Paladin's Guide (book)
A Paladin's Guide
Welcome to the paladin guild! This is a quick start guide to the paladin guild. There are quick start guides to other guilds, which I also suggest you read, but this text will talk about the paladin guild, give you suggestions, and help you start off. Also, I will NOT give away anything that will be said or happen to you along your lifetime.
1. About the paladin guild
The Paladin is the Holy Warrior, the smiter of evil in all forms and the Champion of Law in all matters.
The Paladin combines the skill of the warrior with the divine power of Leadership. With this power, those joined to the Paladin will fight more skillfully, strike harder and defend better.
The Paladin is a follower of both laws and Law. The Paladin must never attack others, or harm living things without need, or act against good order, lest his or her powers be removed by the Gods until once more, he or she proves worthy to possess them."
We are holy warriors, and we use holy mana. If we attack others or harm living things (this only includes adventurers in Elanthia, not creatures), we will be punished slightly, but our powers will not be removed. If we kill one of the seven races, we will be punished to the possible extent of our powers taken away. The only way at the moment to lose all our powers, without fail, is to try to steal, or listen to someone teaching stealing, so don't!
There are a few key aspects to the guild that should be mentioned. The first one is defense. We are more defensive then any other guild. It is our nature, and it is more or less what we do. The biggest dispute in our guild is over who and what we defend, but then again, that's up to you.
Another thing, that most of the guild follows, though no one is required to, is to be courteous. No one likes a snert, and by being in the paladin guild and acting mean, annoyingly, or what not, you degrade our reputation for all of Elanthia, and usually make a lot of enemies on the side. Defending ties in highly with leading, and that's where most of leadership comes in. We defend our groups and our groups defend more, usually cities, other groups, even Elanthia every now and then.
Finally, though our minimum requirements cover the skills a paladin should hold, they don't go deep enough. We have to be trained in the mind and the body in everything possible, and be decent in everything. It's not easy, and maybe that's why we get one of the easiest guild requirements to advance, but a good paladin often takes his time in advancing. If you only have the guild requirements, you will be a fighter, but that's all. You will not be a leader, you probably won't understand everything, and most importantly, you will only be strong in about four to six skills. Actually, if you only get the guild requirements, you will most likely fail overall in Elanthia.
2. The other side to paladins
If you read it this far, congratulations! You might have enough discipline for this guild after all.
I have left out most of the benefits above. One has to know the worst parts, before he can fully appreciate the best. We are leaders of Elanthia. We are looked to for protection, guidance, leadership, and skills. We are one of the three best fighters in Elanthia.
The first benefit: we have spells that are, for lack of a better word, awesome. Most of them have a defensive theme, but they are, indisputably, some of the best spells in Elanthia. Our two offensive spells are also ranked highly, with our oldest offensive spell, Smite Foe, being considered one of the most powerful spell out there. Though we can not cast offensive spells against the seven races, any creature is fine.
Secondly, we have major bonuses in armor, especially metal armor. Most of Elanthia wears leather armor or light chain, because everything hinders your movement, and those two classes hinder the least. The majority of paladins wear heavy plate, the most hindering, but most protecting armor. The reason is, unlike other guilds, we can train away all hindrance. This means that metal armor has the possibility of eventually becoming like a second skin to us, while still protecting like crazy.
Next, we have a sixth sense that will grow in time. It will tell us if we are being stolen from. It won't always work, but it's better then not having it. It can be extremely helpful, but there a down side: since we can not steal, we are easy to get stolen from. Our only defense to that is catching the pickpocket, carrying around small types of coins, like coppers, and the fact that if we catch them, they are afraid.
We also have something called a glyph. I won't go into the details, but it is an ability that you will get within the first ten levels, and it is something that you will have to find out about yourself. Please do not ask anyone about what I won't talk about, for it is something that will be the most enjoyable if you do it BY YOURSELF, or with a partner who is the same age as you. Do not listen if anyone tries to tell you, or else you might regret it later.
