silentspace said:
I also think you're being too harsh. It sounds like you don't like paladins. Probably you should have told you're player from the get-go that you don't like paladins, and disallowed them. Nothing wrong with that, if you don't want that in your game.
Also, a paladin's detect evil ability is a spell-like ability. That's incredibly powerful, much more powerful than the spell. It requires no verbal, somatic, material, or focus components. If the paladin tried to use it, all it takes is a standard action (a few seconds) of looking in the father's general direction, and he should have detected evil. I'd hate to be a player in your game. I'd much rather you just said paladins are not allowed, and give me the chance to make something else.
That being said, your set-up sounds like fun. The part about the undead father and daughter, not the part about screwing over the paladin
Actually, in all fairness, I recommended he play a paladin because I like them and don't think there are enough of them in the world.
Here, he intended to detect evil, but every time he had the opportunity, he got distracted by other matters. I'm really not trying to screw the paladin and any punishment will be short lived. I engineered the situation so he would have the opportunity to blow it.
Here's a little more backstory:
The party encountered dad while they were first level. He's a busy single parent and, while he works, his daughter stays at home. She's incredibly intelligent and precocious, and, in all fairness to dad, more than he can handle.
On the day that they met, dad was at work and the girl went wandering. She left the village and was captured by a group of orcs. Now IMC, basic humanoid races are only mildly evil, and said orcs needed certain resources from the town. They planned to hold the girl hostage until they received them. The party ascertained the situation and earned the girl's freedom.
While she was captured by the orcs, she made friends with their chief and his son. After rescuing her and seeing her relationship with her father, the party determined that she might have been better off with the orcs. Dad was dismissive of her feelings and more concerned about his work than his daughter. Dad's biggest concern was not: "What happened to my daughter" but "What will my fellow towns people think of me if she dies?"
They were so concerned about her that they took her on their first few adventures because she needed some supervision. Unfortunately, things started getting dangerous and they eventually returned her to her father.
The town guard also weighed in on whether what they had done was kidnapping.
Ultimately, dad *loves* his daughter. He just can't handle her and continue his work. The thought of losing her forever really hurts, so he's decided to "leash" her through undeath. By trapping her soul, he keeps her personality around, and by zombifying her, he keeps her obedient. Ain't love grand?
My initial thoughts were to take away his powers at the moment the girl died. However, that kind of tips my hand a little bit. I plan on sending dreams that something is wrong to the entire party.
The reason I thought it would be a good idea to have some loss of abilities upon making the discovery is that charisma is the Paladin's prime requisite. In 3.xe, Charisma is force of personality. I figure having a six-year-old zombie look up at you and say "You promised" in an accusing voice, while making a slam attack might serve to shake your self-confidence, just a bit.
Like I said before, atonement will be fairly easily obtained, because I don't want to screw the paladin. I just want a good way to portray what I think will be a very dramatic scene.
--G
