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Message: <blockquote data-quote="billd91" data-source="post: 6123633" data-attributes="member: 3400">Of course it doesn't. Having a yardstick just gives them a bit more precision about what they can expect some consequences, if any, to be. The paladin's requirements are designed to be virtuous. Why would virtue require something else? If that's the case, then it's not a D&D paladin you want to play. How is someone's judgment of the consequences of actions preventing the paladin player from making his own moral decisions?Aren't the definitions and expectations of the morals qualities you are working toward going to tell you an awful lot about what virtue requires? What are you working out for yourself - which specific moral qualities to work toward? If that's the case, are you really just complaining that the paladin's code is already set in the lore of the game rather than built at character design time? Clearly, upholding his code (the truthfulness certainly appears to be in line with the classic paladin's code in D&D) isn't "getting away with anything" since he's acting in line with his code. In that case, there's no difference whatsoever in how the event played out. The character played within his code. The question here is what happens when the PC acts against his or her code. If exploring morality means you can't have consequences imposed by the game's referee, it sounds really like you just don't want to suffer the inconvenience of your PC breaking his vows.Or is this a really a question of "the kind of person you are is determined by how you act... when you think there's nobody watching you"? That your morality can best be measured when there's no authority around? Frankly, I don't believe I've ever subscribed to such cynicism.How? Does the existence of a code and external judgment of the consequences of breaking it stop the player from deciding to break it? It doesn't. It does, however, give them information enough to know what some of the consequences of the actions are.</blockquote>

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