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Paladin code question/opinion...
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<blockquote data-quote="Khafre" data-source="post: 2051031" data-attributes="member: 28816"><p>In my opinion, this is the sort of question that always begins with "it depends". What it depends most on is the god that the Paladin follows, and to a somewhat lesser degree to that of the greater society.</p><p> </p><p>I think the thing to keep in focus though is not just someone who follows laws of the land and fights for good. That's just a lawful good fighter. A paladin is an exemplar of a person who fights for justice and good, because to do anything less is to deny everything that he stands for. A lawful good fighter might be able to take the position that the means justify the ends (putting good before law), but for a paladin, it is those little things that determine who you are. </p><p> </p><p>This is of course an overly broad generalization. Written rules always come into conflict with each other at some point or another. Whether the paladin follows the code of his deity (above local law), the code of his country (over that of his deity), or a personal code of honor (above all) - it is the intent of the laws that the paladin holds dear. That means there can be a lot of variety in what different paladins feel is the correct course of action.</p><p> </p><p>This does place some limits on a paladin's actions. Attacking from the rear for example - if there is a reasonable chance that they might be facing someone other than who they think they are, instead of taking the easy shot they first need to verify that they are not smiting an innocent. A LG fighter might take the hit figuring they can heal the person later if it really is an innocent, but for a paladin, that would be wrong as he has no right to strike someone who has not done a wrong deserving of a smiting. This is also part of the stricture against poison - with poison, if you are wrong as to their guilt, it is even harder to undo the harm.</p><p> </p><p>That's not to say paladins are dumb. Sacrificing your life for a noble cause might be valiant, but most gods aren't going to look kindly on someone who sacrificed their lives needlessly. That means they should be just as tactical, if not more so, than most figthers. The bit about being a paragon of virtue just puts certain tactics off limits to them.</p><p> </p><p>That is also why most paladins are not carousers. They are a paragon of order and discipline - the fact that they aren't violating any laws is irrelevant. </p><p>That of course is an abstraction based on the attitudes of most LG societies and LG deities. If the paladin follows a LG deity of whom being a carouser IS being a shining example to the community, well, then you almost expect that paladin to be a carouser. Off the top of my head, I'm not aware of any LG god that follows that path though.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Khafre, post: 2051031, member: 28816"] In my opinion, this is the sort of question that always begins with "it depends". What it depends most on is the god that the Paladin follows, and to a somewhat lesser degree to that of the greater society. I think the thing to keep in focus though is not just someone who follows laws of the land and fights for good. That's just a lawful good fighter. A paladin is an exemplar of a person who fights for justice and good, because to do anything less is to deny everything that he stands for. A lawful good fighter might be able to take the position that the means justify the ends (putting good before law), but for a paladin, it is those little things that determine who you are. This is of course an overly broad generalization. Written rules always come into conflict with each other at some point or another. Whether the paladin follows the code of his deity (above local law), the code of his country (over that of his deity), or a personal code of honor (above all) - it is the intent of the laws that the paladin holds dear. That means there can be a lot of variety in what different paladins feel is the correct course of action. This does place some limits on a paladin's actions. Attacking from the rear for example - if there is a reasonable chance that they might be facing someone other than who they think they are, instead of taking the easy shot they first need to verify that they are not smiting an innocent. A LG fighter might take the hit figuring they can heal the person later if it really is an innocent, but for a paladin, that would be wrong as he has no right to strike someone who has not done a wrong deserving of a smiting. This is also part of the stricture against poison - with poison, if you are wrong as to their guilt, it is even harder to undo the harm. That's not to say paladins are dumb. Sacrificing your life for a noble cause might be valiant, but most gods aren't going to look kindly on someone who sacrificed their lives needlessly. That means they should be just as tactical, if not more so, than most figthers. The bit about being a paragon of virtue just puts certain tactics off limits to them. That is also why most paladins are not carousers. They are a paragon of order and discipline - the fact that they aren't violating any laws is irrelevant. That of course is an abstraction based on the attitudes of most LG societies and LG deities. If the paladin follows a LG deity of whom being a carouser IS being a shining example to the community, well, then you almost expect that paladin to be a carouser. Off the top of my head, I'm not aware of any LG god that follows that path though. [/QUOTE]
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