Anyone had a paladin Fall and then dropped the PC?

[Lord Ipplepop]

I have played a fwe characters that most would drop... one of them being a fallen pally.
The scenario was that we (the party) inadvertantly assisted an NPC in robbing the money changer. The paladin fell (obviously), and I was forced to run him as a straight fighter on the atonement path. He died before the atonement could be completed, yet it was still one of the more fun characters I have ever had.
It is called a "role playing" game for a reason...

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I'd be pretty interested in playing it through - if I was set up, I'd probably go full bore in the opposite direction. But if it made sense and was fair, I think that the redemption would make for a great hero's journey.

But I have to confess that I did set two Paladins up to fall from grace, many years ago. Two seperate players tried to bring in their munchkin Paladins. I put the smackdown on both of them. The more mature thing would've been to just tell them "no, you can't use those characters," but hey, I was a teenager at the time.

 

[Voadam]

I've played a paladin twice and both times I talked with the DM first, explaining that I'm only interested in playing a good guy warrior with powers and not in trying to roleplay to fit into some narrow code of conduct or specific idealized archetype of LG virtue exemplar. I explained that I do not wish to debate morality with the DM as a player and I do not want to worry about falling or atonement when I'm playing my character. I verified that they were fine with this style of playing and view of paladins as a PC class and DM/PC paladin relationship before making a paladin PC in their games. Both times were a lot of heroic fun and I'm still playing one (Kordunn Asteroth in my sig).

If I did fall I'd be bitter about it if it was based on a morality judgment I disagreed with, even if the DM gave me warning. I don't think I'd drop the charachter but I would be bitter and probably not seek atonement unless it was a loss due to supernatural evil such as a helm of opposite alignment and the atonement was for spiritual purification.

I have no interest in roleplaying someone seeking forgiveness.

I probably would not go the blackguard route unless I could make it work with the party I was with.

 

[tzor]

I would like to throw the following question(s) back in response.

Would you continue to play a fallen monk?
Would you continue to play a fallen barbarian?

Paladins, monks and barbarians all ave "Ex" options. I've never seen anyone give serious discussion to a "fallen barbarian."

Every class requires a common set of assumptions between DM and players, the paladin is no exception. It should not be the role of the DM to punish players, but to challenge them. If I was playing for a good DM I would trust him (or her) and follow along. If I had serious disagreements as to what a paladin should be I probably would not play a paladin under that DM in the first place.

 

[Rabelais]

Arbitrary Jerk DM? Yes... matter of fact, I would probably drop the game. Especially if the DM just wanted to make me play a character that I hadn't designed. If it was my fault, and there was an actual path to redemption? Sure, I'd stick with it.

Redemption out of the Question? Well, you know, you could always trade in those Paladin levels for Blackguard, and According to OotS, you can get a 5,000gp trade in bonus.

 

[TheCrazyMuffinMan]

Miko Mizayaki springs to mind as to how I'd play it, only less one-dimensionally:

Severely grieved by the loss, but determined to prove myself worthy of it again (DM option. Atonement works in this case if there's a willing Clr9 anywhere)

 

[Wolfwood2]

I would like to throw the following question(s) back in response.

Would you continue to play a fallen monk?
Would you continue to play a fallen barbarian?

Paladins, monks and barbarians all ave "Ex" options. I've never seen anyone give serious discussion to a "fallen barbarian."

I can't recall ever hearing of anyone who was playing a barbarian and had the DM involuntarily change their alignment to lawful. I'm sure it's happened, but I never hear about it.

I might drop the barbarian or monk if their alignment were shifted to one that denied them further advancement in the class (and in the case of barbarian made them lose Rage), yes.

 

[Wolfwood2]

You agreed to it when you signed up for the paladin class.

I probably said I agreed to that when I signed up for the class, but if I did I was lying. In my heart, I'm not willing to agree to that.

Considering the extreme powerdown of falling, I have a hard time seeing an ex paladin pulling his weight in the party for the challenges a full character is expected to face. If he does not Atone, He will either run out of HP, have his mundane mount crumple at a crucial time or fail a crucial save soon enough. I should not have to drop my PC, one of my foes will do so soon enough.

So why bother playing it out? Dropping the character says, "I'm not interested in this."

 

[Greg K]

I have been fortunate to have never seen a DM set up a paladin for a fall. I have also never seen a player do anything that warranted stripping them entirely of their paladinhood. However, I have seen paladins stripped (and even stripped them myself) of minor abilities until they atone (not necesarily via the spell) and only after the player has been given previous warning(s). In each instance, the player had been given a list at the start of play as to how their deity expected the paladin to conduct him or herself in order to reinforce that the character is a representative of their deity (note: clerics, druids, and rangers also get a list of such requirement).


However, from what I gather from reading and talking to people, DM set ups are not that the common. the problem usually seems to rest completely with the player and falls within three categories

1) player plays the paladin like a socio-path. We have one player in our current group, who does this in Balder's Gate and slaughters every woman and child and then complains how his paladin has fallen. Nobody in our group will let him touch a paladin when they DM and he freely admits that he should not be allowed to.

2) Player wants to play a character that fights for good, but will not or cannot understand that the methods and tactics used seperate the paladin from other good aligned warriors.

3) The player wants to play a good fighter, understands that methods and tactics used seperate the paladin from other good fighters, but does not want to be burdened with the behavioral requirements.

However, for a DM that sets up a fall, I wouldn't play with them. they are just bad DMs

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Anyone had a paladin Fall and then dropped the PC?

Yeah, that happened once. The paladin fell up the stairs and dropped the PC over the railing. Nasty business. PirateCat never trusted a paladin since.