Is kicking a helpless offender unconscious brutal?

[sellars]

Again a morality topic on the use of violence

The situation is as follows:
We knew we were being hunted by a Fire Knife assassin. Our characters knew that that is a really bad thing. We were in a shop when suddenly the door opens, and a basket gets thrown in. Speedy as my character is, he managed to catch the hand of the thrower, and drags him inside. The box was filled with scorpions btw.

We, at least my brother and I think this guy is the assassin the Knives have sent after us. We overpowered him and I am kicking the guy unconscious (2 combat rounds of unarmed attacks at his head).

At that moment, the bard of our party totally freaks out on me, claiming that I am committing vile acts of brutal violence (his alignment is CG, mine is LE, so we clash more often ).

I thought I was using a relatively light form of violence (I could have sliced his throat when he lay pinned on the ground). Since I wanted to get info out of him, and since I had no idea how dangerous this guy was going to be (for all I knew it was a 10th lvl assassin), this seemed the safest way to go at such a short notice.

The bard has now left the party, because he finds our ways repulsive.

He now maintains his stand, both as a player as in-character that we used a senseless amount of violence when it was not necessary. He totally focusses on the fact that I was kicking a helpless person unconscious, and won't take into account the fact that the assassin possibly was the most lethal thing he came across in a long time.

What are your takes on this?

 

[diaglo]

kill the bard and take his stuff.

for all you know he was the Fire Knife assassin.

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

Personally, I think beating someone unconcious for trying to throw a box of scorpions at you is rather mild, by DnD standards. I'm sure a lot of even LG characters would have just killed them where they stood.

If you tortured them or similar afterwards then that could be considered brutal!

Still, a CG bard and LE characters is a recipie for inter party brawling if I've ever heard of one. Think there might be more problems on the horizon.

 

[alleynbard]

Ridiculous. As you said, that was pretty calm. I always found it odd how some players find the slaughter of creatures by blade and bow to be okay while considering the event you just described as violent.

Did this player experience some traumatic event that might explain his behavior?

 

[sellars]

Still, a CG bard and LE characters is a recipie for inter party brawling if I've ever heard of one. Think there might be more problems on the horizon.

very true! that's why my brother an I (in the game, not my real brother) are plotting to kill that bard, without taking the blame. A problem we have is that he is immensely popular in the whole of Suzail (he keeps on rolling perfomance checks of 25+ )

 

[JDJarvis]

I'm with Diaglo kick the bard to death he is obviously weak and unworthy as a companion to your LE character and possibly in league with the forces of chaos which seek to disrupt the natural order wherein might makes right.

 

[Henry]

First of all, both of you are playing your alignments very well.

Second, it IS brutal -it's certainly not the defining moment a LG paladin would want painted on the cathedral walls, for instance - but not out of place for the situation, nor out of character for your LE character.

But then, how a CG and a LE character are adventuring together I have no clue; it's about as problematic as a LG and a CE adventuring together.

 

[sellars]

I'm with Diaglo kick the bard to death he is obviously weak and unworthy as a companion to your LE character and possibly in league with the forces of chaos which seek to disrupt the natural order wherein might makes right.

OK, one more thing about my character being LE. It is more of a LN kind of LE.

He is to evil for being neutral, but he is not evil-evil in the villain sense of the word. The character wouldn't object to torture, murder etc. if it serves a function. He dislikes these kinds of things, but when necessary, they need to be done. What puts him over the edge of neutralness (IMHO) is that a sjitload of money can make it nessecary.

He is forgiving to his friends and kin (that's how he ended up with a CG bard. at first there weren't that much trouble, because we were in a small town were we weren't confronted with these kinds of dillemma)

But now the bard has crossed the line

 

[James Heard]

Kill the player, keep the bard character to run your PR.

 

[DragonLancer]

I think your actions were fine. You didn't just hack the guy up, you knocked him out in order to question him. What would the bard prefer, that you killed him?