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<blockquote data-quote="kigmatzomat" data-source="post: 2146473" data-attributes="member: 9254">Were I a player I would have recommended you seek professional help.&nbsp; Any time you take what happens in a game personally there is a problem and it's not on the other side of the DM screen.&nbsp; As to your reaction, the setting puts the Zhents in a hard light, invoking little pity or sympathy.&nbsp; If I read original post correctly, it was the Zhents who threatened the village.&nbsp; That immediately puts them in the &quot;enemy combatant&quot; category IMO.&nbsp; The mage, invoking a dark god, is an evil enemy combatant.&nbsp; The actions I would have expected from your characters without knowing anything about them except alignment, race and class would be:LG fighter: I swear on my honor that you will be unharmed if you cooperate.&nbsp; Failure to cooperate will result in as merciful a death as I can provide.&nbsp; NG Lathanderite Priest: we shouldn't kill them.&nbsp; Strip them of their gear and leave them with some food and a pocket knife maybe.&nbsp; N Fighter: They tried to kill us, are part of the attack force, and we're running out of time.&nbsp; Kill 'em or don't but let's get a move on.&nbsp; CG dwarf: if you'd surrendered instead of fighting to the bloody end I might have a different opinion but if we let you go you'll just cause trouble and I can't have that. CG elf: I'm with the Lathanderite.&nbsp; We tie 'em up and leave 'em.&nbsp; (why dfferent answers for CG?&nbsp; They're chaotic, that's why.)Your reaction, except to the priest of Lathander, was excessive.&nbsp; The priest might need to atone since I think Lathander's a peaceful god and he should have at least argued against killing.&nbsp;&nbsp; The LG fighter, on the other hand, has broken no vows, no torture was done (executions yes, but as field expedient as was possible), and the prisoner who cooperated was let go under reasonable terms.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; The rest, well, the dwarf and mage are both chaotic and motivated by the urge to protect the gnomes.&nbsp; There's no way in your campaign for them to know the nature of the Zhent warriors but given the steadfastness of the veteran and the evil god comment by the mage it would be reasonable to infer they are willing participants in the evil campaign making them untrustworthy and irredeemable under the circumstances.&nbsp; I will be honest in saying I tend to fall on the &quot;harsh justice&quot; side of the fence.&nbsp; I played a Paladin in a game where my order was enabled to enact justice where no legal entities were available.&nbsp; We ended up capturing cultists in a similar situation.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; We couldn't cast Detect Lie or any other divinations so I told them they were all proven guilty by their actions and would repent of their evil ways and take the mark of my (justice) god as a sign of their repentance?&nbsp; The ones who said yes I branded their foreheads with my holy symbol.&nbsp; The others I killed by exsanguination.&nbsp; I then let the branded individuals go, unarmed but with enough supplies to make it to the border.&nbsp; &nbsp; That DM was aghast as well.&nbsp; She didn't expect me to kill them.&nbsp; I asked if we'd brought them back for trial was it likely that they would hang?&nbsp; She said yes.&nbsp; I pointed out that as a duly authorized judge I did the same but without a rope and gave a few of them the opportunity to seek redemption.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="kigmatzomat, post: 2146473, member: 9254"] Were I a player I would have recommended you seek professional help. Any time you take what happens in a game personally there is a problem and it's not on the other side of the DM screen. As to your reaction, the setting puts the Zhents in a hard light, invoking little pity or sympathy. If I read original post correctly, it was the Zhents who threatened the village. That immediately puts them in the "enemy combatant" category IMO. The mage, invoking a dark god, is an evil enemy combatant. The actions I would have expected from your characters without knowing anything about them except alignment, race and class would be: LG fighter: I swear on my honor that you will be unharmed if you cooperate. Failure to cooperate will result in as merciful a death as I can provide. NG Lathanderite Priest: we shouldn't kill them. Strip them of their gear and leave them with some food and a pocket knife maybe. N Fighter: They tried to kill us, are part of the attack force, and we're running out of time. Kill 'em or don't but let's get a move on. CG dwarf: if you'd surrendered instead of fighting to the bloody end I might have a different opinion but if we let you go you'll just cause trouble and I can't have that. CG elf: I'm with the Lathanderite. We tie 'em up and leave 'em. (why dfferent answers for CG? They're chaotic, that's why.) Your reaction, except to the priest of Lathander, was excessive. The priest might need to atone since I think Lathander's a peaceful god and he should have at least argued against killing. The LG fighter, on the other hand, has broken no vows, no torture was done (executions yes, but as field expedient as was possible), and the prisoner who cooperated was let go under reasonable terms. The rest, well, the dwarf and mage are both chaotic and motivated by the urge to protect the gnomes. There's no way in your campaign for them to know the nature of the Zhent warriors but given the steadfastness of the veteran and the evil god comment by the mage it would be reasonable to infer they are willing participants in the evil campaign making them untrustworthy and irredeemable under the circumstances. I will be honest in saying I tend to fall on the "harsh justice" side of the fence. I played a Paladin in a game where my order was enabled to enact justice where no legal entities were available. We ended up capturing cultists in a similar situation. We couldn't cast Detect Lie or any other divinations so I told them they were all proven guilty by their actions and would repent of their evil ways and take the mark of my (justice) god as a sign of their repentance? The ones who said yes I branded their foreheads with my holy symbol. The others I killed by exsanguination. I then let the branded individuals go, unarmed but with enough supplies to make it to the border. That DM was aghast as well. She didn't expect me to kill them. I asked if we'd brought them back for trial was it likely that they would hang? She said yes. I pointed out that as a duly authorized judge I did the same but without a rope and gave a few of them the opportunity to seek redemption. [/QUOTE]

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