Paladin's conflict

[Voadam]

In the campaign I am in right now we just found out that a member of the group is a lycanthrope (wolf), he just found out as well. Now me being a paladin should I kill him now, or should I try to save him and cure him of this disease? This goes back to what others were saying about morals and what is right and wrong, or good and evil.

I know I can't turn my back and walk away, because I would be letting evil roam.

This kind of goes back to an argument in the BoeD thread
https://www.enworld.org/index.php?threads/66661/

Until he turns evil and a threat to innocents you can work with him. Once he turns evil you can still work to restore him if you want. Killing him is also an option unless the DM rules that would be an evil act.

However, what are the PC on PC rules in your campaign? Some do not allow PCs to fight under any circumstances, and there are good reasons not to kill another player's character when there are other options.

By the code, you are not required to kill him. Once he loses control nonlethal attacks and binding are a pretty good option until you can drag him to a healer.

However, in a grim and gritty world killing the possessed/infected before they wreak havoc is an option as well, what's the title of that movie? Twenty Eight Days Later?

 

[frankthedm]

Why is it that every Paladin under the sun sees death as the solution to everything?

Assuming you've been travelling with the party for a while that character is your friend. What would you do if one of your friends was being possessed by a horrible curse? If the answer to that is the same as the way you play your paladins I'm glad I don't know you.

(you know, and don't have a horrible curse...)

The soul of a friend should be more important to a paladin than the life of the friend, as it should be to most people in a fantasy world where the alfter life is a real thing.

If, in that DM's game the curse of lycantropy turns the victim to evil in human form, then swift mercy may be appropriate. Indeed the friend sounds like he might fall to the temptation even if that is not the case.

As a guideline: With Detect Evil at will, you should be able to tell if and when he becomes evil in human (or whatever) form. Until that happens, you should definitely be trying to save him.

If the friend is detecting evil in human form, the paladin has let a friend to the abyss.

 

[fusangite]

I need more data. Could you post your Paladin's code or a description of the god your worship?

 

[Agback]

The soul of a friend should be more important to a paladin than the life of the friend, as it should be to most people in a fantasy world where the alfter life is a real thing.

'Good' is defined by the rules as depending on an irrational obsession with whether people are dead or alive. This is D&D 'Good', not normal-language 'good'.

"Good characters and creatures protect innocent life." PHB3 p88.

The paladin's 'friend' didn't choose to become a werewolf, and therefore is innocent. The paladin must therefore respect his or her life. If he or she starts threatening others, then the paladin must do something to abate the threat. Unless he or she can come up with something better than killing his or her 'friend', the paladin will be forced to choose the lesser of two evils. Which is a bad situation to be in.

'"Good" implies altruism, respect for life, and a concern for the dignity of sentient beings.' PHB3 p88.

Okay, so here the paladin is in a bind, not between 'Good' and 'Law', but between different phases of 'Good'. The paladin's 'friend' is presumably sentient, so the paladin must not subject him or her to the indignity of being tied up, but on the other hand can't kill him or her (out of respect for his or her life), nor let him or her roam free (or of respect for the lives of those he or she might threaten. But in this case I think the least evil is easy to choose. Still, it would be better to obtain a Remove Curse spell effect as soon as convenient.

Anyway, remember that this is 'Good' alignment, which bears only a faint resemblance to moral goodness. It might be good to kill one's friend before his soul can be corrupted, but it isn't 'Good'. Indeed, if the friend is innocent, it is 'Evil'.

Regards,


Agback

 

[Agback]

I don't want to kill him. I guess my initial post should have been more along the lines of "how far should I go in helping him?"

All the way.

Paladins do whatever it takes. They don't count what it costs them, and they hate half measures. Most of all, they despise those who half-heartedly 'help' by doing something that doesn't cost much but can't possibly work.

Positively the marching song for paladins is the Friendlies' Hymn from Gordon Dickson's Soldier, Ask Not…:

Soldier, ask not, now or ever,
Where to war your banners go.
Anarch's legions all surround us.
Strike! And do not count the blow.

Glory, honour, praise and profit,
Are but toys of tinsel worth.
Render up your work unasking,
Leave the human clay to earth.

Blood and sorrow, pain unending,
Are the portion of us all.
Grasp the naked sword, opposing.
Gladly in the battle fall.

So shall we, anointed soldiers,
Stand at last before the Throne.
Baptised in our wounds, red-flowing.
Sealed unto out lord—alone!

Regards,


Agback

 

[Tewligan]

Remember that if you kill him, you'll be able to take his stuff.