#paladin philosophy

[wearepaladin]

Well, if you'd like to restate your positions, I'd like to hear your thoughts on the Oaths (particularly Vengeance, Devotion and Ancients, as they seem to be the most iconic) and to hear your position on them?

Oath of Devotion: The more traditional oath among the core three, and my favorite, if I'm being honest, for among other things, it provides the most clarity on how the oathkeeper is supposed to act.

Honesty: Don’t lie or cheat. Let your word be your promise.

Courage: Never fear to act, though caution is wise.

Compassion: Aid others, protect the weak, and punish those who threaten them. Show mercy to your foes, but temper it with wisdom.

Honor: Treat others with fairness, and let your honorable deeds be an example to them. Do as much good as possible while causing the least amount of harm.

Duty: Be responsible for your actions and their consequences, protect those entrusted to your care, and obey those who have just authority over you.

Every tenet begins with a virtue, a clear ideal to aspire to, followed by clarity on how best to fulfill that tenet. While this Oath would thrive in the Altruistic Collectivism that typically embodies the Lawful Good Alignment, it is by no means not capable of providing guidance and purpose to a person who lives outside such systems. It is my favorite oath because it's not overly ambiguous, has solid and clarified ideals and how to achieve them with the freedom to interpret them to their best fulfillment.

Oath of the Ancients: While the most popular according to polls I've taken in the past, and while I don't dislike it, it is my least favorite among the core three. It's an Oath that encourages goodness and benevolence to an admirable degree, but I sometimes feel it is too nebulous in its directives.

Kindle the Light. Through your acts of mercy, kindness, and forgiveness, kindle the light of hope in the world, beating back despair.

Shelter the Light. Where there is good, beauty, love, and laughter in the world, stand against the wickedness that would swallow it. Where life flourishes, stand against the forces that would render it barren.

Preserve Your Own Light. Delight in song and laughter, in beauty and art. If you allow the light to die in your own heart, you can't preserve it in the world.

Be the Light. Be a glorious beacon for all who live in despair. Let the light of your joy and courage shine forth in all your deeds.

It encourages a philosophy of altruistic consequentialism, a benevolence that focuses more on the final result than how best to achieve it. If it it stands against anything, unnecessary destruction and despair are illustrated as the closest it will acknowledge as Darkness in a tenet system that wants to encourage Light in all its forms. It is a moral oath that wants to find the goodness in everyone, foster it, strengthen it, but hesitates to name its enemy. Perhaps this is a statement that goodness can be fostered anywhere, and that is admirable.

Oath of Vengeance: The most martial of the core oaths, and one that embraces ruthlessness as a virtue. Out of all the Oaths, its perhaps the most focused in its belief and means of achieving it, to the point that the unwary can trap themselves.

Fight the Greater Evil. Faced with a choice of fighting my sworn foes or combating a lesser evil, I choose the greater evil.

No Mercy for the Wicked. Ordinary foes might win my mercy, but my sworn enemies do not.

By Any Means Necessary. My qualms can't get in the way of exterminating my foes.

Restitution. If my foes wreak ruin on the world, it is because I failed to stop them. I must help those harmed by their misdeeds.

In a way, its the opposite of the Ancients Oath in that it focuses more on the Enemies of the Oathkeeper than how to best live a virtuous or benevolent life. The only virtue it name sis restitution which it underlies as the final world: Where Evil Harms, you shall Restore. For many avengers, this can be overlooked or seen as less important than the Hunt, but allows the Avenger a means of reminding themselves that destruction of evil is meant to lead to good prospering. Destruction is not the end goal. Unlike the other 2, this is purely a warriors oath and can be ended by action, fulfilling the Oath, either allowing the person to move on or focus purely on the restitution tenet.

All three have a place and can be coterminous.

