The Lance of St. George [Secret Society]

[Slimcreeper]

My PCs didn't find out directly who these people are, but I kind of want the players at least to know.
It's the 1879 version of Real-Life Superheros.

The Lance of St. George

The Lance of St. George is a barely-tolerated, quasi-legal order of Anglican priests that take a hands-on approach to battling evil. They often wear heavy silver rings with a carnelian gem, set in such a way that it represents St. George’s cross.

They were founded by Father John Seelie shortly after the return of magic. He is very devout, but also quite rich, coming from a family that owns a controlling stake in the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company firm. After a run-in with what he believed to be a devil, he founded the Lance to hunt or contain supernatural threats. They concern themselves mostly what they consider to be threats to the Church or Christendom. They have a complicated relationship with the Knights of the Grail. Their aims are complementary, though not identical, but the Knights are much more professional and organized. While the Knights do get frustrated with the Lances and their exuberance, the Lances have proved to be quite useful in those cases where they didn’t muck everything up.

LoSG is a new order and quite secretive. They do recruit from a variety of skill sets, including magical priests, but favoring Investigators and the mechanically-inclined. They often wear simple disguises when acting directly. And they always will try to act directly. They are well-intentioned, with all of the baggage that entails.

[Andrew1879]

oh dear they're paladins

[Slimcreeper]

But they so want to be Batman so badly

[Andrew1879]

Paladins don't do the sneaky-sneaky thing. They go marching up to the front door and bang on it, calling, come out, evildoers! We had a paladin do this to us in a game years ago, character by the name of Pearl E. White. Pearl E. was point in any combat situation. When we needed diplomacy, we drew straws for who was going to distract Pearl E. while we implemented our subtle plan. Pearl E. found out about our not so subtle plan, I mean, honestly, we had thought it was so subtle you could hang a tail on it and call it a weasel, but he got wind that we knew where the bad guys were holed up, and went off down the street before anybody could stop him.

So I'm scarred for life. These guys are as effective at the sneaky stuff as the ninjas in The Tick were. We are not ninjas. We are a fence. That only worked because the Tick is so dim that he actually sucks the light out of other people's brains around him. I mean, look at Arthur: he only ever does the really stupid stuff when he's right there next to the Tick. There's room for so many more cultural references in this idea. I have no clue where I'm going to publish it, but I want you to stop giving this one away for free please, and drop me a line about a contract. I want to get this idea secured and into the pipeline.

See ya round like a donut.

[ChrisDDickey]

Paladins don't do the sneaky-sneaky thing. They go marching up to the front door and bang on it

I know this is not the right forum to rant about DnD Paladin's, but I am so sick of this trope. Now don't get me wrong, if you enjoy playing your Paladin this way, that is fine. Straight Arrows who are NOT dumb as a post and willing to be constantly fooled are obviously totally unsuitable for the shenanigans many parties prefer to practice, so to be able to fit in, many Paladins: Always confront Evil directly, but be dumb enough to not realize that his companions are constantly lying to him and fooling him. And big-hearted enough to always forgive them when it inevitably turns out that they had played him for a fool again, but dim enough not to realize when it is happening again for the 12th time in a row. If your group enjoys that sort of silliness, that is fine. But I firmly believe that lawful-stupid is not the one and only correct way to play a Paladin.

Once, long a go, I played a Paladin in a campaign where the GM insisted that there were only two acceptable ways to play a Paladin. A straight arrow who actually kept his party on the straight and narrow, or the Lawful Stupid guy who never realized all the chaotic things the rest of his party was doing. But both types absolutely had to be vainglorious fools who would unthinkingly charge straight at every danger. He felt this was the only way Paladins could be properly played.

It did not go well. I could tell you a few long stories (I started to write them out, but cut them) but suffice it to say that I feel that being sneaky is nether chaotic nor evil. Sure some chaotic and/or evil creatures/character are sneaky, but being sneaky is not, in and of itself, either chaotic nor evil. A Paladin pin-cushioned with arrows at the front gate of an evil fortress has not done good. A Paladin who has sneaked in, rescued the innocent captives and gotten them safely and quietly out, has.


As to the Paladin-hood of "the lance of St George", They certainly act directly, even when just a quite word in the right ear would have been much better. For example, they recently rode up to a party of adventurers and started shooting them while yelling such incomprehensible messages such as "If You awaken it, you will regret it, take a different path". I can't help but think how much more effective they might have been if one of them stopped the party in the street, invited them into a pub for a pint and said "You may not realize it yet, but some of the associates of the person who hired you are attempting to raise an ancient horror. If you awaken it, the whole county will regret it, it would be wise to take a different path", and then went out to shoot the actual bad guys. I mean just going around shooting people does not do as much good as some people assume. You actually have to shoot the right people. These people are not lawful stupid, they are acting chaotic stupid.

[Slimcreeper]

Weird nerd confession time: I’ve never actually played D&D.

[soniyasinghania]

The session will simply be an awesome experience with romantic and erotic activities. The naughty girls will take you on a heavenly ride in bed and outside. All these Goa Escorts services are possible by meeting with our punctual ladies. We bet you won’t regret the decision of meeting our ladies. Most importantly, the night will stick to your memory for a long time.

[danielkyler]

This passage is fascinating! It's like the 1879 version of Real-Life Superheroes. The concept of the Lance of St. George and their mission to battle supernatural threats is so intriguing. It's like an iq test free for the players to unravel the complexities of this world.

[meghanhester]

Legend has it that Diocletian executed St. George, a third-century Roman soldier drift hunters, for refusing to change his Christian beliefs.

[joannaylor]

I'm sure your players will find uncovering the identity and slope motivations of the Lance of St. George to be an engaging part of your campaign!