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Isn't it obvious? The Paladin falls.
But on to an actual serious answer. There's obviously only one way for this to play out. A gets involved with demons, who offer to help make the triangle just a line and do away with that obviously evil hypotenuse. Or devils. Or another noble family. Paladin doesn't fall this way, A isn't directly implicated at first, and the love triangle can continue until the next threat on said individual's life.
In the meantime, the Paladin can deal with the fun part of trying to convince Ms. Sorta-Asmodean onto the righteous path. I mean, if she's not full-blown Lawful Evil, she can't actually be that devoted to the Cause of Asmodeous, now can she?
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Most love equates to agreement in alignment.
I think you're actually more wrong than it is possible to be.
How did you do that?
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Here's an idea. What if "A" decides that they want the Paladin to be happy in a way that only an unstable person can; A decides to kill all of X's family. Not X (that would make the Paladin unhappy, after all), just X's father, siblings, the whole family tree.
Obviously, X might appeal to the Paladin for help with the sudden murders of several of their family members.
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That really doesn't strike me as the thinking of a neutral good character. That kind of psychology tends to ping on the ol' Detect Evil.Here's an idea. What if "A" decides that they want the Paladin to be happy in a way that only an unstable person can; A decides to kill all of X's family. Not X (that would make the Paladin unhappy, after all), just X's father, siblings, the whole family tree.
Obviously, X might appeal to the Paladin for help with the sudden murders of several of their family members.
Murderous rage was mentioned as a possibility for this character's action.
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This sounds like Twilightfinder.
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A possible solution to NPC X -
Asmodeus isn't Cheliaxian tradition at all. He's an usurper shoved down the throats of people by the victorious Thrune family.
Aroden and Iomedae are actual Cheliaxian tradition. Aroden was the patron god, and Iomedae was the homegrown hero saint - a Chelish paladin who kicked the ass of evil all over Avistan and attained goddesshood.
In essence, following Asmodeus isn't tradition; it's bowing down to the perversion of tradition.
Presumably the paladin PC with his hopefully massive diplomacy check can phrase it better than I can. At least enough to instill the seeds of doubt.
Friends don't let friends worship entities who believe that free will should be punished with eternal torture. =P
Solution: OT3
Redemptive OT3.
you're waifu(s) a s+@!.
This sounds like Twilightfinder.
Ah, Twilight. Screwing up a perfectly good trope for everyone else since...whenever it was published. In the 90s, I think? I'm too lazy to Google it.
The real problem with love triangles is when they're used for cheap drama where a romance didn't need any (kinda the same way romantic comedies come up with contrived circumstances to keep the couple apart). This isn't a perfect romance by any means, so adding to the pile just keeps things exciting.
...
...
...Maybe the Paladin should convert to Shelynism?
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While Sheyln is proof that well-intentioned polygamy is Good, or at least not Evil, A seems unwilling to accept that and Paladin might be uncomfortable with the idea too. X isn't even on the Paladin train yet, much less up for sharing.
The solution to all this, if we're to believe thousands of years of terrible writing, is for one of them to die while pleading Paladin to be happy and live with the other love interest.
The Cool Twist story would be for the Paladin to end up as a bait and switch main character, and die defending one or both of them and A+X to bond as friends over Paladin's passing, after a healthy amount of mourning. Possibly even hooking up with one another after they've healed for hot, love interest-on-love interest action.
The only problem with the interesting option is that Paladin is probably a PC, meaning the player is rolling up a new character or playing a reformed X if they're an NPC.
SIDE NOTE: It was hard as f*** to write this post gender-neutral. Please, for my sake, tell us the genders of the involved parties. No one will judge.
I'm with the "Paladin falls, Greek tragedy" ending. Paladin falls, NPC X changes their mind, Paladin commits harikari, haunts NPC X, kills their entire family, and leaves NPC X to become a super evil overlord.
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Threesome.
You're welcome.
Solution: OT3
Redemptive OT3.
I don't know what that means...?
Say more, tell how.
Doug M.
It's Mikaze it could be a whole bunch of crazy geometrical problems.
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NPC A, discovering that her love for Paladin is unrequited, in true emotionally unstable fashion decides that she cannot bear the heartache of her unrequited feelings. She prays to (Shellyn seems like a decent choice OR Iomedae if she wants to understand the Paladin more) her "heart" is filled with the warmth of the goddess as well as an outsider who steadfasts her feelings as well as adding a template to her NPC. now Paladin isn't the only divinely inspired creature in the triangle... ain't no love like angel love (am I right nephalim???)