The last thing that I will mention, is Lead. The first time you level, you will get this, so don't ask. This isn't quite a quest, but it's still fun to hear what it does from the guild leader instead of from others.
There are some minor things I won't mention, that you will discover on your way, but I think you'll like the benefits.
3. Starting out
To start out, you might want to find an older paladin to take you as a squire, find a new paladin your age to work with, and/or work alone. A squire system will get you equipped and solve your money problem. Usually any paladin will tell you anything you want to know, help you out. Working alone will be extremely hard for equipment and paying your debts, yet you get a feeling of accomplishment. Working with a buddy, you might get a life long friend, enjoy Elanthia more, and get your money problem solved fairly fast. It's totally up to you, but I find that most prefer to accept equipment from an older paladin; so you can get started, along with a buddy you might meet along the way, then work together from then on, and possibly even eventually return the equipment when you get better items, or pass them on to another new paladin.
For weapons, again, that is totally up to you. A few go for weapons not many people use, such as quarterstaff, two handed blunt or what not; but most go with heavy edged weapons, or two-handed edged weapons. It's up to you, but before you buy anything, ask an older paladin to go over all the weapon types, or read a library book to find out about the different types of weapons so you can choose yourself.
4. Other stuff you should know
You will get your first spell upon circling five times, but you need magic to advance. You will have to be taught; there is no other way around that until the fifth circle.
There is something called a soul that is unique to paladins. Everyone has a soul, but the status of it effects us. It could be considered good, or bad. If you do something wrong, like attacking first, stealing, etc, it will be hurt. If it gets hurt enough, you will lose your abilities. The soul may be considered generally as Dark and Light. Light is "chalky white" or above; Dark is anything that has black in the description. Soul actually has some effects on almost everything you do. Your abilities and spells are extremely effected one way or the other by your soul status.
At the moment, the "light" states of the soul are as follows, in order from least to greatest: Chalky White, Pure White, Pristine. Pristine is not known to have an upper limit. As long as your soul is Chalky White, it will slowly move up to Pure White. After that, you must do special things to boost it. The only things we can do now to boost our soul status (this will ALWAYS help your soul status, no matter what you've done wrong, with the exception of stealing) is tend a bleeding wound of a non-paladin, tithe two silvers or more (this gets expensive), or catch a pickpocket stealing from you and accusing them. (This is near impossible, unless you're old).
Our guild is highly combat oriented. Therefore, you will have to fight a lot. To start off, go to goblins. They will teach you for a while, until about 15 ranks in experience. Then you should go to wood trolls. If they become too easy, go to reavers. They are the next step up, and should get you easily to the fifth circle. By that time, you should be old enough to know your way around, and know what you should choose next, because there are many options.
On a final note, many of the older paladins are trying to set up a system of getting youngsters equipped with at least the basics. Ask around in the guild. You'll find a few of us usually.
5. How to start without an older paladin
This is quite difficult, and usually costly. What I suggest is asking a paladin for some leather armor out of rock trolls until you can afford the 3 gold for a set of half plate, or ask around to see if anyone has a spare set of heavy plate. Always get heavy plate; it will save your life. As for weapons, ask around for a broadsword, which is a heavy edge. If no one has any, then grab a short sword from goblins, and use that until you can afford a broadsword. It costs a little over 5 silver when haggled. Get a helm and a set of mail gloves when you can, which will cost yet another 5 silver or so.
DO NOT BUY ANYTHING BESIDE HEADGEAR, HAND GEAR, AND ONE OTHER PIECE OF ARMOR!
Any armor that is able to cover the chest will do at first. Later on, you will want half plate. Then, much later, you will want to get even better armor. As for a shield, pick up a target shield from goblins outside the west gate. It will be good enough until you get 20 ranks in shield (which is your minimum), and then you can decide whether or not to keep using shields or not.
Now, since no one will be there to help you when you start up, I'll quickly write about statistics, experience, and spells.
