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Dumpshock Forums _ Shadowrun _ Paladin Runners
Posted by: TheMadderHatter Oct 3 2009, 12:08 AM
This is a rather inane question at first glance, but as an excercise in character generation one of my players wants to know how closely it is possible to emulate the DnD paladin in Shadowrun. Perhaps as a magician with high physical stats and a geas to only use his/her power to forward the cause of "good" as defined by the character? I just found the concept an intereting Gendankenexperiment and so pass it along to you.
http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Paladin < Can it be done?
Posted by: Karoline Oct 3 2009, 12:55 AM
Hmm.. I'd figure would want to go with mystic adept and limit the magician part of the magic to 1 or 2, and limit what spells they can take to things like 'heal' and highly limited slay type spells (Perhaps allowing an 'evil' limitation, with evil being defined by the character's views, but only if they are sufficiently limited) and perhaps some other paladiny spells. (No idea what else their list contains, maybe armor or barrier type things as well)
Then you'd put your adept power points into things that would help you stay composed and protect you from poison (or whatever), and the rest into making you a competent fighter.
Posted by: The Dragon Girl Oct 3 2009, 01:18 AM
I second Karoline's post. You also might want to look at guardian spirits for the magic, don't really necessarily have to be geas bound, a personal honour code would take care of that just as well.
And you could always have him work for the vadican, that would make him a 'church knight' of a sorts.
Posted by: Hagga Oct 3 2009, 03:45 AM
There's a mention in loose alliances of a former catholic priest who was a member of the Sylvestrines but now runs the shadows while clinging to his beliefs. Maybe you could use him as a base for a former sylvestrine paladin. Just, you know, a hyperviolent former sylvestrine toting a railgun instead of sword-and-board.
Posted by: the_real_elwood Oct 4 2009, 02:31 AM
I would think an adept would be a good start to make the Shadowrun equivalent of a D&D paladin. The adept can have a nice balance of combat skills and magical abilities.
Posted by: Sperethiel Oct 4 2009, 05:56 AM
And they have to hate ghouls.
Posted by: SincereAgape Oct 4 2009, 07:04 PM
There have been posts in the past about a "Vatican" based special operations team. I figure that you have a few "Paladin" type characters in that faction.
Sorta of like Top Cow's "Magdelana" comic book series.
Adapt would probably be the way to go.
Although, I could see a cybernetic Paladin as well.
Posted by: Karoline Oct 4 2009, 07:17 PM
See, that's why I figure mystic adept. Otherwise a paladin is just a sammy/adept who happens to fight for a good cause. What really makes the paladin special is his mix of warrior abilities, spellcasting, and a handful of unique special powers, which I think a mystic adept is a very good proxy for.
Now, that isn't to say that they likely wouldn't have holy cyber warriors and such, but that just seems like a LG fighter and not an actual pally.
Posted by: hobgoblin Oct 4 2009, 07:36 PM
heh, here i come, thinking its about tir paladins...
Posted by: Ravor Oct 4 2009, 08:09 PM
Meh, something to remember is that in the Sixth World everything is relative, so the "goody two shoes" paladins in 2070 probably make Mel's character from Payback wince and cry himself to sleep.
Posted by: crash2029 Oct 5 2009, 01:34 AM
I was about to go play Mass Effect and now I have to go make a character. Curse you all.
Posted by: Joe Chummer Oct 5 2009, 01:52 AM
Considering that a runner usually undertakes criminal activities for a living, I don't really see how one would fit in the Sixth World unless you're running a campaign of non-shadowrunner characters, i.e. a special ops force that operates within the scope of the law, and frankly, doing legal ops are kinda boring.
Also, if I'm not mistaken, a D&D style paladin's abilities are tied to his devotion to good, and straying too far from that righteous path makes his abilities stop working (since he technically lost faith in them). To second that post above dealing with this, the only solid way to reflect this in game terms is with an Awakened character who takes a geas tied to some type of lawful-good way of thinking, which, when broken, makes the mojo not sling.
Another method (which might be a bit more realistic in the long run) would be for the character to undergo a break of confidence (I forget what the game term is actually called & don't have the SM book ion hand) whenever he strays too far from the path the player and the GM have hammered out for the character. Stray once, and the Magic point reduction is temporary until you've mended your fences. Stray for too long, and the Magic point loss is permanent. Turn away from the righteous path long enough, and you'll end up a mundane after you've pissed away your whole Magic attribute.
Posted by: Weaver95 Oct 5 2009, 01:58 AM
not necessarily. I mean you COULD have a special team dedicated to meeting magical threats and putting them down. The Vatican might have such a team, or the DIMR might have such a group. ARES corp almost certainly has an organization specifically designated/trained and equipped to handle paranomal threats (firewatch teams to deal with the bug hives, for example).
I'm not certain how deep into the magical conspiracy angle you wanna get though.
