Questionable morals - PC's killing children

[Eternalknight]

One of my players lately has thrown me into a quandry. He is playing a chaotic neutral elven fighter and we are trekking through (a converted) Keep on the Borderlands. They came across a group of Hobgoblins (including children) and began to cut a swathe through the adults. Then said elf decided that he would murder the kids (who were whimpering and cowering in a corner) because "one day they will grow up to cause trouble". What do I do? Is it evil? I am considering sending a long a celestial to keep watch on this character (my campaign involves the planes a bit). What would you do?

 

[BiggusGeekus]

The "official" ruling is that it is not an evil act. But, personally, I get queasy just thinking about it. I'd call it evil.

 

[Wolfspider]

Well, depending on how you view different races as being inherently evil or not, the character may be justified in killing the young hobgoblins. They may very well grow up to rape and pillage the countryside just like their parents--that is, if they don't starve to death because they no longer have any providers.

You have to be careful here. The player may be operating under the assumption that creatures can be born bad. If you suddenly penalize him for this assumption (something that is relatively common in D&D), he may have hard feelings about it. It would be better to make clear your own assumptions about this issue (since they are different from the norm).

Chaotic neutral, eh? That's a whole other can of worms....

 

[Eternalknight]

Well, that was just one example. Last week he attacked the chaotic good human druid. His reasoning? The druid had failed to help the group in a number of battles (namely, against the gray oozes and the Orc Chief) by standing back and saying he was keeping an eye out for other monsters. This ultimately ended with the death of the druid. Was his attack justified? Personally I don't think so (although everyone was getting a bit miffed at the druid). It's a hard one.

 

[Zerovoid]

Well, that was just one example. Last week he attacked the chaotic good human druid. His reasoning? The druid had failed to help the group in a number of battles (namely, against the gray oozes and the Orc Chief) by standing back and saying he was keeping an eye out for other monsters. This ultimately ended with the death of the druid. Was his attack justified? Personally I don't think so (although everyone was getting a bit miffed at the druid). It's a hard one.

It sounds like this guy just likes to kill things. I would get mad at this character, and tell them in character that they were no longer. Not helping has never been a crime, it just makes you a jerk. (I've had players like this druid before, and it really pisses me off when they try to provoke people by hiding behind lame RPing excuses) Also, a chaotic person especially should respect the individual rights of others. If the druid doesn't help, well that's his perogative. Also, the CG druid isn't a druid anymore since he's not neutral, but I'm guessing you're already aware of that.

 

[Anabstercorian]

The vast majority of the time killling children is an incredibly evil act. Even in the best case it's morally fuzzy, unless, of course, they happen to be wielding immense destructive power and are trying to kill you. Since he's chaotic neutral, and already a bit random, I'd not inflict moral judgement on him. Rather, as he slips deeper in to chaos, he may well lose humanity, becoming a force of pure random action. Chaos, law, good, evil - All of these can corrupt, change a person. If he slips too deeply in to chaos, it could be bad.

 

[Quickbeam]

I'd say that this PC's actions fall within the bounds of CN, although slaying the young hobgoblins is pushing the envelope a bit. This question can be (and has been) debated endlessly, but if your player gives sound reasons why his PC would execute the offspring of typically evil creatures, I'd leave the matter alone. Perhaps his character's village has been repeatedly ransacked by hobgoblins; or his family has spent generations battling the humanoids. Whatever the case, I wouldn't punish a CN character for these actions...then again I try to avoid having my players use CN as an alignment .

Our group found ourselves confronted with a relatively frustrating NPC some time back (like the druid you've described), who never joined the fray but instead offered an array of excuses as to why he didn't fight. After a while, my character (true neutral) gave this NPC an ultimatum -- help us during the next battle if no option for avoiding conflict is available, or I would attack him upon finishing off our enemies. The rest of the party supported my statement, because they'd begun to see his refusal to fight as a threat to our survival. We protected him (some of the party did anyway), but he wouldn't help us. Being CN, the elf in your group used the druid's refusal to assist in combat as justification for killing a person that bothered him. The justification isn't needed for the PC, but rather for his companions.

 

[Eternalknight]

Also, the CG druid isn't a druid anymore since he's not neutral, but I'm guessing you're already aware of that.

You know, I completely missed that... (bad DM!!!). Must be because I was trying to figure out what to do with the elf fighter.... What about my idea of sending a celestial to watch him? Or just get a paladin or other lawful good character in there?

 

[Melkor Lord Of ALL!]

His actions were perfectly suitable for a CN character! And I think that celestial has better things to do!

 

[Quickbeam]

You know, I completely missed that... (bad DM!!!). Must be because I was trying to figure out what to do with the elf fighter.... What about my idea of sending a celestial to watch him? Or just get a paladin or other lawful good character in there?

Why would a celestial waste time monitoring the immoral and self-serving actions of a CN elf? As for the paladin or other LG character, I'd only follow this course of action if you're ready to have a constant source of distraction within your game. The elf and paladin would almost always be at odds, and conflict would likely be immenent.

As others have suggested, perhaps the rest of the party may wish to intercede and confront this PC. If not, don't force judgement on the PC and player. Rather, explain to the player that each act of random chaos and violenece is another step closer towards complete loss of control. Then let things play out as they may -- he'll either shape up, or watch his PC go over the edge and find himself in a most unpleasant predicament.