From: jhk6@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (John H Kim)
Subject: Re: Ethical Dilemna (GURPS Fantasy - LONG)
Reply-To: jhk6@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (John H Kim)
Organization: Columbia University
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 16:37:38 GMT

kerr@csugrad.cs.vt.edu (Shane Kerr) writes:
>Okay, the campaign is set in Cardiel, which is basically religiously tolerant,
>even though the ruling nobles are mostly Christian.  While walking back from
>a typical make-work task Baron Leo gave them (they all did it for their own
>reasons), they encountered a group of pagans in the middle of drunken 
>ectasy.  The Templar charged into the middle of the scene with broadsword 
>hacking and hewing.  
>
>Of course, they slaughtered the naked and untrained worshippers in record 
>time.  They DIDN'T bother to stop the ones who ran away.  So of course the
>local lord showed up and is a bit upset because somebody just slaughtered
>all of his peasants. 
>
>So now they're on the way to see the Baron.  Now, as I see it the law is
>clear - they're gonna fry. 

	I think this is clearly a miscommunication about what the law is. 
In certain times in this world (in the heydey of the Inquisition and the 
Templars) their behavior would be expected and acceptable - and the local 
lord would be in trouble with the church for having vile demon-worshippers 
on his lands. Now, of course, the local lord might indeed be upset, and he 
may demote or fire his sherriff, and punish the fencer and craftsman on 
whatever charges he feels like, but messing the the Jesuit and Templar would 
probably be a bad idea. 

	The problem here is that the players did not know what their 
characters should have - what the practices and law of their own culture 
is. If you, as GM, did not explain to the player how the Templars in this 
world are different from the Templars in our world (who very likely would 
have killed the crowd - although probably by burning rather than the 
sword), then it is not the player's fault, and he should not be punished 
excessively for it. 

	I would talk to the players, and compare *their* idea of what 
their culture is to what *you* think it is. If you see significant 
differences, and everyone agrees to it, then perhaps a time shift is best, 
IMO. 

	I once ran a group of PC's who did something similar. They had 
killed a dragon after it had been crippled and downed by fire from the 
castle it was attacking. They then went out to search for its gold. After 
failing to find anything at its lair, they then encountered a team of 
of mercernaries who had been hired by the lord who had shot down the 
dragon to recover its treasure. They then proceeded to attack and slay 
all of that band. 
	In this case, I think they knew fairly clearly that the merc's 
were legally justified, but the merc's were ugly, rude, and mean-looking 
(as mercs usually are) - so they felt clear in killing them for the gold. 
In that case, I think that having the lord imprison them, etcetera, would 
most certainly be in order. 

	It depends whether you think that the players knew what the law 
was (as their characters should have) and simply killed them out of 
bloodthirst, or whether they genuinely thought that their culture deemed 
that slaying a damned soul was more merciful than sparing it. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Kim                    | "You're on the cutting room floor, Chaplin.
jhk6@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu | Not a good place to be."
Columbia University         |                  (from the movie 'Chaplin')