In my group, we have a paladin of Torag, with intelligence 9. When first meeting the Queen, he swore himself to her service. *sigh*
We have now played EoA and SDttG. The heroes are pretty certain that the Queen is behind the plague and large amounts of other wickedness.
So... Where does this leave our paladin? The Queen is becoming aware that the heroes, who did a splendid job of fighting the plague, are her enemies. She has not yet ordered the paladin to do anything but go to Cressida and see what she needs help with, as per EoA. Nor is it likely that she will be able to do so, at least not for a good while.
The paladin thought about it, and considers it a serious problem. For the moment, I think that is quite enough. But actively not obeying an order to someone sworn to you is about as clear cut a chaotic act as can be. Avoiding her is pretty much a borderline case. Then again, obeying a known monstrous evil person's orders is very much an evil act.
I do not want to screw the player over for playing his character. At the time, he had no way to know who the Queen really was. Any thoughts?
Remember, for a Paladin Good should override Law...as is the case with all of his abilities and the Code for the most part.
Breaking an oath is a mildly Chaotic act, maybe, but he doesn't fall for committing the occasional Chaotic act. Evil, however, is out of the question, and following the evil Queen's orders and furthering her plans is definitely Evil.
In my opinion, if the paladin learns that the Queen is evil, the oath is pretty much null and void. There is no way a paladin will commit an evil act just because they swore an oath to an evil person under false pretenses (misdirection). Breaking oaths is still bad, and so some minor penance should probably be required, but I wouldn't be too hard on the character.
Well, this brings back memories ... I played a paladin once in the classic 'Feast of Goblyns' adventure. He swore to protect and help a damsel in distress, but when the party found out she was evil (this being Ravenloft and all) he had to oppose her. The DM 'rewarded' my roleplaying by stripping my character of his paladin powers, so all I had left was a bad and very underpowered fighter.
Don't punish your player for good roleplaying; swearing an oath of obedience to his queen who needs his help is very much in character. If she turns out to be evil, he should feel conflicted about it, but he should not be punished in gaming terms. You could even build in a scene in your story in which the character's deity gives him a sign that he is no longer supposed/allowed to serve Ileosa (maybe you could work it into the third Harrow reading, if you haven't done that yet). On the contrary, he is now instructed by his god to stop the evil queen.
Remember that roleplaying games are about fun. Don't spoil your player's game night by punishing him for being misled, not when you were the one who was willingly and knowingly misleading him in the first place.
No, I agree. I have no intention of punishing him for it. What I might do is eventually bring the situation to a head in the final adventure, with her reminding him of his oath to serve her, and letting him go all righteous on her with maybe a little sign from above that he's on the right track. The character is conflicted about it, and that shows he is taking it seriously - which is what I'd want.
He can serve Ileosa best by helping Sabina Merrin to redeem Ileosa and get that nasty Kazavon out of her system. :D
Up to you whether such a thing is possible - James Jacobs seems to want Ileosa as a two-dimensional villain, but the backstory writeup basically has her as a silly young girl possessed by an Ancient Evil. Sabina Merrin loves her, and wants her restored to the person she fell in love with - who was still technically NE in all likelihood, but that's par for the course in Cheliax. >:) So my suggestion would be that Sabina could approach the Paladin, perhaps through an intermediary, state her concerns and ask for his help. This could involve eg subduing rather than killing Ileosa at the end of Crown of Fangs, then a ritual to drive out Zon-Kuthon's boy from her.
Which would also give a reasonable explanation for having to take down Kazavon as well... I will have to think about this. The problems with it are that Illeosa is STILL damned, and I have a hard time seeing anyone taking well to any extremes to save her soul after what she put everyone through.
Which would also give a reasonable explanation for having to take down Kazavon as well... I will have to think about this. The problems with it are that Illeosa is STILL damned, and I have a hard time seeing anyone taking well to any extremes to save her soul after what she put everyone through.
Presumably the souls of most Chelish nobles are already bound for Hell upon death? Maybe being damned means your soul goes to LE Hell, thus avoiding the usual much worse fate of NE souls in the Gray Wastes/Yugolothia/whatever PF calls it...
Actually, speaking as a Contract lawyer, since Ileosa was under the control of Kazavon when she signed her soul away, in Contract Law (which all Devils must respect!) the 'non est factum' (sp?) "not my deed" defence is applicable, making Ileosa not bound by the agreement! :D
Anyway the Paladin would not be doing it for Ileosa, but for Sabina Merrin, and for his Oath. It's a way for him to still honour his oath while letting the AP play out more or less as written.
To be fair, I'm not sure Ileosa was ever under Kazavon's control, so much as he was heavily influencing her. Things like lowering her inhibitions, and helping her make plots and prompting ideas.
However, I could absolutely see a Paladin as the exact kind of person that would attempt to save Ileosa's soul by tracking down the holder of the contract and slaying him, or seizing the contract.
If you decide to run with this, I suggest picking up Academy of Secrets and modifying it for your Paladin, perhaps as a solo-quest or bumping it up to challenge the party once they've defeated the Queen.
To be fair, I'm not sure Ileosa was ever under Kazavon's control, so much as he was heavily influencing her.
Depends which author you go with! The original backstory in Part 1 of the AP has her consumed by Kazavon. Later authors seem to have a different take. I think it's best left to the GM.
Edit: Also, just because Sabina Merrin wants to save Ileosa does not mean that Ileosa is actually savable. Again, up to the GM. Personally I like a bit of ambiguity.