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Message: <blockquote data-quote="El Mahdi" data-source="post: 5738929" data-attributes="member: 59506">@<a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/member.php?u=51261" target="_blank">Donp</a>  The RAW of alignment is not black and white, and that's by design. It allows for it to be interpreted based on the group and individual that are playing the game, rather than the rules dictating what "must" and "must not" be done. The "Rule 0" on alignment in the Pathfinder Core Book, is practically word for word from the 3.5E Players Handbook: That means that even the DM shouldn't try to "restrict" a player based on alignment. However, a thorough discussion of the alignment of the player's characters before play, is acceptable and recomended. Once a player decides on their interpretation of their character's alignment, then it's okay in "general" terms for a DM to expect the player to follow it - but only in general terms. Even in the real world, people's behavior is far from consistent. For classes like Paladins, where alignment is an integral part of the archetype, more restriction is acceptable...but, only after discussing what the player's views for their character is before play, and what the requirements of their church or order are (IMO, mostly determined by you but should be somewhat collaborative). If a player is being honest about what they feel is good and evil, you'll know. Just as you'll know when a player isn't being honest about their views, and is just taking actions to gain an "in game" advantage - like playing a Paladin with all of their cool abilities, but not adhering to the balancing alignment requirements. In your case, it sounds like your players view is even more stringent than your interpretation, so I'd say let them roll with it. Besides, from an in-game perspective, if the Paladin believes that something is wrong, then to the Paladin it "is" wrong. There's an appropriate quote about "belief" from one of my favorite movies, Bull Durham:  With Paladins and Clerics, alignment is a little more restrictive than other classes, but it's still just a tool to realize a character concept - not an absolutely rigid template of that characters behavior. Even within an organization (like a church or order), there are always conflicting opinions about what's right and wrong, or "Good" and "Evil". In such cases, I see those differences of opinion as fodder for adventure hooks and in-game interaction, rather than an opportunity for me (as DM) to hammer a player.  The code of a Paladin is meant to highlight a facet of the class, that with great power comes great responsibility. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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