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My Paladin killed a child molester (and now my DM wants to take away my powers!)
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<blockquote data-quote="Trickstergod" data-source="post: 1564516" data-attributes="member: 10825"><p>Divine mandate does not lawfulness make or secular authority trump.</p><p></p><p>Two guards walk in on a cleric of a god of thieves, catching him in the act of theft. </p><p></p><p>Guards: "What happened here? Did you break into this home and steal those jewels?"</p><p>Cleric: "Yes. I am a priest. I was doing my gods will."</p><p>Guards: "Well, all right then."</p><p></p><p>That isn't going to happen. Divine mandate does not lawfulness make. Being a paladin no more gives you the lawful right to kill evil than being the priest of a god of thieves would give you the lawful right to steal willy-nilly. </p><p></p><p>Unless a paladin were a magistrate, nobleman or some other individual of authority, I would consider any attempts at playing at "Judge, jury and executioner" to make them into Chaotic vigilantes. They are no more exempt from the law than the aforementioned thief-god priest, and acting against it makes them not lawful, bit by bit. </p><p></p><p>In circumstances like the first poster put up, I'd say the paladin was doing the right thing, the good thing (if perhaps not necessarily the best thing - compulsion effects could have been in place, the molestor might have other children locked up elsewhere, and so on), but was also definitely doing the chaotic thing by taking matters into his own hands. </p><p></p><p>However, it's evil acts that screw the paladin over, not chaotic ones. </p><p></p><p>As such, I'd let the paladin keep his powers - but also inform the player that his paladin just took a very large step towards "Neutral Good" by not simply knocking the molestor out and bringing him into justice. </p><p></p><p>Perhaps there are more extenuating circumstances about; perhaps there was no one the paladin could bring the man into, for example, or walking out with the man in tow woud have ended up in the molestor's friends jumping the paladin or something, but presuming nothing of the sort existed, the paladin did the chaotic thing by playing the role of judge, jury and executioner. Most societies don't take kindly to that kind of attitude, even if it's in the right. </p><p></p><p>So I'd say the paladin has his powers. But probably not for long if his attitude keeps up - he'd be taking a swift trip towards Chaotic Good.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Trickstergod, post: 1564516, member: 10825"] Divine mandate does not lawfulness make or secular authority trump. Two guards walk in on a cleric of a god of thieves, catching him in the act of theft. Guards: "What happened here? Did you break into this home and steal those jewels?" Cleric: "Yes. I am a priest. I was doing my gods will." Guards: "Well, all right then." That isn't going to happen. Divine mandate does not lawfulness make. Being a paladin no more gives you the lawful right to kill evil than being the priest of a god of thieves would give you the lawful right to steal willy-nilly. Unless a paladin were a magistrate, nobleman or some other individual of authority, I would consider any attempts at playing at "Judge, jury and executioner" to make them into Chaotic vigilantes. They are no more exempt from the law than the aforementioned thief-god priest, and acting against it makes them not lawful, bit by bit. In circumstances like the first poster put up, I'd say the paladin was doing the right thing, the good thing (if perhaps not necessarily the best thing - compulsion effects could have been in place, the molestor might have other children locked up elsewhere, and so on), but was also definitely doing the chaotic thing by taking matters into his own hands. However, it's evil acts that screw the paladin over, not chaotic ones. As such, I'd let the paladin keep his powers - but also inform the player that his paladin just took a very large step towards "Neutral Good" by not simply knocking the molestor out and bringing him into justice. Perhaps there are more extenuating circumstances about; perhaps there was no one the paladin could bring the man into, for example, or walking out with the man in tow woud have ended up in the molestor's friends jumping the paladin or something, but presuming nothing of the sort existed, the paladin did the chaotic thing by playing the role of judge, jury and executioner. Most societies don't take kindly to that kind of attitude, even if it's in the right. So I'd say the paladin has his powers. But probably not for long if his attitude keeps up - he'd be taking a swift trip towards Chaotic Good. [/QUOTE]
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My Paladin killed a child molester (and now my DM wants to take away my powers!)
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