[stoat-party]

oh btw danse has unique “player hasn’t talked in awhile” lines for blind betrayal and they’re devastating if u care

[shorthaltsjester]

honestly as someone who has been in various fandoms for a long time now and who also watched campaigns 1 and 2 without really getting into cr fandom it isn’t Shocking but it is annoying how often people will look at the stories that cr tells and make absolute claims about the goodness of characters (goodness here meaning Moral goodness, not I Like This character and think it’s well made goodness, which is a separate post entirely). particularly regarding the gods and pc parents. and honestly like, typically in fandom i get annoyed by people bending over backwards to woobify characters who are active in their choice to be unkind and generally horrible but in the cr fandom it’s tended to be the opposite where like. a character is just. a human being (in the sense of being Average not in the sense of Fantasy Races) and huge swaths of the fandom act like that’s the most unforgivable thing someone can be. and maybe it is, but one of the most powerful things about fiction is that it tends to encourage people to expand their empathy and exercise their ability to forgive. because fictional characters, no matter how much people like to project onto them, tend not to cause anyone harm, so it’s easier to learn how to forgive and accept things you don’t understand without also villainizing them.

this is mostly prompted by the recent 4sd and the fact that matt’s response to what’s up with the dawnfather was a very insistent “He’s not bad!” and also seeing the online reaction to the mention that the matron would punish vax for saving keyleth that has taken the as usual completely bonkers tune that the raven queen (Who When Met With A Brother Asking A God To Kill Him In Favour Of His Sister, Gave Him A Job, and Later Extended His Natural Life To Help Protect The World And Have More Time With His Family And Allowed Him To Visit His Sister On Her Wedding Day) is a horrible evil abusive bitch of a god. like. can we grow up? can we understand the world and fiction that represents the multitudes of experiences found in it in shades of grey? is that too much to ask (i know it is).

but also specifically the like Extremely Adamant way that both matt and laura were like no no no no relvin isn’t Horirble he’s average. he’s not good he’s just. he’s A father, not a good or bad one. and on the surface it’s hilarious that they’re both so like. enthused to point out that he’s Average because typically when people respond to a claim of a characters badness with the level of immediacy they both did it’s a rebuttal of “no, this character is good actually.” but it was just to affirm that relvin did harm imogen, but not because there’s some aspect of his character that is inherently cruel or especially Bad. and like. yeah actually. yeah you should react like that to a claim that this average person who Has hurt someone, the way that nearly every single person has hurt someone in a way they cannot repair, with immediacy to say this person is a Person and thus imperfect and capable of great harm, but that isn’t some all encompassing judgment on their morality or capability to also do good or be fine.

anyway this is kinda just a rant post but also is just me saying i’m very grateful that when surrounded by a fandom that tends to paint characters as Good or Bad and even while using a game that can encourage that with its alignment system, cr has always told stories that see goodness as a persistent choice that might sometimes falter and that can be chosen even after a lifetime of Badness. i can’t remember exactly what the quote was so forgive me if it’s incorrect but when jester is talking to caleb after he claims he’s not a very good person and she says “good people do bad things sometimes. even bad people do good things.” that’s it! that’s one of the most consistent themes across campaigns. and yet.

[hag-o-hags]

If gods were all-present and all-powerful, they would not need us to do their work for them.

The Wonder Engine, T. Kingfisher

[library-of-legion]

I always thought the paladin class was kind of bland, vanilla, and boring. Like many others on forums, I shared the opinion that they were just annoying goody two-shoes. That was until I took a moment to actually read their tenets, especially the Oath of the Ancients:

Kindle the Light: Through your acts of mercy, kindness, and forgiveness, kindle the light of hope in the world, beating back despair.

Shelter the Light: Where there is good, beauty, love, and laughter in the world, stand against the wickedness that would swallow it. Where life flourishes, stand against the forces that would render it barren.

Preserve Your Own Light: Delight in song and laughter, in beauty and art. If you allow the light to die in your own heart, you can't preserve it in the world.

Be the Light: Be a glorious beacon for all who live in despair. Let the light of your joy and courage shine forth in all your deeds.

How beautiful is that? I want to follow these tenets in real life.

