Gray guard

A gray guard was a paladin who followed a looser and morally grayer code of conduct than the average paladin and did whatever must be done to protect the innocent and helpless from those who would do them harm. Gray guards typically followed deities focused on justice, such as Tyr. "Do whatever it takes to get the job done, and worry about the moral questions later."

- A gray guard

Activities
While their church might give them targets, a gray guard usually acted independently and dealt with issues as they found them. Believing it's better to ask forgiveness than permission, a gray guard might do such things as beat confessions from criminals and heretics and atone afterward. Of course, they could not engage in needless crimes, like starting barroom brawls or worse.

The gray guard preferred to do battle on the field of honor, judging an opponent by their actions and demonstrating their own righteousness and courage, though not recklessly. But if the only chance or choice they had to deal with a high priest of an evil cult was by assassination, they would do so, whatever the cost to themselves. Their tactics therefore changed to fit the fight.

Mercy was also mutable. Ideally, they would take a foe prisoner and drag them before the rightful authorities to face justice. But if there was no option for this, such as if there was no time or there was a high chance of escape, the gray guard would not allow the villain to get away and possibly carry on. A moment's prayer for both their own soul and their victim's, followed by a quick death, ended the lives of many of a gray guard's enemies.

A gray guard learned from their enemies in the ways of deceit, stealth, and thievery, and favored tactics that let them get at the most significant opponent sooner.

Attitudes
The gray guard saw the terrible realities of the world: orphaned children starving in gutters while the rich and powerful feasted nearby; tyrants abusing the law to expand their own power while terrorizing their subjects; and the so-called devout neglecting, using, and abusing those they saw as at best, beneath their notice, and at worst, heretics. The worst were those that professed to be righteous and used seductive arguments to corrupt and control. But the inflexible code of a paladin could only go so far, because it forced them to act in the open, putting them at a disadvantage that could get them killed, and allowed evil to not only stay hidden, but flourish. The gray guard earned the right and freedom to do whatever it took to take out the trash, even if it mean committing a lesser evil to uphold the greater good. Moreover, they came to oppose chaos as well as evil, believing it just as responsible for suffering and injustice.

A gray guard was not proud of what they did, but rather saw it as a necessity forced upon them by the realities of the world. They did not see it as winning a freedom or blessing, but rather losing their innocence and tainting forever their once-pure soul. They resolved to do what was necessary, to do battle as valiantly as the greatest paladin, but as brutally as the most vile blackguard. They believed the ends justifed the means and they should do whatever they must to defeat the enemy. However, the gray guards felt a loss of connection to their deity, as if they were a disappointment to them, regardless of their sacrifices.

Culture
Among the ranks of paladins there were some who had seen too much. The archetype of the noble-spirited paladin, a knight in shining armor and wielding a holy blade to smite the enemies of goodness, had gotten countless good men and women killed by their enemies' underhanded tactics. Thus, a number of churches of good faiths formed covert orders from their most committed and veteran holy warriors, and trained them in the shadowy tactics favored by their foes.

The vast majority of gray guards were paladins. Only the most realistic and dedicated holy warriors joined a church's order of gray guards, knowing that evil ran rampant in the world, always had, and would not be expunged merely by good example. They joined out of necessity, not out of resentment for the code of conduct; those who chafed at their responsibilities were unfit to be paladins, let alone gray guards. Few paladins were cut out to be gray guards.

Prior to becoming gray guards, these people were often paladins frustrated at their peers' lack of understanding of the greater good, at how they focused on certain villainies while neglecting others, and often argued with them. The prospective gray guard had probably already broken their code before being contacted by a senior priest or hardened knight in tarnished armor, who questioned how much they'd truly sacrifice for the church and that greater good.

Requirements
To be accepted, gray guards must be lawful good and be proficient at sensing the intent of others and have a great deal of religious knowledge. They must also be able to heal the living by laying on hands and to follow a code of conduct barring evil acts, ensuring the majority were paladins.

A gray guard held to the same code of conduct as a paladin: they must be lawful and good, never engage in an evil act of their own free will, respect legal authority, help those in need, punish those who hurt the innocent, and behave honorably by never lying, cheating, using poison, and so on. If they violated this code, they must atone or else lose their divine gifts, but only temporarily; they were less likely to lose them permanently than a paladin. For them, so long as they acted in the name of the faith, clemency was more common and atoning was easy. The code became more flexible as they went on, but though a gray guard's code was looser than a paladin's, it did not grant one carte blanche to do whatever they pleased. The central tenet was this: a gray guard must not break the code without good reason.

The power to break the paladin's code was a privilege, not a right, and actions that couldn't be forgiven, such as despoiling a temple of their own faith, slaying innocents, etc., actions counter to the tenets of their faith, and habitual violations of the code would cost the gray guard their abilities and their position in the church. If the gray guard was found guilty of abusing their freedoms by a jury of church leaders or even by their own deity, they would be expelled from the order, permanently costing them both gray guard and paladin powers. Not even an atonement spell could restore them once lost in this manner.

Conveniently, then, a gray guard could just as easily become a blackguard instead.

