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Message: <blockquote data-quote="jollyninja" data-source="post: 3198179" data-attributes="member: 3208">I envision the following, the paladin and his troops spring out of a concealed position, weapons drawn, clearly with the upper hand, offering terms and looking menacing. If an enemy force does not honor the sanctity of life enough to surrender, they forced the combat, not the paladin. Meaning essentially that if the war is not clearly between a force that is legitimate and one that is not, or a force of good vs one of evil, the paladin has no place in that war. He's the agent of a god on the material plane, not a cavalry soldier. his duty lies to his god, not whatever government happens to be in power in his current geographic location, though unless that government is doing things that mark them as his enemy, he must do his best to not undermine their authority. Personally, in any battle worthy of the paladin's time, i would consider it far more of a shot to his honorable status for him to not take every available opportunity to win. not feinting? why swing a sword? you might hurt someone with that, princess! Not hitting an exposed flank with available troops? if your enemy is foolish enough to expose his flank or in some other way offer you an advantage in the middle of battle and you do not take it, the unnessisary deaths of your soldiers are at your feet. Is your personal honor worth thousands of lives? if you think so, you clearly should not be a paladin. I mean if you have agreed to a duel with rules that say "stand there and hack at each other until the shields are splinters and you are not allowed to move your feet" well then follow those rules but if the terms of the battle are "anything goes, two men enter, one man leaves" it's a different story. If you have archers, use them. If you are able to gain knowledge about the enemy that is being offered by someone using means short of torture to get it, use it. Spies? are they murdering people? are they torturing people to get the information? if not the paladin is fine. If you take the high ground  and the enemy attacks you anyway, that was their choice, they could have surrendered. in the case of two to one, once again, what are the stakes? if the force would flee from you only to burn and loot a villiage elsewhere, your overwhelming numbers will only help to lessen your casualty count in a just battle. if they do not surrender when outnumbered 2 to 1, they are a respectable foe for their courage but they brought it on themselves. once again, if the paladin has a commander who is ordering him to do borderline things like taking out supply trains, he's in the wrong army and that guy is sending the wrong tool for the job, you can drive a nail with a wrench but you might lose a wrench. It's all about what will happen if the paladin doesn't go through with it, it's never a better option to let the innocent die. If you believe that the war you fight is worth having a paladin fight in, you do what you must to win it. and yes, fishhooking an orc commander is honorable if it keeps him from ordering his troops to slaughter a villiage in my opinion.</blockquote>

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