FayetteGamer's page

Update: The paladin had an alignment change after abandoning an ally in need, but he hasn't done anything to my character, the response this thread was planning for hasn't been triggered yet.
(I helped the abandoned ally, and we all made it out)

Ryan Freire wrote:

The fact that its not a purely in game problem isn't really relevant. OP asked for help putting an end to this paladin. PVP is ok in this campaign, so all the cringing over pvp is irrelevant. The idea that it might degenerate to a physical altercation is laughable. Most likely at best you get a tantrum, that wont really matter much cause that player will be out of the campaign til the rest of the party dies or gets bored.

We aren't therapists here, qualified to help people patch relationships based on a sliver of one side of the whole story, and if people aren't into that kind of campaign they wouldn't join/remain in it.

Just because a lot of people here aren't into that kind of game (im not particularly. I dont even like when GM's make new characters come in lower than 1 level below other party members after a death) doesn't make the commentary on how horrible it sounds helpful to OP. Clearly they enjoy the game and/or style enough to want to continue playing or they'd have ghosted already.

If someone posts an Advice thread saying that there's a spider in their living room and asks how to build a flamethrower, is it more rational to suggest better ways to solve their problem or to post links to schematics?

For what it's worth, I don't think torching a character because it's a "Paladin" being played as Chaotic Stupid is quite the same as taking a flame-thrower to a house to get a spider.

That said, there is wisdom in approaching the situation from multiple angles to figure out the best solution. In this case, assassination by poison or coup-de-grace isn't called for ... yet. At this point, it is much better to confront the character in front of the party, make him agree to a code of conduct, what constitutes "lawful" behavior in the group, and if/when he fails to meet that standard, I'll have solid ground and justification for my character to defend himself against the newly-powerless Paladin.

I'd almost bet it's a problem with the player. I've seen this a couple of times over the years. Chances are talking with the player won't change anything, so PvP may be the only option. Buff up, like has been suggested. Use Fly, Improved Invisibility, and as many damaging spells as you can dig up. Also, mind-controlling spells as well. Too bad you're not evil, because I'd poison him.

You hit the nail on the head.

My character has been NG thusfar, but is on the verge of murdering this paladin to save the party from inevitable death by deliberate stupidity.

Q: Do you think that should force an alignment shift, or would it be justifiable extenuating circumstances? Does the method of execution matter?

I have Poison I'm holding for the party...

I have access to flight, but being the utility caster (magical replacement for the Rogue the party doesn't have), I don't have much means of damage other than a Fireball and Snowball.

FayetteGamer wrote:

It could be that the coins are hidden away in various locations such as shoes and hidden pockets so a looter with limited time to search the body and escape is less likely to find them.

That works in cases where the murder is pressed for time, but in a setting where you can be sure that such a coin records the murder, I'd assume people would make time for it, given the relative importance.

At least very important people would probably commission "upgraded" versions of these coins that can teleport home/to a relevant temple/somewhere else appropriate when their user died, to make sure that 1) they don't get found and destroyed (which is the prudent approach for a murderer), and 2) the revenge quest can start early and with a public bounty for the murderer's head, instead of having to wait until the corpse is found and only being done by whoever found the coin.

Whoever uses such a coin - at least for "please avenge me" messages - otherwise needs to strike a balance: Too poorly hidden, and the coin might end up stolen.
Too well hidden, and it might not be found and assumed stolen.

The coin teleporting home at death would work quite well. It prevents the coin from being stolen, and the killer is more likely to be known for his crime when he next enters the town. The party would just be getting the quests from the next-of-kin rather than off of the dead body.

Kinda neat. I might use this, with your permission.

Help yourself! It's nice to know when my ideas are good enough to be worth taking.

In a custom setting where there's large expanses of dangerous wilds between cities, many people opt to preserve their final wishes to be fulfilled after their demise. As such many wear enchanted coins that contain messages regarding if they die on that particular trip, what final tasks they request of their discoverers.
Some may request that the finder kills whatever killed the coin's owner, others may request that something inevitably stolen off of the body be delivered to the intended recipient. Whatever the request, the payment amount is stated in the message (delivered by visual and auditory illusion) and is legally guaranteed to be paid by the estate or living spouse of the deceased.

So a person mortally wounded might amend the end of the message to, "I'm killed by goblins, the (name) tribe. Deliver their chieftain's head to my brother in (town name here) to be paid (amount of gold). It might instead or additionally offer another amount of money in exchange for returning something from the goblins' possession, because the dead, former owner doesn't want it to be in goblin possession.

I don't think this would cause any issues in the players' hands and allows me to have quests technically coming from dead characters without having to make them undead.