The Farm Boy Paladin

"Every one of you will bow your heads," the snarling figure in the black iron helm bellowed as he walked among the gathered people of the square. The voice was deeper than it should be... more awful than any human throat could produce. "The Lord of Shadows will be merciful. You will be allowed your lives, in his service. Those who do not accept his terms will receive no others."

Men and women shrunk back from the figure as it stalked along the ranks. All but one. Dann Tanner stood tall and proud, his hands folded atop the hickory walking stick he always used when he made the journey into town. His rough woolens were patched with dirt and stained with sweat, his thick hair held back by a leather cord. He had his lips pursed thoughtfully, watching the creature. There wasn't a single line of worry, or fear on his face. The shadowy figure turned, and glared through its helm at Dann, but the farmer's son spoke first.

"Got to say, I don't think much of your master, or his terms," Dann said, shaking his head. "But I don't want people thinking I can't be fair. So you take your men, and you get on out of here. Show me a clean pair of heels, and we can all forget this ever happened."

"Or what?" The creature asked, a bloody laugh in its voice.

Dann lashed out, reversing his stick in his hands and putting his shoulders into the blow. The creature had ignored arrows and blades alike, but the knotted head of Dann's stick dented the side of its helm, and sent the figure sprawling into the dirt. It howled in agony, clutching at the steel, trying to roll to its feet. Dann kicked the figure with the strength of a mule, and the sound of bones cracking was audible to those who stood nearby. He hammered his stick down one more time, and the figure juttered before going still. Black blood poured from beneath the helm, smoking and scorching the ground where it touched. Dann looked round at the others, slapping the head of his stick into his meaty hand.

"You all heard my terms," he said, glancing around. "You accepting? Or are we going to have ourselves a disagreement?"

I'm ready whenever you all are.

More Than Knights in Shining Armor

When many of us think of paladins, we think of members of knightly orders with flashing blades and shining shields. Even if they were raised in another fashion, we usually think of them as leaving that old life behind once they hear their divine calling.

The Farm Boy Paladin is in direct opposition to this idea/aesthetic.

How in the hell does anyone see out of this damn thing?

Rather than simply being a character raised on a farm who then goes on to become a knight, the idea is that this origin defines not just who the character was, but how they continue to be. Because while a childhood of hard work in a remote area would give them strength, endurance, knowledge of how to survive in the wilderness far away from a town and neighbors, while also teaching them to use a variety of tools, it could also set their personality in meaningful ways. Everything from maintaining the values of hearth and home, to a reliance on one's neighbors, to honest work and helping those in need, it shapes a character in interesting ways.

And as I mentioned in 5 Tips For Playing Better Paladins, this makes for an ideal organic paladin (which is to say a character who hasn't joined any organizations, formally taken oaths, etc.). While the character might be raw and untutored, they still have all the power of any other paladin to throw around.

For those who want to go all-in on the idea, you can even apply the aesthetic to their weapons, armor, and mount. Maybe they start off with leather armor that looks more like a butcher's robe, and a quarterstaff. Since smite ignores all DR on evil enemies, it's entirely possible for a paladin to lay some serious hurt onto anything wicked with a stick, a thrown rock, or even just a boot in the ribs. The stocky plow horse they ride might be seen as just a common animal, but much like their master that horse could have a spark of the divine power within them that lets them ride into battle, trampling the corrupt and wicked under their hooves, allowing them to fulfill the paladin's mount feature if the player goes that route. The longbow he carries might be the same one he used to hunt game for the stewpot back home, and the raw Charisma he boasts could allow him to make friends and earn trust wherever he goes.

The idea behind the Farm Boy Paladin is that it puts his class all the way in the background, allowing the character's personality and mannerisms to stay in the foreground. In fact, if you don't actually tell the rest of the table that you're playing a paladin, you might be able to go half a dozen sessions before one of them finally puts the pieces together and realizes you're not a fighter, a ranger, or an unusually friendly barbarian.

