Re: session re****t

In article <dNqdncnyuafjfirYnZ2dnUVZ_rSjnZ2d@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
gleichman <Fox1_217NoSpam@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:

>Same here. Most game systems have [paladins] to be wimpy fighters with
rather 
>wimpy spells that do little to improve them. The current D&D version is 
>nothing worth bragging about (although I'll be forced to say that I only 
>gave them a once over).

I've been trying to figure out what would be a suitable improvement.

We found Charis extremely unsatisfactory after about 8th level; she
doesn't even get new powers anymore (just things like increasing her
Cure Disease from 2x/week to 3x/week) and the spells do not help.
A fighter with a few potion bottles in his pocket is as good or
better than Charis at doing what her spells do.

My mental image of what she should be doing involves being able to
walk onto a battlefield and make things go better for her side, not
by direct force of arms, but by strengthening and rallying her 
allies.  The fear-resistance power works for this except that the
10' range makes it next to impossible to use:  in a lengthy campaign
a PC who needed to make a fear save has been within 10' of Charis
exactly *once*.  A very few spells, mainly Bless, work for it.
Nothing else does.

I think she should be able to smash through the enemy's illusions
and fear-effects and charms.  The old Holy Avenger rules did that,
I guess, but she should not be dependent on a magic item in
order to be a paladin.  If this is going to be represented by
spells, it should be substantive spells:  Break Enchantment,
Magic Circle Versus Evil, that sort of thing.  The whole idea that
you can beef up an 11th level character by giving her another 2nd
level spell just doesn't work.

Jon thinks that explicit magical powers or feats would be a better
match to the conception than any spells at all.  One complaint about
Charis is that with her very small number of spells per day (2
first, 2 second at 10th level) she invariably seems to have the wrong
spell, which doesn't feel paladinic.  We'll go months without
seeing a devil, and suddenly run into a group of them:  Bless Weapon
would actually help, but for months there has been no reason to carry
it.  Mages and priests get enough spells that carrying a few "on spec"
is okay, but paladins don't.  And it just seems wrong that a holy
warrior has to say "Sorry, can't help you:  wasn't expecting these
devils."  (Without Bless Weapon she is truly ineffectual against
devils, far and away the worst character in the party.)

Mary Kuhner mkkuhner@[EMAIL PROTECTED]