Buck shares his thoughts on Rey’s post concerning Paladins. 

Paladins and Moral Authority

Playing a Paladin in any table top RPG comes with a certain amount of implied responsibility. As the soldier of truth and justice, the Paladin often serves as the moral compass and de facto leader for most good aligned parties.

According to an earlier post by my good friend Rey, the Paladin is not only the representative of his or her respective deity, but its avatar. The Paladin, in essence, serves both as the eyes and sword of God and is expected to judge and punishment.

In all fairness, my experience playing a Paladin is somewhat limited. However, I have to slightly disagree with my friend’s assessment of the Paladin’s role in the world in which he or she operates.

Paladins must choose lawful good for their alignment. This implies that the character believes law and morality are deeply tied together. Law exists for the good of society.

Divine law precedes the Paladin, therefore Paladin remains bound to the ethics and mores both by ideology and oath. Without a preexisting code of ethics the Paladin cannot exist.

In Rey’s first set of examples, the Paladin’s actions are justified because the Paladin serves as the hand and eyes of his god. This diminishes the role of law in a Paladin’s ideology. If the Paladin is the law itself, the preceding law is invalidated. The Holy Scripture has no meaning if its warriors can simply act according on their own whims.

Rey cited a player executing a 15-year-old boy in order to save lives. The boy belonged to an evil and resisted the Paladin’s offer to repent. The boy did not accept and the Paladin administered justice by decapitation.

While this is somewhat off-putting, the Paladin may be justified in this act. Sacrificing one life to save many, a somewhat morally gray proposition, requires swift action and in this case, it appears the Paladin took the most reasonable action.

Following this incident, a fellow cultist repented, but had to face trial for his transgressions. The court found the man guilty and sentenced him to hang. The paladin, through his innate ability to detect evil, knew the man had truly repented, thus stopped the execution and set the man free.

While there is an argument for the moral justification for the paladin’s actions, it is against his code of ethics. Without any evidence of corruption regarding the trial, the result was lawful. Lawful good characters believe that law and society exist for the greater good. Second guessing the court’s decision undermines the Paladin’s fundamental ideology.