Brainstorm: The Black Paladin Recruits!

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Brainstorm: The Black Paladin Recruits!

 

Book List.

4E

Blue Hardcover

Classic Enemies

Classic Organisations

Ninja Hero

 

5E

FRED

Champions, Champions Universe, Champions Worldwide

Conquerors, Killers and Crooks

UNTIL Superpowers Database I & II

VIPER, DEMON & UNTIL

Ultimate Vehicle, Mystic and Martial Artist.

HERO System Equipment Guide

Gadgets and Gear

Fantasy Hero Grimoire

Ninja Hero

Hidden Lands

HERO System Bestiary

 

I also have Robot Warriors, but I was young and impressionable, okay.

 

All right, now we have something to work with. Let's see here (sound of pages shuffling)...

 

Well, from Conquerors, Killers And Crooks there are a few possibilities. Morningstar was already mentioned; he definitely fits with the Black Paladin's motif and inclinations, and as long as BP treats him with more respect and rewards him better than the Morbanes did he'll probably be a good soldier.

 

The origin of the Leech doesn't specify the sorceror who created him. If you tweak that slightly to make it the Black Paladin (probably with assistance from Talisman), you have a fine blindly loyal monster to serve him.

 

Speaking of monsters, the Monster is a possibility if you give him a demonic background, and some means for BP to control him.

 

Looking at UNTIL: Defenders Of Freedom, I noticed a plot seed for Scimitar in which a mystic tells him that his sword is the "reincarnation" of an ancient magic weapon. Make that mystic the Black Paladin or Talisman, who promises to help Scimitar unlock his weapon's potential in exchange for service, and BP gains a ruthless super killer who's paranoid enough to appreciate the protection of these other "knights."

 

From the HERO System Bestiary, several of the more formidable demons (Shadow, Succubus, or Lesser Demon), or undead (Ghost or Vampire) could be the basis for characters willing to join with the Black Paladin. It would also be appropriate on several levels to give him a Demon Steed for a mount, and perhaps a pack of Demon Hounds.

 

Going back to Champions Worldwide, one of the plot seeds for Der Schwarze Tod suggests him becoming increasingly motivated to spread indiscriminate suffering and death, which the Black Paladin would doubtless be able to provide. DST already has a suitable mindset, and certainly looks the part of a fitting henchman.

 

Also, although he doesn't quite fit BP's visuals, Turs al-Sh'ab is as ruthless and sadistic as they come, and is in the market for another patron who can give him the power and status to indulge his inclinations.

 

From the 4E hardcover, several of the Asesinos could reasonably ally with BP. Stalker might join just for the challenge of lots of opportunities to battle superheroes; while the Tombstone Kid, Ocelote and Montana could have been animated by/ drawn to Black Paladin instead of Stalker.

 

From Classic Organizations, Mordeki would identify with BP right off, and the Rose would be easy to recruit. Loup Garou would probably also work willingly with the Paladin.

 

EDIT: BTW, as long as you own Robot Warriors, you might appreciate Chris Goodwin's detailed notes for updating RW to Fifth Edition: http://home.comcast.net/~archer7/rw2hero.html

[Peregrine]

Re: Brainstorm: The Black Paladin Recruits!

 

First, while Shades of Black is, overall, a very good adventure, it has a fatal flaw:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After BP betrays Talisman and tries to use her as the vessel for Chantal's return (which would have killed Talisman, or banished her soul to hell prematurely, as if there's a difference...), Talisman stays with him. Love doesn't cover it, because there's nothing in Talisman's write-up, nor in her portrayal elsewhere in the adventure, that indicates that level of emo obsessive behavior; besides, he tried to use her to bring back his previous lover, and is still trying to do throughout the rest of the adventure. "I'm just hanging around to see what happens next" really isn't in her personality either.

 

That said, the pairing of BP and Talisman is so compelling that I'm willing to set aside the events of SoB and simply use them as a couple - allied villains. They genuinely do love each other, as much as any two individuals so inherently selfish can. (Celebrity marriages, anyone?) Plus, they each see in the other a complement in their villainous pursuits. Those two factors combined keep them together, professionally and personally.

 

As to a Dark Court... I'd look for the following characteristics:

 

1. Not mastermind material. Given the objective of 'no infighting', any of the Black Knights would have to be more of a follower than a would-be (or actually qualified) leader. That said, a good lieutenant-type would be useful.

