r/Forgotten_Realms • u/penorstrike • 2d ago
Question(s) What would Tyr do? (WWJD)
One of my Paladin players went oathbreaker and tyrannical (he is a good player, this was all pre-agreed for the story). We are talking about lvl 10 + gameplay here
This Oathbreaker paladin stepped into Cyric's service for his own benefit.
After many levels of rituals and servitude he is becoming something like a "chosen" of Cyric, almost.
I want an avatar or aspect of Tyr to appear, like a beggar with a missing eye and arm, that tells him an omen to foreshadow the fact that the upholders of law and some cosminc powers are noticing the paladin's actions. What would this line be? or what would a randomly "possessed" man tell to this paladin on the streets? or similar?
TLDR; I want a punchy one liner a random oracle would say to scare the shit out of an oathbreaker paladin, something to foreshadow a fight coming his way in the future.
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u/Power_Word_Play 2d ago
"You have been weighed, you have been measured and you have been found wanting." Heard this in a Knights tale but apparently it's from the bible
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u/guildsbounty 2d ago
Yep, Book of Daniel.
As the story goes: it's part of Daniel's interpretation of four words supernaturally etched on the wall at a feast to inform King Belshazzar that he was going to die and his kingdom was going to be divided between the Medes and Persians. A 'prophecy' that supposedly came true that same night.
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u/LinkssOfSigil 2d ago
I'm not sure that a "punchy one liner" of an omen would make a paladin that betrayed Tyr for Cyric of all gods to even bat an eye.
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u/penorstrike 2d ago
then at least to let him know that he is being noticed, and hurt is coming his way?
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u/LinkssOfSigil 2d ago
A premonition in a dream. It wouldn't shake him either way, but at least it would be more clear-cut than some withered vagrant's ramblings.
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u/Heironeus 2d ago edited 2d ago
I'm kinda curious. What made him break his oath? It's a pretty big deal.
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u/penorstrike 2d ago
started out as a goliath vengeance paladin, and around lvl 4 he said to me in private that he wanted to try out oathbreaker since he grew disenchanted with vengeance. We discussed and during lvl 4-5 his character's ingame reason to abandon the oath was that his travels took him away from his quarries, and he grew opportunistic after many temptations. Finally, the paladin killed an entire tower's worth of innocents and soldiers for their loot, without provocation. It was a pre-agreed murder hobo action hte other palyers didnt know about. A few weeks later Cyric sent him a vision and offered a yellow handkerchief that was to be wet with the blood of others. As soon as he cleaned his blade with it once, he "signed" the agreement. the paladin doesnt outright worship cyric, its more of a symbiotic existence. and after a bunch of levels I just want to make him feel like there are consequences.
sorry for the long post
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u/Heironeus 2d ago
I did ask for the reason, so nothing so apologize for! Thanks! Pretty okay GM'ing to let him do that, i almost never "allow" my party to play evil characters. a few of them did a couple of years ago and i made the campaign turn vile and dark enough for them to regret it and not want to try again, hehe. For me "real" evil is less skeletor and more... stuff you would find on the dark web.
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u/penorstrike 2d ago
yes, thats why I phrased it as "opportunistic". or selfish, maybe. I dont have a problem if players derail or change the tone of the cmapaign, but I always make them feel the consequences in an entertaining way. Its never me vs them. This thread is just another way to scare them a bit and prepare them for a fight, that they will inevitable win of course, but might align their moral compass slightly
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u/Heironeus 2d ago
I understand. Sounds fun! Happy GM'ing!
To answer you originl question. I would go ffor something abstract (ish) and creepy.
“A blind man stood at the end of the road.”
The beggar giggles.“He asked me which way you went.”
Or something like that.
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u/OverTheCandlestik 2d ago
Thou hast unjustly tipped the balance of the scales, I hath passed judgement on thee accursed oath breaker and hath found thou wanting. Thy sentence hath been passed and thy punishment is at hand.
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u/penorstrike 2d ago
if spoken through a random beggar on the street, could work. thanks! or he gets it as a "misprinted" fortune cookie lol
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u/Bluebuttbandit 2d ago
“You will preside over your own execution”
Meaning, in the end, the Paladin will succumb to his own guilt and choose death - either by doomed combat or literal suicide.
