[1E] Paladin's War Horse Quest

[Bombay]

I am going to be DMing a section of our game(You can find it in the journals section.) Anyways it is for the Paladin and his seperate Mission that will in the end earn him the right to obtain his warhorse.

I need some help formulating a module though, I want to introduce an enemy that will be sceen again down the road. This will only be the first battle and hope to have a showdown again in the future.

The paladin will be required to leave the group to go on his own. He is 6th level right now. There also needs to be a test to see if he is worthy. Any ideas from the vagueness I have presented?

[Turanil]

A suggestion:

Paladin will be alone, so have him ambushed, overwhelmed by foes, then made prisonner. Later, he is waiting in some jail, and understands that those who captured him are evil and plan to sacrifice him to a dark deity. However, some days will elapse before the right time for the ceremony. In the meantime, paladin witnesses how these guys eat animals in horrible fashion, torturing them before eating them almost alive etc. Of course, they eventually capture a magnificent stallion, and intend to eat it likewise the next day. Now (as a DM) you must put into motion appropriate circumstances so the paladin will be able to escape with the help of this horse, and thus outrun his enemies (maybe the paladin is wounded, unable to run, whatever). So paladin eventually escapes. But now he also knows about that hideous cult in the region, and some clues about their plans. Later he should be able to meet them again...

[JerryB]

One of my favorite games from times long past involved the quest to obtain a warhorse. In this case the paladin had to find the wild herd, capture the horse, and go through the process of taming and training it before the horse realized it's true potential.

It was a very cowboy themed adventure. You should be able to find plenty of material on "mustangs" online in order to get a good feel for the process.

You would have to insert enemies though, as they are not integral to the concept.

[shimrod]

I'd also suggest a difficult moral quandary, since faith and alignment are so important to paladins. I know Law v. Chaos gets too murky, but there could be a difficult choice in terms of Good vs. Evil.

Perhaps saving a Witch about to be executed by a basically good-aligned, but superstitious and prejudiced village. Since that would be a Chaotic (although Good) act, maybe find a way out that doesn't run afoul of the village's laws. Perhaps the origins of the Witch's crimes were rumours or lies by an influential and Evil village elder? Finding evidence opposing this elder in order to save the witch could lead him on the quest for the warhorse.

[garhkal]

Or she could be grateful enough to tell the paladin of a great stallion she knows of..

As to the prison/baddies eating the horses... I liked it, right up to the 'the gm needs to set up some way to have them escape' part... IMO it is not the gms roll to set up escapes..

[Bombay]

Good ideas so far, anyone else with some Ideas?

I like the moral quandry alot.

Ive thought that at near the end of the quest, perhaps the Mastermind Mr. Evil is trying to escape and he has some woman sitting on a horse, and she has a noose around her neck. He has to make a choice, chase after Mr. Evil or save the woman.

[garhkal]

Optionally the baddie is ON the horse... best way to dismount him is to kill the horse.. So do you go that route, or try the more risky and time consuming way of going for the rider.

[Thorkhammer]

Lost my last post. Tryin' again.

I like Jerry B.s response. Here's my twist:

Paladin (L6, right) finds a horse caught in a trap. Nothing complex, and no "baddies" about, he frees the steed and, to his joyous surprise, the horse speaks to him--psionically/magically, I don't care. The horse then wishes to take the man back to his homeland, and present him to the Horse King.

Man and horse travel to this very isolated realm, where the Horse King informs the man that, when a human saves a horse a blood-bond is formed. If the man wishes, he can join the elite group of humans known as the Horse Brothers; these folk have special-links to their mounts and can freely communicate with all equine. But the man must pass a series of tests in order to be accepted by the herd. Whatcha think?

[Bombay]

I think I have narrowed this down.

- Paladin receives his vision about an abduction in a town, the banner of city will be seen to give him a clue to where he must go.

- Paladin does comes to find out there is a reward for the daughter of a Merchant, bandits captured her apparently.

- After investigation the Paladin finds out where the bandits hideout.

- He rescues her, or tries to and finds out she was only fake captured because she has been "Sold" into marriage to some wealthy aristocrat.

- THe Aristocrat only really wants to marry her for her family heirloom that she wears, it actually has imprisoned a "Good being" in this heirloom, which he needs to sacrafice to raise a demon/devil.

