• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

The Complete Warrior presents prestige classes, feats, spells, magic items, and organizations geared for the martial at heart. This article expands one of these organizations, the Order of the Chalice, with details of membership, a fully developed chapter house, and complete statistics blocks for three NPC members. THE ORDER OF ORDER OF THE CHALICE THE CHALICE The Order of the Chalice is the organization to which EXPANSION all knights of the Chalice (and those aspiring to that prestige class) belong. Unsurprisingly, its membership A Web Enhancement for is made up largely of characters with paladin levels. Members of the Order of the Chalice devote them- the Complete Warrior selves entirely to the organization’s primary mission: the complete eradication of demons in the multiverse. CREDITS To this end, they seek out and destroy demons wher- ever they exist on the Material Plane and carry out well- Design: Darrin Drader planned surgical strikes against targets within the Abyss Editing: Penny Williams itself. These stalwart knights have battled demonkind Typesetting: Nancy Walker in every place and every situation, and many have sacri- Cartography: Dennis Kauth and Rob Lazzaretti Design Manager: Ed Stark ficed their lives to the cause. Nonetheless, the group has Web Production Julia Martin had enough successes that its existence has become a Web Development: Mark A. Jindra concern to the demon princes themselves. Graphic Design: Sean Glenn, Cynthia Fliege The Order of the Chalice considers its hard-won vic- tories to be the necessary precursors to its inevitable Based on the original DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® game by E. triumph. The leaders of the order have researched the Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson and on the new edition of the Abyss in considerable detail. They believe that if the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game designed by Jonathan Tweet, demon princes are removed from the Abyssal power Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Rich Baker, and Peter Adkison. structure, the remaining demons will fall to infighting. Those groups that do not simply eradicate one another D&D, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, and DUNGEON MASTER are registered trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. The d20 logo is a trademark owned by Wizards of the in the struggle for supremacy will splinter, and the Coast, Inc. All Wizards characters, character names, and the distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. resulting subgroups will be much easier for members of the order to confront and vanquish. Thus, the order This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the has targeted the most powerful demons for early material or artwork contained herein is prohibited extinction. without the express written permission of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. OVERVIEW AND BRIEF HISTORY ©2003 Wizards of the Coast, Inc. All rights reserved. The forces of evil have plagued the multiverse since the Made in the U.S.A. very beginning of time. While villainous outsiders take This product is a work of fiction. many forms and originate in numerous places, demons Any similarity to actual people, organizations, places, have distinguished themselves as the most vile and or events is purely coincidental. troublesome breed. They embody the purest evil, their This Wizards of the Coast game product contains no Open Game Content. chaotic nature causes them to wreak havoc indiscrimi- No portion of this work may be reproduced in any form without written permission. To learn more about the Open Gaming License nately, their sheer numbers are immense, and they are and the d20 System License, please visit www.wizards.com/d20. physically more powerful than many other beings in existence. In fact, sages surmise that demons would For more DUNGEONS & DRAGONS articles, adventures, and information, visit www.wizards.com/dnd quickly overtake the multiverse if they could overcome their chaotic nature long enough to unite and go on an organized offensive against the rest of creation. The Order of the Chalice was founded by nine pal- adins who had independently encountered numerous 1 demons in their travels. They had found these foul the Material Plane, uncovered demonic plots that creatures manipulating the world in various ways—dis- would have caused key kingdoms and nations to fall guising themselves as humanoids to influence the lead- under the control of dark overlords, and mounted ers of nations, marching armies of their horrid kind numerous successful expeditions into the Abyss to into civilized regions simply to slaughter innocents, destroy demons where they live. and controlling some of the most evil monsters known to exist. Ultimately, the paths of these nine champions THE ORGANIZATION of good crossed, and they found common cause as they The Order of the Chalice maintains a presence in most related their experiences to one another. Deciding that kingdoms and nations of