The Paladin killed someone...what to do?

[Demmero]

No, I believe the halfling came to his door and was let into the paladin's house. Though in the course of a 10-page thread, maybe I'm forgetting facts myself

Good thing I slipped in that disclaimer, Jim

I really could've sworn that the Cleric in the scenario came downstairs to speak with the paladin, but I'm getting old, the memory's a bit faulty, and I'm too lazy to shift through a 11-page thread for a minor detail.

 

[Jim Hague]

Good thing I slipped in that disclaimer, Jim

I really could've sworn that the Cleric in the scenario came downstairs to speak with the paladin, but I'm getting old, the memory's a bit faulty, and I'm too lazy to shift through a 11-page thread for a minor detail.

Heh. That's why I quoted the OP - 11 pages is a lot to sift through, no matter which side of the argument you're on.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

I think extracting a confession under duress isn't evil in the mindset of the game I run. Torture is bad, but a little ruffing up is tolerated I would think.


edit: Now that I think of it unless the prisoner is definately evil then it's probably not good to use force to coerce a confession.

 

[Demmero]

This is the kind of solution I like: mundane repercussions amongst the populace.

Misc ideas:
* Some townsfolk start to fear the paladin and avoid him
* An investigation by the constable is launched into the killing
* The church investigates the past several years of the paladin's life

Stuff like this creates an opportunity for roleplaying (and also sends a message to the player that he is on thin ice with the DM). Contrariwise, atoneing to get powers back sucks eggs.

Yep, and wouldn't it be cool if the main gate into and out of the city just happened to pass through its "Halflingtown" neighborhood.

And even cooler if the paladin happened to have a halfling servant in his manor who witnessed the 'dispensation of justice'...nah, let's have him walk up as the cleric says, "Your wife seems fine" and the paladin snaps the halfling's neck!

OK, the servant's not usually one to speak ill of his master, but one night over drinks he tells a buddy about the incident saying, "Well, I don't know about all the details, but the way m'lord just snapped the fellow's neck puts me off a bit."

This friend then tells another friend, who tells another, etc. ad nauseum until, in the end (in the fine form of this very thread) we have a story like this:

Halfling: "Yeah, I hear Lord High-N-Mighty just kidnapped poor Skippy off the street! I hear Skippy put up a hell of a fight, but then some spellcasting human--dedicated to one of their many dark gods, no doubt--joined the fray and they overpowered him and tied him up. Old Jeremiah Brittlebones--he works as a servant at this guy's fortress of evil, if you can believe it!--says they tied Skippy up, tortured him a while, and then snapped his neck! Jeremiah tried to intervene but was told, "This is the fate that awaits all your kind, you tiny, pencil-necked, Chaotic Evil (not sure exactly what that means) Rogue!"

It'd be interesting to see how the paladin would react if some righteous violence was thrown his way!

 

[Numion]

Wrong again. A paladin can use detect evil at will, as per the spell. It's not automatic, not 'on sight', not instantaneous.

A Paladin usually knows when he sees something evil, I think that was what he was saying. Like was the case here, he asked the Halfling some questions and came to the conclusion that he was involved in evil activity. If the only way to know someone's evil was that Evil-Radar, Paladin would be rendered inneffectual by a simple Ring of Undetectable Alignment.

 

[Kahuna Burger]

This one gets close to politics, so all I'll say is that IMHO not all evil acts require the death penalty. On the spot. With no semblence of a trial.

You damn evil accomadating weak westerner!!!!!!!

 

[Demmero]

*SNAP!!*

Paladin: "What? I was just using my "lay on hands" ability...."

 

[Demmero]

You damn evil accomadating weak westerner!!!!!!!

Hee hee! The best part of this is that I think the halfling probably IS evil and deserving of a pretty harsh penalty. There's just enough of a whiff of stooge about him that I think he's entitled to a quick Detect Evil from the paladin before the penalty is decided.

 

[WhimsyTheFae]

Hee hee! The best part of this is that I think the halfling probably IS evil and deserving of a pretty harsh penalty. There's just enough of a whiff of stooge about him that I think he's entitled to a quick Detect Evil from the paladin before the penalty is decided.

I agree 100%. Killing him seems lazy or frustration-based in this case. I've seen other types of characters perform the same way, but none called themselves Paladin of Heironeous (and yes, I would hold a Cleric of said religion to the same standards).

My issue comes from the "Detect Evil doesn't always work, so we shouldn't use it" camp. This is apparently a reaction to the "always use Detect Evil before smiting" camp, which doesn't exist on this thread (I have heard some say the Detect Evil should have been used in THIS CASE, and some say that Detect Evil should not have been used, but noone has said that it should be used in ALL CASES).

I also don't approve of "roughing up the suspect" as a paladin's method of getting a confession.

 

[Smackfish]

Let me preface what I'm about to say with a quick disclaimer: I'm not taking sides as to whether what the paladin did in this case was right or wrong for a paladin, or whether there should be a punishment or what the punishment should be.

That having been said, unless I misread the OP, there's a point being missed that I think deserves consideration, ie, that when the cleric comes to tell the Paladin his wife's ok, it seems like this is the first time the Paladin knows his wife's been assaulted. So picture if you will, the paladin is dowstairs, it's late at night, he's been disturbed from his rest by this halfling who now won't tell him why, he already has some reason to be concerned for his wife (why else ask a friend to guard her?), and things with the halfling have already started to get physical (This confuses me a bit too, but they have). All of the sudden his cleric friend comes bolting down the stairs and says "Your wife's been assaulted, but she's ok."

Now, I don't know about how I would react in a similar situation, but I suspect that I would hear the first part very loudly and the last part very softly or not at all. I don't know for sure if that's clear, so let me restate it another way, I think that by the time the cleric gets to "But she's ok." I would have if at all possible already done whatever i was going to do to the halfling and be running up the stairs. In the mind of a husband and father, from my understanding, the second part of that sentence doesn't matter, someone's tried to hurt my wife and child, i have to get to them and whatever's in my way be damned. My friend may say they're ok, but to me theyre not until i've seen it with my own eyes.

That is the reaction i view from a normal person, whether or not that is acceptable from a paladin very much depends on what you think a paladin is.

Just my two cents.

Edit: grammar