Strictures

   The most important elements of a paladin's ethos are his strictures, a set of inviolable rules from the PH that the paladin must follow at all times. The paladin's strictures are as inflexible as his ability requirements; they are part of what defines a character as a paladin and distinguishes him from other classes.

Lawful Good Alignment

   Every paladin must be lawful good. The moment he abandons the conditions of this alignment is the moment he stops being a paladin.

   At the heart of a lawful good alignment is the belief in a system of laws that promotes the welfare of all members of a society, ensures their safety, and guarantees justice. So long as the laws are just and applied fairly to all people, it doesn't matter to the paladin whether they originate from a democracy or a dictator.

   Though all lawful good systems adhere to the same general principles, specific laws may be different. One society may allow a wife to have two husbands, another may enforce strict monogamy. Gambling may be tolerated in one system, forbidden in another. A paladin respects the laws of other lawful good cultures and will not seek to impose his own values on their citizens.

   However, a paladin will not honor a law that runs contrary to his alignment. A government may believe that unregulated gambling provides a harmless diversion, but a paladin may determine that the policy has resulted in devastating poverty and despair. In the paladin's mind, the government is guilty of a lawless act by promoting an exploitative and destructive enterprise. In response, the paladin may encourage citizens to refrain from gambling, or he may work to change the law.

   Particularly abhorrent practices, such as slavery and torture, may force the paladin to take direct action. It doesn't matter if these practices are culturally acceptable or sanctioned by well-meaning officials. The paladin's sense of justice compels him to intervene and alleviate as much suffering as he can. Note, though, that time constraints, inadequate resources, and other commitments may limit his involvement. While a paladin might wish for a cultural revolution in a society that tolerates cannibalism, he may have to content himself with rescuing a few victims before circumstances force him to leave the area.

   When will a paladin take a life? A paladin kills whenever necessary to promote the greater good, or to protect himself, his companions, or anyone whom he's vowed to defend. In times of war, he strikes down the enemies of his ruler or church. He does not interfere with a legal execution, so long as the punishment fits the crime.

   Otherwise, a paladin avoids killing whenever possible. He does not kill a person who is merely suspected of a crime, nor does a paladin necessarily kill someone he perceives to be a threat unless he has tangible evidence or certain knowledge of evildoing. He never kills for treasure or personal gain. He never knowingly kills a lawful good being.

   Though paladins believe in the sanctity of innocent life, most kill animals and other nonaligned creatures in certain situations. A paladin may kill animals for food. He will kill a monster that endangers humans, even if the monster is motivated by instinct, not evil. While some paladins avoid hunting for sport, others may hunt to sharpen their combat and tracking skills.

Magical Item Limit

   The paladin's limited access to spells also extends to the number of magical items he may possess. Under no circumstances may a paladin retain more than 10 magical items, regardless of his level, kit, or status.

   Paladins are limited not only to the number of magical items, but also the type. Specifically, a paladin can have the following:

   One suit of magical armor. This excludes all pieces of normal armor that have been temporarily enchanted, as well as accessories such as a cloak of protection, a helm of protection, or boots of speed (all of which count against the paladin's miscellaneous item limit). A single piece of magical armor, such a chest plate, counts as a full suit for limitation purposes.

   One magical shield.

   Four magical weapons. This excludes all normal weapons temporarily affected by enchanted weapon or similar spells, but includes holy swords. A quiver or case of arrows or bolts counts as one item. Individual arrows and bolts are counted as one item if they have special magical properties, such as arrows of direction and arrows of slaying.

   Four miscellaneous magical items. This category includes rings, rods, staves, gems, and scrolls. A bag of beans, a set of ioun stones, and a deck of many things each count as one item. A magical potion counts as one item, regardless of the number of doses. Items temporarily enchanted by spells are excluded.

   To ensure that a paladin stays within his limit, it's important to clarify who owns each of the party's magical items. In general, a paladin won't use a magical item unless it's his. It doesn't matter who actually carries the item; if a paladin has claimed ownership, it belongs to him. A paladin may loan items to his companions, but so long as he retains ownership, loaned items count against his limit.

   Conversely, if a paladin has 10 items, he won't borrow items from other characters. A paladin won't look for ambiguities to exploit; he remains true to the spirit as well as the letter of these rules.

   Of course, a paladin may not know that an item is magical when he acquires it. But as soon as he becomes aware of its special properties, he's obligated to give it away or to get rid of another item to remain within his limit.

