PDA

View Full Version : Roleplaying What would a high ranking paladin do when serving a Torm (or Helm)



Kaibis
2018-03-12, 06:30 AM
My player's backstory is that she was a knight's commander (or some other very high rank) serving Torm (and later sent as into some kind of close service to Helm). What I need to understand is what that service might look like. I would like to know how close she might have gotten to them, do they have households? Could she have been a household guard for Helm? She is Aasimar too, which adds a touch to it all (this is kind of her world). What could this service look like at its closest to the deities?

E.g I know the Ravenqueen does not have contact with any humans (Vax'ildan of Critical Role was perhaps an exception?). What about other deities?


Also before anyone judges the backstory, I love it and its working really well. Blah blah blah reasons she is retired now and being dragged out of retirement by a group of adventures (she just renewed her vows, is starting to get back into shape, she needs to buy new gear, it takes time to prepare everything for spells, probably take her a solid 6months of game time before she is back to her old self again ;) ). Loving how it is playing.

LibraryOgre
2018-03-12, 10:59 AM
"A Household Guard for Helm" seems odd, given that Helm is a God, and both he and Torm are on the Outer Planes after the Time of Troubles. Now, you might have them as Temple Guards, and given that Torm used to be on the Prime, a sufficiently old Paladin might have been a household guard at that time. I'll expand, but now I have to go to lunch.

EDIT: Ok, so let's go with a few of these.

A household guard for Helm is unlikely, unless you're dealing with an explicitly Planar campaign, where said character might well have served in Helm's divine realm. As mentioned, a Household Guard for Torm is a bit more likely, since before the Time of Troubles, Torm was a demipower who lived on the Prime Material (in Tantras, IIRC), so you might have literally served in his household guard at that time. Due to deific relationships, it might be better if, instead of Helm, you had him transfered to Tyr, instead, as Tyr is Torm's immediate superior.

But, how about something REALLY radical? Torm was a mortal warrior in the days of Netheril. What if your Aasimar was a household guard from that time, and progressed through his divine service after his ascension and death, but was resurrected by a Priest of Helm in the modern day?

Kaibis
2018-03-12, 04:41 PM
"A Household Guard for Helm" seems odd, given that Helm is a God, and both he and Torm are on the Outer Planes after the Time of Troubles. Now, you might have them as Temple Guards, and given that Torm used to be on the Prime, a sufficiently old Paladin might have been a household guard at that time. I'll expand, but now I have to go to lunch.

EDIT: Ok, so let's go with a few of these.

A household guard for Helm is unlikely, unless you're dealing with an explicitly Planar campaign, where said character might well have served in Helm's divine realm. As mentioned, a Household Guard for Torm is a bit more likely, since before the Time of Troubles, Torm was a demipower who lived on the Prime Material (in Tantras, IIRC), so you might have literally served in his household guard at that time. Due to deific relationships, it might be better if, instead of Helm, you had him transfered to Tyr, instead, as Tyr is Torm's immediate superior.

But, how about something REALLY radical? Torm was a mortal warrior in the days of Netheril. What if your Aasimar was a household guard from that time, and progressed through his divine service after his ascension and death, but was resurrected by a Priest of Helm in the modern day?

These are great ideas, thanks. I am going to check them all out. I don't mind the idea of her having served in a Divine Realm... though I have no idea what that means.

The resurrection idea is huge, I like it. It adds some serious depth.

Aka-chan
2018-03-15, 10:27 PM
IIRC, a god's divine realm includes not only the deity and the celestials under their command, but also the souls of all their deceased mortal worshippers. So maybe part of your character's duties involved protecting or shepherding those souls?

For example, you remember the OOTS strip where an evil adventuring party Plane-Shifted into the part of the afterlife where Roy was, and Roy and his grandfather killed them? Maybe things like that occasionally happen. Evil adventurers or raiding parties from the Abyss/The Nine Hells show up, and your character had to protect the mortal souls from them.

Or, what happens when a cleric casts Raise Dead? Does their spirit travel to the god's realm where the deceased person is and actually journey back with them? Maybe your character greeted visiting clerics and helped them find the soul they were supposed to bring back. Maybe she enforced the "can't bring back an unwilling soul" clause that all the resurrection spells have.