Is killing someone who wants to die, evil?

[Wippit Guud]

Last night, an NPC I had initially took to be my character's cohort decided to attack him from surprise. Eventually, he was taken down, but not killed. She later revealed that the souls of her family were being held hostage, and she was being blackmailed into coming after my character to assassinate him.

She was given the choice of being let go (to suffer the wrath of the big evil undead thing that made her do this), or a quick death via my character. She chose the latter. So my character killed her (coup de gras, she failed the fort save).

Is this an evil act?

 

[Frostmarrow]

In a mythical, D&D, fantasy-setting I wouldn't necessarily label the act as evil but the character wouldn't score any points for good either. A paladin could do it but only if he was absolutely certain that there was no other way out. I'd still expect him to atone (not the spell).

 

[Wippit Guud]

A paladin could do it but only if he was absolutely certain that there was no other way out. I'd still expect him to atone (not the spell).

For the record, the character in question is a chaotic good bard who is heir to a lordship through a political marriage. Basically I have to make all the crappy decisions. At least I did the deed myself.

 

[Trickstergod]

This sort of topic is bound to get out of hand in my opinion. It's iffy from the start.

With that said...no, I don't believe killing someone who wants to do is an evil act. Chaotic, possibly, as it possibly goes against societal norms, but definitely not evil.

However, in circumstances like that, I don't necessarily believe that it was all such a good act. It didn't seem the assassin wanted to die, but was forced into choosing between the wrath of the undead or the wrath of the party. Was imprisonment not an option...? Did she specifically not want to accompany the party so as to avoid endangering the souls of her family? The circumstances, and even her choice, seem a bit questionable.

 

[Zappo]

Uh-oh. This is a hotly debated topic IRL, so I guess it won't be easily resolved in D&D either.

Anyway... IMO, it's a Neutral act.

The Evil thing to do would have been to just kill her, reasoning that if she was let go, she could decide to come back and try to assassinate the PC again.

The Good thing to do would have been to prepare and execute a heroic plan to destroy the evil undead who did this, while keeping her and her family safe.

 

[Wippit Guud]

However, in circumstances like that, I don't necessarily believe that it was all such a good act. It didn't seem the assassin wanted to die, but was forced into choosing between the wrath of the undead or the wrath of the party. Was imprisonment not an option...? Did she specifically not want to accompany the party so as to avoid endangering the souls of her family? The circumstances, and even her choice, seem a bit questionable.

Inprisonment was not an option, in that the attack came during an army engagement in a mountain pass - no way to hold her. Also, she attempted to kill a lord, and she betrayed an oath to that lord, and I have this thing for George R.R. Martin books, so she was offered King's Justice

And I don't think we could've kept her from the enslaver... wraiths with character levels are icky and can pass through walls.

 

[Bagpuss]

Is this before or after you were assassinated in your sleep?

 

[Wippit Guud]

The Good thing to do would have been to prepare and execute a heroic plan to destroy the evil undead who did this, while keeping her and her family safe.

A couple of party members actually suggested just that. Be we had more pressing issues at the time, and neglected the fact that SHE TRIED TO KILL ME!

Oh, and the fact that we ran into the guy already, and he would probably kill us fairly easiliy in the right setting.

 

[Wippit Guud]

Is this before or after you were assassinated in your sleep?

Different character, different DM, don't go mixing threads

 

[Bagpuss]

Different character, different DM, don't go mixing threads

Ah your in two games with different DM's.... in that case see my suggestion in the other thread. As for this thread suicide or assisted suicide has been an exceptable way out of blackmail or loss of honour in lots of cultures so I don't see it as an Evil act, but its not Good in my book either. Good would have been to help them out of the situation, without the need for them to die, this is Neutral but not worthy of an alignment issue for a Good character IMHO.