Yeah, obviously I could have arbitrarily dictated the NPC's reaction, but why? I don't like to throw away rules without good reason.TheEvil said:
Perhaps you're one of the DMs who believes that all social interaction must be roleplayed. I don't game that way; I'm not running a LARP here. I know that my players cannot emulate the oratorial skills of a Charisma 24 character, and forcing them to try can be embarrassing for all involved.
Gee, thanks so much for explaining the only appropriate response. Here I was thinking that the paladin could try to exchange himself for some of the other hostages, or immediately charge and attempt to Disarm, or just try to stall for time and await his allies. What in the world was I thinking? [/sarcasm]
In this case surrender was not a bad option. The sorcerer had announced that he would release the hostages in exchange for a certain magic relic. This was believed that to be true, based various divinations and the sorcerer's past behavior. (He was known to keep his word, and not kill without reason.) However, the LG church didn't want to give up the relic, so they sent in this paladin with some soldiers to attempt a rescue.
When the rescue party was discovered and the soldiers unconscious, the paladin chose to surrender himself, lest he trigger the loss of many innocent lives. He later broke out of his cell, stole a guard uniform, and managed to sneakily a small number of hostages before the standoff ended. It turned out to be one of the most interesting parts of the story.
