D&D 5E Correct way to RP this Situation

[iserith]

In my backstory (Paladin) I was in Training to worship bahamut. One day a Band of DragonBorn attacked our town took me as captive (and others) .

We did infact escape and I finished my training. Now I seek vengeance.

How would a Paladin react iif I met a Dragonborn on the street somewhere. Or what if one was injured and needed my help?

Ive never played a paly before is why I am asking.

Thanks

I'll tell you what I tell all of my players before every game...

Before doing or saying anything, remember to consider the goals of play by asking yourself:

• Is what I'm about to do or say going to be fun for everyone at the table?
• Is what I'm about to do or say going to help create an exciting, memorable story?

If the answer to either of those questions is "No" or "I'm not sure," then choose to do or say something else.

If you find yourself thinking, "What would my character do?" the answer is always the same: Something that is fun for everyone at the table and helps create an exciting, memorable story.

To help you decide, look to your background (especially the open questions), your personality traits, ideals, bonds, flaws, alignment, and oath. They will help inform your choice. When you have an idea of what you should do based on that, ask yourself those two questions above to make sure your choice will support the goals of play. If you feel you have done a good job playing to these established traits of your character, ask your DM if it's worthy of Inspiration (though don't ask for it all the time).

Good luck!

 

[Celtavian]

Become The Punisher. Kill any that commit any crime no matter how small.

 

[redrick]

I would definitely recommend avoiding any stark racist compulsions in a PC. It makes for rather one-note role-play (somebody hold back the paladin so we can talk to this dragonborn before she kills him in a violent rage.) IF your character is going to have prejudices against dragonborn as a whole, make them a little subtler. As suggested above, maybe she has a hard time trusting dragonborn. Maybe the sight of a dragonborn fills her with a knee-jerk sense of fear, and, being a paladin, her reaction to that fear is to overcompensate slightly. Maybe she always makes rude and denigrating jokes about dragonborn, which tends to alienate them (if they hear about it/she does it to their face.)

Of course, there's also no reason that your character's experience would HAVE to turn her against all dragonborn. Depending on how dragonborn exist in her society, she might be perfectly capable of separating the perpetrators of violence against her town from dragonborn as a whole. I think any racist reaction from her would just be amplifying pre-existing racist assumptions already present in the character's society and culture. (If a group of kids from Indiana stormed my place of work, I don't think I would develop a hatred of all Indianans.)

So, yeah, if your PC must be racist, err on the side of a predilection that is subtle, that pushes you a little in one direction, but doesn't turn routine interactions with random dragonborn on the street into violent confrontations.

 

[Sunseeker]

You're lawful, so you follow the law. You're neutral, so if the law doesn't explicitly say you MUST help or you MUST attack then its really your choice, I would imagine such a choice would be "do nothing until given reason to do otherwise."

Your diety is lawful good, so even while still neutral I would imagine you'd lean towards good, which is to say you wouldn't just attack any dragonborn on sight.

You could still however be wary around dragonborn, play it up as a mild racism. You're distrustful around them, presuming them guilty of something until they prove themselves innocent. You might have picked up a few derogatory terms for dragonborn in your travels. Maybe you just outright avoid areas with large dragonborn populations. Perhaps you subscribe to a poorly transcribed newsletter speaking of the coming race war and the dragonborn uprising.

And you are of course a paladin, so your oath matters too, are you the vengeful paladin? Then perhaps you come across more like the racist figure of authority. Are you the healing paladin? Then maybe you come across as the type who will aid a goblin before a dragonborn. Are you the protective paladin? Then maybe you come across as overly protective of your non-dragonborn friends when dragonborn are around.

Unless you want to play a one-dimensional character, as redrick advises, stay away from extremes. They don't make for good gameplay experiences.

 

[redrick]

You could still however be wary around dragonborn, play it up as a mild racism. You're distrustful around them, presuming them guilty of something until they prove themselves innocent. You might have picked up a few derogatory terms for dragonborn in your travels. Maybe you just outright avoid areas with large dragonborn populations. Perhaps you subscribe to a poorly transcribed newsletter speaking of the coming race war and the dragonborn uprising.

Haha, I love the idea of a paladin who subscribes to some sort of amateurish human-power newsletter.

 

[Sunseeker]

Haha, I love the idea of a paladin who subscribes to some sort of amateurish human-power newsletter.

D&D has, generally speaking, some of the nicest paladin orders ever presented in a fantasy setting. It's not uncommon for paladins to be presented as self-righteous racist organizations (usually run by humans worshipping their human-ized god of light *coughPelorcough*) backed by the nobility, who see themselves as dutiful enforces of the law or the whimsy of the local lords.

That's actually one thing I really like about 5E and 4E's alignment-free paladins. You can play THAT and still get to call yourself a "good guy".

 

[TarionzCousin]

If you find yourself thinking, "What would my character do?" the answer is always the same: Something that is fun for everyone at the table and helps create an exciting, memorable story.

Do this! Please!

Whatever you do, don't become the "I do it because my that's what my character would do" guy. That is the number one excuse for stealing from party members, killing innocent NPC's, provoking powerful beings, etc.

Why would you make that character in the first place? It detracts from everyone else's ability to have fun at the table and displays your immaturity.



/end rant. Please continue with your normally scheduled thread-reading at this time.

 

[transtemporal]

She is lawful Neutral.

Lawful neutral peeps follow the letter of the law remember. They're all about law enforcement and due process. Unless the Pally saw the dragonborn committing a crime, she would simply walk past him. If she saw him committing a crime, she'd act within the bounds of the law (so no summary executions in other words). If he was one of the dragonborn who'd taken part in the raid, she would probably build a case against him and get him arrested. Hell, as a Paladin in good standing it might be enough simply to accuse the dragonborn of wrongdoing.

What oath has the character taken?

 

[transtemporal]

My advice: Dont let the paladin label become an excuse for genocide. Stick to exacting vengeance from the actual individuals that hurt you.

Anyone who would actually take the "Oath of Vengeance" in the first place has got some misplaced anger issues at best and serious psychopathic tendencies at worst. This is exactly the kind of person who thinks the ends justifies the means.

Not that I'm saying the OP should do that since it would be very disruptive but it would be interesting tragic Arthus-type character arc.

 

[Riley37]

If you blame an entire species, for the actions of any of its individuals, then do the same for all species.

Has your character, or your character's family, village, paladin order, etc., ever been harmed by humans?
Did you know that Vecna was a human?

Therefore, if you're Lawful Neutral and consistent, either your character is (A) reflexively hostile to all dragonborn and to all humans, or (B) hostile only to humans who have done harm and to dragonborn who have done harm.