The paladin class is about working toward an ideal so strong, so unwavering, that it manifests as magic. Maybe my interpretation isn’t perfect, but thinking about a paladin breaking their oath now feels much sadder. How I choose to see it, an oathbreaker is not a person who accidentally broke a tenant but a person that stop believing in the dream of a better future.

[flyingkitesatnight]

Immanuel Kant's Retributivism in a Nutshell

Me: Well Manny, we have captured this hardened thug who has been rampaging around town mugging people. I think we should try to rehabilitate him, he probably has mental issues and, you know, there's a possibility he could be made into a good citizen which would benefit society. Kant: JOANNA!!!!! NO! You must not do this! Weren't you paying attention when I said you should never treat others as a means to your ends? "For the good of society"???? That is manipulating the criminal for your own benefit! This is morally wrong, Joanna! He's a person! With dignity! He is inherently valuable! Me: Okaaay... Then what should we do with him, Manny? Kant: *passes me a bat* Beat him senseless.

[jewishdragon]

It’s me, the serial cleric player in dnd

[void-thegod]

Humanity needs a spiritual Renaissance that is founded in freedom and self-determination. Where there is an enthusiasm for life and striving to live more abundantly - body, mind, and soul.

Humanity needs to look both inward and outward for all the truths and solutions that we've accumulated over our time on Earth.

I think if the most privileged, the most wealthy, the most intelligent, the most resourceful, and the most well connected among us come together that we can solve this issue of the human condition.

And by "solve" I mean create a world that is so unlike this in form and function as to seem fantastic and paradisical.

Where there is a will that strives for progress against all odds, there is a chance for the impossible.

[tales-from-the-aether-ttrpg]

Something thats always bugged me about dnd and pathfinder’s gods is that… they are basically monotheism in polytheism wrapping AND there is no actual religion present. The lore is so obsessed with these beings as people with their extensive histories and active presence in the setting that they completely forgot to actually create religions surrounding them.

What does casual worship look like for any of these gods? Could you tell me? What does prayer actually look like? Is there specific times of the day in which you must pray for certain gods? Is there certain attire you must wear to show your faith? Are there certain foods you cannot eat? Are there certain foods that are elevated above the rest for your faith? What kind of offerings are expected everyday? Do they expect offerings everyday or on a certain day of the week? Do they expect physical offerings at all? Do they ask for sacrifices of material goods, animals, people? Why? Why do you worship this deity? How does that actually affect ur daily life? How is worship different for a cleric, paladin, priest, or casual believer? What kinds of swears, curses, exclamations, etc are associated with this religion? Are there certain activities that are banned within your religion? How strictly does the religion police its worshiper’s actions? What kind of philosophies do they preach or disavow?

These and many more are the elements that form real world religions and are absent in most fantasy “religions” including popular ttrpgs. I cant even call these faiths religions because they really arent. One god in these settings should have 20 different religions built around them that all disagree on how the god’s domain, history, and personality should be interpreted. Maybe 2 or 4 of them would be main stream but there should be more than just one monolithic faith surrounding a god. And stop calling it polytheism. Please for the love of everything. Polytheism is a type of religion that worships multiple gods at once. Faith in dnd and pathfinder is largely monotheistic because the players choose one god they like and ignore all the rest.

I am not trying to put the responsibility of creating all these religions on gms - im pointing out that the creators of these ttrpgs did all of us a huge disservice. Religion is such an expansive and fascinating and diverse concept in the real world that it infuriates me to see it reduced to choosing a god you like and thats it. And im agnostic irl!

I was talking to my cowriter about this for the lore in my ttrpg and it got me really rilled up XD Religion can be beautiful or terrible or a mixture of both. It can save people from the world’s darkness or bring out their own inner darkness. It deserves more than a cliff-notes table of deities to choose from and half baked lore about the gods without examining the actual faith they inspire in others :/

[incorrect-dnd-classes]

Paladin: There are causes worth dying for. Rogue: No, there aren't! Because you've only got one life but you can pick up another five causes on any street corner! Paladin: Good grief, how can you live with a philosophy like that? Rogue: Continuously!