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OT3 is a modification of OTP or one true partnership. In this case it would be one true partnership of all 3 participants in love. The easiest way to handle this is for the paladin to man or woman up and do the following.
1. Tell A that they can only be friends and
2. Tell X that they can be love no matter what her family does.
3. A then can make their decision and decide that she wants to control the paladin and make her love him (classic turnabout style for unrequited love). She prays to Calistra for aid
4. Calistra, finding the situation wonderfully tragic and wanting to poke Shelyn/Iomedae in the eye, grants A the ability to appear as X and banish A to Calistra's planar domain in Elysium.
5. A then replaces X and sends X to Elysium, where servants of Calistra guard her from leaving and or devilish rescue.
6. The paladin makes his announcement of love to A thinking she is X. A, delighted, decides to escape with the paladin from Cheliax.
7. X's father, finding his daughter has escaped with a paladin of Iomedae, calls for the powers of hell to pursue the two lovers.
8. The powers of hell catch up to the two lovers and the paladin and A defeat them in battle. During the conflict, however, A does something very out of character for X, and the paladin becomes suspicious. Asmodeus leaves behind on one of the devils proof that A has taken on X's form. This will enable him to potentially destroy two devoted servants of gods that vex him, and create a potential invasion point for Elysium (see below)
9. The paladin rejects A, and A tells him that he will never see X again, and calls upon her pact with Calistra to gain her revenge.
10. The paladin, finally realizing what has happened, enlists the aid of the rest of his party to rescue X, defeat A, and also eliminate X's father and his devils who act as a third party trying to kill the paladin and X.
11. The party travels to Elysium to challenge A, all the while being assaulted by devils as they travel across the plane to Calistra's domain. After finally reaching A's part of Calistra's domain, they engage in several tests of passion and revenge ascending to the top of a multilevel wasp's nest where A has taken on the form of a thriae queen http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/monstrous-humanoids/thria e (modified from bees to wasps given Calistra's associations with wasps). There A has imprisoned X and the party must battle for both her soul, the paladin's honor and love, and prove that love can overcome twisted passion.
12. After defeating A and rescuing X, the paladin is reunited with his true love. Once X is rescued, her father swears an even greater revenge and becomes a pit fiend that leads a devilish assault on Calistra's domain in Elysium. Passion, love and honor duel with revenge and diabolical fury to see which is greatest.
There. You have an epic adventure, battles for true love, deceit, revenge, passion, extraplanar quests, battles with devils and upper planar beings alike, use of an interesting society of female monstrous humanoids that rarely see play, and a noble ending where everyone gets their just desserts. What more could you ask for?
Turn it up:
X's Father wants to politically marry X to some Hellknight/Noble/Darkwizard Y. X feels oblige to submit to her father's will and Paladin, faced with the honor in that is torn between his feelings and his sense of duty.
Unbeknownst to all, Y's child/apprentice/something-or-other Z is in love with A and unlike everyone else so far is utterly psycho, willing to abduct A and worse.
Y is none too please with finding out how crazy Z is and presto, Paladin and Y might be forced to make common cause to rescue A. Meanwhile, X grows increasingly certain of their feelings for Paladin.
During the ensuing finale, the outcome is wide open. Paladin may get the chance to get rid of Y without anyone getting wise about it; Y may show supreme cruelty in punishing Z, whom Paladin would have taken to court; Y may save X's and/or A's lives. Anyone may die.
Here's my favorite outcome:
This happens after X and Y are married.
Finale happens, Y turns out to die somewhat heroically.
A, already unstable, suffers a serious case of PTSD (or a curse, or the after effects of charm person gone horribly awry, or gross phyiscal mutilation, maybe Z even infects them with a magical desease).
X, ever mindful of duty must order Z's affairs, but is truly in love with Paladin. Paladin, feeling guilty because A first flirted with Z on rebound from Paladin, and of course because he truly cares, takes it upon himself to care for A during her recuperation.
Thus they part, Z widowed and Paladin dedicated to caring for A.
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Man...paladin arguments. I keep getting involved in these, well...time to put on my...
