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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dannyalcatraz" data-source="post: 2711651" data-attributes="member: 19675">First, what the OP posted:(emphasis mine)So, all the comments about:and the like are off base.  He ascertained that the Halfling was involved in the kidnapping. In any jurisdiction, he is a co-conspirator, and can be convicted of kidnapping (an evil act).  He is every bit as guilty as the people who dragged off the Paladin's wife.  As I mentioned, the crime involved a home invasion at night- about as heinous a crime as was imagined in the ancient world, short of murder.In certain jurisdictions, he could even be granted a death sentence (if kidnapping is a death penalty crime)- usually in ultraconservative theocracies.  Try this scenario in, say, Teheran, where sharia (laws based on the Quran) is the law of the land.  Islam typically draws no distinction between religious and secular life, so sharia covers not only religious laws, but many aspects of daily life...and it has been interpreted to allow for the execution of kidnappers.People have pondered whether he detected evil before killing the halfling, to determine whether he was being forced into acting as he did.I ask, how many times does a GM force a Paladin to detect evil before killing opponents in more traditional scenarios, like guarding a temple of evil?  After all, the guard may be a conscript; he may just have taken the job to pay to feed his starving family; he may have a child being held hostage by the High Priest of Evil.  In short, the guard of a temple of evil may not neccessarily be evil.  Does your GM make you detect evil on those guys before attacking?Remember- Paladins use Detect Evil at will as the spell (PHB p44).  That, friends, takes time.If the GM doesn't make the Paladin DE on everyone he's considering killing- especially those known to have either comitted or aided and abetted evil (like our halfling decoy)- then its a non-issue here.Exigent circumstances say otherwise- he had to decide whether to act for himself, or wait for the authorities to arrive.  Given that he'd have to either send a messenger of his own, or trot the halfling to the closest watchmen himself, it may have taken hours for the appropriate authorities to show up, and in the meantime, an innocent is in peril, the trail is growing cold.  Unlike most of us, the Paladin is uniquely equipped for meting out justice all by himself.He had to decide right then whether to take action or delay, considering what the halfling's actions would be if freed, or what the others would be doing to his wife.</blockquote>

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