Thats what i have so far.

[Bombay]

Ive made some changes to the idea.

When the paladin arrives to the bandits hideout, he will find out there was a battle, and that she was captured.

Some kind of sign is needed to direct the Paladin to the Aristocrat.

The Aristocrat is working for a Cambion who is trying to release his father(Some Demon) from a prison of some sort.

Cambion of 9th level too hard for a Paladin of 7th level to face one on one?

[the expert]

for the bandits you could use different types of bandits. i have made up in my spare time have made up lots of monster stats incuding 6 differant types of bandits. Ask if you want me to post them.

[ThePerilousDreamer]

Lost my last post. Tryin' again.

I like Jerry B.s response. Here's my twist:

Paladin (L6, right) finds a horse caught in a trap. Nothing complex, and no "baddies" about, he frees the steed and, to his joyous surprise, the horse speaks to him--psionically/magically, I don't care. The horse then wishes to take the man back to his homeland, and present him to the Horse King.

Man and horse travel to this very isolated realm, where the Horse King informs the man that, when a human saves a horse a blood-bond is formed. If the man wishes, he can join the elite group of humans known as the Horse Brothers; these folk have special-links to their mounts and can freely communicate with all equine. But the man must pass a series of tests in order to be accepted by the herd. Whatcha think?

Hey Thorkhammer, I like this a lot, I would just tweak it by having the horse in a trap and battling for its life, paladin rescues horse at risk of his own life ... when human risks life to save a horse.... and everything else like you laid it out.

[garhkal]

Lost my last post. Tryin' again.

I like Jerry B.s response. Here's my twist:

Paladin (L6, right) finds a horse caught in a trap. Nothing complex, and no "baddies" about, he frees the steed and, to his joyous surprise, the horse speaks to him--psionically/magically, I don't care. The horse then wishes to take the man back to his homeland, and present him to the Horse King.

Man and horse travel to this very isolated realm, where the Horse King informs the man that, when a human saves a horse a blood-bond is formed. If the man wishes, he can join the elite group of humans known as the Horse Brothers; these folk have special-links to their mounts and can freely communicate with all equine. But the man must pass a series of tests in order to be accepted by the herd. Whatcha think?

Hey Thorkhammer, I like this a lot, I would just tweak it by having the horse in a trap and battling for its life, paladin rescues horse at risk of his own life ... when human risks life to save a horse.... and everything else like you laid it out.

Interesting angle, but wouldn't that mean anyone could potentially earn a horse bond like paladins do?

[Thorkhammer]

Re to Perilous: I like this even better. Risking one's own life to save a horse's--sounds just like the thing a LG paladin might do.
Re to Gar: perhaps, unlike the standard horse, the Horse King is Lawful?

I didn't think the post out entirely, so I'm sure adjustments are in order.
I'm not always aware of resurrected threads.

[ThePerilousDreamer]

Re to Perilous: I like this even better. Risking one's own life to save a horse's--sounds just like the thing a LG paladin might do.
Re to Gar: perhaps, unlike the standard horse, the Horse King is Lawful?

I didn't think the post out entirely, so I'm sure adjustments are in order.
I'm not always aware of resurrected threads.

I think a couple of things might be in order. one how rare it is for anyone to risk there life for a horse in most campaign worlds and two while someone other than a than a paladin might have that bond with their horse, the Horse King (yes is Lawful) would have the power to grant special powers to a paladins horse that would not be available to an ordinary person and their horse.

The average life span of a horse is 25-30 years old and the oldest verifiable horse lived to an age of 62 years old. How about the Horse King grants for paladins that their horse companion will stay vigorous and capable for its entire life span and that life span can be extended past the normal 25-30 years, to match the paladin, if the paladin continues to survive past that point.

[garhkal]

That would work.

[ThePerilousDreamer]

That would work.

Thanks, letting it sit and going back to look it I still like it too.

What do you think about it Thorkhammer?

[Thorkhammer]

Might even tie that anti-horse aging effect to benefit the paladin too. So he or she won't get old and lose stats.

Whatchya think?

[jmidd]

Have him call for his warhorse - have it turn up - with an angry anti-paladin on its back.