You can find out what gives you what in statistics in other books, but here I'll give you one of the suggested methods to train, and which stats are more important to us then others. I personally recommend getting your strength and stamina up to 12, your discipline up to 12, wisdom at 11, intelligence up to 10, and the rest no lower then 9. Our mind is extremely helpful to us, strength and stamina are just for fighting, but what is most important, seemingly, is discipline. Charisma is important, but should be kept around agility and reflex. Agility and reflex aren't important at first; you're going to get hit either way. Don't ignore them, but until 5th or 7th circle, you shouldn't have to train them much at all. Keep getting strength and stamina primarily until you can swing a broadsword once without getting tired, raise your mental stats to about the same level as your strength and stamina, and by that time, you're ready to increase in reflex, agility, and charisma.
From personal experience, I'm just going to say, train in many weapons! At least one edge, one blunt, and one ranged weapon. Around circle ten or fifteen, choose edged or blunt, and primarily train in that and ranged, while only switching to the other every now and then.
As for spells, here they are:
Courage
This is probably the single best spell in Elanthia. It will increase your stamina for a short, or long, period of time. It works best with groups, especially large, is easy to cast, and saves many lives! Minimum prep: 10
Halt
Though near impossible to cast, it can make prevent someone from moving. If you aren't good enough, the spell will turn back on you, halting you for a short period of time. This spell was mostly made to stop pickpockets. Minimum prep: 12
Smite Foe
Thought by many to be the most powerful offensive spell in all of Elanthia, you call upon the gods to throw a magical hammer that can not be stopped by armor of the creature. This can not be cast upon any of the seven races. Minimum prep: 12
Smite Shield
Our second offensive spell, this does exactly what it says, destroying the armor of the creature you cast it upon. It is hard to cast, and also the vitality of the creature affects the spell; but if there is no armor left on the creature, it will destroy its body quite nastily. Minimum prep: 5
Anti Stun
A little misleading in its name. It does not prevent stuns, but shortens the time in which you will remain stunned. Each stun decreases the length of the remaining spell; but again, it's extremely helpful. Minimum prep: 6
Banner of Truce
A uniquely defensive aspect of paladins. We have the ability to make the entire room unable to fight. Bards come close to possessing this, but their chant doesn't always work, and moon mages can only cast this upon one thing at a time. This affects the entire room, creatures included, and therefor is a must have. Minimum prep: 12
Divine Armor
This spell calls upon the gods to make your armor extremely tough. It will make every part of your armor better, except it will also add a lot more hindrance. This is usually used when you want to get hit, but not hurt, or you want to hit someone else, even if it doesn't hurt him as much. Minimum prep: 14
Bond Weapon
This spell lets a weapon or a shield return to your hand if dropped. Not much to it, and rarely useful. Minimum prep: 7
Heroic Strength
Paladins often drag the dead to spots where they can be taken care of, but sometimes they are too heavy for us to move. This spell is something called a held mana spell. You harness mana (at least 4 in this case) and hold it, which is hard for a long while. Every 4 held mana will increase your strength by 1, though once the spell is gone, your strength returns to normal. Minimum prep: None, though you need to hold 4 mana to cast it.
Righteous Wrath
This spell calls the wrath of the gods to help you, making your sword arm stronger, though if you try to put too much power in, you will only strike air. Minimum prep: 10
Trothfang's Rally
This spell calls upon Everild's dark side, Trothfang. He will balance your group if you are leading a group, though sense Trothfang IS a darker face, he does make you (the paladin that casts this) bleed more if you are bleeding; if not, nothing happens. This will save your group many times! Minimum prep: 8
Sentinel's Resolve
This is a spell that is the most defensive around. It's probably our hardest spell to cast, but it highly hampers one's offense, while making defense much better! This will nearly stop any offensive spell, along with any attack. Minimum prep: 6
These, except the last five, are in the order that I suggest you get them. That will take up all your spell slots, including the one you get at 15th, but the last five can be put in anywhere after Banner of Truce. Other paladins will provide other selections, but it's up to you again, though some spells can't be learned until you're circle 10 or 15.
This guide is enough to get you through a long while. I hope it helps!