[emmg]

Larian, we need to talk. You gave me these devilishly hot men, but I can’t sleep with them? What in the nine hells is this puritan nonsense?

I grew up on Pushkin, okay? My Siberian grandma raised me on tragic Russian literature, and now I’m sitting here thirsting over a devil, knowing she’d slap me with a slipper if she ever found out.

Raphael – like, sure, he’s the guy who’d ruin your life, but you’d still risk it because he probably smells like rich leather and dark promises. Probably a two-pump chump. Nope, can’t even test that theory. Thanks for nothing, Larian. DENIED.

Zevlor – listen, this man is a cinnamon roll with a sword, and I want to crawl on my knees and worship him like a damn saint. He deserves it. And you just know he’s got more than diplomacy under that armor. Smite me, Mr Paladin sir. But nah, that’s too much fun for us, isn’t it? (Also, the man’s got the potential for a full-blown villain arc if someone just pushed the right buttons. Am I alone in this? Probably. Still want it. Someone write it. Going traitor, self-loathing, feeling powerless *mwah*)

Rolan – oh, yeah, the guy who probably argued about Nietzsche in first-year philosophy class and then somehow grew into a halfway-decent human after getting a job and stop living off instant ramen. Still a big, steaming NO.

Fine, fine. I guess I’ll drag myself to AO3 (if it’s even online, which is as rare as a long rest in the Underdark). Someone drop the fanfic links. I'm ready to feel alive again, and too far gone for Lermontov.

[wearepaladin]

I’m looking to play a redemption paladin and would love to hear your thoughts on the Oath compared to the others? It seems to be a really common one but I don’t see much discussion on it

Like the Oath of Devotion, the Oath of Redemption is a virtue driven oath with clear image of how it achieves its vision, and unlike Ancients or Vengeance, cuts away ambiguity and has a very clear code of conduct and ethic for its paladin to follow.

Peace. Violence is a weapon of last resort. Diplomacy and understanding are the paths to long-lasting peace.

Innocence. All people begin life in an innocent state, and it is their environment or the influence of dark forces that drives them to evil. By setting the proper example, and working to heal the wounds of a deeply flawed world, you can set anyone on a righteous path.

Patience. Change takes time. Those who have walked the path of the wicked must be given reminders to keep them honest and true. Once you have planted the seed of righteousness in a creature, you must work day after day to allow it to survive and then flourish.

Wisdom. Your heart and mind must stay clear, for eventually you will be forced to admit defeat. While every creature can be redeemed, some are so far along the path of evil that you have no choice but to end their lives for the greater good. Any such action must be carefully weighed and the consequences fully understood, but once you have made the decision, follow through with it knowing your path is just.

Even if you subtracted all the further details on how this oath is meant to be lived, the virtues it honors would tell you what you need to know. Peace, Innocence, Patience, and Wisdom. Put that all together, it's hard to go too off the reservation on what the oath expects of you.

Thus, you can understand why I have a lot of respect for redeemers and more often than not I think if a Redeemer gets the support they need, they'll lead the way to the best of all possible worlds. I only hedge closer to Devotion because that oath recognizes an immediacy for action that Redemption might find detrimental to taking the time to determine the optimal path.

[nazrigar]

Transformers Allspark: Megatron's and Codexa's Work Buddies.

So my AU finally has name: Allspark! A reflection that it's a story about family, generations and the legacies that come with.

This post is focusing on Megatron's and Codexa's work pals.

Megatron is a miner in one of the most productive places for Energon in all of Cybertron, while Codexa is an archivist in the Temple of Primes.

From Megatron's side:

Jazz: Logistics officer. A bundle of fun, and lover of music and culture. He has a rivalry with the killjoy of Soundwave.

Soundwave: Communications officer. The guy who's responsible for everyone commnicating with each other. Lover of excellence, but also thinks Jazz is an annoying sh-t.

Brawn: DA BOSS. He's the manager of this entire unit. Small in size, big in personality, mightier than most bots. Respect his authority.

Blackout: AKA THE BIG GUY. The man who transports Energon in-and-out. A giant of a man with a strong sense of comraderie.

