From: Rannou@info.polymtl.ca (Patrick Rannou)
Subject: Re: Paladins
Organization: Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, Canada
	<kimcm.714582690@login.dkuug.dk>
	<1992Aug23.160031.3956@news.acns.nwu.edu>
	<1992Aug25.130209.1@economics.adelaide.edu.au>
	<BtJvD7.CMt@news.cso.uiuc.edu>
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 09:01:33 GMT

In article <BtJvD7.CMt@news.cso.uiuc.edu> dv52151@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Axly) writes:


   > On another tack what exacty is lawful good?  The way you guys seem to think of
   >it they are strict and unbending and will readily sacrifice themselves for its
   >ideals.  Given that they are Lawful GOOD wouldn't they temper their righteous
   >anger with the good side of their temperament?  If someone applies the laws
   >exactly, with no deviations, isn't that closer to Lawful Neutral?  and if you
   >twist the law to suit your own ends isn't that Lawful Evil?

   In most cases, the padalin is going to be very rigid. Yes, he is concerned
   with good, but the good of the community. "The needs of the many outweigh 
   the needs of the few. " Mercy and compassion are figured in, but to be
   used sparingly. Mercy isn't something that comes in everytime or the 
   justice will be watered down to such an extent that it is not existant.

Excuse me, but we french people have a common saying, that the paladin has
always been the defender of the widow and (children without parents
anymore). In short, it means that the paladin is a ver CARING kind of guy,
who often will go to any length to protect and help INDIVIDUALS. Community
is important to him, yes, but not more or less than ANY individual soul.
That's why it's so hard being a paladin.


   I think the paladin in the original statement would have been committing
   a chaotic act (requiring a confession) by killing him on the spot. THe
   more lawful thing to do would have been to take him to the lord who
   rules that area and had him pronounce judgement. If the paladin was
   the local ruler, then he is within his rights in pronouncing sentence on
   the spot.

Yup. How many medieval paladins were in fact tyrant rulers? Well never
know. It's not BECAUSE someone his a paladin that everything he does is LG
and that he DESERVES to name. Either you have strong filtering by the
diety, and then paladins are VERY rare and truly LG souls, or you have less
thight control and then many paladins are more like cavaliers, and then you
can put in all the scams and polytical things that really happened in
history even amongst "paladin" circles.

   I do disagree with saying he would have lost his paladinhood and become
   a Lawful Neutral fighter. I think that the judgement call for the 
   paladinhood loss is a sticky one, and could go either way depending on
   how you feel on the topic. I think that changing his alignment is 
   Overkill with a real big O. A Lawful Good fighter could very well
   kill one of his companions for stealing and be perfectly within his
   alignment. Good people aren't stupid,nice, or perfect by any means.

   Axly

Killing his evil. A paladin will kill as a last resort tactic. Why else do
you think it's so hard being a paladin? Of coursem when fighting MONSTERS
or clearly evil creatures, the paladin need not have such qualms about
killing first asking questions later.

And i'm NOT talking about the possibility of having different kinds of
paladin for each diety. I consider only the "standarD" LG paladin type here
and in all my other postings.

Pat.
--
/---------------------------\
| Patrick "Paradak" Rannou. |
| Rannou@info.polymtl.ca    |
\---------------------------/

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