jgbrowning said:
Part of being a paladin is accepting that, to behave honorably, you may just once in a while have to realize that you could have been more effective by not doing so.
So yes, what if the guy was a monk? Who cares? That's irrelavent to the paladins behavior, because the paladin must not only have ends that are good and lawful, he must also use means that are good and lawful to get there.
By you logic, paladin's should NEVER announce themselves, for it could make the situation worse.
It may have turned into a very ugly hostage situation. By acting imemdiately the paladin has prevented this from happening.
And, even if you don't do metagame thinking on Paladin chances to subdue a commoner (who could be be of 5th level for all we know), there is also the simple fact, that all it takes to kill/harm a child strapped to a chair is a single, well aimed, push.
My own campaign is set in Mithril (a city in Scarred Lands), where paladins are the law. It is possible to disagree with a paladin's judgement, but one cannot question their morals. And certainly, no one argues with a judgement-on-spot... though a higher ranking paladin may examine the case or the paladin-executioner may be asked to prove his paladinhood.
And, were it to take place in my game, there would be no slap on the back. Rather a report to file and thorough investigation of all present in vicinity, establishment owner and so on in order to find out whether the perpetrator had any accomplices.
jgbrowning said:
An act done for the greater good must also be done in a good manner. This the the difficulty of being a paladin.
I don't think he should be completely stipped of his powers, but he should lose some and have to atone. He simply didn't behave as a paladin should. He behaved as any other LG character should.
This is why I don't like paladins.
joe b.
Stereotypical goody-goody approach may lead to idiotic situations. Hence I dislike most superheroic stories.
Also, a paladin is human. He is prone to just anger like everyone else. However, in this case he knew what was going to happen (he could have attacked before the criminal condemned himself with his own words) so, prevailing emotions nonwithstanding, he did the right thing.
If anything, this show of empathy is much more redeeming than slaying a chaotic evil troll.
Finally, what did GM think placing such a challenge in front of a character? Lawful Good does not equal Lawful Stupid.
*sarcasm mode on*
Advice to the paladin player. Next time such a *double the amount of sarcasm on* mature *double the amount of sarcasm off* issue comes up, warn the perp about his rights and possible consequences. Do not attempt to strike or subdue without warning first the perp about your presence and your weapons, sharp and ready to be used.
For those who really like challenges, give a brief lecture why it is wrong to harm innocents, and provide arguments, why do you think that the victim in question is an innocent and why do you consider molesting a child to be evil and warranting an extreme action.
Then, if the victim is still alive and not taken hostage and the perp is still available, do a citizen arrest. Otherwise, pray to your deity to strip you of your powers, as you have allowed the evil to prevail and harm the innocent.
*sarcasm mode off*
Regards,
Rumere