D&D 5E Paladin just committed murder - what should happen next?

[Hussar]

A person's flawed perception of a situation doesn't matter.

Sure it does. We're calling the player's actions cowardly because we can armchair quarterback after the fact a number of alternative solutions. We weren't there. We have no idea if those other options would even be considered. All we know is that the player was faced with an unwinnable situation and choose the least bad option and now there are all sorts of calls for punishing him for that.

No thanks. The actions he performed were in keeping with his Oath, if distasteful, and were not evil. If the player isn't feeling guilty about it, move on.

 

[Hussar]

The problem here is that the scenario is terrible.

But again, as I've stated many times, I'm not advocating for lawful stupid. I'm just saying that immediately going with surrender the innocent is not the ideal solution.

Meh, that's a quibble. We weren't there. We don't have a lot of information to go on, so, I'm not going to judge the player based on a shot clock.

 

[Nagol]

A person's flawed perception of a situation doesn't matter.

It'sthe only thing that does matter. What the DM thinks he presented doesn't matter What the player received does. It's the only data upon which to make a choice.

 

[Nagol]

If I was the player, I would simply assume that the DM was throwing me a bone and not just killing my character. I honestly probably wouldn't think much beyond that.

"Hrm, I have an unbeatable opponent in front of me. It can kill me without really even trying. The DM is giving me an out where I don't have to reroll my character and derail the campaign trying to parachute my new character into the game. OK, I'll go with that."

Or even. Hmm, this is interesting and obviously railroad. What does he have planned?

 

[FrogReaver]

Kirk got a commendation for it. Sounds like an accepted optimal solution.

Doesn't to me. He got a commendation because of his effort and ingenuity. He almost got threw out because it was cheating, but it was an impressive enough feat and "solution" that it was meaningful.

2) Maybe, maybe, not. It was a lesson I learned the very hard way several decades ago when I made that mistake a few times in a row as DM. Thinking of a clever solution as the DM with all the info and motivations is very different than dealing if the limited information poor bandwidth data transfer available to the players.

Oh I agree, which is why I agree that the scenario shouldn't have been presented in the first place. It was basically a puzzle with multiple save or die levers and not having any upfront clues on which could be pulled.

 

[FrogReaver]

It'sthe only thing that does matter. What the DM thinks he presented doesn't matter What the player received does. It's the only data upon which to make a choice.

Then players must never make any bad choices

 

[Nagol]

Then players must never make any bad choices

The only bad choice is not choosing!

 

[FrogReaver]

All we know is that the player was faced with an unwinnable situation and choose the least bad option and now there are all sorts of calls for punishing him for that.

The situation was winnable. The DM even provided his preaccepted solution.

 

[Nagol]

Doesn't to me. He got a commendation because of his effort and ingenuity. He almost got threw out because it was cheating, but it was an impressive enough feat and "solution" that it was meaningful.



Oh I agree, which is why I agree that the scenario shouldn't have been presented in the first place. It was basically a puzzle with multiple save or die levers and not having any upfront clues on which could be pulled.

Depends on which movie universe. Old Kirk talked about getting a commendation and almost thrown out with order to never talk about it. IIRC (and I may not since I didn't like the movie) new Kirk got a commendation and a command right out of school. Who gets that? No one! No one gets that!

 

[Mort]

Meh, that's a quibble. We weren't there. We don't have a lot of information to go on, so, I'm not going to judge the player based on a shot clock.

It's a message board, judging people after the fact, based on limited information, is kind of what we do .

Let me be more clear, the OP, asked how he should punish the player.

My real answer: don't punish the player. Examine the situation to see how it could be improved for next time.