Can paladins feint? Or do other such combat maneuvers?
What about the Lie to Me feat?
The questions are subjective enough that answers aren't really going to be Rules answers so much as Advice answers.
Now personally, I would say that treating feinting in combat as a violation of the tenets is a terrible ruling.
The Lie To Me feat would get a litthe bit messier. There could certainly be specific cases where it could be used that the description of how exactly it's being used and why might make it alright, especially if it is necessary to serve a higher tenet, but it would absolutely not always be alright.
Paladins can absolutely feint. They can also do stage magic- misdirection is different from lying.
The Lie to Me feat seems kosher for Paladins too, but it might require a little bit more finesse. Since you're fundamentally just trying to bait a rhetorical trap for the person to walk into, which is a thing you can do without saying anything which is strictly false.
Honestly the most relevant question here is not going to be anything about the rules, but instead "who is your GM?" Things will be very different if you are playing with:
A: Someone who accepts any technicality of why something can be described as not a violation of the code
B: Someone who is going to really hold you to a good faith effort of the code, but takes the attempts to handle things in a right and just manner as good
C: Someone who has been convinced that all paladins must be not only exemplars of goodness, but fully "Lawful Stupid" and that any kind of cunning is a violation
D: Someone who thinks that trying to force paladins into a technical no-win situation, and ruling their best efforts to follow the tenets as a fall from grace anyway is just brilliant
Or any other permutation.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
As soon as they try to feint, their opponent trips them. And they fall.
As someone that does interviews, I was taught a simple technique- repeat what someone said to you, but say it wrong. So they might have said "I went right at the turn light next to the gas station before going home", and you might say "did you say that you turned right, then passed by a gas station that was on the way to your house?"
This technique can be used when you think 'wait, did I hear that right?', since the person will be encouraged to clarify their own statement. They will often go at length, even drawing diagrams, in order to set the record straight.
Of course, they might not catch that you said the wrong thing. Maybe they misheard you. But a few too many missing details starts to show the edges of what they might know.
This feels like a perfect technique for a paladin trained in 'lie to me'. You are not actually telling a lie- you are asking questions with the clear intention to get information and clarify things. You are just using a few tricks to feel around those edges of their knowledge and statements.