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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MerakSpielman" data-source="post: 1164501" data-attributes="member: 7464">Here is a piece from another thread where I analyzed my interpretation of the Paladin's Code. The thread was debating the morality of using the Detect Evil, if positive, then kill the bad guy tactic, so some of the examples I use might not be quite appropriate. ------The generic Code of Conduct for a paladin, as stated in the PHB:Let's break this down.Rule 1) Must be LG. Loses all paladin abilities if commits an evil act.What is an evil act? Ultimately, this is in the hands of the DM to truly decide. Personally, I would rule that murder is evil. Just because somebody is themselves evil does not mean that killing them is not murder. Superman is LG, and he turns crooks in to the police rather then killing them. Why does he do this? Becuse callous killing of those who you consider evil isn't right. Self defense is one thing, killing in cold blood is another. If your foe throws down their weapons and surrenders, it is evil to kill them, even if the enemy is Orcus himself. Rule 2) Must respect legitimate authority.Again, ultimately, the definition of legitimate authority can vary from DM to DM. Does a good conquerer taking over an evil kingdom represent legitimacy? What about an evil conqurer taking over an evil kingdom? A good kingdom? If the local mayer runs a smuggling ring, does that mean the paladin can't act to shut it down, because it is sanctioned by the local authority? Such is the stuff of which paladin moral dillemas are crafted. In the D&D world, though, good is firmly defined. If those in power use their influence to better themselves at the expense of the people, I think a paladin would take action, legitimate authority be damned. Is it worth risking his paladinhood to see the people released from the yoke of tyranny? If the answer is yes, then probably the cause is just. A good leader acts for the benifit of those in his charge. If the leader fails to do so, then they no longer represent legitimate authority. If they do represent legitimacy, then the paladin is bound to treat the authority with due respect (but not, please note, outright obedience). 3) Must act with honor (not lie, cheat, use poison...)I would personally put steal on this list as well. This is different than being Good. A good person can lie/cheat/steal/use poison. Think James Bond, Han Solo, any undercover cop. A good rogue would steal into an enemy camp and coup-de-grace the enemy leader while they slept. The paladin would rather openly challange this leader to one-on-one combat by broad daylight. He will accept surrenders, even from evil beings, and never break his word, though it destroy him. As such, the word of a paladin is sacrasanct and rarely given, but always true. The paladin is the paragon of ultimate virtue, incorrigably good, and never false. If you trust a valuable item to a paladin and die before you can recover it, he will not sell it or set it aside, but restore it to your loved ones or do whatever in his judgement he thinks you would want him to do. 4) Must help those who need helpEverybody needs help of some sort. Does this mean that, because a paladin wanders by your farm the day after your best hand quit, you can expect him to help you bring in the harvest? Careful, he probably would, should you ask, but you would be wise not to waste the time of a champion of virtue on so mundane a task. Being threatened by orc raids, though, go ahead and ask him if he can do something about that. The paladin really decides who needs his services the most, and acts accordingly, following his code as best he can. If he is on a mission where time is vital and lives are on the line, he probably can't stop to help with the orcs, though he'll be back as soon as he can, or send somebody who is capable of helping sooner. Paladins offer a specific brand of help - it is known that they stand against the forces of evil - so one would hope that people wouldn't ask for their help if they didn't really think they needed it. If a situation does not require the specilization of a paladin, he will politely inform the querant of such, and be on his way. 5) Punish those who harm or threaten innocentsWhat are "innocents?" Good question. I would say that, in a given conflict, the innocents are those who don't pick a side, but just try to go on with their normal, everyday lives. The People. Commoners, Experts, Aristocrats. Those who, without the forces of Good to defend them, would be almost naked before the forces of Evil that threaten. Definately children would be innocents.The paladin must also establish that the intent to harm or threaten exists. They are not bound to take action without proof. Without adiquate proof, the paladin becomes an investigator, seeking to determine whether a threat exists or not, and whether it is something simply to be reported to the guards or dealt with in person.You can be evil and not seek to harm innocents. If you are a demonologist who seeks to commune with demons so you might join them in hell, but you do so from the privacy of your own isolated tower and don't seek to harm anybody, you are not seeking to harm innocents.It might also be possible to be good and seeking to harm innocents, though an example fails me at the moment. This person would be punished by the paladin.Note the use of the word "punish." It does not say "kill," though if there is no other way to accomplish eliminating the threat to the innocents a paladin will resort to deadly force. The punishment, though, should match the deed. Trying to turn the populace of a city into lycanthropes is one thing, but a merchant regularly cheating his customers is quite another. The paladin must be wise and use his mandate carefully, not extracting punishment greater than the deed warrents. Often, a simple warning from the local paladin might suffice for minor threats to innocents.  Nowhere in the paladin's code does it say that their mission is to erradicate evil from the world using whatever means they have available. A paladin is much more than a detect-smite machine. They are not a law unto themselves, and must answer to a higher authority. Killing an unarmed or defenseless foe is evil, whatever the justification.  The ends do not justify the means. Ever. A paladin knows this, and abides by his code. Unto death, if need be. -------- My dear hong, you don't LET us forget it. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /></blockquote>

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