Dreary LG pants
The paladin needs to explain to friend A, in direct, not uncertain terms precisely what his opinion is regarding a romantic situation.
Keeping the issue unresolved is demonstrating a sort of level of disrespect and cowardice. If he's unaware its different.
Regarding X. The solution is to attempt to win X away from Asmodeus, family or not. I still find the prospect of paladins being ok with Asmodeus to be heart-burn inducing in the extreme.
If X will not abandon her path, the Paladin must realize that the relationship is doomed and the proper path to take is to break it off, perhaps to live as a celibate for the rest of his life as an example of the strength of his conviction and hope, that his love will abandon the path that will ultimately lead to her obliteration.
With paladins, it usually helps to think 'knight' instead of 'lawyer.'
I still find the prospect of paladins being ok with Asmodeus to be heart-burn inducing in the extreme.
It's not like they're best buds, Asmodeus is just the lesser of two Evils when Demons are involved. You can count on him to keep his word, even if it's a hellishly exact definition of his word.
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Also, there are Lawful Good Hellknights in positions of power, along with Former slaves. The whole organization is not a devil worshiping cult.
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I still find the prospect of paladins being ok with Asmodeus to be heart-burn inducing in the extreme.It's not like they're best buds, Asmodeus is just the lesser of two Evils when Demons are involved. You can count on him to keep his word, even if it's a hellishly exact definition of his word.
This is like saying Elliot Ness should be ok with Al Capone because Capone dislikes serial killers just as much as him (bad for business!).
The lesser of two evils is still evil. The paladin shouldn't countenance it.
Just because he doesn't go around cleaving skulls open on every Asmoedean (least I hope he doesn't) doesn't mean he should even vaguely associate with one. Becoming romantically involved also has real issues there for the appearance of a paladin accepting such things.
Asmo'd probably love a paladin taking a step down the wide and winding road in that regard.
Although we've got Paladin Hellknights for Pete's sake, which is another source for my heartburn.
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It's Mikaze it could be a whole bunch of crazy geometrical problems.Solution: OT3
Redemptive OT3.
I don't know what that means...?
Say more, tell how.
Doug M.
Okay, MSPaint is too unwieldy for this because too many notes have to be plugged in.
PCs involved:
Travern Kalleros(LG male aasimar paladin of Iomedae)
Naella Samathran(LG female tiefling cleric of Iomedae)
Liath Samathran(LG male tiefling cleric of Iomedae)
Enyana Wek(NG female human wizard, Desna worshipper)
NPCs involved:
Aravashnial(CG male elf wizard)
Avenia Tirabade(NG? female human ranger, pantheist)
Lann(LG male mongrelman ranger, Iomedae worshipper)
Caelda Halse(N? female aasimar blacksmith)
Alika(LG female human prostitute of Lymnieris)
Irabeth Tirabade(LG female half-orc paladin of Iomedae)
This tangled web:
Travern and Naella have a growing romantic attraction between each other, though it has been an extremely bumpy road due to Travern's self-sabotaging habits and Naella's defensiveness. After some severe missteps on Travern's part and faulty assumptions on Naella's, it seemed that at best they might be good friends, but after events and revelations during the fall of Kenabres they have found themselves more open to each other than either expected. Both are a bit frightened of leaving themselves that vulnerable to another.
Naella and her twin brother Liath are unhealthily close and codependent, with both being aware of their attraction and dependency upon each other and both trying to pull away yet still finding themselves drawn together.[/flowersintheattic]
Liath and Lann quickly fell into a very close friendship and are intensely mutually attracted to each other. Unfortunately Liath still doesn't know how to process his bisexuality(or sexuality period) without shame and Lann is terrified of repulsing him after losing his first lover to social pressures, so they keep dancing around each other.
Liath feels jealous of Travern for Naella's growing attentions. He also confusedly feels a bit jealous of Naella for Travern's attentions early on, before meeting Lann and the relationship between him and Travern developing into something brotherly.
Enyana Wek had a one-sided crush on Aravashnial early on.
Later Enyana Wek had a one-sided crush on Liath.
Later Enyana Wek had a one-sided crush on Travern.
Currently Enyana Wek has a strangely developing argumentative maybe-romance growing between Aravashnial after certain developments between them and both of them getting separate helpings of humble pie.
Travern, Naella, and Liath view Enyana as a sort of little sister. Travern also thinks of Liath as a little brother.
