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Message: <blockquote data-quote="dungeon blaster" data-source="post: 2248109" data-attributes="member: 30575">Funny.  I can imagine an evil tyrant saying that as an excuse for his lack of mercy.I think we are confusing law and good here. Bringing bad guys to the authorities is a lawful act, not a good act. What if the authorities were evil?On a different note, I get annoyed by the idea that an evil act is an evil act, regardless of the outcome. Let's say you had to lie to someone in order to save the world from being destroyed. Now, you could reference the DMG, which says you shouldn't place an exalted character in this position. But then what's the point of having a code if it is never put to the test or called into question? But, going along with the idea that evil is evil, one could argue that an exalted character must sometimes show he is exalted through the greatest sacrifice...his exalted status. Therefore, what he did was an incredibly good act (sacrificing his own soul/exalted status) and an evil act (the act itself). Let's just hope those good gods truly are forgiving.Paladins are interesting because they don't neccesarily serve a god. A paladin is a servant of Good more than a servant of gods. Being lawful good means that they should obey by the laws whenever possible, as long as those laws obey the principles of Good. Otherwise there would be a conflict of Lawful and Good. The PHB mentions "legitmate authority", but gives no clue as to what that means. Is Iuz "legitimate authority" in the Empire of Iuz? I think this means legitimate in the eyes of "Good", not legitimate in the political sense. Does a paladin have to accept surrender? Probably, because she/he must "act with honor". At the same time the code REQUIRES that he punish those who threaten or harm innocents. So, let's pose a situation here:Ahlana the paladin traveling through the Empire of Iuz finds an Orc (soldier of the Empire) killing some innocents. The orc, knowing Ahlana is more than its match, surrenders. Does Ahlana kill the Orc? Does she turn it over to the Empire? Is turning it over to its own superiors even a punishment?The DMG's answer is probably "don't put the paladin in this situation in the first place". That, IMO, is a lame-*ss cop-out by designers who didn't want to actually think this through.</blockquote>

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