Hey there. I just finished running my first game of Dungeon World and it was a great success.
I have one player whose paladin has had a few problems I wanted to ask you guys about. The paladin, Gregor Augustine, died in a pit full of barbed thorns and promised death that he would kill Good King Theodore in return for his life. Given that he can’t kill in an underhanded or sneaky way due to his oath, this is a bit hard.
He stabbed an Orc in the back after they teamed up against some zombies and lost his oath. Now, the player is talking about being done with being a paladin. Gregor has seen too much death and horror.
Is there a Fallen Paladin class or mod? I know this is only one session in, but it sounds like the arc he’s looking to pursue.
There’s a Death Knight CC that I wrote, but that may be overkill. I think it would depend on what the player wants.
Ask him. What are the consequences of being defrocked? How does your church react? Your deity? Do you still feel the weight of your responsibility lain upon you by the gods, but don’t have the strength to enact it?
If it were my character, I’d change playbooks to the fighter and not keep any moves that require faith. Maybe keep the damage die. After answering the questions Aaron Mehlhaff asked. 😀 Maybe with a custom move for no longer having the favor of his god(s), where bad things happen on misses.
It depends. If he’s going more for a knight errant sort of “I’ll follow my own rules” I would have him switch playbooks to the Barbarian or the Fighter. If he’s fallen in with fiendish powers as a result of his misdoings, then I’d alter the playbook to be more anti-paladin. Maybe just changing the vows, boons, and alignment would be enough.
Using The Fighter if it’s available in your game was my first thought, too. But, I recommend you take a look at Jacob Randolph’s version of The Templar.
If he goes the other way and decides his god wasn’t extreme enough, The Fanatic would be a good choice!