   A paladin may voluntarily rid himself of a magical item if he finds a more desirable one. For instance, he may give up an arrow of direction if he discovers a javelin of lightning.

   Excess magical items may be given to other lawful good characters, donated to the paladin's religious institution, or simply discarded. Since excess items technically don't belong to the paladin (he won't claim ownership), they may not be sold or traded, even if the paladin intends to funnel the profits to a worthy cause.

Wealth Limits

   A paladin has no interest in wealth for its own sake. He seeks spiritual rather than material satisfaction, derived from serving his faith and his government to the best of his ability. To a paladin, the pleasures of ownership are fleeting, superficial, and ultimately debasing. The rewards of duty are lasting and deep.

   Still, the paladin realizes that a certain amount of money is necessary to survive. Rather than forego money altogether, he retains enough wealth to meet his worldly obligations and sustain a modest lifestyle.

   A paladin doesn't expect handouts, nor does he rely on the generosity of strangers or his companions. He feels responsible to pay his own way and takes pride in his self-sufficiency. He earns income from treasure, rewards, and fees, the same as anyone else. Unlike most other characters, however, the paladin operates under strict guidelines as to how he can spend his money and how much he can save.

Budgeting

   A paladin requires funds to cover the following expenses:

   Food. A paladin is responsible for feeding himself and his steed. To hold down costs, the paladin might hunt his own game, and may gather fruits, nuts and vegetables from the wilderness.

   Weapons, armor, and clothing. This includes the costs of purchase, upkeep, repair, and replacement. A paladin seldom skimps in this area, spending as much as his funds will allow to secure the highest-quality equipment.

   Tack and harness. As with weapons and armor, many paladins splurge to buy the best, especially for bonded mounts.

   Lodging. When sleeping outdoors isn't practical, paladins seek out the least expensive inns.

   Taxes and licenses. The paladin must make all payments required by his liege. He must also pay all foreign tolls and fees levied during his travels.

   Training costs. A paladin may pay a tutor for training, providing the tutor is of lawful good alignment and the paladin has permission from his patron. (See Chapter 7 for more about training procedures.)

   Miscellaneous provisions. Including medicines, lantern oil, clothing, bedding, and grooming supplies. Many paladins prefer to forage, improvise, or manufacture these items instead of buying them outright, in order to save money.

   Salaries. Fair salaries are required for all servitors and henchmen.

   Stronghold expenses. A paladin pays all costs associated with the construction and maintenance of his stronghold.

Strongholds

   In addition to his contingency fund, a paladin may also maintain a separate fund to save for a stronghold. As explained in Chapter 7, construction prices vary wildly, though all are expensive. A paladin may have to save for years, even decades, to accumulate enough wealth to build a stronghold. A wise paladin, then, begins his stronghold fund as soon as possible; 1st level isn't too early to start saving.

   Once a paladin establishes a stronghold, he acquires a universe of new expenses, particularly those involving personnel and maintenance. The paladin must adjust his monthly budget accordingly. He may also wish to build up his contingency fund to cover two or three months' worth of overhead.

   An established stronghold typically falls into one of three economic categories, each of which has a particular impact on the paladin's finances:

   Subsidized. The stronghold has no significant agricultural or manufacturing base. Any crops or goods produced at the stronghold are insufficient to pay the stronghold's maintenance costs and employees. The paladin must make up the difference out of his own pocket, which raises his monthly financial obligations dramatically.

   It's not unusual for a paladin to subsidize a new stronghold until it gets up and running. With careful management and a little luck, a stronghold becomes self-sustaining within a few months or, at most, a few years. Some paladins, however, subsidize their strongholds indefinitely, usually for one of two reasons:

• The stronghold was never designed to generate income, functioning instead as a military stronghold, training center, hospital, or religious sanctuary. Such a stronghold requires the commitment of a paladin with considerable resources.

• The stronghold was designed to generate income, but due to misfortune or incompetent management, never succeeded. Should the paladin decide to cut his losses and abandon the stronghold, he must first see to the well-being of his faithful employees, giving them adequate severance pay and doing what he can to find them new jobs.

   Self-sustaining. The stronghold pays its own way through the sale of crops, goods, or services. The paladin needn't subsidize the operation in any way, nor does he have to worry about the proper disposal of excess profits (there aren't any). This is the ideal arrangement for most paladins.