[ThePerilousDreamer]

Might even tie that anti-horse aging effect to benefit the paladin too. So he or she won't get old and lose stats.

Whatchya think?

I think that sounds great and it fits in with the way I am running paladins anyway, where they are very rare and if they are allowed to progress past 12th level it is because they are Chosen by their "god".

IMC over the previous 4 years before the reboot, the max level for anyone was 12th level, with only a few exceptions. One exception was for paladins: first there was a limit of only one paladin at a time for small continents and no more than three paladins for large "Eurasia" size continents. Secondly on reaching 12th level a paladin could only advance further if "CHOSEN". At one point during the campaign the party encountered a 30th level female paladin (Alastríona) who spent her life in service to her "god" traveling the continent smiting evil.

[garhkal]

Might even tie that anti-horse aging effect to benefit the paladin too. So he or she won't get old and lose stats.

Whatchya think?

IS that just for natural aging, or would it also prevent him aging as a side effect of drinking speed potions/having magic used on him, or via ghost attacks?

[Thorkhammer]

Might even tie that anti-horse aging effect to benefit the paladin too. So he or she won't get old and lose stats.

Whatchya think?

IS that just for natural aging, or would it also prevent him aging as a side effect of drinking speed potions/having magic used on him, or via ghost attacks?

That sounds uber-cool! I like it.
Maybe more folks will try playing a paladin if we keep making it appealing, eh?

[ThePerilousDreamer]

Might even tie that anti-horse aging effect to benefit the paladin too. So he or she won't get old and lose stats.

Whatchya think?

IS that just for natural aging, or would it also prevent him aging as a side effect of drinking speed potions/having magic used on him, or via ghost attacks?

That sounds uber-cool! I like it.
Maybe more folks will try playing a paladin if we keep making it appealing, eh?

I like it, but then I love paladins as a character class. IMC they are ultra rare, usually an NPC and to be very high level have to be Chosen. I am going to add these things to my paladin writeup found here when I get some time.

I don't think paladins are overpowered, considering their limitations, not that I ever worry about balance anyway and it would be very difficult for any one player to dominate in my game anyway.

[ThePerilousDreamer]

Now we have been talking about a Paladin's War Horse,(which IMC is Paladins of the Sword may choose to obtain a horse, which is powerfully gifted, but not more than one per 10 years of game time, so if it is killed it is not automatically replaced. The paladin’s Horse is a Heavy Horse, with Armor Class IV, moves 18” has 8 Hit Dice and is highly intelligent). but I have another question for you. For my campaign along with a fighter being able to become a Paladin, I also have the option for a cleric to become a Paladin and in my other thread I refer to the them as Paladins of the Sword and Paladins of the Mace.

So Paladins of the Mace may choose to obtain a mule, which is powerfully gifted, but not more than one per 10 years of game time, so if it is killed it is not automatically replaced. The paladin’s Mule is a Riding Mule, with Armor Class V, moves 21” has 6 Hit Dice and is highly intelligent. So we have come up with a neat way for the Paladin to obtain his horse, but what about my other version of a paladin, what do you think would be a cool way for him to obtain his mule?

[Thorkhammer]

I am writing a short story concerning this general topic. It concerns the first paladin, how he came to be, why the bond between horse and rider, why his deity chooses to bestow certain limited powers upon him, etc.

But in this story the warrior never rides the horse--Cloudchaser--that accompanies him. She is a 3 year old filly, only 15 hands at the withers, and only 950 pounds. The warrior is 6'6" and 250 lbs. Adding another 75 lbs of saddle, tack, and the warrior's supplies, would have her carrying over 1/3 of her weight. What ends up happening is.... Ahh, I don't want to spoil the story (which I hope to submit to Footprints!), so I'll leave it as that.

Regarding the paladins of the mace--the mule is a result of crossbreeding between the donky and horse. Animal Husbandary is needed here. Suppose there exists a Special Order of clerics that have discovered this phenomenon, and perfected it over the decades, keeping the secret to themselves. They alone would be the providers of mules throughout the civilized world. And in such a case, very hearty members of this order might even evolve into Mule Knights.

