Paladin oath transgression thoughts.

[Riley37]

Radical variant: ask the player to suggest consequences. I mean, the player understands and agrees that the PC violated the Oath, right?

Wait, the player doesn't? Then tell the player what exact words of the Oath they violated. Use your authority *at the table* before you use it *in the story*.

 

[Eltab]

Is your player willing to RP the Oath their Paladin took? If not, steer them away from Paladin. Fighters are powerful strong, too. When I was DM'ing, I had to get creative about hurting the Barbarian enough to get her to 'think defense'.

You sound like you want to restore alignment requirements on the Paladin; if so, tell the players ahead of time so the campaign does not turn into a contest of wills between you and them. Be very careful about setting up 'grey morals' or Gotcha scenarios if the Paladin must remain Lawful Good.

P.S. If the group can agree on an IRL-based code of conduct for the Paladin to aspire to, it will help everybody recognize when Oath-breaking is an active danger. The other players can serve as 'tie-breaker' votes if you and the Paladin's player do not agree.

 

[werecorpse]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I'm steering away from paladin penalties and looking at just universally upgrading the other non spellcaster classes to catch up mechanically.