Help planning a Paladin solo side-quest

[ictow]

I'm a relatively new DM playing Pathfinder with a group of also new players. It's been a blast.

One of them is especially into it, and I wanted to give him a bonus of playing a solo side-quest that will span one or maybe two sessions. But I'm still new enough that I don't quite know how to balance the elements out to make it manageable for him, since he's still a low level character.

He's a paladin about to become level 2, so my thought was to have his god whisk him away to another plane where he must prove his worth through a trial of valor before he can move to level 2. But I'm not quite sure what to put in that will be fun AND challenging AND not immediately kill him.

Any thoughts? If you were going to design a 4-hour solo side-quest for a low-level paladin, what would it look like?

[zephyrkinetic]

I don't know that a Level 2 would be enough to get the attention of more than a (very) minor Deity. How about letting him schlep off somehwere for a special mount, or special mount gear?

[Red Fel]

A major side quest for a Paladin, in my mind, either involves one of three things:

1. Divine intervention. (At this level, highly unlikely.)

2. A request from a ranking member of the clergy or nobility. (Going for holy crusade or knight in shining armor missions, respectively.)

3. A cry for help from an oppressed individual. (A child's parent abducted, the family farm imperiled by a giant, that sort of thing.)

My question, however, is this - how are you managing it? Is this something that he's doing while adventuring with the party? Or has he separated from the party to do this? Or is he doing this while he hasn't yet joined the party?

Are you conducting this side-quest during regular sessions, or special side-sessions or via e-mail?

I ask this for several reasons.

1. Logistically, it's a pain to run two games at once. If you're going back and forth between the party and the Paladin, it's going to be a challenge.

2. Interpersonally, it's dangerous. Unless every player is getting their own unique snowflake side-quest, you're giving this Paladin special treatment, and that's not necessarily going to go over well.

I've been in a party, for example, where the DM gave a specific side-quest to our cleric. And we all got to tag along. Despite none of us having a profoundly personal connection with her character, or any desire to help her delve into the Underdark. We got to go along. Our campaign disintegrated shortly thereafter.

My advice, therefore, would be to weave his quest through the main campaign, such that he can accomplish his goals while adventuring with the party. For example, say he is approached by a member of the clergy, who informs him that a sacred relic of their deity was recently stolen. The clergyman requests that the Paladin not speak of it openly, but quietly conduct a search for any clues he may uncover in his travels. Others have been similarly dispatched (so the Paladin isn't being uniquely singled out for such a vital mission despite being only 2nd level), but this being a campaign, the Paladin is likely to stumble on clues first.

This isn't the sort of side-quest he can complete at second level. It's likely to take him a good while to complete it, multiple levels if you plan it out well. As a plus, this makes the party feel relevant too - it may be the Paladin's quest, but their help is vital to his success.

[Vogonjeltz]

How about: the paladins Leige lord, or someone he would consider worthy of respect, requests that the paladin escort the lord's ward from an outlying keep to the Lord's manor house and at the same time bring back a macguffin to cure the deathly ill younger brother (perhaps of a serious disease).

Part one is the journey to the keep, part two is the return. You could spin it by having this all be a ruse, where the real goal is to use the "ward" as a human sacrifice to bring the brother back to life (his having perished weeks ago and being restored as some undead, perhaps a zombie).

A paladin should be able to kill a single zombie, plus there's a bit of life lesson for the character that not everyone is what they seem.

[Telonius]

I really like the idea, and may have to steal it for the next Paladin I DM ...

If you're going to do this, it might be a really interesting thing to have one of these at or near every level-up. The agents of his deity (maybe in disguise; or maybe just as a dream) set up something like the Ultima "8 Virtue" questions. Nothing fall-worthy; just as a chance for him to meditate on the choices he's making, and the reasons for each.