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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nyeshet" data-source="post: 2710036" data-attributes="member: 18363">I may as well enter the fray.There is no need for Speak with Dead as a Cleric is nearby with Heal prepared and the Halfling was only in negative hit points and dying (not yet dead). This entire situation is a massive can of worms. First off, there is no evidence that 'nothing' was done to the Paladin's wife. Rather, we know that something was done (although perhaps not yet fully accomplished) to her or her unborn babe - then the assaulters left upon their discovery. The cleric recieved only verbal support that she was apparently unharmed. He went downstairs and informed the Paladin that his wife had been assualted but seemed unharmed and the perpetrators had escaped. The Paladin reacted by attempted to slay the final perpetrator in the act. It is true that the halfling may have been under compulsion, but his reactions suggest otherwise - either he is a willing accessory who hoped to escape prior to the paladin realizing the assault or he was blackmailed / intimidated into aiding an illegal and possibly evil act. Will the wife now miscarry due to some as yet undiscovered magic? Is the child now bound to the evil subtype due to some spell - perhaps even to be born with a fiendish heritage or merely deformed? The Paladin does not know this - but he is likely well aware that just because his wife is physically unharmed does not mean that she and her unborn babe are truly okay. Something terrible may have been done and not yet discovered. He has plenty of reason to believe it possible. Granted, he should have simply made a subdual coup-de-grace against the halfing - knock him out for later interrogation in the royal dugeons while observed by a cleric under the effect of Detect Lies. He should lose his paladin powers for a few days, after which an atonement should be all that's necessary to regain his abilities. His actions - while intending to kill - were not successful. Furthermore, it could be that the halfling (which you have kept alive due to being a source of important information from the DM to the players) would have been worthy of slaying. I'm still scratching my head over why the Paladin did not use Detect Evil upon first laying eyes upon the messenger. Being awoken in the middle of the night during a time dangerous enough to require the paladin to ask a friend to protect his wife for the few minutes he expected to be gone should have rung more than a few suspition bells - causing him to use the ability on almost anyone he met at that time, even for only the briefest of meetings. In any case, he has not broken his code but has skirted the border of it. IMC I would remove his powers for 2d4 days for such an act - a reminder to be wary of sliding so close to the abyss. Now, from a non-religious perspective, were the paladin not within the Royal City he would have been within his legal rights to slay the halfling as it was accessory to a significant crime upon his own property. However, due to the location he is technically outside his jurisdiction and should be fined - perhaps 100 gp - for attempted slaying of a freeman in the royal city. From the legal perspective, unless the halfling was a noble, that is the worse that should happen to the paladin. The halfling was, after all, an accessory to a major crime - an assault upon a noble's wife and unborn child - his heir. In the middle ages wars could have been started over something like this. If the halfling population is large and important to the city - or the halfing was actually a noble of or visitor to the city - then fine may be increased to as much as 1,000 or even 10,000 gp - paid to the king, not to the halfling or his family. That was the way the medieval society worked. If fines were levied it was as a punishment to the fined, not as recompence to the victim. Recall also that 100 gp is equivalent to several years wages by untrained labor and about a year's wages for trained labor. Tenfold that is thus at least 10 years wages - an excessive amount, really. One hundred fold (ie: 10k gp) should only be used if a war is likely to start over the matter, as it is equivalent to a hundred years wages from a trained laborer or perhaps ten years wages from an extended family of trained laborers. So, revoke his paladin powers for a week or so and then allow atonement. The Paladin is still lawful good, he just met a bump along the road. He need a reminder to be wary of the bumps and watch where he is going. Legally, perhaps he should be fined a few hundred gp - as much as 1000 gp if the situation embarresses the king or some other higher noble who would normally be in charge of such matters. If you really want to mess with the Paladin, have him sent a dream suggesting dire things soon to occur to his wife - another attack perhaps - and a promise of power to overcome such dangers. Then, when the dire situation occurs (while his powers are still lost) have him seem to hear a voice whispering in his mind, offering him the power to "punish" those attacking his wife. It could make for a dramatic fall from grace to the path of the blackguard. This assumes, of course, that the player wishes to consider such a path. Talk it over with him first, when you send the dream.</blockquote>

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