Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Reasons for a paladin to fall . . . with a twist
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Lord Pendragon" data-source="post: 2543682" data-attributes="member: 707"><p>As a DM, my God would cast out this paladin. Some religions draw no line between intent and action, and it's an idea I agree with. The fact that the scenario was false means nothing to me, or the gods in my campaign. The paladin intended to sacrifice a child to spare himself more torment. The fact that there wasn't actually a child makes no difference. The paladin chose to sacrifice a child for himself. And the soul is all about choices.</p><p></p><p>It's the same with the other scenarios presented above where the paladin is tricked into making a sinful choice that turns out to have been a false choice. Meaningless. If you pick up a gun that you believe to be loaded, point it at a human being and pull the trigger, you're guilty of murder. If the gun jams and doesn't fire, you're <em>still</em> guilty of murder. That was your intent, and you acted on that intent. The paladin falls.</p><p></p><p>How would I have a paladin think he'd fallen without actually having him fall? Simple, I'd make him harder on himself than is warranted. Perhaps he fails to sense the deceit in a father, and learns the man was molesting his daughter...only after the daughter has taken her own life. Perhaps he has a dear friend who is falling into a dangerous depression, and eventually joins an evil cult. The paladin feels that he failed his friend at his greatest time of need, not guiding him to the true faith. Etc. etc. Basically, I'd create a paladin who believes he <em>should</em> be fallen, no matter what the clerics say. He feels so terrible about some event that he feels someone must be punished, and the only one he can hold accountable is himself.</p><p></p><p>In order to regain his paladin powers, he'd have to learn to forgive himself for his crime, even if all the creatures in heaven and earth never saw a crime to begin with.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lord Pendragon, post: 2543682, member: 707"] As a DM, my God would cast out this paladin. Some religions draw no line between intent and action, and it's an idea I agree with. The fact that the scenario was false means nothing to me, or the gods in my campaign. The paladin intended to sacrifice a child to spare himself more torment. The fact that there wasn't actually a child makes no difference. The paladin chose to sacrifice a child for himself. And the soul is all about choices. It's the same with the other scenarios presented above where the paladin is tricked into making a sinful choice that turns out to have been a false choice. Meaningless. If you pick up a gun that you believe to be loaded, point it at a human being and pull the trigger, you're guilty of murder. If the gun jams and doesn't fire, you're [i]still[/i] guilty of murder. That was your intent, and you acted on that intent. The paladin falls. How would I have a paladin think he'd fallen without actually having him fall? Simple, I'd make him harder on himself than is warranted. Perhaps he fails to sense the deceit in a father, and learns the man was molesting his daughter...only after the daughter has taken her own life. Perhaps he has a dear friend who is falling into a dangerous depression, and eventually joins an evil cult. The paladin feels that he failed his friend at his greatest time of need, not guiding him to the true faith. Etc. etc. Basically, I'd create a paladin who believes he [i]should[/i] be fallen, no matter what the clerics say. He feels so terrible about some event that he feels someone must be punished, and the only one he can hold accountable is himself. In order to regain his paladin powers, he'd have to learn to forgive himself for his crime, even if all the creatures in heaven and earth never saw a crime to begin with. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Reasons for a paladin to fall . . . with a twist
Top