Can good characters let evil characters die?

Bronn Spellforger · Feb 10, 2002

I just finished a great adventure where one of those great moral questions came up. We've got six characters: 2 NG, 1 LN, 1 CN, 2 CG.

In our quest to find the lost city of Aerunedar, (see http://www.enworld.org/messageboards/showthread.php?threadid=241 ) our characters were competing with a second band of adventurers who where hired by the Red Wizards of Thay. We discovered the other band who were lying it wait to waylay and kill us.

Luckily, we got the upper hand and wiped the floor with them. Although a few had died, we had about 5 of them, still alive, but unconscious. Our CG cleric decided to bind their wounds for them. After casting detect evil on them, we discovered that 2 of the other band (including a bugbear barbarian) were evil, but the rest were probably neutral.

What's a predominantly good party to do with them now?

Do we let them go? Do we let just the non-evil ones go? Can we afford to let evil character back into the world? Do we cut their throats now (or just the two evil ones)? Do we give them minor weapons and rations before letting them go? Should we have just let them bleed to death in the first place?

These were the questions we struggled with back and forth for 15 minutes. Unfortunately, a rogue Red Wizard heard our moral arguments, got sick of listening to us, and lightning bolted the pile of unconscious bodies before teleporting away (what a bastard!)

What would you have done?

pontus · Feb 10, 2002

I tend to frown on "They show up on detect evil, so it's OK to kill them." Either kill them all, or spare them all.

Dalenthas · Feb 10, 2002

Thats one of the reasons why I dumped the alignment detection spells. If none had dectected as evil, what would you have done?

Horacio · Feb 10, 2002

I hate Detect Alignement spells, because I hate alignement system.

You cannot judge only on alignement. Maybe the Evil NPCs, when freed, would go home and the Neutral one would go to kill the PCs for revenge.

Killing somebody because 'he is EVIL' is a rather disturbing thought...

Bronn Spellforger · Feb 10, 2002

Dalenthas said:
Thats one of the reasons why I dumped the alignment detection spells. If none had dectected as evil, what would you have done?

That's a good point. I also dislike the detect alignment spells. Sort of ruins the game a little bit.. perhaps a detect "intentions" spell would be better. Certainly, a deity would help you detect if someone means you ill will...

As to what we would have done? Well, although my char is NG, once we defeated them in battle, I would have let them bleed to death and not healed them in the first place.

One of their wizards surrendered himself (before getting knocked unconscious (subdual damage) by our very pissed off monk) ... I wouldn't have killed him.. but I'm not sure what we would have done with him.

Orco42 · Feb 10, 2002

I would say kill them all. Even if they were good I would say kill them, afterall they just tried to kill you.

But I am NE so I can't say what a good person would do.

Tom Cashel · Feb 10, 2002

Horacio said:
You cannot judge only on alignement.

In a game of D&D? Sure you can...alignments are not only (imaginary) moral absolutes, but they are also tangible and forceful energies of the (imaginary) cosmos; hence the existence of celestials, demons, devils, etc.

Killing somebody because 'he is EVIL' is a rather disturbing thought...

In the real world, I agree. However, since we're talking about the (imaginary) alignment system of D&D, I'd say characters do it all the time. "Power Word, Kill" is a really disturbing thought, almost as bad as "Death Spell" or a PC hacking someone to pieces with a greatsword.

Lucky it's just a game.

Speaking of which, does anybody (who accepts the alignment system as a part of D&D) have an opinion about what alignment allows you to do? What it doesn't allow you to do?
I was playing one of the NG characters...I thought we should heal them, give them food and mundane weapons, and send them packing. However, we had to do something else with the evil characters, since they were most likely to hurt us or others in the future....

The Zhentarim mage who popped out, called us all pitiful, and fried all the prisoners...now he was evil...

reapersaurus · Feb 10, 2002

Bronn Spellforger said:
What's a predominantly good party to do with them now?

Oh geez, is THIS going to bring up a pile of worms!

You might as well ask, "Can a Paladin kill someone who is defeated, yet evil?"

The answer, to ME, is a resounding YES!

If you hamstring good characters into only being 'able' to kill an evil thing when it is in full attack mode, yet not when they are defeated, than you are introducing a WHOLE HOST of problems in the future.

Someguy · Feb 10, 2002

I would say yes, but do youy want too? You have some of them captured, use it to your advantage, get some info....and send them back with a "message", use it to your advantage...

but, I am gaisnt the "it's evil, let's kill it"... I just think you have the right to kill them because they tried to kill you...

Grendel · Feb 10, 2002

I remember a western movie I watched that had the perfect answer to that question, I just cannot remember the movie or the exact quote.

The situation was that the sheriff had caught the bad guys and was going to hang them, one of the gang was just a kid and was crying and begging to be let go, but the sheriff just told him that it was too bad that he fell in with a bad lot, but since he rode with them, he'd hang with them. The problem with hangin with a bad crowd.