Hjorimir said:
Let the paladin's god decide.
However, this is almost exactly how an NPC fell into Blackguard in my campaign. The attack on his wife and child was arranged by a Pit Fiend too. The paladin could have subdued the halfling (learned of any other plots and who ordered the attack) and then handed the halfling over to the courts to await hanging or a nice fifty-year stay in the local salt mines.
Now, if the country was a Theocracy and the paladin was awarded judge, jury, and executioner powers AND his god was okay with the action it would be excuseable.
My take exactly. Utimately, paladins only answer to 1) their god and 2) their conscience. Temporal laws are only a guide, for laws made and enforced by man will always be imperfect. Trusting blindly in the rules of Man is actually an abdiction of ones own responsibility to judge Good from Evil. That, IMO, is an even swifter path moral weakness and ultimately perdition.
Depending on the paladin's god, there could be many different results to the paladin's actions, ranging from lost of paladin status to actually being rewarded. A paladin of abstract Law and Good might need to atone for his actions, expecially if the halfling was basically helpless. A paladin of St. Cuthbert or similar deity would simply kill the halfling and move on. In addition, the paladin must weight the possibility that if he does not neturalize the halfling very, very quickly, he might fail at his duty to protect his wife and child (fail to protect the innocent). That would also cause him to need to atone -- even moreso than for smiting the halfling -- especially if he is a paladin of a 'protection' god such as Pelor. For the paladin in this case, there is NO right choice -- only a choice that the DM approves of (or not).
Now, all theory aside, I suggest that the OP consider very carefully what he wants to do with the situation. As this entire situation was mostly directed by the DM, the DM, not the player, is mostly responsible for the results.
If, as part of the plot, you WANT to engineer the fall-from-grace of the paladin, then you can use the paladin's actions as an excuse to do so. In the computer game Baldure's Gate II there was a similar sub-quest, where the main character manipulated into killing several fellow paladins. The main character would then lose his paladin status until he could atone for his actions by fulfilling a quest. In this case, you could claim that the paladin acted unlawfully and have the paladin lose all or some of his powers, but allow atonement after a quest to deliver the villians to justice. OR, you could cause the paladin to fall with no easy atonement in sight, and stoke the paladin's rage and bitterness at such blatant injustice so as to tempt him towards the path of true Evil (blackguard). You could let the paladin retain his abilities, yet have the town guard launch an enquiry against him. You could go not only allow the paladin to retain his abilities, but actually have his god bless his rightous quest of holy vengeance -- let him act as if under the effects of
bless and
aid when he hunts for the assaliants of his wife and unborn child. You could have your ruling be a mixture of all above -- for example, the paladin loses his abilities, and must stand before a court to be judged. However, he is acquitted (or otherwise released somehow) and his god shows compassion on him, so while he must atone to regain paladinhood, he acts as is under
bless and
aid while on the quest.
As DM, you must handle this situation *very* carefully, for your player might resent you if you basically forcing his paladin to fall. Discuss it OOC with your player -- will he accept such a plot with good grace? If so -- if he revels in playing such a wounded, tragic hero -- then by all means go for it. However, if the player does not enjoy such a plot, I suggest that you not force such a plotline on him. A good, tragic plotline in the eyes of the DM -- all filled with deep, philosophical themes of lost and redemption -- might not actually be a *fun* plotline for the player to play.
As for me personally, I would consider it an injustice if the paladin were to lose his paladin-hood. I could accept and even enjoy such a plot if forwarned, but would not likely be happy if a DM sprang it upon me unannounced. I believe that a paladin's first duty is to
destroy evil and
protect the innocent, not merely to strive for a nebulous state personal moral perfection. A paladin that lets an innocent come to harm because his is paralyzed by moral uncertainity is
already a fallen paladin, IMNSHO.
Unless you have talked it over with the player OOC, I strongly advise against causing the paladin to fall. IC consequences, such as trouble with the local law enforcement, are acceptable as long as the paladin has a reasonable chance to defend himself. However, the consequences should not overshadow the more important plotline, which is to deliver swift and merciless justice to the knaves that dare assault a pregnant woman. On that, I would say, there is no moral dilemma.
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