Act of evil? Or just taking out the trash?

[That One Guy]

I don't normally do this, but... what's Tiamat charging for rent nowadays? The word you're looking for is 'tenet'.

Gah! My mistake. I originally typoed it w/ tenat and firefox was like 'tenant'? ...blast.

 

[ppaladin123]

From the PHB: "A character who aspires to good might have a cruel streak, but if that streak manifests too frequently or in extreme ways, it’s
hard to say he’s really upholding his moral ideals."

Even if you don't think it was an evil act, I'd have the church reprimand him, maybe have rumor of this act spread through the country as well. Clearly he disobeyed a direct order from his superirors...that is not particularly lawful. He might meet other paladins of Bahamut who disagree with his methods and refuse to work with him. He might meet members of a hardline sect within the church who want him to join them. His actions may have also caught the attention of followers of Tiamat. Maybe they can seek him out....tempt him to join them, try to corrupt him with one of those, "we are not so different, you and I," speeches.

Also, if I were a good-aligned character campaigning with this guy, I might think twice about continuing to travel with him. The other characters may choose to confront him about this. Maybe you can have NPCs instigate that confrontation: "How can you call yourself good, and willingly associate with someone like that?" (Maybe they have a good answer to that question though.)

 

[Stogoe]

Bahamut is the god of Justice, Honor, Nobility, and Protection.

How is it Just to torture a man to death before his trial?
How is it honourable or noble to torture a man to death at all?
Who -exactly- is he protecting by doing this?



You're right, Paladins aren't stupid, so why would they react so feverishly to the insults of a broken defeated man, hoping to rationalize it later? We don't let guards or cops get away with it in OUR Lawful society.

This. Definitely this. These acts are not the acts of a Just, Honorable or Noble person. The church of Bahamut and those who trained him and set him upon his path should definitely tighten the reins and keep a close eye on him, lest his temper and cruelty turn him into a monster. And worse than just a monster; one they helped create.

 

[frankthedm]

Paladin of Bahamut? Not anymore in my book.

 

[rowport]

... You know what, I can see the player's interest in playing a different kind of paladin. ...Questions of good and evil aside, that was a very exciting and character-defining response. It said pretty clearly that this paladin is a guy who will do his due diligence to take prisoners. Once. If you keep giving him trouble after that, then he will take matters into his own hands in the most brutal fashion possible. He obviously also has a hair-trigger temper.
...

I agree with Wormwood. Whether or not this is "lawful good" behavior or not does not really matter like it used to-- there are not mechanics attached to alignment anymore. Frankly, that is a good thing-- it creates a freedom to play truly different characters. And, that is the root of good stories. You might argue that Dirty Harry was not "good" or maybe "lawful" either, but most would agree that he is an interesting character! Just have NPCs react to him as you think best, and let the pieces fly fall where they may. It should be fun to watch in any case. "Go ahead-- make my day."

 

[Drowbane]

this Paladin's only mistake was in not executing this "known killer and heretic" instead of capturing him.

Think midieval Sword of the Church, not modern police.

edit:

Maybe its just my view of what "Paladin" means (with no regard to edition), but I consider them to be the Judge, Jury, and Executioners of thier Church. They have divine mandate to kill in the name of thier god.

They're not beat-cops who capture, detain and bring to trial. They are the trial.

The Church might smack him on the wrist for being so... messy... in his execution however. A clean blow to the neck would have been more honorable.

 

[Henry]

I probably wouldn't mind a summary execution, as someone mentioned, as that would be the likelihood of good but short-tempered, but the dragging for two days definitely smacks of torture.

If I were a priest of Bane and heard about this guy, I'd start courting him to come over to my side ASAP; after all, if this thread shows you anything, those goody-goodys of Bahamut certainly don't really appreciate a man with such qualities of discipline and practicality as this Paladin. He'd make a fine paladin of a real man's god, like Bane.

 

[LoneWolf23]

Torturing the guy to death was rather extreme.. I think a more appropriate response would've been something like what Quentyn did here and here.

Don't kill him, just punch him in the face and remind him that if he even hints at giving you an excuse to kill him, you will...

 

[JiffyPopTart]

This sounds exactly like the actions I took with my new 4e paladin recently. I have styled my character to be similar to Russell Crowes character in LA Confidential, only instead of being an LA cop, I was a paladin of Tyr.

We went in a very seedy and dangerous bar on the wrong side of town looking for a person. The inhabitants (some of which were corrupt town guard) ambushed us, even though we hadn't drawn swords. At the end of the fight the BBEG got away and one of his cronies (the bartender who was a noncombatant) was the only person left in the place. I grabbed him and tied him down to one of the tables in the dining room. When he didn't cough up the info I was questioning him on, I grabbed a kitchen knife and drove it in his leg. When he STILL didn't cough up the info I wanted, I set the building on fire and left him to find his own way out.

I am playing my guy as having a really really bad temper switch, that once its flipped he get a little bloodthirsty until he calms down. He had already been sent to Hills Edge from Waterdeep to cover up a scandal involving his sisters missing fiancee (following discovery of domestic violence).

Its something different from the traditional goody-goody paladin mold of the past, and I LOVE IT.

I do plan on him treading the dark side for most of his career, and depending on how the campaign goes, he may just slide on over in his quest to rid the world of corruption.

DS

 

[Ourph]

Having killed a heretic of the church, the paladin likely won't suffer much more than a slap on the wrist from his superiors

I think this is where you're going wrong. The church of Bahamut (god of honor, good and righteousness) shouldn't just be giving this guy a slap on the wrist. He lost his cool, tortured a prisoner to death, circumvented the rightful authority structure of the church and otherwise acted in a very dishonorable and ignoble way. The fact that his friends and allies, people who should be able to trust a Paladin of Bahamut implicitly are instead intimidated by him says a lot.

The 4e rules suggest using NPCs in the church as a disciplinary device in these situations and I think it's entirely applicable here. A higher level NPC Cleric or Paladin of Bahamut (perhaps even a metallic dragon) should make this character's life hell for a while. If he chooses not to change his ways, he should become public enemy #1 for every follower of Bahamut in the area.