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<blockquote data-quote="delericho" data-source="post: 3135544" data-attributes="member: 22424">Well, firstly, secular authorities are not necessarily bound to accept the word of the Paladin. Indeed, in any nation with ideals of due process in place, the Paladin will (and, indeed, should) be considered the same as any other vigilante, and be prosecuted and jailed as such. If nothing else, the Paladin might have fallen, and be lying about having seen signs of evil in the victim.However, once we set aside secular authority, and instead move to consider the moral authority of the Paladin to mete out justice, I would generally agree with you: if the Paladin knows that the evildoers has committed deeds that warrant death, he is entitled to execute that sentence. (But, the key word there is knows - mere suspicion is not enough.)However, the problem that you then hit is this: does being Evil in itself warrant the death sentence? If the answer is yes, in every case a being who is Evil deserves death, then so be it. But if there is even one instance where a creature is Evil but does not deserve death, then the Paladin cannot simply mete out judgement and death in any case... in case this is that one.And none of the above deals with the problem that Detect Evil is not infallible. A creature could be cursed to detect as evil when he is not. It doesn't happen often, but again it doesn't have to. If it can happen at all, the Paladin has to stay his sword until he can ascertain the truth.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="delericho, post: 3135544, member: 22424"] Well, firstly, secular authorities are not necessarily bound to accept the word of the Paladin. Indeed, in any nation with ideals of due process in place, the Paladin will (and, indeed, should) be considered the same as any other vigilante, and be prosecuted and jailed as such. If nothing else, the Paladin might have fallen, and be lying about having seen signs of evil in the victim. However, once we set aside secular authority, and instead move to consider the moral authority of the Paladin to mete out justice, I would generally agree with you: if the Paladin knows that the evildoers has committed deeds that warrant death, he is entitled to execute that sentence. (But, the key word there is knows - mere suspicion is not enough.) However, the problem that you then hit is this: does being Evil in itself warrant the death sentence? If the answer is yes, in every case a being who is Evil deserves death, then so be it. But if there is even one instance where a creature is Evil but does not deserve death, then the Paladin cannot simply mete out judgement and death in any case... in case this is that one. And none of the above deals with the problem that Detect Evil is not infallible. A creature could be cursed to detect as evil when he is not. It doesn't happen often, but again it doesn't have to. If it can happen at all, the Paladin has to stay his sword until he can ascertain the truth. [/QUOTE]

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