| Author: | Clinton R. Nixon <crnixon@anvilwerks.com> |
|---|---|
| Version: | 0.1 |
| Date: | February 8, 2005 |
| Copyright: | Paladin: A New Testament is copyright 2005 Clinton R. Nixon. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 559 Nathan Abbott Way, Stanford, California 94305, USA. |
| Colophon: | This document was created using DocTools. |
Paladin comes with an example setting, "The Sword of Heaven." You should feel free to use this for your game if you like it. It's a good time. Paladin is a role-playing game toolkit, though, and you can make all sorts of settings with it.
You should probably be aware that when I say "setting" here, I really mean a freaky role-playing designer term called "Color." Your setting will always be pretty much the same: holy warriors fighting tooth-and-nail against what they judge as evil. The Color of this can vary wildly, though. Do these warriors use swords or laser rifles? Is evil undead hordes or drug peddlers? Does corruption come from the darkest forests or from the television?
Before we get into all the questions you need to answer to make a setting for Paladin, think about the process you're going to use to answer these questions. Are you going to sit down, get a cup of coffee, and write down the answers yourself, then call up some friends to see if they're interested in playing? Or are you going to call up those friends, make a pot of coffee, and get them to help you answer these questions?
There's not a wrong choice here. There are better choices for different people, though. Me, I like getting everyone involved. You get a consensus on what you want to play, and setting creation flows naturally into character creation. If you've got a group full of people who have a hard time making decisions together, if ordering a pizza each week is a 20 minute process, then maybe you want to sit down and answer these yourself. You might want to order the pizza before they come over, too.
Making a setting involves the following parts:
- The Backdrop
- The Spirit
- The Organization
- The Code
- The Power
- The Arms
Where and when is your game set? Is it psuedo-historical? Is it swashbuckling space fantasy? Is it edgy and modern?
You need to define, at a minimum, what your in-game culture is like, what sort of technology they have, and what sorts of things people do on a daily basis. Think of books, movies, and art that inspire courage and conflict, not only of a physical nature, but of an emotional nature as well.
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Foremost, you need a conflict. It does not have to be world-spanning - it could be that the local duke is conspiring to eliminate the king and take his place. In experience, though, the conflict should be large and overwhelming, with the fate of the characters literally resting in its resolution. The action in this game comes from putting intense pressure on the characters, forcing them to make moral decisions while saving the world.
The characters all are members of a holy order: an order that has access to a supernatural power through their faith. This power may be called different things according to your background. In this game text, we call it Animus (loosely meaning "Force" in Latin, which is less copyrighted than calling it The Force.)
Animus is a supernatural energy that lives in and touches all things. The holy order you create must believe this - even if based on something psuedo-historical, this gnostic sort of view of God is necessary. Animus is a dualist philosophy - there is a definite good and evil (or "light" and "dark" side) to Animus, and it can be used for either purpose.
Before the game begins, you must define, at a minimum: What does the order believe? Do they believe in a God, or in a nameless benevolence? What is their organization? Are they close-knit or are they a very loose organization? What is the traditional method of training new members? What is their charter, and how does society see them? What does Light Animus represent? What about Dark Animus?
Orders of this type, in both history and in the source literature, are normally associated with a government or social institution. Even when fighting the ruling government, they are associated with an underground order determined to wipe away the corruption of the current regime. The orders follow strict laws. When creating your order, you should keep this in mind: an order that follows chaos or believes in anarchy is rarely, if ever, acceptable.
Every faith has its set of laws and taboos. You must create a code for the order, listing 3 to 10 laws every member of the order must follow. These laws fall under the ranks of Minor, Major, and Unbreakable. A good number to start play with is 3 Minor Laws, 2 Major Laws, and 1 Unbreakable Law.
An example:
- A member must base his decisions on wisdom, not feelings.
- A member must never be arrogant.
- A member must never use his abilities for personal gain.
- A member must respect life in all its forms.
- A member must never act out of love, fear, or hate.
- A member must never strike down another fueled by emotion.
As you can see in the example, the crimes do not have to be specific, and they may overlap. (Making decisions based off of feelings is a Minor transgression; acting on strong feelings is Major; while killing someone fueled by emotion is Unbreakable. All three are wrong, but killing someone is much worse than, say, draining their fuel tanks because you think they're a dick.) This sort of overlap is an excellent way to show the core of your order's values.
Every order has a weapon associated with it: this weapon is the talisman of their power, and the focus of their energy. The weapon is symbolic of the danger of their power, both to others and themselves. All members use this weapon, and it must be chosen before play. Star Wars' lightsaber is an obvious example. Other good items to use would be nightsticks, flaming swords, or the characters' own tattooed fists.
If the GM feels it is necessary, the weapon can be made vague in order to allow for variation, but this is not recommended.
Paladin does not restrict what your character can do with Animus. If you want her to jump a chasm, go ahead. If you want her to throw lightning bolts, that's fine, as well.
When creating your setting, though, you should define what common uses of Animus are and what they look like. Throwing fireballs might be fine for Shaolin Monks, but would not be appropriate for a Star Wars themed game.
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Is your character well-rounded or especially good at one thing? Decide.
If he's well-rounded, what is he weak in? Assign 2 to that attribute (Flesh, Mind, or Spirit) and 3 to the other two.
If he's especially good at one thing, assign 4 to that one thing. What's he really weak at? Assign 1 to that. Assign 2 to the remaining attribute.
Your character has talents. These are things he's better than normal at doing or special knowledges he's learned. One of them is probably Arms, unless you've got a reason he didn't take Arms training. Did he? If not, why not? What else is he good at? Write those down. Two or three is fine. More than five is too many.
Your character has certain qualities about his person that make him a paladin. These are good qualities, although he probably has some negative ones, too. Write down a few qualities, like "Patient" or "Caring." Think of a weakness, like "Vengeful" or "Cold." Write it down. Two or three qualities are fine. More than five is too many.
Your character is a paladin. He's made a promise to the heavens above. What's that promise? Write it down. He's been given a special spiritual gift because of this promise. What's that gift? Write it down.
Your character starts with 3 Light Animus. These are points you can spend to perform holy deeds. Your character has no Dark Animus starting, but he'll get it. I promise.
Here's a sample character to get you thinking:
Clarity, Brevity, Endurance, Sensual*
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