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How much backlash is too much?
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<blockquote data-quote="delericho" data-source="post: 5668685" data-attributes="member: 22424"><p>Actually, that isn't your call to make (as DM). You're not there to pass judgement on PC actions, except as they relate to alignment changes (which isn't an issue here). You describe the situation, the players describe how their characters react. That's basically it.</p><p></p><p>Consider: if this was some random orc, you wouldn't be having a huge inquest into whether the PC was right to kill him or not, would you? As DM, the paladin and the orc are the same - they're just antagonists in the campaign that the PCs interact with.</p><p></p><p>Now, what you <em>do</em> need to decide on is how <em>the characters in the setting</em> judge the situation. But here, it's important to remember that those people are not all going to be of one mind:</p><p></p><p>1) Some will have seen the event, and sided with the paladin. They saw a known troublemaker gut a wounded man without a thought, and then callously go back to his meal.</p><p></p><p>2) Some will have seen the event, and sided with the swordsage. The paladin was obviously crazed, and they never liked him anyway. The swordsage is Han, the paladin Greedo; turns out the swordsage is even more badass than they thought!</p><p></p><p>3) Some will have seen the event and been scared. They don't know who was right and who was wrong, but they want both these people far away from them.</p><p></p><p>4) Some will have seen the event, have picked a side... but really just want a quiet life. See #3.</p><p></p><p>5) Some will <em>not</em> have seen the event, but will hear about it later. They'll probably hear several partial versions, each with their own spin. They're going to have a whole bunch of different reactions to it.</p><p></p><p>And so it goes on. Bear in mind that not all of these observers will be impartial, many of them will only have partial information, and some of them will be completely wrong in their interpretation!</p><p></p><p>But the key thing here is that you're deciding how the <em>characters</em> judge the situation; it is not your role <em>as DM</em> to judge the PC actions. It's just a bunch of stuff that happened.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="delericho, post: 5668685, member: 22424"] Actually, that isn't your call to make (as DM). You're not there to pass judgement on PC actions, except as they relate to alignment changes (which isn't an issue here). You describe the situation, the players describe how their characters react. That's basically it. Consider: if this was some random orc, you wouldn't be having a huge inquest into whether the PC was right to kill him or not, would you? As DM, the paladin and the orc are the same - they're just antagonists in the campaign that the PCs interact with. Now, what you [i]do[/i] need to decide on is how [i]the characters in the setting[/i] judge the situation. But here, it's important to remember that those people are not all going to be of one mind: 1) Some will have seen the event, and sided with the paladin. They saw a known troublemaker gut a wounded man without a thought, and then callously go back to his meal. 2) Some will have seen the event, and sided with the swordsage. The paladin was obviously crazed, and they never liked him anyway. The swordsage is Han, the paladin Greedo; turns out the swordsage is even more badass than they thought! 3) Some will have seen the event and been scared. They don't know who was right and who was wrong, but they want both these people far away from them. 4) Some will have seen the event, have picked a side... but really just want a quiet life. See #3. 5) Some will [i]not[/i] have seen the event, but will hear about it later. They'll probably hear several partial versions, each with their own spin. They're going to have a whole bunch of different reactions to it. And so it goes on. Bear in mind that not all of these observers will be impartial, many of them will only have partial information, and some of them will be completely wrong in their interpretation! But the key thing here is that you're deciding how the [i]characters[/i] judge the situation; it is not your role [i]as DM[/i] to judge the PC actions. It's just a bunch of stuff that happened. [/QUOTE]
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