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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Henry" data-source="post: 224206" data-attributes="member: 158">That's how I beleived paladins were played... when I was 12. <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=":)" />Now, I know that the actions you describe are those not of a lawful good being with a code, but those of a suicidal and foolish individual. It CAN be a way to play, and a fun one, but you have to know that playing this way will either lead to a new character, or one who is broke from the number of resurrections being paid for.The other hallmark of a paladin than Charisma is WISDOM.  No one wise will willingly do the silly things you mention here. Self-sacrifice is one thing, when the party is in dire straits and the only thing that can help them is for one person to sacrifice their lives for that few extra moments needed. However, a paladin who KNOWS he has no way to hurt the enemy will withdraw to find something that CAN hurt the enemy - another paladin, a weapon to use, or will simply return when he has the power to stop the evil. To NOT return is not being a proper paladin; to throw your life away when there is a better way available is not proper behavior either.I will never forget the story told by Roger Moore in an early Dragon magazine, about a friend of his who played one heck of a paladin. This paladin was not the wisest paladin out there, but in the end, he exhibited qualities that saw him through the toughest battle of his life.The story, going straight from memory, goes something like this:---------------------------------The mid-to-high-level party, having just defeated various dark minions of Hell, now stood before the revealed ringleader, a Pit fiend of enormous power. The party, having realized that the pit fiend's magic resistance and its immunity to lesser magic weapons made it near impervious from them, and already somewhat wounded, made plans to flee. They would tackle it another day, when they were stronger.The paladin, however, wanted to end the threat NOW. He wouldn't have it. He plunged into battle with the Fiend. The party began to run like **** in their various means of transportation, while the paladin launched like a mad wolverine. He became disheartened when his sword had no effect, and the Pit Fiend (the DM) was enjoying his frustration too much to kill him outright. Then the Player of the Paladin remembered the magic dagger (+2 or +3 I recall) in his boot. He whipped it out, and layed into the Fiend with a MAGIC DAGGER. The fiend launched into it too, and the fight was on.The Fiend was soon badly damaged, nickled and dimed as it were, and looking to flee. So he flew up hoping to escape. The paladin, however, latched on, and kept stabbing, and shouting things that were VERY unpaladinlike. He kept stabbing every round, EVEN AS THE CREATURE DIED AND THEY BOTH FELL SCORES OF FEET, and kept cursing and stabbing. They both took tons of falling damage, but the PALADIN LIVED. Climbing out from under the beastie, he spat on it, and walked back to rejoin the group, with something like 2 hit points remaining.---------------------------------Somewhat paraphrased, but one of these days I have to look up the actual story in my CD Archive and re-post it. It was one of my favorite "paladin" stories ever. <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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