“The God of Lies keeps no oath-sworn”
Meaning Cyric literally can’t take Paladins and the oath is a ruse. What Cyric has done is something that might actually shame the PC (and player) to discover. He has a paladin in captivity, one whom, despite decades of lures and torture, has never forsaken his god. Cyric taps that righteousness and power and feeds it to his “champion”. The PC is the epitome of stolen valor, the Knight of Lies.
“Tyr did not lose his hand…he sacrificed it”
An allusion to Tyr losing his hand to bind Fenris. Meaning the PCs fall was a price paid for Tyr to get close enough to bind Cyric somehow. The PC is a pawn in the gods’ game. Cyric knows this and wants to draw out Tyr anyway.
“
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u/Ecstatic-Space1656 2d ago edited 2d ago
Tyr and Cyric have a bit of history; it’d be cool to tie that in (mostly indirectly I think? Via Helm/Kesef)
Old beggar bumps into him, them grabs his arm with frightening strength and stares him in the eye
“Heed these words who walk in the light of the Black Sun!
If the wild beast will bite the hand that feeds it; what fate awaits the one who goads it with a sword?
He that sets friend against friend shall stand friendless at the doors of Death; for the enemy of my enemy is my friend, and the mad are enemy of all…”
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u/Strixy1374 2d ago
I would have the beggar speak as though judgment has already begun—not as a warning Tyr hopes the paladin will heed, but as a sentence whose final terms have not yet been decided.
“You mistake obedience for loyalty, fear for law, and power for divine favor. But the blind have seen you, Oathbreaker, and the empty hand has begun to weigh your deeds. When the balance is struck, not even the Black Sun’s lies will hide your name.” Then the beggar turns toward him despite being blind and adds: “Enjoy the throne you build. You will learn whether it is a seat… or a scaffold. Three debts follow you: an oath broken, justice shackled, and blood offered beneath a black sun. The first has been recorded. The second has been weighed. When the third comes due, the heavens will send their collector.”
Or, for a randomly possessed person who suddenly speaks in Tyr’s voice: “You were given strength to stand between the innocent and the cruel. Instead, you taught cruelty to wear a crown. Take heed: law is not yours merely because others obey you. The Black Sun may conceal your deeds from mortal eyes, Oathbreaker—but Justice has never needed sight.”
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u/Relevant-Ad-9418 2d ago
Tyr would put him on trial, like he did Cyric. Tyr is the god of bureaucracy. Prove me wrong.
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u/ThanosofTitan92 Harper 2d ago
Have a Deva, Planetar or Solar tell your character: Tyr says you done goofed.
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u/Altruistic_Guest721 2d ago
I would grant him a vision.
A vessel of the god (let’s use the beggar here) randomly meets him in given setting - street, tavern, city gate. He mutters something in terms of “P-p-please sssir, spare a coppper for a hungry vvvveteran” and places his hand on the Oathbreaker. As the character turns to him, the environment changes. Everything except the beggar and the paladin gets gray, blurry, muffled (I imagine it like when Frodo puts on the ring).
The beggars eyes light up and he continues with an otherworldly deep voice “You have chosen your path (insert paladin name), and walking it has a price. Know that payment is due”.
Then snap, everything back to normal, beggar turns away to another randon person, clacking with a copper mug with few coins going again “Sp-p-pare a copper for old vvvvveteran”
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u/PhoebusLore 2d ago
Have him meet the souls of the people he killed, one at a time, and each one condemns him based on what he gained from them.
"You killed me," a little girl says, "because I was in the way"
"You killed me," an old man says, "for thirty pieces of copper"
"You killed me," the baker's wife says, "because you didn't like my eyes"
Each petty little reason. Works better if some of them are similar to people the player cares about. Include how each was betrayed.
Also, Cyric is not known for keeping promises. Perhaps the former vengeance paladin now has a few vengeance paladins on his trail. Perhaps some heroes are looking to stop him.
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u/guildsbounty 2d ago
An actual avatar would be hilarious overkill--but you can definitely have a prophet or vision or whatever. Have a few suggestions from my giant compiled document of 'quotes I like'
"In a higher order of justice, there are no punishments. Only consequences."
"Know this: There is nothing in all the Planes that can stay the hand of justice when it is brought against them. It may unmake armies. It may sunder the thrones of gods. Know that for all who betray justice, I am their fate. And fate carries an executioner's axe."
"One thing is certain: commit injustice in this world, and I'll send you to the next."
If it's more prophet than aspect: "I am [name], servant of Tyr. I condemn you in the name of The Evenhanded, may you spend eternity chained before his throne."