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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cheiromancer" data-source="post: 2708570" data-attributes="member: 141">A setting that has modern sensibilities about due process and presumption of innocence would not, I think, have paladins.  A setting where violence is a last resort and good and evil are shades of gray would not have paladins.  Such a setting would have no role for people who roam the countryside acting as judge, jury and executioner.  And that is what I think the paladin's role is.  Paladins are divinely empowered to right wrongs, defend the innocent and punish the wicked.  They are not subtle.  Their role quite usually involves lots of violence, and that is often righteous wrath.  Wrath which is appropriately directed at anyone complicit in putting someone at risk who is under the paladin's protection.  Which is obviously true in this case.  And unless your setting deviates quite a bit from the default D&D setting, the paladin's behavior is perfectly appropriate.So I don't think that the paladin deserves any sanction at all.  In fact I think that sanctions due to moral dilemmas shouldn't happen against the player's wishes.  If a lapse in paladinhood explores an aspect of the character that the player wants to get into, then fine.  Or if the player is playing the paladin in a cruel, selfish, greedy or cowardly way, then it might be a signal that the paladin has to be more upright and noble.But if the player thinks the paladin is doing the right thing, I think the DM should go along with it.  He doesn't have to overthink it either; a gut feeling, spur of the moment kind of choice, one consistent with the paladin's character is sufficient.  It is perfectly consistent, imo, with the role of a paladin and with the lawful good alignment for the character to slay the halfling.  He could show mercy (and that would also be a good thing- killing the halfling is not obligatory) but the halfling's life is forfeit for the role he played in the attack on the paladin's wife, and the paladin would be justified in killing the halfling then and there.  It's the paladin's choice, and he shouldn't be punished either way.You might not buy all of this, but I hope that at the very least you see that it is doubtful that the paladin did anything wrong.  And so I hope you give the character the benefit of the doubt.  Otherwise it will seem as if you are messing with the paladin.Not that messing with the paladin is always a bad idea.  I mess with paladins in my campaigns too.  The last time I did it was with a paladin of Helm- an enemy used a spell to make him fall asleep when he was on duty.  I decided that for a paladin of Helm (the watcher) this was a bad thing- equivalent to a paladin being enchanted to perform evil deeds.  So he lost his paladin status for a session or too until he could atone.  I don't think there was any quest or special penance- just the spell.  But I wouldn't use a moral dilemma to mess with a paladin unless the player wanted to go along with it.</blockquote>

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