Posted by: Karoline Oct 5 2009, 02:37 AM
You could also consider the fact that there is a difference between the law and what is right. You could for instance have a mission to go damage X corp to stop them finishing their new Y thing which when finished will do Z to people. Even stealing Y outright for someone else might be good if there was a promise that it would be re-tuned to make good Z happen to people instead of bad Z.
It also isn't hard to imagine that the pally thinks of the corps themselves as evil, and so any run against them (even if it helps another one) is net good (Because overall damage is caused and the corps as a whole gain no net profit out of it (individuals might, but others went down more)).
Lawful Good doesn't mean that you obey all the laws, it means you obey a particular set of laws (Which might just be your own, and not any official written down ones)
Posted by: Joe Chummer Oct 5 2009, 02:40 AM
I'm not certain how deep into the magical conspiracy angle you wanna get though.
True, but you'd have to have a whole group of PCs that are game for that sort of thing. And from a story perspective, I'd think a group of that nature wouldn't have that big of a sandbox to play in, especially when it comes to jurisdictional battles. And then there's the issue of character/player freedom. A runner can do whatever jobs they want (assuming they can afford to be choosy if the rent is already a month late); a special ops team has to run the ops that are given to them by their commanding officer. A runner can go where he wants to, wear what he wants; a Swiss Guard can't leave the Vatican and has to wear that hideous yellow/red/purple uniform.
And maybe it's just me, but I think it's a lot more fun and rewarding to liberate something nailed down rather than being the ones protecting the target.
Posted by: crash2029 Oct 5 2009, 03:41 AM
I finished my version of a paldin build. I built him as a mystic adept combatant. For background I went with a former Templar knight who got kicked out of the order for a drinking problem and now is a shadowrunner. As a 'runner he does the only job he knows, while simultaneously trying to do the right thing and wrestling with his conscience. I can post the build if anyone is interested.
Posted by: Hagga Oct 5 2009, 04:04 AM
I am.
Posted by: Sperethiel Oct 5 2009, 04:35 AM
I don't remember the last time it ever seemed to me that these Megacorps were clean. I see no reason why they can't be fighting the good fight with breaking the laws especially if they are a believer that the laws are immoral or there to protect evil instead of promote good.
Posted by: Glyph Oct 5 2009, 07:09 AM
Exactly. A paladin fighting a tribe of hobgoblins isn't terribly concerned about hobgoblin tribal "laws". A paladin-type character would have no problem hitting the megacorporations, but would probably have a hard time with other situations that shadowrunners have to deal with. A paladin would frequently be conflicted between a runner's professional code and doing the right thing (like in that other thread, where one of the runners let the NAN know that Aztechnology was using NAN tribesmen for ghoul experiments, setting the group and their fixer up for Azzie retribution).
Mystic adept is really the only way to go. I would recommend the dragonslayer mentor spirit, and picking up a weapon focus.
Posted by: The Jake Oct 6 2009, 12:50 PM
Now if we can combine this with a http://forums.dumpshock.com/index.php?showtopic=25710&hl=flaming++sword http://forums.dumpshock.com/index.php?showtopic=28138&hl=lightsabre....
- J.
Posted by: Marwynn Oct 6 2009, 03:49 PM
I'd view Paladins more like Jedi, so Mystic Adepts would probably suit them well.
Shooting people in the face for money wouldn't jive with them of course. But they would have a code, like Bushido and so forth, that would explain that.
Posted by: crash2029 Oct 6 2009, 10:12 PM
Alright, this is my paladin build.
As a young man in London, Sebastien felt the call of God early. He devoted his life to the Church. When his abilities manifested themselves he was ushered toward the militant arm of the Church. He became a modern-day Templar, a holy knight tasked with protecting man from threats unearthly. The years of confronting the darkness took their toll, however. Sebastien took to drinking to try to make the nightmares go away. Eventually he was kicked out of the Order. Having few prospects and no marketable skills other than violence he fell into the shadows. As a shadowrunner he was able to make a living for himself and try to maintain the ideals he stood for. Every job is a fight with his conscience, every kill a blow to his code. The only way he is able to maintain a shred of his honor is by reasoning that the corps have ruined the lives of more innocents than the supernatural horrors ever did. Every blow he strikes against them is a blow for righteousness. Now if only the nightmares would stop...
Notes
Sidon usually wears the chainmail with FFBA shirt, when he has to do a hard entry he wears the camou suit w/ forearm guards and helmet, for undercover situations he uses the armor vest.
Posted by: WyldKnight Oct 6 2009, 10:39 PM
While it's not exactly shadowrun talking about sci fi templar made me think of these guys.
http://www.hgl.sg/gamesite/imgs/downloads/concept_art/templar_male_200.jpg
The game could have been better but I was more a fan of the art design and the fluff then the game play itself anyway.
On a more related note a MysAd templar is great in meat but he isn't complete till his TM buddy loans him a Paladin Sprite for Matrix back up heh.
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