 

2. Definitely evil. Not just selfishly villainous, but outright "hurt others for my own jollies" evil. Evil for the sake of evil. You can look at a character write-up and see where a given character lands in this measure.

 

3. Supernatural ties. Not an absolute, but it fits the theme well, plus those matching 2. tend to have supernatural connections. Corruption and all that.

 

That about covers it. If you start with BP, BH, and Talisman, all you need is a dark Merlin and a handful of Dark Knights.

 

Alternatively, roll your own. Create a group of original characters ($25 gets you the latest Hero Designer, which is indispensable for character creation and runs on anything that will run the latest Java) to be his knights. That way, you're not limited to what's been published for the CU (which might not be an ideal fit anyway).

[hooligan x]

Re: Brainstorm: The Black Paladin Recruits!

 

He must have run out of magic weapons and armor or something.

 

Naw, he just couldn't seat anymore in the Escalade.

[Weldun]

Re: Brainstorm: The Black Paladin Recruits!

 

As to a Dark Court... I'd lok for the following characteristics:

 

1. Not mastermind material. Given the objective of 'no infighting', any of the Black Knights would have to be more of a follower than a would-be (or actually qualified) leader. That said, a good lieutenant-type would be useful.

Actually, with The Black Harlequin as the court jester combined with Talisman AND Black Paladin, the three of them together fill this requirement.

2. Definitely evil. Not just selfishly villainous, but outright "hurt others for my own jollies" evil. Evil for the sake of evil. You can look at a character write-up and see where a given character lands in this measure.

 

3. Supernatural ties. Not an absolute, but it fits the theme well, plus those matching 2. tend to have supernatural connections. Corruption and all that.

So far I'm looking at Morningstar and Shadowdragon.

That about covers it. If you start with BP, BH, and Talisman, all you need is a dark Merlin and a handful of Dark Knights.

For the role of "Merlin", we have Professor Muerte, having been returned from the dead in vampiric form by Takofones.

[FenrisUlf]

Re: Brainstorm: The Black Paladin Recruits!

 

For the role of "Merlin"' date=' we have Professor Muerte, having been returned from the dead in vampiric form by Takofones.[/quote']

 

Really? I could see the Demonologist as a good 'Merlin'. He and the BP seem to have several things in common, and Demonologist's magic is powerful enough to be useful without stepping on anyone's toes, thematically speaking. And what self-respecting bunch of devil-worshippers don't have at least one or two conjured demons around?

 

Tartarus might make another good 'knight', too.

[Weldun]

Re: Brainstorm: The Black Paladin Recruits!

 

It's from one the plot seeds I have in mind for this very setup. The Black Paladin is looking for a court wizard who is schooled in "the new arcana" of the 21st century.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Brainstorm: The Black Paladin Recruits!

 

Gee, doesn't that put BP at risk of a confrontation with Takofanes? Tak doesn't strike me as the kind to let one of his creations go willingly.

[TheTemplar]

Re: Brainstorm: The Black Paladin Recruits!

 

Gee' date=' doesn't that put BP at risk of a confrontation with Takofanes? Tak doesn't strike me as the kind to let one of his creations go willingly. [/quote']

 

No, he certainly does not. That makes a nice hook for an Earth-shattering follow up to this adventure. The PCs have to somehow stop the Tak/BP War... because dang. Those two duking it out would leave a path of destruction that'd be visible from orbit (Assuming BP had a little help, of course... maybe his new Black Kingdom or some ancient artifact, armor, or weapon that puts him on par w/ The Ravager. Otherwise, Tak would win pretty handily.)

[Weldun]

Re: Brainstorm: The Black Paladin Recruits!

 

Well, the preamble to this will involve the core 3 performing riutals and generally getting in DEMON's way, which is how they'll come across Morningstar and this give Sir de Morphant the idea to gather knights of his own.

[TheTemplar]

Re: Brainstorm: The Black Paladin Recruits!

 

Well' date=' the preamble to this will involve the core 3 performing riutals and generally getting in DEMON's way, which is how they'll come across Morningstar and this give Sir de Morphant the idea to gather knights of his own.[/quote']

Nice! Working DEMON into the mix too. Excellent. That sourcebook was definitely one of the most enjoyable reads out of all the 5th ed. material published so far - might be the only one I've given the cover-to-cover treatment.

[Black Rose]

Re: Brainstorm: The Black Paladin Recruits!

 

Sidenote: Is it wrong to introduce the Sailor Senshi into a ninja hero campaign?