For those who'd like a bit of comedy to go with this week's concept, take a moment to check out The 5 Awful Paladins You Meet in Your Gaming Career... I have a feeling we've all shared a table with at least one of them. And for those who love little tidbits of obscure history, or who want some insight into how this class became what it is in our popular fiction, take a moment to read What is a Paladin? to delve into the etymology of the word itself!

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That's all for this installment of Unusual Character Concepts. Hopefully this one gave you something to chew over, whether you're a player, or a game master.

For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my alley cat noir novel Marked Territory, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my most recent collection of short stories The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

"Force Multiplication" is a Useful Idea For RPGs

Folks who've been around this blog for a while know that, while I love story and character arcs in RPGs, I am also very invested in strategic play, and accomplishing goals. A term someone used in a forum that caught my attention presents an interesting idea that can alter the way we think of our games, strategies, and resources, so I thought I'd talk about it this week.

That term is Force Multiplication.

Great, just what I need... more math.

 

What is Force Multiplication?

The short version is that force multiplication is a military term, and it refers to the degree by which an attribute (or combination of attributes) increases the efficiency of a particular force.

For example, say it takes 1 fighter with silver weapons to take out a werewolf. Without those silver weapons, it would take a force of 4 fighters to do the job. Therefore the silver weapon is a force multiplier of 4 in this situation.

Ah, now it begins to come clear...

While you don't necessarily need to crunch the numbers to work out exactly what percentage of effectiveness certain spells, magic items, abilities, etc. add to your party's effectiveness (you can if you've got the math chops for it, but you don't have to), this creates a useful lens to view your resources and abilities through in terms of strategic effectiveness in the game.

Spells like haste or abilities like bardic music? Those are force multipliers in a game, and I pointed out as much in Vulgar Displays of Power: Tips For Getting The Most Out of Your Magic in Pathfinder. A paladin's ability to grant their smite to their companions? Serious force multiplier when facing devils, demons, undead, etc. The same can be said of a ranger's ability to grant their favored enemy bonus to their companions in a fight. Anything which increases effectiveness falls into this category, and when it affects more than one person then it becomes even more effective overall.

Everything is Situational

Though I've said it before, I feel it needs to be repeated; everything in an RPG is situational. Certain spells, abilities, skills, etc. will be extremely potent in certain circumstances, and next to useless in others. This is important to remember when thinking in terms of force multiplication, because in order for the item, ability, spell, etc. to qualify it has to actually increase your effectiveness in the situation you'll be going into.

In other words, if you bring a gun to the knife fight, you're going to win. But even the biggest, shiniest knife isn't going to help you that much if everyone else brought a gun.

It seemed like a good deal when I bought it!

As an example, take an ability like Improved Evasion. This ability is a huge deal if you're going through a dungeon that has primarily area of effect traps, or if a majority of your enemies use things like breath weapons, fireballs, etc. In situations like these the benefits of this ability cannot be overstated. But if you never fight a sorcerer who tosses around fireballs and lightning bolts? If there's never an area effect you need to nimbly dodge aside from? Well, then it's just sitting on your sheet gathering dust.

This is something to keep in mind for everything you expend your resources on; you need to keep in mind the goals you have, and the challenges you're actually facing.

The paladin smite and ranger favored enemy I mentioned above? Those are potent benefits against the proper foes, but if you're not facing the right enemies, they're useless. The ability to fly is usually considered a force multiplier, but if the arena is too small to make full use of it, or if you cannot use it to put meaningful distance between yourself and an enemy (they can also fly, they have reach/range, etc.) then its effectiveness is hampered. The ability to turn invisible, or to protect yourself and your companions with illusions is usually a powerful ability, but against enemies who have blindsight, true seeing, or other effects, it's rendered moot.

One truism that players often forget is that what I said in Everything Has A Weakness (So Be Sure You Know Your Options) also applies to the PCs. Just because you have an ability that is particularly potent in one situation, that doesn't mean it applies to all situations.

Keep that in mind when you're looking at all the available levers you have to increase your party's force with.

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That's all for this week's Crunch topic! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio! Or if you'd like to read some of my books, like my alley cat noir novel Marked Territory, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well! And if you'd like to help support me and my work, consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron! Even a little bit of help can go a long way, trust me on that one.