Shockwave: Former senator and scientist, but got empurata'd for reasons unknown. Thankfully his personality is still intact, however he's doomed to be a glorified processor. Suffers constant boredom and annoyance.

Lugnut: Lugnut is Lugnut. Not bright, but acts as security to make sure nobody is thinking of doing anything rowdy. Loves his job.

From Codexa's side:

Mistress of Flame: Speaker of Solus, and the primary teacher of the ways of Solus Prime. Aloof and none-too-personable, but can be inspiring when need be. Her presence on Cybertron is a signal of Caminus' interconnectedness with the home world.

Dai Atlas: Calm, Steadfast, and one of the mightiest warriors to ever live. A lover of peace who makes sure that his temple is a sanctuary for others.

Cyclonus: The professional Unicron's Advocate, a woman with knowledge of all the holy texts and philosophical tenents, and it's her job to poke holes in each, thus ensuring that society never takes one philosophy too seriously.

Star Saber: THE Paladin of Prima, who holds the Compendium of Prima, a holy book that talks about the life (and failings) of the great Paladin of Primes. Wise and powerful, but also witty with a sharp tongue if needed.

Tigraton: Originally a pilgrim who came to the temple to be closer to one of Onyx's relics, decided it was better to stay as an advocate for beast formers everywhere. Deeply spiritual and introspective.

Pyra Magna: Temple Guard, unusually more cynical in comparison to the others. She has seen much, and hasn't done prayers in a long while, but the Custodians of the Temple of Primes are family and she'll do anything to protect them. Anything.

[not-a-snowman]

I feel like Order of the Stick’s position as a webcomic that has been running for over 20 years and which has been very open in-story about how much has changed and the mistakes it’s made along the way makes it uniquely well equipped to tell a story about how people change.

One thing about OOTS that I loved when I discovered it years ago and still love today, is that it is a very rational comic. I don’t mean that it’s realistic, it’s obviously very silly and bizarre so much of the time. What I mean is that OOTS is very good at explaining/showing why things are the way they are.

Be it elaborate worldbuilding, or a one-off gag, or even in its own rigorous self-analysis- the gears that make the world turn are very apparent. But the thing is, that these reasons aren’t always GOOD reasons.

My favorite thing that this story does is create stories where smart, talented people with good intentions do the wrong thing. Show us characters who have done and continue to do vile things, but have very eloquent reasons for them.

One of my favorite scenes that I keep coming back to in my head, is Redcloak’s interrogation with O’Chul. Where he outlines all the flaws he sees with the Sapphire Guard and how it wouldn’t make SENSE for O’Chul to not have the information he’s after. It’s a very OOTS scene, like it’s leading up to a twist or retcon that will make Redcloak’s problem make sense. What’s more likely? That an army of loyal paladins ordained by the gods wouldn’t know anything about 4/5 of the locations they are sworn to defend, or that O’Chul has discovered a way to resist his interrogation methods?

And then in true O’Chul fashion he just completely shuts down Redcloak’s clearly very thoroughly thought through argument with a simple change in perspective

What’s more likely? That he has a secret technique that Redcloak has never heard of which resists all of the high level mind reading and divination spells they’ve thrown at him so far… or that he just doesn’t know?

It’s a simple scene that I think really displays the story’s talent for showing how even rational justifications are susceptible to bias and capable of being completely wrong. Redcloak takes a perceived logical failure in how the Sapphire Guard is run and and fixates on it to the point that he ignores the obvious fallacy HE is currently making!

And this philosophy extends to a lot of the story. The gods have reasons for why the world is the way it is, but that doesn’t change unbalanced and cruel it can be. Vaarsuvius had reasons and good intentions when they made that devils deal, but it doesn’t make the consequences feel any less unnecessary. The party had reasons to act terrible to each other, but they still had to recognize that those reasons weren’t good enough to stay their path.