Organization
They were members of lawful good churches, those that had paladin orders, but otherwise varied widely by faith and perception. A normal gray guard order operated apart from any paladin orders, and while rarely a secret, they were not talked about publicly. Rather, they were similar to witch hunters and inquisitors, as a branch of the church that was feared but not addressed. Others comprised covert cells that mirrored paladin orders.

Gray guards were closely monitored by senior priests, who worried for their faith and state of mind. Gray guards often confessed their sins in private places of worship and saw this as a sacred duty.

The gray guards comprised a small grim order within their respective churches. They had no temples, halls, or lands of their own and barely any duty rosters. With an unofficial hierarchy based on experience and seniority, there were only two ranks: gray guards and captains. Captains were veterans who knew every member personally and assigned targets as befit individual personalities and skills, and only they had direct authority over them. They often sent them far away and had them check in but rarely to shield them from internal church politics. They supported each other as well as they coul, but they were too few to offer much aid.

Abilities
They could easily develop skills in bluffing, intimidation, sensing motives, disguise, and forging documents, alongside typical paladin skills in mental focus, animal handling, riding, and healing, as well as knowledge of local affairs, nobility, royalty, and religious lore.

Like paladins, gray guards trained as both capable warriors and casters of divine spells, if they were before becoming one. As they advanced, they gained greater freedoms to act as they must to oppose evil. A gray guard could cross-train as a paladin, and return to or adopt that path.

On acceptance, a gray guard made a sacrament of trust, a vow of allegiance to their faith unlike any made by a typical paladin. Under it, they had greater freedom to act in service to their faith and do so with less fear of punishment should their duties violate their code of conduct. A dishonorable action still temporarily cost them both their paladin and gray guard powers, but not to the extent faced by a true paladin. When the gray guard sought to atone for a willing violation done in service to the faith, the cleric casting atonement for them could do with no cost.

Like paladins, gray guards were able to channel positive energy to heal the living and hurt the undead. If already paladins, this power continued to progress. Moreover, they could begin to use this power offensively.

First, instead of using their lay on hands to heal allies, they could channel that energy to inflict a painful, debilitating condition. If a victim lacked the fortitude to resist, they were affected for almost a minute. This was particularly useful when interrogating suspects, as the power reduced the subject's ability to lie convincingly or resist magic. They could have a similar effect with a smite, dazing and slowing their foe briefly.

Also like paladins, gray guards could channel their faith into their sword arm to smite evil once, and later twice, a day, boosting the accuracy and force of an attack dealt to an evildoer. Later, with a power called a justice blade, instead of smiting an evil opponent, a gray guard could smite a chaotic opponent, in just the same way. The most powerful gray guards could even use this ability to smite those of other alignments—lawful and good.

Mid-ranked gray guards could use their lay on hands in an even more devastating way, by causing injuries rather than healing them. Strong-willed non-evil subjects might shrug off part of the damage dealt, but not all of it. They could also be left exposed.

Eventually, with unbound justice, gray guards could use unorthodox methods without being bound by their code of honor. Because it was not expected of their kind, they became more effective at bluffing, disguise, and intimidation.

Making a sacrament of the true faith, the most experienced gray guards gained the full trust of their church and could act freely (within reason) to uphold the goals and tenets of their faith as they saw fit. They no longer needed to atone, nor did they risk losing their divine powers, for violating the code of conduct if their cause was just.

Driven to action, a gray guard could charge swiftly into the fray and attack more forcefully. And with their vigilance, as well as cultivating their skills in awareness and local knowledge, a gray guard could easily spot targets wherever they might hide.

If a gray guard stuck a serious blow against an enemy, a neighboring enemy could be briefly demoralized.

A relentless force of justice, the persevering gray guard didn't let failure stop them; if they missed with one special attack, they could try again.

Possessions
They looked for magic items that concealed their aura of goodness and other signs of faith to avoid being detected by their enemies.

Relationships
While they could have the resources of their church behind them, they often faced opposition and prejudice from within it. Opinions on them varied greatly. Though a gray guard worked toward the same goals as other members of their faith, they could by distrusted or ostracized by their fellows for their apparent corruption and concessions to evil. Paladins could see them as weak, for they had not, in their view, the courage to fight for justice with honor. Concerned priests and paladins tried to influence, hinder, or halt them. Some even viewed them as a dangerous threat to the church, nearly as great as their enemies. Regardless, the gray guards cared little for what others thought of them.

Regardless, church leaders tended to understand the need for the gray guards who could get their hands dirty and their own gods seemed to approve more of their actions as they advanced. Gray guards got aid from only the rare allies who understood their duty.

Common people saw them as regular warriors or mercenaries and treated them accordingly.

Background
Erik Scott de Bie, author of the Shadowbane series, wrote that "The Grey Guard PrC is definitely something that goes into my inspiration--Shadowbane himself is kind of a mix of Shadowbane Inquisitor (the powers) and Grey Guard (the moral "grayness"). Shadowbane isn't meant to be the classic D&D paladin, but rather someone trying to do the right thing in a world where it isn't always clear what the right thing is. He's also meant to provoke a reaction as to whether he's really a good guy or not, and whether his actions and means do indeed justify his ends." (The Shadowbane Inquisitor is a similar prestige class in Complete Adventurer.)