   Profit-making. The stronghold generates regular and dependable profits from the sale of crops, goods, or services. The paladin uses these profits to expand his holdings (to provide jobs for more people or to further glorify his deity, never for personal gain) or to increase his donations to his church or other worthy causes. A profit-making stronghold usually requires extra time and attention from the paladin, or the services of skilled managers.

Excess Funds

   All of a paladin's excess funds must be forfeited. This includes all money remaining after he pays his regular expenses, as well as any money not specifically allocated to a savings fund for building a stronghold. He may keep a contingency fund equal to two or three times his normal monthly budget (including maintenance costs and employee salaries for his stronghold) but no more. He may not stockpile money to buy gifts, leave to his heirs, or pay a friend's expenses.

   What does a paladin do with the excess? He has three options:

• Refuse it. If an appreciative community offers him a sack of gems for destroying a vampire, he politely declines. ("Your gratitude is more than sufficient.") If he discovers a treasure chest filled with pearls, gold pieces, and a book of poetry, he takes the book and leaves the rest (and he's likely to give the book to a friend or a library after he's finished reading it).

• Donate it to the church. This does not count as a regular tithing (see the Tithing section below), as it's not considered part of his income.

• Donate it to another worthy institution of lawful good alignment. Suitable recipients include hospitals, libraries, and orphanages. Research facilities, military organizations, and governmental operations are acceptable only if the paladin is certain that the money will be spent on lawful good projects.

   Within these guidelines, a paladin may dispose of his excess funds as he wishes. He may donate treasure to a hospital on one occasion, and refuse a monetary reward for rescuing a kidnapped prince on another. However, he may never give his excess funds to another player character, or to any nonplayer character or creature controlled by a player.

   Remember, too, that just because a paladin declines a reward for rescuing a prince doesn't mean his fellow party members can't accept it. If a paladin kills an evil dragon, then walks away from its treasure hoard, his companions are still free to help themselves.

Loans

   A paladin falling on hard times or confronted with unanticipated expenses may arrange for a loan from a lawful good character or institution. While borrowing money may be a humiliating experience, it's rarely an ethos violation unless the paladin borrows money he doesn't need or doesn't intend to repay.

   In general, a paladin may borrow only small amounts of money (say, an amount equivalent to his monthly budget). He may also borrow the minimum amount required for an emergency; an opportunity to buy a treasure map leading to a holy sword doesn't qualify, but medicine to treat a dying companion might. Borrowing money to pay the monthly operating expenses of a stronghold is allowed, but only if necessary to keep lawful good workers employed or to make vital repairs. (A leaking roof can wait; a crumbled wall probably can't.) A paladin should strive to repay his debts as quickly as possible.

   Repeated borrowing is discouraged, and chronic debt should be considered an ethos violation. If a paladin borrows money for several consecutive months, he might lose his stronghold, his bonded mount, or any other obligation that's costing him more than he can afford.

Tithing

   A paladin must give 10% of all his income to a lawful good institution. This 10% is called a tithe. In most cases, a paladin tithes to his church or other religious organization. If he doesn't belong to a church or operates independently (as in the case of the Expatriate character kit described in Chapter 4), he may designate any lawful good organization, such as a hospital or university, as the recipient of his tithes. A paladin has no say in how his tithes are spent, though the money typically goes towards the institution's maintenance, recruitment, equipment, and education costs. A paladin usually tithes to the same institution for his entire career.

   A paladin's first tithe usually comes out of his starting funds of 5d4 x 10 gp. After that, he must tithe from all sources of income, including rewards, treasure, wages, and profits generated from his stronghold. When he acquires a gem or magical item, he owes his designated institution 10% of the item's value (as determined by the DM), payable at the earliest opportunity. If he finds a diamond worth 500 gp, he owes 50 gp; if the gem is lost or stolen, he still owes 50 gp (the institution isn't penalized for the paladin's carelessness).

   Tithes are due only on funds the paladin actually claims for himself. If he walks away from a treasure or refuses a reward, no tithes are necessary.

   It's the paladin's responsibility to get his tithes to his institution as soon as possible. A monthly payment will suffice in most cases, with the paladin turning in 10% of all the income he's acquired in the previous four weeks. If a monthly payment is impossible or impractical—for instance, if the paladin is on a mission halfway around the world, or if he's a prisoner of war—he may make other arrangements, providing he offers a satisfactory explanation. A paladin may personally present his tithings to his institution or he may deliver them by messenger.

