Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="mlund" data-source="post: 4459944" data-attributes="member: 50304">The exact quote from the original poster is as follows:"The heretic called out to his captor, tha paladin, and insulted his faith and threatened death and dismemberment to his loved ones (something about having powerful friends)."Also, I'd note that they fought an Encounter with this guy before he asked for quarter. Unless he was a Level X Solo he had friends / allies that could go toe-to-toe with adventurers for at least a few rounds.Also, the DM posted part of the information the PCs have been given about this criminal: "He has publicly and brutally put to death anyone who would dare refute his claims."So he's a dangerous criminal (with dangerous allies) who has committed brutal, public murders against innocents who has merely had verbal disagreements with him. He has stated that more of his allies that escaped capture will dismember and murder the Paladin's loved ones.The Paladin executes the murderous criminal and makes a public example out of him - an act that presumably would intimidate those thinking of acting like him from doing so - including those "powerful friends" that were going to visit "death and dismemberment" to the Paladin's loved ones. He also eliminates the possibility that the criminal might be able to communicate with or be rescued by his allies during his march through various towns and his trial - eliminating any further chances to hatch such a plot.Excessive? Probably. Irrational? Doesn't seem so. Unreasonable? That's arguable.The actions certainly weren't works of mercy, but Good doesn't have to show boundless mercy in D&D. Lawful Good, in particular, tends to show less individual mercy because it puts more emphasis on the costs and benefits of such actions against their impact on society as a whole. A Good character might let a thief go in hopes of sincere repentance while a Lawful Good character might take his thieving hand because setting him back out upon the populace does a disservice to the innocent villagers and such.Bahamut, in particular, is not a deity with Mercy listed anywhere in his portfolio. In fact, the heavy burdens of Honor and Justice are often perceived to be quite merciless.I do no believe the act was the best example of Good or Law. I wouldn't file it neatly away under Evil or Chaos either.- Marty Lund</blockquote>

Verification