Not at all. Heck' date=' I've been working on a Wuxia/Video Game level NH game based off of Takahashi's [i']Ranma 1/2[/i], gently liberating from other anime as I go, but with a heavy supernatural flavor. I've already tapped the "Silver Millennium" as a sort of Japanese quasi-Fae realm, barely remembered (and most of that wrong) by the cats and Sailor Pluto. The senshi are already nicely elementalized:

for water (and ice and speed in the manga)

for metal (Venus Love Me Chain!)

(I couldn't find a moon ) for, well... well, Usagi's powers are more from her European Sun Sign than anything else - she's a Cancer, so she's caring and prone towards healing, as in Moon Healing Exhalation!

for fire (and if I have to explain this one...)

for wood (Jupiter Oak Evolution! in the show, Flower Hurricane! and Jupiter Coconut Cyclone! - among others - in the manga)

 

Using them straight would work fine, provided the campaign wasn't too gritty; Sailor Moon is more about the Drama than the grim reality that is Life. -le sigh-

 

Check out Surbrook's site for some decent writeups of the senshi, though you might want to jazz them up a smidge; I like NPCs to be unpredictable.

[Weldun]

Re: Brainstorm: The Black Paladin Recruits!

 

Using them straight would work fine' date=' provided the campaign wasn't too gritty; Sailor Moon is more about the Drama than the grim reality that is Life. -le sigh-[/quote']Not if you tweak them to more in the vein of the manga...

Check out Surbrook's site for some decent writeups of the senshi' date=' though you might want to jazz them up a smidge; I like NPCs to be unpredictable.[/quote']Heheh, I bookmarked that place month ago. I just sent my Champions party up against the LV426 Lifeform. One of them died, but when you can dish out a 3d6HKA and have no resistant defence, then you deserve everything the acid blood damage shield does to you.

[Weldun]

Re: Brainstorm: The Black Paladin Recruits!

 

Well so far it looks like this.

Dark Kingdom Inner Court.

The Black Paladin. King. After teaming up with Talsiman and the Black Harlequin, he hatched the idea to forge their own kingdom. The world can wait, a small nation will do for now. Genuinely in love with Talisman.

Talisman. Queen. Has found herself in a state she never dreamed to fnd herself in. She’s in love. And even better, it doesn’t make her weak.

The Black Harlequin. Jester. He finally has an appreciative audience.

Professor Muerte. Court “Wizard.” Ressurected by Takofanes, but freed from the lord of the dead’s control, he is fiercly loyal to the Black Paladin and Talisman.

 

Knights of the Black Rose.

Morningstar. Joined the Black Paladin because of the way it annoys DEMON.

Shadow Dragon. To study at the feet of pure evil.

Cloaca. After DEMON suffers several defeats at the hands of the Dark Kingdom, she petitions for membership and is currently a probationary member. She will begin to have feelings for Shadow Dragon as the campaign progresses.

Lightning Man. Glad for the many opportunities for rampant devastation. Sir de Morphant and his court are growing weary of his outlandish behavior.

 

Now, while this looks good, I feel that something or someone is missing. Any thoughts?

[SleepyDrug]

Re: Brainstorm: The Black Paladin Recruits!

 

what about Leech?

[Weldun]

Re: Brainstorm: The Black Paladin Recruits!

 

The Leech would require me to basically make the Black Paladin his creator, or have him under mind control (which he is quite susceptable to). I do plan on having him being used in a couple of early plots, but mostly as cannon fodder.

 

For similar reasons, I have decided against using the Monster. Placing him in a team like this would really detract from the Gothic horror elements that make him such an interesting villain.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Brainstorm: The Black Paladin Recruits!

 

Say, how about a court bard? Someone to immortalize the deeds of the Paladin and his knights in song.

 

BP has already pried Cloaca away from DEMON - you think he could pilfer Professor Samedi, too?

[Weldun]

Re: Brainstorm: The Black Paladin Recruits!

 

No, but you've given me another idea...

Mwahahaha! My players are going to learn to loathe these boards. If you thought the VIPER/Eurostar wars were bad, just wait until you feel the effects of the DEMON/Dark Kingdom wars. It's going to be HELL.

[SleepyDrug]

Re: Brainstorm: The Black Paladin Recruits!

 

The Leech would require me to basically make the Black Paladin his creator, or have him under mind control (which he is quite susceptable to). I do plan on having him being used in a couple of early plots, but mostly as cannon fodder.

