Paladins and Prisoners of War

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

In our current campaign, the heroes have stumbled upon a bunch of Red Mages doing research in a HUGE library for the evil king.

Rather than risk them taking any information back to their evil king, I think that taking them as POWs and attempting to convert them to our cause (the cause of JUSTICE!) while questioning them would be an excellent option.

However, I don't know if a lawful good character can take and keep a POW. I do not intend to torture or to allow torture... they will be kept in good health an not abused... but, is the actual act of taking a POW contrary to a lawful good alignment?

 

[Ghostknight]

Lets see his options

1) Ignore the ongoing evil
2) Kill them
3) Question them, and then hand them over to good authorities
4) Take them as POWs

To me, 3 and 4 are te most feasible options. Which depends on the law the paladin follows. Is he seen as an agent of the government/church and thus has some judiciary powers which would allow him to do this? On the othe rhand just killing them offers no chance of redeeming them, and questioning them could help the cause of good.

If the only authrities are evil, I don't think the Paladin is going to be involved in them and is most likely to be involved in some revolutionary movement to instill good rule, and thus likely in a position to do this. Overall I don't have an issue with paladns taking prisoners- I have far more problems with paladins behaving like the slaughterers of masses because said masses are not good in nature!

 

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

My paladin, Justice, is following the "spirit of the law"-- she is a revolutionary fighting the evil king and all of this evil minions.

Pretty much everyone in power so far as royal authority is, in fact, super evil...

 

[Felix]

I think the BoED has something on converting evil folks to good using diplomacy... it does take a long, long time though.

But if Justice has already extended her mercy to the evil wizards, she should have a hard time taking it back... I don't think that killing them immediately after discovering them would be out of the question, but if you've let them live so far...

As far as POWing being contrary to LG, I would say that POWing itself is morally ambiguous. POWing to torture them and terrorize the rest of your enemies isn't Good. POWing them to convert them ("re-education"?) could be Good. POWing them to sow riot and chaos isn't Lawful. And doing so to detain the POWs from sowing riot and discord can be Lawful. To what purpose did Justice take the POWs?

 

[The_Universe]

Justice, as of so far, has not taken the POWs, nor are they all evil. Nor, incidentally, has she offered them surrender. I believe this is all still in the realm of the hypothetical, as the characters in question have only recently become aware of the mages (who, though not all evil) are working for a less-than-Good King. Hope that clears up a couple of the ancillary details.

 

[Laurel]

Justice, as of so far, has not taken the POWs, nor are they all evil. Nor, incidentally, has she offered them surrender. I believe this is all still in the realm of the hypothetical, as the characters in question have only recently become aware of the mages (who, though not all evil) are working for a less-than-Good King. Hope that clears up a couple of the ancillary details.

My big question is have we... I mean they... actually seen the mages in question performing vile acts?

 

[Ghostknight]

I fthese are Red Mages ala Thay- you can pretty much accept they are evil, even wothout the Paladins ability to detect evil. And yep, the issue becomes just that, what action can you take against an evil doer who has not actually committed a known evil act (got that exact dilemma in a current Pbp game- not so much a dillema for my CN character- but definitely one for the do gooders in the party!)

Considering the variables here, as DM I would not have an issue with taking them as POWs. Also, what level of treatment is acceptable is also campaign specific- in medieval Europe torture was considered a valid means of interrogation and by no means an evil act- lawyers and judges actually wrote treatises on the subject! The default D&D game has torture as an evil act, but it could quite easily be defined as neutral).

 

[billd91]

POWs? Is your character's country actively at war with Thay? If not, POW wouldn't have legal standing even if such a legal status existed in the Forgotten Realms. If they're acting against the law, arrest them and detain them and be done with it. If you think they're up to no good but are otherwise acting lawfully, you are forced to either kidnap them (morally ambiguous), let them go about their business (the legally correct thing to do), or somehow provoke a confrontation (again, morally ambiguous).
It all depends on just how legalistic the local rulers get and how much paladins are expected or allowed to take the law into their own hands. You might just be better off hanging around them and taking notes on the tomes they are consulting. If you're quiet about it and stay at least 10 feet away, they'll have a hard time convincing the librarians or other guards to kick you out and you might get your confrontation without actually getting belligerent (again, not the way a law-and-order paladin is supposed to behave).

 

[Hand of Evil]

Establish rules of war. As the DM this is one of those world campaign issues, Diplomats and leaders have handle this and provide the guide lines.

Good Kingdom: Exchange program or Ransom, work camps, and holding. Support of POW with food and supplies (at least two meals a day). Tight rules of interogation.

Neutral Kingdom: Limited exchange program (nobles), work camps. Support of POW less than good food and supplies (one meal a day). Rules of interogation loose.

Evil Kingdom: No exchange. POW equals slave labor, no support (one meal a week). Torture common.​

 

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

POWs? Is your character's country actively at war with Thay? If not, POW wouldn't have legal standing even if such a legal status existed in the Forgotten Realms. If they're acting against the law, arrest them and detain them and be done with it. If you think they're up to no good but are otherwise acting lawfully, you are forced to either kidnap them (morally ambiguous), let them go about their business (the legally correct thing to do), or somehow provoke a confrontation (again, morally ambiguous).
It all depends on just how legalistic the local rulers get and how much paladins are expected or allowed to take the law into their own hands. You might just be better off hanging around them and taking notes on the tomes they are consulting. If you're quiet about it and stay at least 10 feet away, they'll have a hard time convincing the librarians or other guards to kick you out and you might get your confrontation without actually getting belligerent (again, not the way a law-and-order paladin is supposed to behave).

We are not playing for Forgotten Realms... but, in our home-grown world we are mega wanted "criminals" (at least according to the king) there's no way we are going to be able to just hang out because they complete dominate the library--have sent all the librarians home.

We are on their turf when in the library.