How would you resolve this situation.

[JacktheRabbit]

You have a mixed party of characters of good and neutral alignments. Party mixup includes

LG Human Paladin
CN Half Orc Druid Barbarian
N Human Mage
NG Dwarven Cleric
LN Human Monk

Up to this point in the campaign there have been zero moral quandries. Everything is cut and dry kill the stuff that tries to kill you. This means that nothing moral has been discussed between players at all. Treasure up to this point has been given out to whoever can use it most effectively and this has not been a problem at all.

Enter the minotaurs who attack the party. Two of them attack and are eventually killed. One of them is wielding a powerful magic axe that radiates as evil.

The CN and N characters want to take the axe and sell it. It is probably worth more than all the treasure the party has ever found before. Of course the Paladin wants to destroy it and attempts to sunder the weapon the instant he gets the hint that everyone is not automatically agreeing with him. At this point the mage gets pissed and webs the Paladin quite effectively.

The cleric and the monk have to this point not said anything and not done anything.

Considering the party actions to date and the party make-up what do you think the proper solution is?

BTW, it is a well known fact that the party paladin is a twink who only took the class for the saving throw benefits. In fact he has been recently trying to talk the DM into letting him take levels in Monk so that his saving throws are "f*cking unstoppable dude" in his words. Also this is the first alignment based action the Paladin has ever taken beyond using his Detect Evil ability as an automatic I am allowed to kill him because he radiates evil trick.

 

[Kyramus]

From what I see. The Paladin is actually in the right. It is evil and should be destroyed. since he has a habit of detect evil destroy pattern, he was actually roleplaying within his own character flaws.

The NG priest on the other hand should have soaid something. Seeling it to someone else will just keep the evil in the world.

The mage acted within his own alignment and still thinks it is a valuable item.

Of course the LN also needs to say something. Is it establishing order if he sells it or destroys the item? Maybe he has to hold it until such can be determined.

Personally if it is evil, I'd play it out that during one of their rest stops/night time. It animates and starts attacking everyone in sight. Most likely the paladin first since he wants to destroy it, or maybe the cleric cause of his spells. Can you imagine the problem if the axe gets to coup de grace??? Chaos?? lol

 

[Sammael99]

I don't see a problem with the situation. Most of them seem to be acting out their alignment...

This is role-playing, I for one would be interested as a GM to see how it turns out...

We have similar issues within our group, and have had heated debates over them, but it's been very interesting.

One issue is : how do you destroy a magic weapon ! Is it as easy as sundering it or is it more complicated...

If I was the Paladin, I'd offer to compensate the players who want to sell it, thus ending the issue peacefully. If the player's a twink, he might not like parting with hard earned money though...

 

[JacktheRabbit]

The axe is worth more than all of the Paladin's gear combined. Also he feels that he should not have to compensate the party for the item since it is evil and it is his right as a Paladin to destroy evil wherever he finds it.

In fact he has made it very clear that if released from the spell, or when he finishes breaking free of the webs he is going to return to attempting to sunder the item.

 

[Dragongirl]

The axe is worth more than all of the Paladin's gear combined. Also he feels that he should not have to compensate the party for the item since it is evil and it is his right as a Paladin to destroy evil wherever he finds it.

In fact he has made it very clear that if released from the spell, or when he finishes breaking free of the webs he is going to return to attempting to sunder the item.

Sounds right to me. I think a paladin would veiw such an evil thing as having no value and look askance at anyone who did.

 

[Airwolf]

Based on your description of the party dynamics in the past I would have to say let them play it out.

If the paladin can't take on the neutrals by himself he should be smart enough to win others to his side, use diplomacy to convince the neutrals that it is better to destroy the weapon or find an ally outside the party to aid in is 'quest' to destroy the weapon.

The same goes for the neutrals, they need to convince the paladin that their way is the best.

If worst comes to worst let them fight it out.

 

[JacktheRabbit]

This is an old situation.

The end result was the paladin broke free of the web spell and then commenced to rip the handle off the axe. How he did this with is bare hands is beyond me but it was just one of several things done by the DM that irritated me. I was the mage in question.

I got what I wanted in the end though. I just waited till the Paladin turned his back then I picked up the two pieces of the axe and threw them in my bag of holding. I lost a couple thousand gold in selling value since the buyer had to repair the axe but this was more than made up for by the half-orc and I splitting the money 50-50 instead of evenly with the rest of the party.

Based on your description of the party dynamics in the past I would have to say let them play it out.

If the paladin can't take on the neutrals by himself he should be smart enough to win others to his side, use diplomacy to convince the neutrals that it is better to destroy the weapon or find an ally outside the party to aid in is 'quest' to destroy the weapon.

The same goes for the neutrals, they need to convince the paladin that their way is the best.

If worst comes to worst let them fight it out.

 

[Arnwyn]

Everyone seems to be "in the right". The paladin tries to destroy evil item. Great. The others (mostly the non-good ones) want to sell it. Fine.

Possible solution? Discussion only. Maybe a compromise - sell the item ("get a reward") to a good temple (not related to any party member's faith, who would be expected to donate it) to "properly" destroy it. The paladin gets it destroyed, the PCs make some money. *shrug*

Looking at your post (and the results), Doc, it seems like it worked out reasonably well - considering your party make-up.

 

[Stalker0]

Personally, some of the best roleplaying in my group is when they get into fights with each other. Its one thing to roleplay with an imaginary NPC, is quite another to do it with the guy next to you.

 

[Elf Witch]

Party conflict seems to be inevitable when a party has differant alingments. This kind of thing happens all the time in our DnD game. I know it drives a couple of the other players crazy but to me part of the fun of DnD is the role playing and if you don't play your alingment then why bother having one.

The one who is being driven crazy the most keeps pointing out how in our Shadowrun game this kind of thing does not happen. And this has made me realize that one of the only ways to avoid conflict in a DnD party is to have everyone play the same alingment and all have the same goals.