“So should we go to Morne, to arrange for approval?” Mostin asked brightly. “Oh, no need for that, Mostin,” Eadric replied. “As an inquisitor, I am more than qualified to release the money to you. I’ll just write you a check to draw against the temple funds.” The Alienist’s mouth dropped open in an expression of disbelief. Here was such an enormous potential for financial abuse that his mind boggled. Then again, thought Mostin, that’s probably why he’s the paladin and I’m not.
Sepulchrave’s Lady Despina’s Virtue is the story of a real D&D campaign, but it’s also one of the most enjoyable fantasy stories I’ve read. It’s got a lot of stuff you can pull out and use in your own campaign. Here’s one thing you can use:
If you want to give a real moral temptation to a paladin, don’t have leering demons offer hellish pacts. Just have the paladin’s superiors give him an expense account.
PCs usually have stuff they want to buy. A lot of it can be used to fight evil, so there will be some legitimate expenses. There will also be a temptation to borrow against the expense account for less-clear-cut expenses, and pay it back out of future loot. See if you can get your paladin to start embezzling.
That’s when you bring in the inquisitors. Revel as the paladin is forced to compromise his ideals to avoid discovery. Laugh as he loses his paladinhood. Celebrate your dark victory as he returns as an anti-paladin!
Or not. But a paladin needs to face some real temptations, or he’s just a fighter with good PR.
Tags: everybook
Great idea! Love it. This will completely crumble the paladin in my campaign in about two sessions!
Bureaucracies have turned more people even than any cult.
Remember to keep your receipts.
http://apaladinincitadel.blogspot.com/2010/04/papers-and-paychecks-rpg.html
Sepulchrave’s Wyre fiction is fabulous, and well-worth the time for any old-school gamer to read through for inspiration: demonic machinations galore! (Warning, though: the game itself is 3.x based).
Allan.
Why the obsession with stripping Paladins of their paladinhood? No other class is the target of so many screwjobs.
“Why the obsession with stripping Paladins of their paladinhood? No other class is the target of so many screwjobs.”
For me it’s just one particular paladin.
Guy in my campaign has been skating along the edge from the get-go, and he’s very much the sort to abuse an expense account, at least in game. I can just see some real hilarity ensuing with him in charge of an expense account…
[…] Paladins with expense accounts at Blog of Holding: Tempt your paladins by letting them control some of the church’s wealth. Hilarity ensues as embezzlement forces questionable moral choices in the face of the church’s inquisitors. […]
[…] quotes from Sepulchrave's D&D stories: Finally, note that the magic item exchange is fairly typical of my campaign. I never allow such […]
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