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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ANewPosterAppears" data-source="post: 5691422" data-attributes="member: 6683071">I don't use alignments in my game.  Paladins form their own code individually and must be held to it.  If they break their code and fall, I hold them to very strict punishments, by which I mean no punishments whatsoever, we just roleplay it as it goes.  Granted, different orders of paladins would have different ideals they emphasize, which should probably appear in their code somewhere.So a paladin of Saint Eretrius would include the ideals of protecting the innocent and meek, or justice against the wicked.  On the other hand, a dragonborn paladin would likely follow ideals including putting the dragonborn above all other races, acting with pride, and obeying all greater creatures of the scale.  Tiefling paladins who follow Listea, the greater god of weapons and battle, would have a very different personal code from those that follow Yurishentei, greater god of fire and civilization.A paladin is his code.  The question alone of "Why did they become a paladin?" should be something that brings out lots of character development.  Depending on who's doing the writing, sometimes Lancelot truly is the greatest knight, but all he sees in himself is failure, so he looks to his code to try and see his own ideals.  Other times, Lancelot is a brute, a would-be murderer and D&D-esque blackguard, but he binds himself to his code to try and find a better, more honorable way of living.  That's one character with two very dramatically different story arches - just in the question of "Why do you have your code?"Likewise, when a paladin falls, he or she shouldn't fall because of some mechanical whatsit or because the DM set a cunning trap.  They should fall because of some sort of inner conflict, either with themselves or with their code.  Or maybe their code clashes with itself!  A dragonborn is going to be in trouble when he meets an actual dragon - by all accounts a god - and that god demands he shamefully attacks his own companions.  Whatever he does, he's breaking one of his own ideals.  That's not a moment to punish the character and strip away his goodies, it's a moment to get in some good, juicy roleplaying.Besides, who thought it made sense to have temptation into the dark side make you weaker?  That's just plain backwards.</blockquote>

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