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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="FireLance" data-source="post: 1564769" data-attributes="member: 3424"><p>Thought I should chime in with my view, for what it's worth. Several issues have been raised, but I think the most relevant in this situation are the following four: Good, Law, Honor, and Mercy.</p><p></p><p>1. Did the paladin do Good?</p><p>In my view, certainly. He saved an innocent from harm and punished evil. These are Good acts.</p><p></p><p>2. Did the paladin act in a Lawful manner?</p><p>The conclusion here is less obvious. Apart from the fact that there is usually no consensus on what Lawful behavior actually <strong>is</strong>, there are too many variables, such as: whether the paladin is empowered to act as he did by secular authority, whether the paladin's god or religion would support his actions, what the penalty was under the local laws, whether the local laws required due process of trial or permitted summary execution, etc. From the context, however, he may not have acted as Lawfully as he could.</p><p></p><p>3. Did the paladin act in an Honorable manner?</p><p>In my view, he could have acted with more honor. At the most basic level, acting with honor means giving up an advantage that you might have, whether it is the advantage of preparation (challenging a foe before attacking), armament (allowing the foe to arm himself) or certain actions (not lying, not cheating, and refusing to use poison, for example). Often, honor conflicts with practicality, which proposes that a person should use whatever advantage he has to win. In a way, honor is a luxury which a paladin may not be able to afford in some circumstances, e.g. facing a powerful evil foe, or one that is about to commit some great act of evil. In this case, however, I believe that paladin could have acted honorably without endangering the girl, and thus probably should have.</p><p></p><p>4. Did the paladin act in a Merciful manner?</p><p>There are those who believe that paladins need not and even should not be merciful. I respect that view, but I believe otherwise. Further muddying the issue is whether you believe whether it is more merciful to kill or imprison the man. However, from the context again, the paladin may not have acted as mercifully as he could.</p><p></p><p>So, my overall analysis is that the paladin acted in a good manner, but probably not as lawfully, honorably or mercifully as he could. I would not strip the paladin of his powers, but I would have probably added some in-game consequences for his actions, such as having to justify his killing the man to the local guard or watch.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="FireLance, post: 1564769, member: 3424"] Thought I should chime in with my view, for what it's worth. Several issues have been raised, but I think the most relevant in this situation are the following four: Good, Law, Honor, and Mercy. 1. Did the paladin do Good? In my view, certainly. He saved an innocent from harm and punished evil. These are Good acts. 2. Did the paladin act in a Lawful manner? The conclusion here is less obvious. Apart from the fact that there is usually no consensus on what Lawful behavior actually [B]is[/B], there are too many variables, such as: whether the paladin is empowered to act as he did by secular authority, whether the paladin's god or religion would support his actions, what the penalty was under the local laws, whether the local laws required due process of trial or permitted summary execution, etc. From the context, however, he may not have acted as Lawfully as he could. 3. Did the paladin act in an Honorable manner? In my view, he could have acted with more honor. At the most basic level, acting with honor means giving up an advantage that you might have, whether it is the advantage of preparation (challenging a foe before attacking), armament (allowing the foe to arm himself) or certain actions (not lying, not cheating, and refusing to use poison, for example). Often, honor conflicts with practicality, which proposes that a person should use whatever advantage he has to win. In a way, honor is a luxury which a paladin may not be able to afford in some circumstances, e.g. facing a powerful evil foe, or one that is about to commit some great act of evil. In this case, however, I believe that paladin could have acted honorably without endangering the girl, and thus probably should have. 4. Did the paladin act in a Merciful manner? There are those who believe that paladins need not and even should not be merciful. I respect that view, but I believe otherwise. Further muddying the issue is whether you believe whether it is more merciful to kill or imprison the man. However, from the context again, the paladin may not have acted as mercifully as he could. So, my overall analysis is that the paladin acted in a good manner, but probably not as lawfully, honorably or mercifully as he could. I would not strip the paladin of his powers, but I would have probably added some in-game consequences for his actions, such as having to justify his killing the man to the local guard or watch. [/QUOTE]
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