True, barring magical compulsion. But his god can still send him bad dreams.
D&D 5E Paladin just committed murder - what should happen next?
- Thread starter firstkyne
- Start date
True, barring magical compulsion. But his god can still send him bad dreams.
Punishing a Paladin for oathbreaking is JUST LIKE banning a Druid from wearing metal armour! I see it all now! :-O
Ovinomancer
No flips for you!
Okay, sure, in a fiction, this is certainly a cool thing, but the dream sequence above has nothing to do with the character, but rather the DM berating the player with a melodrama of how they're wrong about their character. I'd have been fine with a simple, "Your character has had dreams about the events over the last few days. They're starting to interfere with the character's sleep." This, at least, stays focused on the character instead of a drama featuring the player, and perhaps directs the player to seek advice from superiors.
I am, however, still leery of this because it's toeing the line of telling the player how to play their PC. If you think your player is playing with bad intent, then this isn't even an issue for in-game anything. Either you trust your player is playing with good intent or you do not. If you do, then let them play -- don't play for them or correct them because they're not doing it how you would. Let the game happen.
Fundamentally, I agree. For sure.
I'm just not sure why, because in the real world I often don't get to choose how I feel about something in the moment. Upon reflection and practice, sure, but in the moment...?
I don't know. Feelings aren't always (or even often) decisions, I guess.
Wiseblood
Adventurer
Manage expectations.
I hope you give us an update. What you and the player do from here may give us insight for when we find ourselves similarly confounded.
I hope you give us an update. What you and the player do from here may give us insight for when we find ourselves similarly confounded.
Wiseblood
Adventurer
TBH I’m a bit surprised that paladin and alignment discussions aren’t verboten. Along the lines of politics and religion lol.
Moderators, Please don’t do that to us!
Fanaelialae
Legend
It's not the same thing.
The PLAYER is deciding how the CHARACTER is feeling. The character may have absolutely no control over their emotions in the moment. For example, a barbarian might fly into a berserk rage at a very inconvenient time because he loses control of his temper. However, the player is knowingly choosing that for him by activating his rage ability.
How the character feels is the player's purview in D&D, not the DM's.
Wiseblood
Adventurer
Save vs. Fear (Wisdom DC : 13) See how easy that was?
Fanaelialae
Legend
a) such things are typically a special ability, rather than at the whims of the DM; in fact, a PC can use a special ability to attempt to influence the way another PC is feeling, but under other circumstances it is bad form for another player to try to dictate how a player plays their character
b) note how the player gets a saving throw; it is the dice that are deciding, not the DM
c) even in the case of a failed saving throw, the player still has the ability to decide how the character feels within the limits of the effect; for example, the 5e frightened condition allows the character to continue fighting, albeit with disadvantage, if the player decides the character is both afraid and angry
Campbell
Relaxed Intensity
I largely agree. It's just that D&D is not that sort of game. I happen to love that sort of game. Masks, Monsterhearts, Vampire - The Requiem Second Edition, Exalted Third Edition, Legend of the Five Rings Fifth Edition, and Pendragon are some of my favorite games.
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