Quote:
Originally Posted by Dalar
PG-13 indeed. But if it's not something that could be posted on the Weave, how close to falling is the character in question?
Obviously excluding the details of combat, of course; killing is a messy business.
It does depend on how paladins function in your setting. I've been put in plenty of catch-22s as a paladin, where literally no answer would've kept the GM from declaring that my paladin fell. Didn't kill a goblin because it was a newborn? Fall. Killed a newborn goblin? Fall. Stopped a corrupt guard from doing bad things to a woman who was out after curfew? Fall, because it was "unlawful".
Then again, some GMs simply hate paladins.
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Detect evil on the baby goblin. Is it evil? If yes, kill it. If no, leave it be.
Stop a corrupt guard? Not actually an evil act. Probably not lawless either; the guard is bound by laws the same as everyone else, and if the local jurisdiction backs him up, the paladin can appeal to their deity's laws. In 3.5 you fall for evil acts but not lawless acts, anyhow. A paladin can even steal if there's a Good reason, like feeding a starving orphan or saving the world. Changing alignment from LG means you stop being a paladin, though.
Real catch-22: You have an Evil prisoner, who won't talk of his own free will. The fate of the world rests on him talking. You can either beat it out of him, or use a spell to make him talk, but either way it's an evil act. Paladin falls, world is saved. Much drama. Optionally, you can then seek out an Atonement quest.
Sidestep real catch-22: "I can't make you talk, but my buddy Miss Enchantress over here is looking for a new thrall. You can talk to me, or you can talk to her. It's up to you."