Paladin Question

[Krelios]

But the BETTER solution is to not have bad guys surrender, thus ensuring that this problem never crops up in the first place.

But then you have that pesky suspension of disbelief problem...

 

[hong]

But then you have that pesky suspension of disbelief problem...

Bah. If it works in Baldur's Gate, it works for me!

 

[irdeggman]

Is the paladin of a race that has a racial hatred of goblinoids? This can color things a bit.

You need to have the player write out his code of conduct and make sure it incorporates the base requirements in the PHB. Each paladin has a different slant on the specifics of his code, but all of them have a code of conduct they must follow.


Something similar happened in a 2nd ed Birthright game I was running. A player was running a paladin of Cuircean (the chaotic good deity of war and storms) {his paladins had to cg instead of lg}, another player was running a cn wizard (with tendencies to evil - a favorite of his). There was a conflict and the wizard was attacking the party. The wizard threw down his weapon and gave up. The paladin saw this and continued to strike the helpless character thus killing him.

I then had the paladin suffer some dream "messages" - something about pulling a pieces of fruit of a tree and eating it himself instead of giving it to a starving child nearby.

The absolutely clear picture came when he rolled a natural 20 on an attack roll and I told him he "missed". He was astonished and then I told him you see the face of the wizard you had killed instead of the face of the opponent you are facing.

He got the message and had no more dreams after that.

Part of Cuicean's paladin's code of conduct is that they always fight honorably.

 

[Kurashu]

Even young Paladins are wise enough to realize that they probably can't destroy all the evil in the world, so they must learn which battles to pick (both against monsters and within their parties)... Good luck!

I disgress. My friend told me of a game he ran with an epic (super epic) paladin who was captured by a pack high level good outsiders, taken to a good aligned plane, told "Stop committing mass genocide in the evil aligned planes", fought his way out of the good aligned plane (he was convinced the pack that captured him were hindering him from his quest and therefore evil), and back into the evil aligned planes to proceed with his genocide.


Can't destroy all the evil in the world? =P

 

[Hypersmurf]

If I ever consider playing a Paladin, the first thing I do is check with the DM what sort of expectations he has.

I've had a DM say "No, a Paladin cannot multiclass with Rogue, because all Rogues are thieves!"

I've had a DM say "If a Paladin detects evil, it is his duty to attack it immediately and to the exclusion of any other priority."

I've had a DM say "Paladins can't sneak around - their code requires them to be bold!"

Now, none of those gel with my personal interpretation of the generic Paladins' code, nor, frequently, with what I had in mind for a particular Paladin. So it's important for me to understand that the DM sees things differently before I start playing the character under my own reading...

-Hyp.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

But the BETTER solution is to not have bad guys surrender, thus ensuring that this problem never crops up in the first place.

But then you have that pesky suspension of disbelief problem...

My suspension of disbelief comes when asked to accept a world where paladins are required to always accept surrender, and still remain an even semi-productive force for Good in the world. Anything with a greater-than-animal intelligence would soon learn that in such a world, one need merely ask for surrender if things are going against it, and be immediately spared to wait for another chance to commit meyhem.

No. Not in my worlds. If an evil creature--be it man or demon--commits such an act that a paladin is bound to draw his blade, then that evil creature had best be prepared for righteous retribution.

A paladin is not a rent-a-cop. They don't have to give quarter simply because it is asked. They are the Sword of God. The Wrath of Heaven. And if you have done such things in your life that a paladin sets himself against you, be prepared to face the full and righteous might of a Soldier of God.

And don't expect to avoid your just punishment by saying, "wait, I give up."

 

[mvincent]

>>Whether you realize it or not, this is a hot topic and many will view it as a troll<<

Yikes! No I had no idea and believe me that was not my intention

Too late. Trolling is an evil act. You shall now lose all posting priviledges until you atone.

Seriously though: I agree with your handling. While alignment is a subjective issue, your reaction definitely doesn't sound completely unusual or unexpected. It sounds more like the player was trying to bypass an anticipated limitation. If indeed your reaction did come as a complete surprise to him (hard to imagine, but still possible), then he probably should be playing a different class, or at least seek to come to an agreement.

 

[Wolfwood2]

And don't expect to avoid your just punishment by saying, "wait, I give up."

I beleive the traditional battlefield phrase for killing enemies who surrender at the last moment is, "Too late, chum."

 

[Kieperr]

Aren't paladins also supposed to show mercy? The creature may be evil but by surrendering it is asking for mercy. If the paladin shows no mercy then he should lose his abilities. Mercy is not only for the good, it is for all creatures. That is why playing a paladin is hard, and it should be. A paladin's actions are based upon his code AND his alignment. This does not change from one situation to another, it remains the same in all situations. Killing an unarmed creature is evil. It does not matter what that creature's alignment is.

 

[Michael Silverbane]

My suspension of disbelief comes when asked to accept a world where paladins are required to always accept surrender, and still remain an even semi-productive force for Good in the world. Anything with a greater-than-animal intelligence would soon learn that in such a world, one need merely ask for surrender if things are going against it, and be immediately spared to wait for another chance to commit meyhem.

No. Not in my worlds. If an evil creature--be it man or demon--commits such an act that a paladin is bound to draw his blade, then that evil creature had best be prepared for righteous retribution.

A paladin is not a rent-a-cop. They don't have to give quarter simply because it is asked. They are the Sword of God. The Wrath of Heaven. And if you have done such things in your life that a paladin sets himself against you, be prepared to face the full and righteous might of a Soldier of God.

And don't expect to avoid your just punishment by saying, "wait, I give up."

Fortunately, Paladins have Sense Motive as a class skill, and should thus be able to tell (as a reactive skill check opposed by the Bluff of those who would try to decieve the paladin) whether such a character is actually repentant, or is merely trying to take advantage of the legendary forgiveness to such an honorable warrior...

Later
silver