Paladin, Angels, Demons

[Jake Norwood]

I was actually reading Paladin all the way through today and I got an idea. See, I love the idea of the struggle between heaven and hell being carried out on earth and elsewhere in a real-live sense. There are several games that do this, such as In Nomine and Nobilis (which has probably the greatest RPG cover ever, but the interior is less than impressive). The problem is that these games have tons and tons of outside mythos, wierd ideas, and other issues that make it a Heaven/Hell game on the surface, but just another complicated and brand-new setting instead. The mechanics reflect this, and so I don't think I'll ever play either, although I'd like to. But even more I want my version of an angel-demon game; one that's light on official plot/metaplot and really gets into the action and the awe.

So anyway, I'm going to try it with Paladin. It seems perfect to me. I won't even beef up the power, really. I'll just let it fly. It'll be fun, and I'll use a bit more Latin.

Anyway, just thought I'd share.

For the sake of the thread, though, does anyone else have any cool setting ideas for Paladin? It seems so much deeper than just playing "star wars."

Jake

[Jason L Blair]

I've been thinking about a modern-day take on Paladin. It centers around a cult of gun-toting do-gooders that must protect the world from an ancient evil that has been unleashed. Lame on the surface, but I'm really jazzed by the specifics. Heavily occultish, with a mix of modern pulp and noir. I'm imagining a grittier version of the Trenchcoat Brigade from The Books of Magic (first four issues).

The Boston Irregulars

Minor Laws:
A member must use their magic only as a last resort.
A member must obey the Word as dictated by the elders.
A member must not harm the innocent.

Major Laws:
A member must not let the darkness into their heart.
A member must act for the good of all mankind.

Unbreakable Law:
A member must never let the Truth be known.

The Arms of the TBI is a pistol with a silver skull etched into the handle. This is modeled after a weapon that belonged to one of the founders (a cultist who was a one-time companion of Aleister Crowley). Magic is totemic and rooted in Dark Animus. Anyway, that's all I really have so far. I quite dig it and would love to get the chance to run it sometime.

[Jürgen Mayer]

Great - two more games for our already tight GenCon schedule =)

[Jason L Blair]

I started writing up some stuff for a setting I call "Funk Is My Co-Pilot."


I was born in the height of disco... I can't help it.

[Mike Holmes]

It seems perfect to me. I won't even beef up the power, really. I'll just let it fly. It'll be fun, and I'll use a bit more Latin.

Indeed, perfect. Even rules for falling, essentially. One could even use the In Nomine trappings as definitions for the characters' abilities. Laws would be determined by Chorus (Dissonance), and Superior, etc. Nifty. This I gotta try. Finally a good system to run all my In Nomine stuff with.

Mike

[Jared A. Sorensen]

Two things:
I really, really liked the urban police drama setting. As Paladin was the name of an old TV western, I was kinda hoping Clinton would do a Western setting...but the modern cops setting is just too perfect. :)

I was thinking of other possibilities for Paladin and it just hit me: Paladin is perfect for a superhero game focusing on and about (wait for it...) the Green Lantern Corps. I mean, seriously rock on and alla that.

- J

[Clinton R. Nixon]

I like both of these ideas Jason and Jake have proposed. What's really interesting to me is that both subtely change the concept to make kick-ass settings.

In Jake's angel/demon setting, the characters have very real concepts of what they're working for. In straight Paladin, the characters usually have to have faith - while they can perform miracles, they usually don't see their god.

In Jason's setting, the characters actually have to dabble with the Dark Animus, which is awesome. It moves the game from being tempted by the dark side to needing to use the dark side, and having to regulate your reliance on it. Very cool.

I need to put something up on the site about this (and probably in the game text, honestly), but I'm going to do something like Ron's mini-supplements with this. I realize that with Paladin, you can create a two-page setting, though, so what I offer is:

- If you want to make a full mini-supplement for sale, feel free. You have to run it past me, of course, and it has to be sold from the Paladin website, but you can feel free to create whatever you want.
- If you want to create a setting for free, you most certainly can. I'll even offer to lay it out in the Paladin format. I can host it on the Paladin website, or link to your page (if you have a campaign page or something.)

[Ron Edwards]

Hey,

My notion for Paladin, which I started imagining as early as p. 2 when reading the first draft of the game, is a sword-and-psionics setting, "science fantasy" if you will. The setting is nominally space, but the stories are essentially fast and furious adventure, mainly with swords. But it's not as psychedelically imaginative, like Barsoom - more naturalistic.

Anyway, the "powers" are those of the mind, mainly visions and a form of non-verbal telepathy, as well as manifesting a weapon (usually a sword, naturally) out of pure concentration. I have the image of these guys in loose clothes with hoods, some of whom even pull the hoods down to cover their eyes (relying on their Vision rather than their sight).

The main influence might be from the comic Bone, but only the barest resemblance, rather than wholesale lifting.

Best,
Ron

[Mike Holmes]

In Jake's angel/demon setting, the characters have very real concepts of what they're working for. In straight Paladin, the characters usually have to have faith - while they can perform miracles, they usually don't see their god.

That's the thing about In Nomine. God is notably absent. He rules invisibly from above. Sure the angels can note heaven about them, but then, the demons would tell them that it's just part of an incredible snow job. Even if God were to appear, that changes little. The essential question still remains: Is it better to Rule Hell than to serve in Heaven? And since the angels' foes are the demons, they are exposed to the opposing viewpoint all the time.

A well run game of In Nomine should be all about the characters, Angelic or Demonic, questioning their belief in the decision they make every day to be on the side they are. Very cool, and fits totally with the how Paladin works. As soon as Jake mentioned it, I saw just how perfect it is. It's much better than In Nomine's normal system because those splatty mechanics lead to Gamism or mission Sim, which totally misses the really neat potential Narrativist Premise that underlies the whole thing.

IMO :-)

Mike

[greyorm]

Read Paladin through yesterday, and I like.  The mechanics seem a little complex to me, in terms of what you add and when and why, but they always do in a new game system for me, so don't take that as anything other than me not taking the fifteen minutes to run a few actual test rolls.

Regardless, I have to tell you, unlike everyone else, the only thing I want to do with it right now is play a unapologetic, straight-up game of Star Wars, complete with Jedi, lightsabers, droids and wookies.
Oh yeah...gonna find me some players.