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<blockquote data-quote="DEFCON 1" data-source="post: 6920519" data-attributes="member: 7006">The first thing to do is to stop using &quot;Evil&quot; as a defining adjective.&nbsp; No one describes themselves as &quot;Evil&quot;.&nbsp; &quot;Evil&quot; is an appellation someone would put on you for the actions you have taken.So you aren't making an &quot;Evil&quot; paladin... you instead are making a paladin who has taken an Oath, and in the course of doing things in service of that Oath... other people say and feel that the specific actions you have taken are extreme and wrong.&nbsp; While your actions might fulfill the duties of your Oath, they cause more pain and suffering to other people than is necessary.So a paladin would not &quot;lead a double life&quot; or &quot;lie, cheat, steal, or kill&quot; just because they thought they could &quot;get away with it&quot;.&nbsp; But rather... they would lie, cheat, steal or kill if they though it was the best way to fulfill the Oath they have taken.&nbsp; If they've taken the Oath of the Ancients for example and there's a baron looking to absolutely stripmine a forest nearby to get at the gold underneath... the paladin might kill that baron so it doesn't happen and the forest is saved.&nbsp; Or perhaps lie to the villagers about the evils in the forest so that they refused to go in there.&nbsp; Or perhaps go into the forest and mine as much of the gold himself via a much less violent action against the trees, say by charming or controlling an earth elemental to do it for him.None of these are Good acts.&nbsp; Some might even claim the paladin's actions to protect the forest were outright Evil.&nbsp; But the paladin himself was just taking actions in service to his Oath, and NOT because he said to himself that morning &quot;You know, I think I'm going to be an A-hole to people today, just because I can be!&quot;.Don't assign &quot;Evil&quot; to your character as a defining trait.&nbsp; But rather... decide what is important to your character, and then decide what lengths you are willing to go to accomplish it.&nbsp; And if that results in people saying &quot;That paladin's an evil bastard!&quot;, then great.&nbsp; You've accomplished what you wanted naturally through play, and not by artificially choosing to just be a jerk &quot;just because&quot;.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="DEFCON 1, post: 6920519, member: 7006"] The first thing to do is to stop using "Evil" as a defining adjective. No one describes themselves as "Evil". "Evil" is an appellation someone would put on you for the actions you have taken. So you aren't making an "Evil" paladin... you instead are making a paladin who has taken an Oath, and in the course of doing things in service of that Oath... other people say and feel that the specific actions you have taken are extreme and wrong. While your actions might fulfill the duties of your Oath, they cause more pain and suffering to other people than is necessary. So a paladin would not "lead a double life" or "lie, cheat, steal, or kill" just because they thought they could "get away with it". But rather... they would lie, cheat, steal or kill if they though it was the [b]best way[/b] to fulfill the Oath they have taken. If they've taken the Oath of the Ancients for example and there's a baron looking to absolutely stripmine a forest nearby to get at the gold underneath... the paladin might kill that baron so it doesn't happen and the forest is saved. Or perhaps lie to the villagers about the evils in the forest so that they refused to go in there. Or perhaps go into the forest and mine as much of the gold himself via a much less violent action against the trees, say by charming or controlling an earth elemental to do it for him. None of these are Good acts. Some might even claim the paladin's actions to protect the forest were outright Evil. But the paladin himself was just taking actions in service to his Oath, and NOT because he said to himself that morning "You know, I think I'm going to be an A-hole to people today, just because I can be!". Don't assign "Evil" to your character as a defining trait. But rather... decide what is important to your character, and then decide what lengths you are willing to go to accomplish it. And if that results in people saying "That paladin's an evil bastard!", then great. You've accomplished what you wanted naturally through play, and not by artificially choosing to just be a jerk "just because". [/QUOTE]

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