the Material Plane. Chapter the most serious threat to good was the existence of houses exist in most cities as well as a few outlying demons in the multiverse, they began to devise a strat- regions where demons are often found. A few chapter egy to fight them on a grand scale. houses exist on other planes as well. By consulting the paragons of good, they determined Hierarchy: The Order of the Chalice has a strict that demons exist in finite numbers. Knowing that over- hierarchy headed by nine Masters of the Chalice. Nine hunting a species can cause it to become extinct, they Chalice Marshals report to each of them. See Complete reasoned that the same principle should apply to Warrior, page 142, for additional details of the organiza- demons. Though they knew that evil could never be tional structure. completely eradicated, they felt that it should be possible Headquarters: Each of the nine Masters of the to remove its front-line troops from the battle. Chalice maintains his own keep, which functions as an To that end, they founded the Order of the Chalice, official headquarters of the organization. Each such a fraternal organization dedicated to the destruction of keep has full control over the various chapter houses in demons. The name is derived from their most sacred its region. holy item—an ornate silver cup reputed to have caught Members: The organization has 7,380 members the blood of a solar while it fought a demon prince. The when all positions are filled. In addition, more than founders faced two separate challenges: developing 3,000 squires are affiliated with the organization, more effective ways of fighting demons, and building though they have not yet been granted membership. up the numbers of their order. The latter goal proved Religion: The religious views of the membership somewhat problematical to meet in the early days. Not vary, although all members must pay homage to Heiro- every paladin agreed that the destruction of demons neous on some level. Paladins, clerics, and other divine should be the primary concern of paladins everywhere, spellcasters who are dedicated to other deities are and many refused the call to join, though they wel- merely required to acknowledge Heironeous as a force comed the existence of such a group. Thus, recruit- for good and a friend of the order, and to offer prayers ment, particularly of paladins, became a major focus of to him as well as to their own gods. the organization. Alignment: Lawful good. Eventually, the order’s numbers swelled to the point Secrecy: The Order of the Chalice uses some where a hierarchical organization become both feasible secrecy. Chapter house locations are known, but many and necessary. (See Complete Warrior, page 142, for knights of the Chalice find it necessary to conceal their details of the organizational structure.) During this identities, especially when infiltrating evil locations. period of growth, members often pursued independent Symbol: A radiant silver cup. quests to foil demonic plots and learn strategic infor- LEADERSHIP mation about key demonic strongholds. Also during The leaders of the order are devoted to defending the this time, Order of the Chalice chapter houses began to chalice itself. Each is the master of a keep, and the chal- appear in numerous major cities to serve as bases of ice is moved around among the nine of them according operation. At a chapter house, the knights could rest to a little-known schedule. Permanent magical portals between excursions, share information they had that allow only lawful good creatures to pass have been obtained, plan out new operations, and recruit new constructed within each keep so that the chalice can members. quickly be relocated should its current home fall to The Order of the Chalice has existed for more than demonic forces. a century, and in that time, the organization has The identities of the nine masters are known only to accomplished many of its goals. Its members have the Chalice Marshals. Many servants, family members, 2 repelled demonic invasions from various locations in and others living in the keeps that belong to the mas- and death in combat with some of the most powerful ters are unaware of the role they play in the organiza- creatures known to exist. In truth, other benefits do tion, or even that they are affiliated with it. This secrecy exist, most of which revolve around the fraternal struc- is maintained so that the demonic forces and those ture of the organization. Those who join the order are loyal to them cannot easily locate and destroy the com- considered members for life unless they denounce the mand structure of the organization. organization or their behavior proves inconsistent with its ideals (as is the case with characters who change MEMBERSHIP alignment). Knights of the Chalice can find a peaceful Many members of the order started out as paladins, but place to stay in any chapter house, and both current clerics are well represented in its ranks, and rangers and retired members always open their homes to mem- make up a significant minority.

Load more

  10

Copy Link