Travern has a fragmented but still extant relationship with Caelda Halse, a childhood sweetheart/ex-lover. Things are extremely tense between them, with both of them still wondering if they should have been. Caelda has some (currently eroding) prejudices against Naella and Liath.
Travern also has misguided feelings towards Alika, who in practice he had been using more and more as a crutch until she broke off their relationship for the sake of her client's health.
Liath had a slight, hero-worshiping one-sided crush on Irabeth Tirabade early on before learning that she was married while working alongside and befriending her wife Avenia.
Enyana Wek ships Travern/Liath, Liath/Lann, Travern/Aravashnial, and Liath/Aravashnial. She has thus far kept this to herself.
Travern has recognized Liath and Lann's feelings for each other and is gently trying to get them together, but given Liath's emotional fragility and both Liath and Lann being terribly honorable towards each other, it's a bit like defusing a bomb.
Naella had a mild attraction towards Avenia but quickly quashed it once it was revealed she was married.
We are hoping and praying that Sosiel Vaenic can sort some of this out, but we imagine it'll get worse before it gets better.
*edited* after rereading the OP and realizing that an analysis of the Paladin's moral obligations in the situation wasn't what he was after.
Apologies.
- Torger
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Here's an idea. What if "A" decides that they want the Paladin to be happy in a way that only an unstable person can; A decides to kill all of X's family. Not X (that would make the Paladin unhappy, after all), just X's father, siblings, the whole family tree.
Obviously, X might appeal to the Paladin for help with the sudden murders of several of their family members.
Ah, the good ol' yandere plot twist. Always a favorite.
You see I fell in love with this girl and she didn't bother to tell me about herself and her family, and I didn't ask her any relevant questions, so we have ended up in this quandary because it just so happens that.......
Meh, people meet, sparks fly for all the wrong reasons, it happens.
- Torger
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I wouldn't imagine that breaking hearts or loving someone of a different alignment would make a paladin fall. It's how they go about their actions.
As far as how to play it out, it will depend on the Paladin's personality, and what sort of paladin is roleplayed. A self-flagellating nut job, obsessed with purity? a Dudley Do-Right? Oblivious or not? Or just a good person trying to do whats right in a fallen world? The PC is the part you don't have control over, if you know how the PC ticks (and share it with us), it becomes easier to see how to handle it.
Also to keep in mind: What are your long range goals? How much table time do you want to devote to this before the other PCs get bothered?
That being said, I suggest doing full Tolstoy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Karenina#Plot_summary
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I personally prefer the direction Girl Genius has gone with this. Both Gil and Tarvek love Agatha. Both respect each other's abilities and see each other as friends, although they also recognize that they are rivals both romantically and politically. Given that the world is going to hell in a handbasket, all three have come to an unspoken agreement that they put their love triangle aside for now and work to save Europa from being utterly destroyed by Mad Science.
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KutuluKultist’s suggestions appeal to the drama queen side of me, but I find myself wondering if a bit of “less is more” can apply here. I guess I’m most disturbed that “emotionally fragile” lends itself here to a good person possibly developing a “murderous jealous rage.” Maybe something like this?
The paladin breaks things as gently as they can to A, but A is still heart-broken. A tries to put on a brave face, and if the paladin and A are long-term associates, the two might have shared interests that they are unwilling to give up (however unwise that obstinacy might be) just because they need to work through what will become of their relationship. Either may push things a bit too quickly, and at some point, A reveals that they might feel rather murderous about X – at least, wishing them all sorts of harm. The paladin might well recoil, and the situation gets worse – A realizes they just haven’t worked through all their baggage, and breaks off all communications. At this point, A fades into the background. Maybe they spend the rest of their days pining, or are even desperate enough to commit suicide, but the paladin only finds out about it if they find an unobtrusive way of checking up on A. (No creepy stalker paladins, thank you very much!)
This lets other PCs intervene if they so choose, at least, making sure A is OK even if they can’t be with the paladin. (I’m assuming at least some of them might be nice enough to be interested in so doing, if they’re good heroes.)
In the meantime, maybe the paladin realizes that falling hard for a “first love” can just as easily be infatuation as anything else. Maybe X is disagreeably neutral – not just unsure how to extricate themselves from their family, but callous enough not to worry about it so long as they keep their nose clean according to their moral calculus. If it just won’t work out with X, would the paladin think they might have been wrong about A, who might have to be won over again, after perhaps having moved on? Or maybe not, and the paladin and X find a way to be happy together away from X's family.
