[oWoD: Mage] Paladin paradigm

[JeenLeen]

My buddies and I are playing Mage: the Ascension (old World of Darkness.) I've been wanting to build a character whose paradigm is based off the D&D Paladin. However, I'm having trouble thinking up a paradigm on that. Either the concept as in medieval lore or actually he was obessed with the D&D paladin before Awakening.
Any Tradition or an Orphan works.

Instead of normal character creation, we are using arrays:
Attributes: 4, 2, 1, rest 3
Abilities: 4, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 2, and 14 '1's
Background: 4, 2, 1
Arete: 3
Spheres: 3 (depending on Tradition), 2, 1

I'll have about 65 xp. Backgrounds and Arete cannot be bought with this. Lores are limited to two dots in one and one dot in two others, if the backstory allows.

Also: instead of normal foci rules, each Sphere has its own focus or multiple foci. For each Arete gained 2-5, you can collapse two more Spheres onto that focus. (So, at Arete 3, five Spheres can use the same focus.) At Arete 6+, you stop relying on foci.

Ideally, I'd like the paradigm to be fairly versatile. I imagine 'chanting' or 'prayer' could be the focus that the others are collapsed onto, since there's not much limiting on that.

Pluses for style; it's a roleplay intensive campaign. Due to personal preference, a 2 or 3 dots in Forces would be nice, as are Lores.

(Also, please avoid or 'Spoiler' anything that gives away the cosmology, characters, or plot/metahistory of the World of Darkness. We're trying hard to keep player knowledge and in-character knowledge seperate, so me learning anything about the Tradition Council, Technocracy, vampires, werewolves, fey, zombies, hunters, demons, etc. isn't good for me.)

[Haven]

For some inspiration, perhaps take a look at this (http://hem.bredband.net/arenamontanus/Mage/cc_page.html)? It's a page containing possible specifics for the Celestial Chorus paradigm--the page is a fan-work, so it's not canon for the CC, and it doesn't have spoilers on anything that is. Might give you an inspiration.

Though I guess it depends on if he's actually a holy warrior, or if he just thinks he is: is he more Cecil from FFIV, or Don Quixote? Does he have actual faith in something, or does he just like the image of the paladin? Either is doable in Mage, but obviously that'll change things a bit.

[clockworkmonk]

For tradition, as a solid starting point, I would suggest either the Celestial Chorus or The Sons of Ether.

I think the Chorus is the obvious choice here if you are going for a holy warrior.

I honestly think Sons of Ether is a better fit. The Sons have a couple catagories of mages, there are the mad scientists making up the bulk of it, and then there are the pulp adventurers. He could identify with some Mythic figures, Like the Knights of the Round Table, or be a Paladin in the Tradition of Solomon Kane, a holy warrior who follows a religion in name, more interested in the smiting of evils.


I realize now that by paradigm you mean a method to casting. Prayers can take many forms, and perhaps he could change the type of prayer based on the magics being worked, from Gregorian chants to psalms to Hymns to whatever other kind of prayer you can find. If you go full blown Pulp adventure, Then a relic or two would make a good focus. Perhaps that you learned forces from a shaman and use a primal dance to control the forces? Remember, in mage your character does not have to be tied to a single tradition, you can mix and match based on your character's background.