 

For similar reasons, I have decided against using the Monster. Placing him in a team like this would really detract from the Gothic horror elements that make him such an interesting villain.

 

Having BP or Talisman have been Leech's creator is not a huge leap. Or Talisman might have stolen control of him away from his creators (the Circle of the Scarlet Moon)

[Twilight]

Re: Brainstorm: The Black Paladin Recruits!

 

Just a little thread necromancy in order to ask Weldun how his plans vis a vis the Dark Kingdom are going? It seemed like an excellent idea, which I plan to borrow once I get a game running and I was curious as to how it was working for him?

[Sundog]

Re: Brainstorm: The Black Paladin Recruits!

 

Oh, how I wish I'd seen this thread awhile ago!

 

My character, Terminus, is in Weldun's game. We just had our first set of run-ins with BP and Talisman. BP also had some agents - dressed in black armour and wielding magic swords! And he was using Morningstar as a merc. How this ties in with the Dark Kingdom concept, I do not know - but Black Paladin and I seem to have a real arch-enemy thing going...

[Lucius]

Re: Brainstorm: The Black Paladin Recruits!

 

 

Now, and alliance with Zorran, that might work for men-at arms, and I like the idea, but I'm talking about his own version of Arthur's round table.

 

Which wouldn't be round. The Round Table was supposed to stand for the equality and brotherhood of those who sat at it; that's why it was round.

 

The Black Paladin would have a Long Table, seating would be according to a strict hierarchy - the closer to the Black Paladin at the head, the higher your rank in the organization. It would be a self-conscious rejection, even mockery, of the ideals of equality and justice symbolized by the Round Table.

 

Might even have its own version of the Seige Perilous...

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Seeking the Black Palindromedary

[Weldun]

Re: Brainstorm: The Black Paladin Recruits!

 

Thanks for nothing, Twilight!

Actually, as Sundog said, BP and Talisman have hooked up, and they have some rather nasty henches. For further enquiries into this thread, I would greatly appreciate it if you PM me instead of resurrecting the thread, as at least 2 of my players are on these boards.

 

EDIT: Never Mind. Go ahead and post here.

[Weldun]

Re: Brainstorm: The Black Paladin Recruits!

 

Which wouldn't be round. The Round Table was supposed to stand for the equality and brotherhood of those who sat at it; that's why it was round.

 

The Black Paladin would have a Long Table, seating would be according to a strict hierarchy - the closer to the Black Paladin at the head, the higher your rank in the organization. It would be a self-conscious rejection, even mockery, of the ideals of equality and justice symbolized by the Round Table.

 

Might even have its own version of the Seige Perilous...

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Seeking the Black Palindromedary

 

Well, I considered that the table would actually be a looong trapezoid, with the four core members at the base. That way they could keep an eye on everybody.

 

PS: Yeah, yeah. I know I'm contibuting to keeping the thread alive, but a good point was raised.

[AmadanNaBriona]

Re: Brainstorm: The Black Paladin Recruits!

 

Which wouldn't be round. The Round Table was supposed to stand for the equality and brotherhood of those who sat at it; that's why it was round.

 

The Black Paladin would have a Long Table, seating would be according to a strict hierarchy - the closer to the Black Paladin at the head, the higher your rank in the organization. It would be a self-conscious rejection, even mockery, of the ideals of equality and justice symbolized by the Round Table.

 

Might even have its own version of the Seige Perilous...

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Seeking the Black Palindromedary

 

Much as I hate the fact that the inverted pent was adopted by Devil worshippers, it's a great shape for a heiracharal table... King and queen at the ascendant points, fool to the left and Wizard to the right, with the "seige perilous" at the base...the royal champions' seat. All the other seats are along the limbs, showing subtle sign of whose patronage the lesser members work under.

 

a whole set of pyramids

 

I like the idea of the champions seat being an artifact item that buffs whoever suit in it at a cost to them in terms of a certain loss of freeill

[Questar]

Re: Brainstorm: The Black Paladin Recruits!

 

I'm going ahead with some stuff from the plot seed thread' date=' and I realised that I have one problem with my scenario...[/font']

 

I have no idea as to who would make up the Black Paladin's "loyal knights."

 

Any suggestions?

 

 

 

Had to rep you just for the concept of Black Paladin and his Round Table of Evil. If I had a campaign it fit, I'd steal it immediately. I may have to work it up anyway, just in case...