LostSoul
Adventurer
I'm soliciting opinions on two different situations that have come up in recent games.
First one: A young woman (Llallwyn), known to the party, ended up becoming possessed by an evil creature thanks to her own actions. (They tried to save her but failed, almost losing one PC in the process.) She disappeared for a few months while the PCs were off taking care of bigger things.
Later on, the PCs come back to their old stomping grounds. They hear about a seedy little town that has been taken over by a witch. This witch, of course, turns out to be that possessed woman (Llallwyn). The party Paladin, being the crusading sort, felt slightly responsible and wanted to put things right. So they take some time out of their busy schedule to see if they can help out.
They arrive at the witch's mansion and ask to speak with her. She agrees. Alone in a room with the Paladin and the Wizard, she begins mocking them.
"Take one more step towards me, and you'll be responsible for killing hundreds of innocent souls. I've worked my charms on this town and replaced the guards with my own kind. One signal from me and this hell-hole burns."
The Paladin (Theron) steps closer.
Another voice comes out of the witch's mouth. "Theron? Is that you? Please... save me!" It is Llallwyn.
The Paladin stops.
The demon takes over and mocks him. "You little bleep bleep bleep bleep. The one you serve is weak and impotent. There is nothing you can do here. You are going to fail. Just leave you pathetic little bleeps."
The Paladin can't take any more of this. He charges the fifteen feet between and grapples the witch. She screams in a strange Tongue.
The Wizard's owl familiar (McHoots) tells him that a signal arrow just fired off from the mansion's tower. There is a little more activity down there, now.
Grappling with the witch, the Paladin tells her to stop all this. She laughs. Llallwyn's voice comes through once more. "Theron - please - you're hurting me!" The demon laughs. "If you don't stop I will kill her."
The Paladin head butts her, doing a whole bunch of subdual damage. Enough to knock her out. Llallwyn's body falls limp; then a great, black claw rips its way out of her chest and down. A small, black creature rolls out, then extends itself to its full height. Llallwyn's blood gushes out of the mortal wound in her chest.
Outside, the fires began to rise...
Questions: What do you think about the Paladin's actions? Enough to risk his Paladinhood? (I'm just curious - in the campaign he didn't lose his abilities - but I'd like to see reactions)
Situation the second: The party is travelling to a major city in the neighbouring country. They've been warned that local soldiers can be dangerous, especially for foreigners or those who can't pay their way out.
The soldiers stop the party for questioning (at a range of 65 feet). They want to know what an armed knight with an unidentifiable standard is doing. The party is able to Bluff the soldiers into thinking they are just merchants with foreign protection. After a few comments about weak foreign dogs, they agree to let the party pass after they receive a bunch of taxes. (They were asking for about 20 gold; the party had about 150 in total.) The soldiers ride up cautiously.
The party Wizard decides to tell them he has a receipt for the taxes. He tries to Forge a receipt; he fails. The soldier threatens him with arrest unless he can pay his "bail" upfront. The Wizard dithers for a while; the soldier draws his sword to threaten him.
As this point, we roll initiative and the Wizard blasts them all with a perfectly-lined Cone of Cold. This wipes half of them out, and the rest are too weak to put up much of a fight.
Question: The Wizard in question is (was) Good. Given a history of "shooting first, then staring at their cold, lifeless bodies and wondering what questions they could have answered", do you think he should slide to Neutral?
First one: A young woman (Llallwyn), known to the party, ended up becoming possessed by an evil creature thanks to her own actions. (They tried to save her but failed, almost losing one PC in the process.) She disappeared for a few months while the PCs were off taking care of bigger things.
Later on, the PCs come back to their old stomping grounds. They hear about a seedy little town that has been taken over by a witch. This witch, of course, turns out to be that possessed woman (Llallwyn). The party Paladin, being the crusading sort, felt slightly responsible and wanted to put things right. So they take some time out of their busy schedule to see if they can help out.
They arrive at the witch's mansion and ask to speak with her. She agrees. Alone in a room with the Paladin and the Wizard, she begins mocking them.
"Take one more step towards me, and you'll be responsible for killing hundreds of innocent souls. I've worked my charms on this town and replaced the guards with my own kind. One signal from me and this hell-hole burns."
The Paladin (Theron) steps closer.
Another voice comes out of the witch's mouth. "Theron? Is that you? Please... save me!" It is Llallwyn.
The Paladin stops.
The demon takes over and mocks him. "You little bleep bleep bleep bleep. The one you serve is weak and impotent. There is nothing you can do here. You are going to fail. Just leave you pathetic little bleeps."
The Paladin can't take any more of this. He charges the fifteen feet between and grapples the witch. She screams in a strange Tongue.
The Wizard's owl familiar (McHoots) tells him that a signal arrow just fired off from the mansion's tower. There is a little more activity down there, now.
Grappling with the witch, the Paladin tells her to stop all this. She laughs. Llallwyn's voice comes through once more. "Theron - please - you're hurting me!" The demon laughs. "If you don't stop I will kill her."
The Paladin head butts her, doing a whole bunch of subdual damage. Enough to knock her out. Llallwyn's body falls limp; then a great, black claw rips its way out of her chest and down. A small, black creature rolls out, then extends itself to its full height. Llallwyn's blood gushes out of the mortal wound in her chest.
Outside, the fires began to rise...
Questions: What do you think about the Paladin's actions? Enough to risk his Paladinhood? (I'm just curious - in the campaign he didn't lose his abilities - but I'd like to see reactions)
Situation the second: The party is travelling to a major city in the neighbouring country. They've been warned that local soldiers can be dangerous, especially for foreigners or those who can't pay their way out.
The soldiers stop the party for questioning (at a range of 65 feet). They want to know what an armed knight with an unidentifiable standard is doing. The party is able to Bluff the soldiers into thinking they are just merchants with foreign protection. After a few comments about weak foreign dogs, they agree to let the party pass after they receive a bunch of taxes. (They were asking for about 20 gold; the party had about 150 in total.) The soldiers ride up cautiously.
The party Wizard decides to tell them he has a receipt for the taxes. He tries to Forge a receipt; he fails. The soldier threatens him with arrest unless he can pay his "bail" upfront. The Wizard dithers for a while; the soldier draws his sword to threaten him.
As this point, we roll initiative and the Wizard blasts them all with a perfectly-lined Cone of Cold. This wipes half of them out, and the rest are too weak to put up much of a fight.
Question: The Wizard in question is (was) Good. Given a history of "shooting first, then staring at their cold, lifeless bodies and wondering what questions they could have answered", do you think he should slide to Neutral?