidden recesses of Ix, plotting to bring down the rotten necromancers one day? Sent out into the world to bring items of power back?

Gotta go game!

 
Great ideas!

On the Ixian front, I've been thinking of a hidden monastery out in the desert, where Monks and/or Paladins pray to Mitra and train for the day when the necromancers will burn in their crypts and they will take Ix back for the worship of the Unconquered Sun.

 

Too funny.  I just introduced Mitra to my campaign.


“How can I wear the harness of toil
And sweat at the daily round,
While in my soul forever
The drums of Pictdom sound?” 
 

4/06/2014 4:32 pm  #7


Re: Paladins of Hyperborea

The paladins almost begin to sound like Jedi after the Empire takes over, which is kind of a cool take.


Blackadder23: Insanely long villain soliloquy, then "Your action?"
BORGO'S PLAYER: I shoot him in the face
 

4/06/2014 5:03 pm  #8


Re: Paladins of Hyperborea

There can always be twists in creative character creation.

I just came up with the idea of a secret cabal amongst the otherworldly servants of an evil deity, plotting to overthrow their master and secretly granting powers to a Paladin of great principle.
 
Or perhaps dualism could be introduced to one or more of the known gods, with an order of Paladins struggling to revive the lost "good aspect" of a diety otherwise known only as evil or uncaring -- each of then an indirect manifestation of this faded figure aiming to fulfil a prophecy of return.

A strange artifact could create paladins, reconstituting in them a knowledge which engenders ultimate dedication tenets of a forgotten faith. I'm envisioning beams of golden light scintillating from within as one is inducted into the Fellowship of the Found.

Or any other thing!

 

4/06/2014 5:07 pm  #9


Re: Paladins of Hyperborea

Maezar wrote:

Or perhaps dualism could be introduced to one or more of the known gods, with an order of Paladins struggling to revive the lost "good aspect" of a diety otherwise known only as evil or uncaring -- each of then an indirect manifestation of this faded figure aiming to fulfil a prophecy of return.

Mordezzan and Aurorus would be interesting choices for that schema.

 

4/06/2014 5:35 pm  #10


Re: Paladins of Hyperborea

mabon5127 wrote:

Too funny. I just introduced Mitra to my campaign.

I mostly substitute Apollo for Mitra because of the Howardian resonance. Seriously considering having an enclave founded by a lost Roman legion somewhere in my Hyperborea, and have them be Mithraic worshippers. Now that'd be a nice breeding ground for Paladins; trained by Roman centurions and called to purge Hyperborea of its evil by the Unconquered Sun!

Maezar wrote:

A strange artifact could create paladins, reconstituting in them a knowledge which engenders ultimate dedication tenets of a forgotten faith. I'm envisioning beams of golden light scintillating from within as one is inducted into the Fellowship of the Found.

Maybe a knightly order of Keltic warriors who guard and drink from a mythic chalice, from which a martyred prophet from a distant land drank on the eve of his execution?

Last edited by The Butcher (4/06/2014 5:39 pm)

     Thread Starter
 

4/06/2014 5:48 pm  #11


Re: Paladins of Hyperborea

The Butcher wrote:

Maybe a knightly order of Keltic warriors who guard and drink from a mythic chalice, from which a martyred prophet from a distant land drank on the eve of his execution?

Or perhaps the chalice his very calvaria.


 

Last edited by Maezar (4/06/2014 5:48 pm)

 

4/08/2014 8:11 am  #12


Re: Paladins of Hyperborea

Related content in my latest post in this thread:
http://hyperborea.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?pid=1391#p1391

 

4/08/2014 3:13 pm  #13


Re: Paladins of Hyperborea

Since reading this post and this article about Chthonic Serpent, I thought of Ixian paladins defending the ancient cult of a Serpent god that's been usurped by the Yig Clergy.

 

1/27/2015 1:45 am  #14


Re: Paladins of Hyperborea

Rather than the 'lawful' good paladin, I would be inclined to see the paladin as something more akin to what Chainsaw is suggesting: a warrior who is lawfully devout to their god's ideals, or more accurately their interpretation of their god and its ideals. In this sense they are a 'holy warrior' (in their own eyes at least). If this is the case, it doesn't really matter what god, devil or ideal the paladin serves, because they'll still see their mission and purpose as true and noble. 

 

1/27/2015 8:23 am  #15


Re: Paladins of Hyperborea

IMC, they are very few and far between due to the prevalence of Chaos and the omnipresent orthodoxy of Xathoqqua, which stretched beyond man and to the animal world. Like Chainsaw suggested above, I've focused on Apollo and Artemis for divine representations of the "paladin way," but I don't stretch it to the degree that you are suggesting, RB. What I have considered is more deeply aligning some paladin associations to Law; the deities being less relevant to them and more akin to "saints" in their estimation, with Law being paramount and Chaos the enemy. It is a little more of a Moorcock-inspired approach.


HYPERBOREA- A Role-Playing Game of Swords, Sorcery, and Weird Science-Fantasy
 

1/27/2015 3:02 pm  #16


Re: Paladins of Hyperborea

Ghul, in your campaign could a paladin be lawful evil, or would it have an alignment restriction to stay within the sphere of 'good'?

 

1/27/2015 3:15 pm  #17


Re: Paladins of Hyperborea

Rastus_Burne wrote:

Ghul, in your campaign could a paladin be lawful evil, or would it have an alignment restriction to stay within the sphere of 'good'?

It hasn't compe up yet, but I'm inclined to go with "yes."


HYPERBOREA- A Role-Playing Game of Swords, Sorcery, and Weird Science-Fantasy
 

1/27/2015 3:20 pm  #18


Re: Paladins of Hyperborea

Ghul wrote:

Rastus_Burne wrote:

Ghul, in your campaign could a paladin be lawful evil, or would it have an alignment restriction to stay within the sphere of 'good'?

It hasn't compe up yet, but I'm inclined to go with "yes."

Hah, me too.

 

1/27/2015 3:45 pm  #19


Re: Paladins of Hyperborea

Rastus_Burne wrote:

Ghul wrote:

Rastus_Burne wrote:

Ghul, in your campaign could a paladin be lawful evil, or would it have an alignment restriction to stay within the sphere of 'good'?

It hasn't compe up yet, but I'm inclined to go with "yes."

Hah, me too.

BTW -- make sure you let us know when your order to NZ arrives, RB!
 


HYPERBOREA- A Role-Playing Game of Swords, Sorcery, and Weird Science-Fantasy
 

1/27/2015 3:47 pm  #20


Re: Paladins of Hyperborea

Sure, will do! Very much looking forward to it

 

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