Alignment/Dogma question

[Elephant]

In a recent game session, my level 8 party encountered a Young Adult Red Dragon. Amazingly, we managed to detect him before we opened the door from a tunnel into his lair, so we had a minute to discuss our plans. At first blanch, the group consensus was to flee (we'd already been through two battles that day, so we were low on spells), but the party fighter has an "ally of Good dragons" feature in his prestige class. Accordingly, he did not listen to reason (even on a Diplomacy roll of 30 :/) and charged through the door as he slammed it open. We did manage to win the battle, though our wizard was killed in the breath attack.

My character is a Cleric of Tymora with a 21 Wisdom. After counseling caution and discretion (honestly, in hindsight, the DM was being merciful - the dragon should have eaten us for breakfast), I was criticized by another player for not playing my character's role well. He intimated that I wasn't being bold, as a follower of Tymora should be, and that I was being cowardly for not wanting to charge straight in (I had little in the way of spells left for the day - Silence was resisted, and the Bombardier Beetle I summoned didn't get to act).

So, what does everyone think? Was I right to counsel caution, seeking to avoid what I thought was a suicidal battle? Or should I have been stupidly bold and charged in right behind the fighter? I should note that a single Resist Energy (Fire) would have been enough to keep the wizard alive to the end of the battle.

 

[Maerdwyn]

One does not "test" a god. Though Tymora is a goddess of good luck, good fortune, and protection, charging in, knowing that one was unprepared, depleted, and utterly overmatched says, in a religious sense: "It doesn't matter what I do, Tymora will protect me. She has to, because I believe in her so much." That turns the relationship between deity and worshipper upside down. Tymora's luck and protection must be balanced by the other gifts her followers possess, including common sense.

In your place, I would think that a simple prayer thanking Tymora for the good fortune of discovering the dragon's presence early, and then moving off to prepare for the fight the following day, would have made the deity quite happy. It's not like taking the prudent course of action would have destroyed the group's opportunity to take on the dragon, right?

 

[Umbran]

Note the first - Diplomacy is for use on NPCs (it says so explicitly in the skill description). PCs have free will, and cannot be compelled with a skill check.

From there - the other player is a player, not the DM. If you or the DM say that such is Tymora's doctrine, then fine. Third parties, however, don't get a say. He's not the cleric, you are.

Also, luck is nice, but it is notoriously quirky. You can never rely on luck to get you through the entirety of a bad situation. A priest of Tymora, of all people, should know that. The cleric is supposed ot be the god's hand in the world, right? Part of the cleric's role, is to be the agent that brings luck unto those who deserve it. But, when you are spelled out, you don't have much more luck to give. A definite indication that even Tymora will only grant so much luck at any given time

 

[dead]

In my game I don't have alignment so this is a PC personality question.

So I say: "NOBODY can tell you how to play your PC's personality -- you play it how you like. Even if your decision did conflict with your church's dogma this is irrelevant because people are complex beings and sometimes don't always behave according to how their "doctrine" dictates.

If it was the *player* criticising your action then he has no right to. If it was the player *in character* criticising your action then this is OK. It can be great fun roleplaying a dispute between characters.

But just remember, you're playing YOUR character how YOU want to even if it doesn't make "sense" all the time to others. This is why alignments are problematic . . . but that's another rant, Elephant.

 

[Sejs]

I was criticized by another player for not playing my character's role well. He intimated that I wasn't being bold, as a follower of Tymora should be, and that I was being cowardly for not wanting to charge straight in (I had little in the way of spells left for the day - Silence was resisted, and the Bombardier Beetle I summoned didn't get to act).

Kindly inform your fellow player that he is free to relieve himself up the nearest available length of rope.

1) It's your character, you play him as you see fit. Noone else tells you what your character thinks, does, or feels.

2) Just because a character is of X race, Y class, and Z faith does not mean he is identical to every other character of the same XYZ combination. People are individuals, each with their own unique outlook, personality, motivations and goals.

3) Ya know, looking it over, I don't see "be a suicidal dumbass should the situation arise; the goddess is pleased as punch to bail your fat out of the fire no matter how many times you throw yourself in" anywhere in the Tymorian dogma. She's the goddess of good fortune - maybe the goddess' influence was that the party detected the dragon before encountering it. Throwing yourself heedlessly at stacked odds isn't going to make Lady Luck come down and change every dice roll in your favor all of a sudden, no matter how hard you believe in her.

4) Wisdom breeds caution. Your character has a 21 wisdom. People with a 21 wisdom rarely go "eh, screw common sense. let's go for it!"