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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Winterthorn" data-source="post: 567457" data-attributes="member: 1702">Here are a few questions/thoughts of a general nature that may help:1)  Is alignment a descriptor of how a character has behaved "up until now"? Or is it a prescriptor of how a character will behave?I think alignment represents a past behaviour, particularly with respect to blood 'n' guts, life and death issues, and that it only predicts, and not prescribe future behaviour...2) Is a Paladin "Judge and Jury"?Good question I think, because culture plays a role here--Paladins of different cultures will have different perspectives on the same issue--very much a matter of degree too IMO. One culture may license Paladins by law to act on their own (but still expect to account for their actions), while another culture may demand of Paladins to adhere to the "due process of the law"...3) What about Mercy? Isn't mercy a tenant of Goodness? Shouldn't a Paladin act mercifully to even his/her worst foes? (I wish Paladins had a special ability relating to subdual attacks...)It seems to me that a Paladin, being an agent of all that is Good in the Multiverse, will be tested many times during their career/life path. Knowing even the vilest of mortal foes feel pain and anguish--and are possibly motivated by such things in destructive ways--a Paladin must consider the best way to "heal" such a destructive state of being and acting... Killing is hence a cop-out, with perhaps the only exception as an act of defense from a more immediately certain dangerous outcome.4) And of redemption? Aren't the "forces of Goodness"  required to account for the possible redemption of those who've knowingly acted evilly? A saint would give a devil a second chance, no?I think Paladins must always leave this option open, just because a mortal before them is "tainted" by an evil history, doesn't mean there's no chance they can change. Outsiders, Undead, and immortal beings maybe another matter though... The redemption of an evil outsider is probably beyond the influence of a mere mortal Paladin's actions. Indeed, just because a Paladin "slays" a demon on the material plane, is it really "dead"--or merely severely punished? (DM's call here I think.)Taking into account the above four points, and the remarks here of other posters, I'd say number 4.-W.</blockquote>

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