Does evil mean Evil? Is a paladin free to act against evil?

[Ogrebear]

I handled Paladins simply. I removed the class from my world.

Too many headaches.

 

[BSF]

With the "Depends on the Game" caveat...

Going by the book, you only get an Evil Aura if you:

a) Are an evil person,
<snip>

b) You worship an evil deity -- see "a"

So, based on the rules as written, if you see something that detects as evil, it's actually genuinely evil.

From the SRD

Creature/Object      Faint      Moderate      Strong      Overwhelming 
Evil creature1 (HD)  =<10     11–25           26–50       51 or higher 
Undead (HD)          =<2       3–8              9–20         21 or higher 
Evil outsider (HD)    =<1       2–4              5–10         11 or higher 
Cleric of an evil       1          2–4              5–10         11 or higher 
deity2 (class levels)
Evil magic item or    =<2nd   3rd–8th         9th–20th    21st or higher 
spell (caster level)
1 Except for undead and outsiders, which have their own entries on the table. 
2 Some characters who are not clerics may radiate an aura of equivalent power. The class description will indicate whether this applies.

The key is Cleric of an Evil Deity. If you are a Lawful Neutral Cleric that upholds the standards of Law, and you happen to worship a Deity that is Lawful Evil, you will still radiate Evil, even though you could care less about the Evil aspects of that Deity. As just one example.

I'm sure you could argue that killing even a LN cleric of a LE deity might be a good thing, but it is still demonstrable that you killed somebody that wasn't Evil.

Running a shades of grey and a relative morality style campaign is perfectly fine. But, you really should toss out the existing alignment system if you do that. As Takyris suggests, look for alternatives and make some adjustments to character classes/spells/magic items. The D20 Modern allegiances system is pretty good, and Arcana Unearthed handles everything without using alingment as well.

 

[Kalanyr]

Can I point out that by the Rules As Written 1/3 of the human race off an evil alignment ? Read the bit labelled alignment under the human description in the PHB where it says that humans tend to no alignment particularly not even neutral therefore 1/9th of all humans are of each alignment making 1/3 of all humans evil.

Gven this I'm doubting that pinging as evil means hardcore deal with the devil evil. The merchant who consistantly cheats his customers for his own benefit is probably evil, is he really deserving of an instant smitey death ?

 

[Siamang]

Under the PHB, Good alignment, we have: Respect for Life. That is the fundamental tenet of good. Not "innocent" life, not "good" life, all life. This rule is part of the paladin's very being. It is what he exists to defend. Faced with his daughter's murderer, rapist, and torturer at the mercy of a mob, the paladin must defend life. Faced with the hideous tyrant who has enslaved his people for generations at his vengeful party's feet, the paladin must defend life. The only reason for killing is to prevent greater killing; even then, it is always a tragedy.
In other words, this behaviour is LE to the core.

 

[FreeTheSlaves]

Does anyone actually read the detect evil spell? You do have various degrees of evil if you concentrate hard enough.

Imc, a generic paladin would attack an enemy on sight. Show mercy or take prisoners as is appropriate. If in doubt, use the detect evil ability. If a moderate or stronger aura exists, confront it. Don't associate with lesser evil of a puppy-kicking sort.

In all cases apply wisdom to justice and mercy, otherwise have a back up character for when your level 3 turkey charges a CR 9 black dragon.

 

[Kalanyr]

The strength of the aura ain't much to go on, a 44th level wizard just drifting into evil from neutral has the same degree of evil as Asmodeus himself, or an 11th level Neutral Evil Cleric of Nerull, the degree of evil just gives you a rough idea of how powerful something is, not how EVIL it is.

 

[bweibeler]

I once had a paladin do this in a bar. She attacked an killed a man without provacation because he detected evil. I had the authorities arrest her, and the player had to "roll-up" a new character.

Just cause you can "detect evil" does not mean you can take the law into your own hands.

Now in a wilderness setting, that might be different. Of course, there are still rules that should follow. A paladin challenging a villain to a fight for instance is more appropriate the stabbing the man in the back or slitting his throat while he sleeps.

 

[MerricB]

If a character has fallen into evil, and does not wish to repent, the paladin can do anything to them.

Paladins are God's Hand upon the earth. If the paladin leaves an evil character alone, then the paladin condemns innocent victims to be hurt by that character. If a paladin encounters evil, the paladin must deal with it.

How can a paladin deal with it? Well, the preferred option is to redeem them back to the path of Good. Failing that, imprison them. Failing that, kill them.

A paladin does not let them walk free.

God has granted paladins the power to detect evil, and Evil is real. It's not "guy having bad thoughts", it is the cumulative result of many, many evil deeds.

The only time a paladin can leave an evil creature free is if a greater evil must be stopped, and on many such occasions I suspect that atonement must be sought (especially if the paladin had to work with the evil character).

The paladin will prefer to redeem the evil character, but if that is impossible because of time restraints, the paladin will imprison that character.

If the paladin cannot imprison the evil character, then there is no option left but to slay the character. It is regrettable, but necessary to uphold Good upon the land.

Cheers!

 

[MerricB]

Now, my preceding explanation is based upon the wilderness setting. What happens when the Laws of Man must also be taken into account?

In the event of a Good society, the Paladin will work within the laws. It is most likely the laws are framed as to allow the Paladin to work unfettered, but if not, institutions will exist for the Paladin to leave evil-doers with.

In the event of an Evil society, the laws have no bearing on the Paladin - they are not Righteous and it is likely the Paladin is working to bring about the regime's overthrow in any case. (Greater Evil and all that. )

In the event of a Neutral society, it is still likely that there are facilities for imprisonment, in which case the Paladin will use those if possible.

In all cases, the Paladin's actions must also be taken dependent on what happens to the Paladin afterward! The Paladin will not attack an evil creature if that will almost certainly result in the Paladin's death or imprisonment - well, not unless the stakes are very high.

Cheers!

 

[Sejs]

Does the paladin have the right and/or duty and/or option to attack and kill that stranger based solely on knowing his/her/its alignment?

Short answer: no.