In such a scenario, everything just unravels to a somewhat awkward situation where all the parties just aren’t suitable romantic partners for each other, or the best pairing emerges only after initial heartbreak. Messy, but not entirely as messy as things can go in a fantasy game, and that might be fun too – stressing adventures of the heart that might be as personally significant to just one PC as deeds that most everyone thinks are interesting.
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My 'thwart stage one' mindset thinks the entire situation could be resolved by open lines of communication, some saltpeter and a paladin realizing he's got a job to do and this might be getting in the way of it. :)
On the rare occasion I play paladins though they tend to be hideously to the point, direct and in one case people thought he didn't have a face because nobody ever saw him not in his great helm so my advice is taken with a grain of salt (or saltpeter for fightin' them urges).
NPC A loves paladin. A is Neutral Good and has gone to considerable trouble to be near paladin. Paladin really likes NPC A as a friend -- they've been comrades for a long time, and have shared many experiences -- but just Not That Way. A is rather emotionally fragile, so paladin has not gotten around to breaking the news yet.
Paladin is actually in love with NPC X. Really fallen hard. It's first love -- Paladin, being a worshipper of Iomedae, never had much time for that sort of thing -- but damn if it isn't true love, the no-kidding real thing. X is also is inclined to love paladin back, though it's a bit tentative and not yet a two-way street.
Complication: X is the scion of a noble family of Cheliax, all of whom are devout worshippers of Asmodeus. X's father (to whom X is loyally devoted) is Lawful Evil and pretty horrible -- Dad worships Asmodeus, has a mansion full of slaves, consorts with devils, sports a goatee, you name it. The rest of X's family is even worse. Now, X is Lawful Neutral, not Lawful Evil. X is not cruel or evil and does not participate in the family wickedness. But being Lawful means holding to honor and tradition, and X is really, really Lawful. So X is a loyal adherent of Asmodeus, and that's just not going to change. Paladin and X have not had That Conversation yet, but they're getting there.
A is aware of X and is just starting to suspect what's going on. As noted, A is emotionally fragile, so possible responses may range from potentially suicidal depression to potentially murderous jealous rage.
I'm not looking for a solution to this: obviously, there is none. Rather, I'm looking for interesting ways to have it play out. "Interesting" can certainly include "horrible for paladin" or "just horrible generally". I don't want to screw anyone over and I am not interested in forcing any particular outcome. OTOH I'm not averse to complicating things and/or dropping some tricky choices in paladin's path.
Thoughts?
Doug M.
Remember, if the paladin willingly hurts someone who is good, the paladin falls. :D
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Actually the Paladin (P) should have to pay a penance already due to not being honest with A. the longer P strings A along, the harder it will be for A to accept, and the more dishonest P is being.
A should be upping the ante, doing more and more, so P has less of an excuse not to set A straight.
If A is NG, A will not go killing. People with mental difficulties as you describe are far more likely to harm themselves, or be harmed, than they ever harm others.
But if you want to mess with P, then A could commit suicide, but in a public way, and take out advertisements or hire criers to tell everyone it is all P's fault, and he should have known because when A did X,Y,Z then P just let A do it and enjoyed the benefits of A's adoration but did not want to commit. This paints P as a coward and jerk. Now P could be so upset he feels too guilty to pursue X (OK I just realized this is season 2 or 3 of Downton Abbey.).
LE Chelaxians might not care, but X, being LN and attracted to P, should care. X should find out about all this, maybe A even wrote her a letter explaining that A is giving P up to X and why. Even if X doesn't like A or is relieved a rival is gone, X should be angry with P for not being upfront with A, and find a way to punish/hurt/ break it off with P.
However, no matter what, Don't make "make the PC fall from grace" as the goal. You should be very clear about what actions could cause him to fall or require atonement. Even hint that P could purchase commune or divination spells. You want interesting, not frustrating. And something like this could cause a huge argument.
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My 'thwart stage one' mindset thinks the entire situation could be resolved by open lines of communication, some saltpeter and a paladin realizing he's got a job to do and this might be getting in the way of it. :)
My wife says all operas are based on people with poor problem solving skills.