So in our game the group put to sleep a number of guards to avoid unnecessary bloodshed (using excellent role play and strong dwarven ale). It was a detailed plan they executed well. One player however specifically went to a few of the guards and slit their throats while they slept. The character was neutral good. The comment made was that he wanted to make sure they didn't wake while they lead the refugees away. He could have bound them up I feel as they were likely out for the count. As the guards were of varying alignment the group was leery of killing people who didn't deserve it. Suffice it to say his act angered the group and shocked me. I believe an alignment shift is in order. I can see this changing him to neutral evil now. Thoughts??
Is this an evil act, or not?
- Thread starter Buttercup
- Start date
Not sure what you mean here but did I post this question in the wrong place. If so happy to delete.
BookTenTiger
He / Him
Talk it over with the player! Either you will help them better understand the way alignment looks in your campaign world, or you will have fun plotting together their slide into eeeeeevil.
By the way, this thread is 19 years old!
Mannahnin
Scion of Murgen (He/Him)
I agree that you should discuss it with the player(s) and try to get on the same page about morality in the context of your campaign.
D&D is a bit of a tricky venue for moral discussions, in part because of how much violence is routinely engaged in by most PCs, and how we treat it as a game where not everyone plays it to deal with or incorporate difficult moral dilemmas.
That being said, killing people whom you didn't have to, some of whom are not irredeemably evil, is an evil act as far as most campaigns I've ever played in or run go. I've played in games where an otherwise-heroic character begins a slide into full evil and villainy starting by justifying such murders on pragmatic grounds.
Traditionally in D&D a single act USUALLY doesn't suffice to change a character's alignment entirely, although it can suffice to cause the loss of Paladinhood in older editions, or to offend a Cleric's god and lose some of their spellcasting ability. It sounds like this is definitely an evil act by your standards (as it is to mine), so talk to the player and make sure they understand, and can choose to either begin the dramatic arc of becoming neutral/evil, or to have the pangs of conscience strike and make some sort of atonement.
D&D is a bit of a tricky venue for moral discussions, in part because of how much violence is routinely engaged in by most PCs, and how we treat it as a game where not everyone plays it to deal with or incorporate difficult moral dilemmas.
That being said, killing people whom you didn't have to, some of whom are not irredeemably evil, is an evil act as far as most campaigns I've ever played in or run go. I've played in games where an otherwise-heroic character begins a slide into full evil and villainy starting by justifying such murders on pragmatic grounds.
Traditionally in D&D a single act USUALLY doesn't suffice to change a character's alignment entirely, although it can suffice to cause the loss of Paladinhood in older editions, or to offend a Cleric's god and lose some of their spellcasting ability. It sounds like this is definitely an evil act by your standards (as it is to mine), so talk to the player and make sure they understand, and can choose to either begin the dramatic arc of becoming neutral/evil, or to have the pangs of conscience strike and make some sort of atonement.
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Bedrockgames
I post in the voice of Christopher Walken
It is a very hypothetical type of scenario as there are probably a lot of unknowns here and we don't know the full context. Personally I would consider this evil. I think it is a complicated situation, but it doesn't sound like all available possibilities and options were explored. For example if you flipped it, and one of the player characters was plaque stricken: would it be a merciful act to slit that character's throat without at least making an effort to find a cure. Even if that turns out to be an impossibility, not first exploring it, would seem to suggest that convenience was a motivating factor here instead of pure mercy. Also, while there is a poetry to the cleric slitting their throats as gently as possible as an act of mercy, I find that language also sets off alarm bells for me (like the person is trying to reframe a violent and lethal act as a caring one). There are also degrees of good here. But I think I would be reluctant to label it good, or not evil, in this case. Had the cleric tended to the kobold babies, exposed herself to the risk of plague to make their final moments more comfortable or help them survive (even if that possibility is remote) I think that would have been the good act. Another way to think about this: would you have labeled this not evil if they had stumbled into a human homestead and found a nursery of plague stricken babies and done the same thing?
But I think I would need to know a lot more though:
Is the plague 100 percent fatal?
How contagious is the plague?
Is there a cure?
Mannahnin
Scion of Murgen (He/Him)
You might want to address yourself to Blackthorn's new post (#101), rather than Buttercup's from nineteen years ago. Buttercup doesn't seem to be an active user anymore.
Bedrockgames
I post in the voice of Christopher Walken
Lol. I had no idea this was a necro-thread
Bedrockgames
I post in the voice of Christopher Walken
i would say this definitely warranted an alignment change. At the very least a move towards pure neutrality but I would have probably just shifted them to neutral evil (and since I would likely have been running it in Ravenloft, it would have required a powers check for sure).
Player: I slit their throats while they sleep off the rufies we gave them.
DM: blink. blink.
Player: What?
Thank you. I haven't had a honest to goodness message board laugh-out-loud moment in a long time.
The only real advice I can give is drop alignment from your game immediately. The players obviously don't care what is written on their sheet, so neither should you.
DM: blink. blink.
Player: What?
Thank you. I haven't had a honest to goodness message board laugh-out-loud moment in a long time.
The only real advice I can give is drop alignment from your game immediately. The players obviously don't care what is written on their sheet, so neither should you.