[ThePerilousDreamer]

I am writing a short story concerning this general topic. It concerns the first paladin, how he came to be, why the bond between horse and rider, why his deity chooses to bestow certain limited powers upon him, etc.

But in this story the warrior never rides the horse--Cloudchaser--that accompanies him. She is a 3 year old filly, only 15 hands at the withers, and only 950 pounds. The warrior is 6'6" and 250 lbs. Adding another 75 lbs of saddle, tack, and the warrior's supplies, would have her carrying over 1/3 of her weight. What ends up happening is.... Ahh, I don't want to spoil the story (which I hope to submit to Footprints!), so I'll leave it as that.

Regarding the paladins of the mace--the mule is a result of crossbreeding between the donky and horse. Animal Husbandary is needed here. Suppose there exists a Special Order of clerics that have discovered this phenomenon, and perfected it over the decades, keeping the secret to themselves. They alone would be the providers of mules throughout the civilized world. And in such a case, very hearty members of this order might even evolve into Mule Knights.

I like this, and the crossbreeding could require a bit of divine intervention. More info about mules is found in this thread.

[slgarrett]

The trick is to make sure that the dream reveals something about where he might find his mount. This is a chance to do some high Arthurian romance. The paladin has repeated dreams of a horse, at a vividly described location. It could be under a tree, beside a temple, near a castle, in an ancient ruin.. whatever. Pick a location and stick with it. After a short hex crawl to find that location, he finds the horse cruelly kept and defended by some champion of evil. It might be a sorcerer, or a fighter.

Who ever it is, he should challenge him to a duel and force him to yield the horse. The opponent should flee the field and live to fight another day somehow. Maybe something that enables them to teleport away, or else just ride away more quickly. Perhaps they are on some sort of flying mount.

I am going to be DMing a section of our game(You can find it in the journals section.) Anyways it is for the Paladin and his seperate Mission that will in the end earn him the right to obtain his warhorse.

I need some help formulating a module though, I want to introduce an enemy that will be sceen again down the road. This will only be the first battle and hope to have a showdown again in the future.

The paladin will be required to leave the group to go on his own. He is 6th level right now. There also needs to be a test to see if he is worthy. Any ideas from the vagueness I have presented?

[garhkal]

This makes me wonder, has anyone had a warhorse quest go bad, to where via friendly fire, or mistaking AOEs for certain spells, has the warhorse gotten killed?

Or if going the "you find the horse under the ownership of a cruel owner, you need to challenge him for ownership" but when they do challenge, the paladin loses it..

[FreddyP]

The Warhorse Quest did go back in my campaign...a Temple of Elemental Evil campaign. In the final battle in the Moathouse with Lareth, Lareth casted Cause Blindness on the Paladin. This made him very upset. When he realized he could only hit on a 20 (opposed to 19+), he got super moody.

I wanted to tie the Paladin Quest in with something the rest of the group was doing. Away from the game, I asked him if he'd mind being Blind until he finished the Quest. Since he had Blindfighting, he wasn't really at that big of a disadvantage. He said he was fine with it.

So he goes to get the Blindness Cured and is struck by the lord. He cannot see a thing but when he faces one particular direction, southwest, he can see a beautiful, powerful warhorse about 50 feet away. He can walk towards it, the horse still stays about 50 feet away.

He asks the Priests whats up. They all tell him this is probably his Warhorse and he should quest for it. It so happens that everyone else in the party is going the same direction, basically linking the Special Warhorse Quest with the main group Quest.

Paladin doesn't bite for it. Instead of going for his horse and saving all the townspeople, he decides he's going to hoof it to Verbobonc and find some Full Plate Armor. His argument was to mitigate his -2 to hit, he should add +2 to his AC.

After numerous attempts to steer him back on track by both me (via NPCs) and the players, he started arguing with me about what is and what is not a Paladin and/or Lawful Good action. This was at the tail end of a harrowing back and forth with this particular problem player and this is the one and only time I just closed my screen, put my dice into my bag and asked everyone to leave.

But yeah, the Paladin blew that quest. I had the Paladin return as an NPC. The PCs unfortunately, let him die. Took an arrow to the knee or something.

[garhkal]

After the 2nd or so attempt of trying to steer him back on course to get his war horse, i would have had it just 'wander off'.. He no longer gets a vision of it.