Plot Hook Advice

[Wind Chime]

After playing bioshock infinite I came up with a rather cool idea (ok stole) for a plot hook, that of a serfs uprising. Someone is brutally murdering landowners and the party is sent in to bring justice for the murdered (the party being very much tied to the powers that be). The party will then discover a wealth of abuses perpetrated by the landowners on their surfs all done within the boundaries of the existing law. They will have to decision on which particular injustice they intend to right.

The reason I am seeking advice is that I am not sure if its the right thing for me to run for the party. I kind of promised to myself to lay off the paladin and am not sure if this type of story would count as me picking on him. So would you avoid this line of plot entirely or are there ways I could make it more palatable for someone who wants to play a "Hero of Justice"?

[Warboss666]

This is the sort of campaign where the party will make a choice whether to side with the landowners or the serfs.
I have run this style of campaign and paladins were no problem because the serfs, have been murdering landowners and the landowners have commited crimes.
Regardless of which side they choose, the paladin is going to be fighting for one side of justice.

Tell your Paladin player that because both of them have valid sides and both have commited crimes, he doesn't need to worry about which side to go on. The serfs are trying to gain a better social standing but are murdering people to get there. The landowners are legally right but have been commiting crimes within the law.

Long story short, if your paladin complains about being picked on, tell him this. It should explain it pretty well.

[MrSin]

Wait, both sides are evil? Can we just burn the whole town down and be done with it?(kidding, but this solution came up once at my table...)

I agree that it might be easiest to say that picking sides isn't a moral delima for him. You can still put in events and parts to make him look like a hero within the main plot.

[Warboss666]

The side he picks doesn't really matter

[Wind Chime]

MrSin wrote:

Wait, both sides are evil? Can we just burn the whole town down and be done with it?(kidding, but this solution came up once at my table...)

I agree that it might be easiest to say that picking sides isn't a moral delima for him. You can still put in events and parts to make him look like a hero within the main plot.

Neither side is evil they are just people doing what they think is right.

[MrSin]

Wind Chime wrote:

MrSin wrote:

Wait, both sides are evil? Can we just burn the whole town down and be done with it?(kidding, but this solution came up once at my table...)

I agree that it might be easiest to say that picking sides isn't a moral delima for him. You can still put in events and parts to make him look like a hero within the main plot.

Neither side is evil they are just people doing what they think is right.

I said I was kidding... My main point was to put in points in the plot where he could do something heroic regardless of the the current main quest and arc. Whether you do the arc is more up to the player than anything, I think. You know him better than us and you can certainly talk to him about it.

[EntrerisShadow]

This is my own personal bias, but I would love to play a Paladin in that game. This is a chance to take a third option and produce real change. If your Paladin player thinks this is unfair, he is simply not being creative enough.

[Safarix]

Moral dilemmas are amazing roleplaying opportunities for any character. The paladin of course proves a more difficult challenge due to the strict code of conduct. I would personally let it play itself out and be lenient on the paladin so long as he can justify his choice(s).