s/LaSH
First Post
The Code requires honour. Honour generally doesn't hold with killing someone who can't see you; see Hamlet or various samurai stuff for the global acceptance of this principle.
That said, from a certain perspective a paladin assassin makes a great deal of sense. Suppose a corrupt merchant has some hired guards. The guards don't know the merchant is evil, but the paladin does. Should the paladin kill the guards to stop the merchant selling slaves (or whatever), or let the merchant continue? The solution to this ethical dilemma is to give the paladin the opportunity to sneak past the guards, maybe scale a sheer wall and cut her way through a third-storey window or something. Then she bursts into the merchant's office, throws him a sword, and challenges him to prove his righteousness.
Depending on the precise paladin and deity, what happens if the merchant drops the sword is going to vary. Some gods would say, Kill him, he has had his chance. Others would say, Spare him, he is defenceless. Which is a little more complex, of course. Maybe a few ranks of Intimidate to spur him into picking up the sword again?
And after the quick little fight, a quick getaway out the window. Maybe set fire to the building, although that's fairly chaotic and most paladins wouldn't use it unless it was strictly necessary.
Well, that's my thought on the subject. There are bound to be exceptions, of course; the paladin is a character based on ethics, and there's no spreadsheet to calculate morality so strict answers are a little hard to come by...
That said, from a certain perspective a paladin assassin makes a great deal of sense. Suppose a corrupt merchant has some hired guards. The guards don't know the merchant is evil, but the paladin does. Should the paladin kill the guards to stop the merchant selling slaves (or whatever), or let the merchant continue? The solution to this ethical dilemma is to give the paladin the opportunity to sneak past the guards, maybe scale a sheer wall and cut her way through a third-storey window or something. Then she bursts into the merchant's office, throws him a sword, and challenges him to prove his righteousness.
Depending on the precise paladin and deity, what happens if the merchant drops the sword is going to vary. Some gods would say, Kill him, he has had his chance. Others would say, Spare him, he is defenceless. Which is a little more complex, of course. Maybe a few ranks of Intimidate to spur him into picking up the sword again?
And after the quick little fight, a quick getaway out the window. Maybe set fire to the building, although that's fairly chaotic and most paladins wouldn't use it unless it was strictly necessary.
Well, that's my thought on the subject. There are bound to be exceptions, of course; the paladin is a character based on ethics, and there's no spreadsheet to calculate morality so strict answers are a little hard to come by...