   Tithes carried by the paladin but not yet delivered are still considered to be the property of the institution. A starving paladin who has no other funds aside from 10 gp of tithes may not spend his tithes on food, unless he first petitions his deity for permission. If he's behaved responsibly—say, if he used his last gold piece to pay for treatment of a dying child—permission is usually granted, with the understanding that the tithes must be replaced.

Alignment of Associates

   A paladin is known by the company he keeps. Ideally, a paladin associates only with good-aligned companions. Relationships with neutral characters may be tolerated in limited circumstances, but prolonged contact may result in an ethos violation. Any association with an evil-aligned character can be construed as an evil act. In general, a paladin bears responsibility for the actions of his associates, even those taken without his knowledge or consent.

   Hirelings. Without exception, all of a paladin's men-at-arms and stronghold employees must be lawful good. The paladin should do his best to determine their alignment before he hires them. Should a hireling commit an evil act or otherwise reveal himself to be of an alignment other than lawful good, the paladin has no recourse but to fire him and, if necessary, turn him over to the proper authorities for prosecution.

   In some cases, a paladin shares responsibility for the evil actions of his hirelings. For instance, a paladin's stable master commits murder. The paladin may not be legally liable, but he may be considered an accomplice in an ethical sense. Although the authorities may not prosecute the paladin, he may still suffer a punishment for violating his ethos, particularly if he was remiss in investigating the stable master's background prior to his employment. As always, it's up to the DM to determine if an ethos violation has been committed.

   Henchmen. A paladin accepts only lawful good characters as henchmen. As with a hireling, the paladin should make every effort to determine a potential henchman's alignment before an alliance develops. The paladin must immediately dismiss a henchman who commits an evil act.

   Good characters. In an adventuring party, a paladin naturally gravitates to other lawful good player characters, making them his confidants and closest companions. Rarely, however, can a paladin choose the composition of his party, as fate often throws together characters of vastly different outlooks. A paladin cooperates with a party so long as the majority of the characters are good-aligned; a majority of neutral characters or the presence of even a single evil character may present problems.

   A paladin can maintain a comfortable partnership with a neutral good characters, despite his reservations about the neutral good character's indifference to social structures. However, the neutral good character must be working strictly in the interests of good. A paladin is less at ease with chaotic good characters, owing to their independent nature and lack of respect for authority. But a paladin will work with chaotic good characters so long as their behavior complies with his goals.

   Neutral characters. Next to good characters, some paladins feel most comfortable with lawful neutral characters, admiring them for their sense of duty and loyalty to their government. This, of course, presumes the lawful neutral characters serve reasonably benevolent governments, not despots or slave traders.

   A paladin will cooperate with a party that contains a minority of lawful neutral or true neutral characters. But he most likely keeps neutral characters at arm's length, resisting their gestures of friendship. Instead, he tries to serve as an example to the neutral characters, hoping to convince them through words and deeds that a commitment to good results in a richer, fuller life. So long as neutral characters refrain from committing evil acts, a paladin continues to work with them.

   A paladin won't join a party consisting entirely of neutral characters, unless the stakes are exceptionally high. He may, for instance, work with a neutral party to retrieve a holy artifact, rescue his king, or save his church from destruction. For less momentous undertakings, such as treasure hunts or reconnaissance expeditions, the paladin should excuse himself. (If a party mostly consists of neutral PCs, the DM should explain the general nature of a new adventure to a player with a paladin PC. The player should have the option of gracefully bowing out of the adventure or choosing another character.)

   Evil characters. Because he is duty-bound to suppress evil, a paladin won't tolerate an evil PC. He may take the evil PC into custody, physically restrain him, or demand his expulsion from the party. If all else fails, the paladin severs his ties with the party and go his own way. In any event, inaction is unacceptable.

   A paladin finds it difficult, if not impossible, to avoid contact with evil NPCs. They're everywhere: walking down a street, dining at an inn, shopping at a bazaar. A paladin's ethos doesn't compel him to attack or even confront all evil NPCs; in many cases, hostile confrontations could be counterproductive, particularly if such an action distracts the paladin from a more important mission, or if it triggers retaliation from the NPC's companions against innocent bystanders.

   Time and circumstances permitting, a paladin may question evil NPCs, follow them, or make inquiries about them. None of these actions violate a paladin's ethos when used in moderation. (However, spying and similar actions should be a last resort, because they connote deception). A paladin walks on shaky ground, however, the moment he begins an association with an evil NPC that could be perceived as friendly or compliant.

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