Piety (sage study)

Similar to the clerical sage ability Faith, knowledge of piety reflects a Paladin's personal confidence and trust in their religious cause, manifested as the power to influence the beliefs of others and bend the world towards its sacred destiny. Piety shares many of the same abilities as Faith.

As a character's piety grows, the character will become free of angst and more willing to devote themselves spiritually to the divine will, embracing humility and commitment.

Paladins are naturally pious ~ otherwise, they would not possess a natural ability to recognize and be protected from malevolence. More than this, however, it is possible for a paladin to win favour or insight from their personal god or pantheon. To be truly pious, acts of faith must be completely genuine ~ they cannot spring forth from mere willingness to go through the motions or address the bare minimum of requirements.

However, because insisting upon piety has long been a method in role-playing games to restrain a paladin's power, there has been much institutionalized abuse of a player's free will and agency where running paladins in concerned. As my game does not recognize alignment or any necessity for a paladin to be piously zealous about their god in order to retain a paladin's powers, it must be made clear that piety is a choice, not a requirement. Characters who wish to build up knowledge points in piety are under no obligation to act piously in all situations ~ thus are the abilities below described in a fashion that does not require the player to act in accordance with any preconceptions created by the rules or by the DM. I consider this very important where paladins are concerned. These abilities are acquired through knowledge points gained by experience and NOT by player behaviour.

Amateur

   Preach: the power to deliver a sermon, influencing an audience to adopt moral truth, right conduct and worthy leadership.
   Proselytize: the skill to speak with others and encourage them to adopt the cleric's faith.

Authority

   Prayer: an act that serves to create a rapport between worshipper and deity, requesting knowledge or seeking divine intervention.
   Propitiation: the act of becoming the surrogate, and therefore the means of atonement, for a creature that has incurred divine retribution or who seeks divine favour.
   Prostration: the act of demonstrating humility, giving respect and revealing the purity of one's motives to witnessses.

Master

   Seven Spiritual Gifts: by means of which the character gains insight into one of the seven mystic virtues.