Order of the Stick had reasons for the off color jokes and double standards that plagued its early chapters. It was written 20 years ago and wasn’t always intended to be the grand serial it has become. But that doesn’t make these things good. And it doesn’t mean that there’s no value in looking back at what happened and trying to be better

[bloodyshadow1]

the Bad Kids really spit in the face of Porter's philosophy this fight and it was beautiful. they were outnumbered 8 (counting Mazey and the hangman) against at the start 8 higher level enemies, but that number quickly spiraled to 11 with Jace's clones, and 14 with the 3 extra ragestars. Sure the Bad Kids eventually got a lot of helpers near the end of the fight, but only Squeem managed to do something and got people up and Bakur was a meat shield that did some damage to Porter.

Honestly, if he was smarter, Porter probably could have tpk'd the Bad Kids on his own. He had legendary resistances, legendary actions and was resistant to all forms of damage, immunity to fire, and a Barbarian's speed. Not to mention his attacks did massive amounts of force damage that Gorgug's rage doesn't resist.

If they went against him and tried to match him power for power they would have lost. Maybe they would have widdled him down, but there's a good chance they would be dead 8 vs 1, especially how tired they were from fighting off a swarm of dragons.

But the Bad Kids are good at what they do, they know there's more to fights than just damage. Strategy, utility spells, teamwork, that's what the Bad Kids used to win the day not raw power. They were smart, they targeted the squishy dangerous casters first to keep them out of play, they used their environment to get 4 deaths from lava alone.

Riz in his first turn did serious damage to the Rat Grinders with a single level 3 spell. Slowing down Mary Ann and Ruben left them so vulnerable. Mary Ann despite being a barbarian couldn't get to anyone to attack and meant she was out of the fight for the first half. Even more it destroyed the Bad Guys action economy since it meant one of the Jaces and Buddy had to use their turns to dispel the magic off their teammates, one of which was counterspelled. And of course he killed Kipperlily on his own. Drawing her ire, negating her sneak attacks against him and of course, casting hold person while she's in the lava killing her while telling her how bad she is at being a rogue.

Fabian did his thing, he is a fighter and a swords bard, it's his job to use his mobility to deal a lot of damage and boy did he do a lot of damage. He downed Ivy in a single turn and did damage to Oisin so he could be finished off with Fig. Then using his turns to draw fire, protect Mazey, give out Bardics when he could. And of course the biggest moment was freeing Bakur. In that moment, and it took a bit to pay off, they got an ally in a pit fiend, something strong and big that Porter couldn't ignore, and got the chance to get allies on the field to help them. It brought Squeem back so that he could get people up saved the day.

Fig is like Fabian, she does a lot of damage so why not celebrate it. On her first turn, she used her incredible mobility to get Oisin, probably the most deadly of the Rat Grinders (not counting Jace and Porter) as a wizard with access to 9th level spells, and she was able to almost kill him. She was also able to do damage to Ivy with her green flame blade to get her health down so Fabian could down her in one turn. She used a fire ball to kill ruben, damage Buddy, some of the Jaces, and Mary Ann, that got concentration checks on at least one Jace and Buddy that they failed losing a bigbsy hand and the banishment that Buddy was holding. unintentionally, the fireball was a big move because it got Mary Ann to target her, it's not great to have a barbarian as strong as her after you, but it kept her from attacking anyone else. It also got Mary Ann to take a lot of damage from the lava because she was so angry with Fig. Without that they would have had to deal with a second barbarian who unlike her teammates actually had some hit points. When she was back up she kills one of the Jaces with a well placed shatter. All the while acting like both a bard and a paladin, giving out bardics and doing damage to the bad guys.

