Dm:ing a paladin?

[frankthedm]

Best advice I've seen on "how to adjudicate a paladin's conduct" on ENWorld. Ever.

Thank you. Please comment on my minis[see my sig]

 

[FireLance]

If you would rather resolve moral issues with a mechanical approach instead of a roleplaying approach, have a look at the link in my sig.

 

[Whimsical]

Read the first chapter of the Book of Righteous Might, as it goes into several of the moral quandries that a good character may encounter, and the best way to handle it in a good manner.

Then get together with the player and go section by section through that chapter and make sure that you and him are on the same page about what is lawful good and what it is to be a paladin before the game starts. You do not have to agree with the book, but it will have you face the potential problem and have you come up with your own interpretation.

BTW, I allow Paladins, Clerics, Druids, and other "empowered by a god" characters a +4 circumstance bonus to their knowledge religion checks when they ask a question about their own god.

 

[Whimsical]

"So, would I lose my paladinhood if I kill the orc babies, or if I don't kill the orc babies?"

 

[Asmo]

Wow, thanks alot for all the great answers! Lots of stuff to think about.

You as DM must already know the correct answers to moral questions that will likely come up in your game. Morality in a fantasy world is usually absolute, as the DM you have to decide, the others are not running the game.

"So, would I lose my paladinhood if I kill the orc babies, or if I don't kill the orc babies?"

I don´t know the answer to this question, even if it´s a classic. I just can´t make up my mind. Atleast there´s no orc babies in Mad God´s Key

Asmo

 

[Hand of Evil]

Define what evil is for your players, define the paladin code, a good one for a non-god paladin is the boy scout law.

Also see link in sig for DM Advice

 

[Hand of Evil]

Here are a couple of threads that you may find interesting the first one is a SHARK thread and is a treat!

http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=14755

http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=4604

 

[Man-thing]

We found the Paladin Code/Worksheet in the Quintessential Paladin II (by Adrian Bott) to be extremely useful in identifying the structures of our paladin's code. We wrote it up before hand and then knew exactly what "this" paladin should behave like ethically.

 

[Aust Diamondew]

Define what evil is for your players, define the paladin code, a good one for a non-god paladin is the boy scout law.

Also see link in sig for DM Advice

Never thought about it but the boy scout law is a pretty chivalrous code;
As Paladin (Scout) is
Trust Worthy
Loyal
Helpful
Friendly
Courteous
Kind
Obedient
Cheerful
Thrifty
Brave
Clean, and,
Reverent.

Ofc depending on the paladin you could probably cut out a few of these things and add some others (no one ever said paladins had to be cheeful or clean). Also there's always the problem of interpreting what each of these mean. And killing orc babies is still open to debate.

 

[J-Buzz]

Bad Idea:
Being like my DM and forcing Paladins to roll a Will Save to resist outright attacking creatures the detect as evil. It took me screaming at him for being an idiot, for him to realize the error of his ways. In the beginning I tried to be nice, countless times, until his stupid mechanic nearly cost a good Paladin his life! *Rant mode end*

Remember Paladins are people too, and just because they strive to be one with goodness, doesn't mean they don't struggle to find the meaning of faith.

*edit*
don't struggle
don't struggle!! er...um

Thats seems a bit, how should I say it....chaotic.

I guess you have to remember that a paladin is lawful as well, and has a code of conduct to help him decide what to do. I really like the comment above about struggling to find the meaning of faith, mistakes will happen from time to time. The DM in the game that I played a paladin in was very good about letting me do what I wanted. If there was a questionable area/decision he would talk about after the fact.

Biggest thing to keep in mind is everyones idea of lawful and good differ.