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Message: <blockquote data-quote="The Sigil" data-source="post: 1164973" data-attributes="member: 2013">I voted, "other."A paladin is concerned with "decreasing the power of evil in the world."  That is most important to him.When confronting evil directly, the preferred outcome is that evil repents as that (a) decreases the amount of evil power by X and (b) increases the amount of good power by X.  This results in a net shift in power of +2X for good.  The alternative desired outcome is the destruction of evil.  This decreases the amount of evil by X and results in a net shift of power of +X for good.Note that this priority also means that the paladin is not going to play "lawful stupid" and be a 1st-level character who never runs from a Balor... dying yourself with no appreciable benefits toward aiding the side of good results in a net shift of power of -Y for good.With respect to personal conduct, the paladin strives to be a paragon of virtue - because he recognizes that the better he is, the more "good" is in the world and hence the more balance is shifted toward good.  That others may see and learn and be inspired by the beacon of purity that is the paladin is a nice side effect, but since that rests in their hands, what with agency of individuals and all, the paladin doesn't worry so much about that.  He wants to live pure not so that he LOOKS good, but so that he IS good.With respect to working with others... a paladin will attempt to heal and cure and teach and generally act benevolently as each act of goodness and kindness (a) tips the scales a little bit towards good and (b) is much more likely to inspire the recipient of the act towards being good themselves than is simply seeing his example from afar.  In fact, the paladin probably pays much more attention to and sees as more important his "one-on-one" time with others than his "up on the pedestal being admired by others" time because he knows the one-on-one time is when people can TRULY be deeply touched and inspired, whereas the "up on a pedestal" time usually results in temporary, transitive inspiration.In essence, to me, the paladin realizes that in dealings with good and with self, he needs to BE good, not to LOOK good, to be most effective.  And in dealings with evil, mercy and repentance are to be valued above base smiting.  All other decisions and concerns flow naturally - and are automatically prioritized - from the desire to increase the relative amount of good in the world.--The Sigil</blockquote>

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