Kristen, what can I say, both Kristens were amazing. I'm not a fan of K2, but she was clutch this fight, they literally couldn't have done it without her. Their healing was of course a saving grace, their support spells helped so much, and their utility was incredible. I'm not sure if they did any damage at all this fight, but they were so important. You can't really get better support than two clerics and they showed why. Keeping their party up and alive is one of the most important parts of combat. But there was also the utility they had in the fight, banishing Buddy was huge, no heals or revifiys if that was his thing, and keeping him from hurting anyone because clerics do have a lot of damaging spells. the dispel on the devil's nectar and their connection with Cassandra was clutch of course, it was what set the stage for their victory and allowed them to get Bakur on their side. And of course Ice Feast, Brennan, if you're gonna homebrew a spell for your friends, don't make it so powerful. yes, it's basically a reskin of heroes feast, but immunity to fire damage is overpowered when your final battle map has lava in it. Lava is very dangerous to those not immune to it as it killed two rat grinders and 3 of the Jaces in the fight, all while helping the bad kids and their allies.

Gorgug was amazing this whole fight, utilizing both the barbarian and the artificer part of him. He got the kill on Oisin who would have been very annoying to deal with and with his final attack he grapples porter away from his friends. It's not great for him, Porter is still a huge barbarian who can get around Gorgug's damage resistances with Force damage, but he keeps the big bad busy for as much as he can. He kept getting knocked down the whole fight, but thanks to his friends he never stayed down. Tossing a Jace into the Lava and stealing the votes from Porter with one hp was inspired. And in the final round he completely proves Porter wrong, the guy who told him being an artifer multiclass was a waste of time, who mocked him and called his gadgets stupid. Gorgug uses one of those stupid gadgets to help Adaine put the final nail into the big bad and bad teacher's coffin by taking points away from his saving throw letting Adaine's spell take hold. To add insult to injury he drops his rage for that last part just to show Porter that his toxic way of thinking didn't do him any good.

Adaine, I could talk about Adaine's amazingness in this last fight for days, she's my favorite character. This whole fight, she wasn't the blaster wizard that you expect from a lot of high level wizards. She does some damage, but her real effectiveness shined through crowd control and using utility spells to keep her party in the fight. the synaptic static was so devastating to the clumped up rat grinders and it damaged Jace before he could summon his clones so they were damaged at the start, not to mention the -d6 to a lot of their shit. she was just amazing this entire fight, even after being targeted by spells and attacks, she's the only other person kipperlily attacked other than Riz and her only successful sneak attack in her life against an enemy apparently. She also tanked several spells from the Jaces, flesh to stone, lightning bolt, bigbys hand, despite it all, she stays up until Porter has to use an aoe to deal with her, even taking some attacks from him. She saved her friends with Scatter and kept one of the Jaces out of the fight for a while, three of her friends down and she stands there looking at Porter defiantly, talking down to him and Jace despite them being teachers. And of course the detect thoughts with Fabian's brain worm present, allowing Ankarna to see the truth for herself in Porter's lies.

That detect thoughts was clutch, because like I said in the beginning, damage isn't everything. In a straight up fight they might have lost against Porter, the guy did just too much damage and was too tanky. But with that one utility spells they didn't beat Porter, but they outsourced to someone who could. They told his god the truth, that he was trying to kill her with his own thoughts, and she showed him what a goddess could do.

The Bad Kids are very powerful, but it's important to win when you're fighting for the sake of the world. It's important to be powerful but the Bad Kids are smart and strong, able to think and put aside ego and rage, something the rat grinders didn't understand. Spells and abilities aren't the same thing as being strong and now they know that

[utilitycaster]

Who has your favorite build in each campaign? I love seeing you talk about those kinds of reasonings bc personally i have a really hard time with leveraging dnd mechanics when I play and I wonder who did it best

Hi anon!

Some thoughts at the end re: build philosophies here, but to answer the question:

Campaign 1 is tough because I usually like to give this to a build that's something thoughtful, mechanically optimized [note: does not need to be optimized for combat], with clear choices made that are informed by and themselves inform the narrative. I respect the hell out of Vax's multiclass into paladin. Narratively, it shakes out great. The mechanics, however, are less than stellar. So my choice here is Percy. It's true that his subclass is broken as hell but that's not what I like. I think Taliesin makes good use of how fighters have a zillion ASIs and not only maxes out Percy's intelligence when that becomes important, but also takes Magic Initiate to hint at Orthax's influence, with thoughtful choices of spells to go with it. Fighter is a strong class and it's worth taking it the whole way through, and he does.

Campaign 2 is, on the other hand, easy, and I've talked about Fjord's build at length before so I don't want to go into it in detail, but suffice it to say: his paladin multiclass was exceptionally well-earned in the narrative while also being, famously, one of the best multiclass builds in D&D (the hexadin). But before that, his invocations (mask of many faces, gift of the depths, sculptor of flesh) tell a story of the kind of person he is: a sailor who almost drowned and won't let it happen again. A person trying to find his true identity amid a sea (pun intended) of expectations and potential models and bullying. Even his racial traits like relentless endurance, and the fact that he came in with more CON than CHA explain how he survived a brutal childhood. I think all of the Mighty Nein's casters did a particularly strong job of choosing the spells they used and flavoring them to their personality and Fjord was no exception, and as someone who remembers the speculation of paladin class, a homebrew one really was the only way to go.

Campaign 3 surprised me, because I have had my frustrations with it, but the more I think about it, it's Fearne. Her base subclass is one of the best out there, it's true, and she leans into the fire motifs adeptly, but I actually, after being somewhat critical of it, have really come around on the choice to multiclass into an arcane trickster. Why wouldn't she be a rogue if she likes to steal? Why wouldn't she, while trying to figure out what her relationship with her parents should be, try on her mother's subclass? Ashley picked some extremely good spells as well; Disguise Self, Identify, and Shield either protect her (she's not terribly squishy, but as someone who doesn't usually wildshape for combat, not a tank either) or fit niches that the party really doesn't have otherwise. And again, why wouldn't someone who loves to collect things perhaps try to learn what those things are? Yes, at times I'm impatient for Transport via Plants (though at this point...two party members could just have Teleport) but Fearne's build is one that surprised me, which is hard to do. Druids are usually so strong it's not worth multiclassing, and I'm a longstanding Rogue Disliker, but the choice makes sense. (I also happen to like that this means Fearne isn't going to live thousands of years - or rather, she might, because fey, but not in the way Keyleth will. I don't think that's her thing!)

So I think these choices reflect different approaches of what I'd put into 2 buckets of Valid Options.

Percy is the "stick with one class and do it very well; customize through feats and existing options." For more examples of this, see pretty much any character who never multiclassed. I think Liam is exceptional at this and to that point, Caleb and Orym are particularly good examples. I'd also like to shout out Keyleth, Jester, and Caduceus; as prepped casters this group didn't have the same degree of customization options other than their spells for the day, but I think they all had really good visions for what their character would likely prepare.

Fjord and Fearne are both narratively and mechanically strong, though in very different ways (and in Fearne's case, with an eye more to party balance than specifically being stronger herself). See also: Vex and Grog, who are mechanically good multiclasses and narratively make sense, even if it's not a huge moment; Veth; Kingsley and Luc are both good builds that allude to a narrative even if we don't see the full narrative; Chetney. Vax is, admittedly, a bit like Fearne; bit messy on an individual level but narratively without issue, good for party comp, and there's some unexpected interplay (vow of enmity + rogue abilities).

It's hard to say who did things best because, for example, building a character like Ayden requires an impressive breadth of knowledge, a strong vision, and to be honest the freedom starting at L20 with 20 stats across the board grants. Some subclasses are particularly good (Fearne, Orym, and Dorian could all just coast on having some of the best subclasses for their respective classes, though they all have made great build choices too). Some classes are particularly good (hard to go wrong with fighter, wizard, paladin, or cleric though. my complaints of the empathy domain remain intact; on the other hand rogues live or die, literally, by what subclass they pick). Some characters have stories that are enhanced by multiclassing and some don't (Imogen, for example, has had a strong and interesting character arc, but there just aren't great build choices to reflect it.) My favorite doesn't necessarily mean mechanically the best (a thing that is difficult to qualify, let alone quantify, in a vacuum), and when it comes to d&d mechanics, a simple thing executed well (eg: Keyleth is a pretty straightforward example of what happens to be a very good subclass) can be better than a complicated build, even one backed by the story.