RPing a lawful good Paladin with... stuff.

[fortesama]

Something happened to my wizard (she still lives, don't worry), so I have to use my backup in the meantime. Gestalt game, stacked White Dragonspawn and Draconic templates. Sorcerer//Paladin.

Please, don't discuss my build. What i'm a bit lost about is this:

Basically, my Pally//Sorc got flung to a distant future by a magical accident, got kidnapped by a mad scientist White Dragon, experimented on very slowly and painfully, rescued by bro. Still LG somehow, but is pissed off, bitter and vengeful.

Ideas on how to RP that without causing him to fall?

[Amnestic]

Buy a phylactery of faithfulness.
Suss out the rules of what constitutes "evil" beforehand with your DM.
Define the terms of what vengeance you're after. "Slaughtering" might not be possible for you, but "Watching them hang for their crimes" might. That would depend on your DM though. Some evil "has" to be slain.

[Frozen_Feet]

Have him go to great lenghts to use Sanctify the Wicked on that dragon. :smallbiggrin:

[Yukitsu]

Bitter is not evil. Some of the most "good" characters in literature are bitter, hard, jaded and believe that the light will fade and mankind will fall. They're good because they fight on despite that belief. They're paragons of good because they will risk their lives to give a few people a few more moments of transient happiness that they know will give way to suffering.

Don't make it about the vengeance. Make it about justice in the more universal sense. You don't have to be an idealist that believes every soul can and should be saved. You can very well know when the law has failed, when compassion and mercy is a sham, when something is beyond redemption, and the only line between this sort of paladin and a fall, is that it can't be personal, and you can't ever delude yourself into believing that it was the right thing. You have to know it was the only thing, for good or bad. And knowing that is never an easy thing, but what's the point in playing a paladin if you're trying to take the easy route?

[GoatToucher]

The key is to have the perspective that what happened to -you- was not as important as what may happen to others. You're a Paladin: taking lumps from the bad guys is part of the job, and you're equipped for it, but the regular folks out there that might get hurt... Well, somebody has to put a stop to this menace.

[Tiki Snakes]

The Paladin still knows exactly what the correct, good and lawful course of action is at any point in time.
He just isn't necessarily going to take comfort in doing it, because he's bitter and twisted and essentially broken inside by the experience. He's just not going to let it stop him doing whats right, even if deep down he'd rather be launching a grand revenge plot involving hprrible, protracted torture.

I kind of enjoy the idea of a 'true altruist', in that sense. Someone doing right for the genuinely selfless reason of them knowing rationally that it is the right thing to do, not because of the warm glow of having done good or so on.

[Callista]

He now knows what pain is, personally. He understands it. He knows it's changed him forever, that he's lost whatever innocence he had, that he'll never be quite the same. And he doesn't want that to happen to anybody else--ever.

There's no need to assume that having experienced some of the worst of what life has to throw at him will make him more likely to fall. He was already a paladin going into the whole affair, with all the dedication that implies. The experience may have actually strengthened his resolve. After all, he's now stared evil in the face for a long period of time and knows exactly what it's going to be like for the innocent if he doesn't get off his butt and do something about it.

Expect him to become even more disciplined, maybe even driven; expect him to be somewhat more extreme in his judgments when dealing with villains who remind him of the mad scientist in question, especially dragons. He will likely also acquire a drive to protect those who are in situations similar to his--slaves, captives, prisoners, etc. And since he was flung into the future, whatever he knows about the future may include wanting to prevent the things he saw there, if it was a bad future or had bad elements.

It may be somewhat significant whether or not he had reached 3rd level by the time all this happened; at 3rd level paladins get immunity to fear effects, which means immunity to Intimidate, which means immunity to torture (i.e., can't be used to force him to do/say things against his will). In most games this doesn't mean that paladins don't feel fear; just that their fear doesn't overwhelm them to the point that they cannot act freely. In the case of your character, that could explain why he survived (mentally) his captivity. Or, if he had not yet reached 3rd level, it could serve as an in-game explanation for that particular special ability: "You don't scare me. I've been through much worse."

[Rumpus]

He's going to be a lot more likely to reach for his greatsword instead of negotiating. Depending on your deity, this may not be much of a change. Paladins are the mailed fist of their god, and kicking evil in teeth with a full-plate boot is one of their primary functions. In fact, you might play him as a seething cauldron of rage who's really only happy when he's Smiting Evil.

That being said, you REALLY need to talk to your DM about what would cause you to fall. It will probably be largely dependent on your deity (Thor will be okay with stuff that would make Ilmater sick), but this really isn't something you want to figure out AFTER you've committed what your DM considers a major sin.

[Ravens_cry]

Knight in Sour Armour may be a good trope to look up for insperation. Sam 'THAT'S NOT MY COW! ! !' Vimes is an excellent example of a Paladin of Snark.

[Bladesinger]

When I played a paladin, he ended up dying several times, so he was also a rather bitter character. However, these experiences served to strengthen his faith, and he took to singing, "Battle Hymn of the Republic" when he rode into battle (on his special mount, of course). He also took a few levels in Grey Guard to reflect his new attitude. I'm not saying that you should do that, but you can look at the flavor of the PrC and perhaps adapt that line of thinking to your Paladin (they're both LG, after all). Flavor-wise, I've found that playing a Grey Guard is like playing as Batman. Depending on the generation you're looking at, that could be just what you need.

[hamishspence]

Shadowbane Inquisitor in Complete Adventurer is similar in quite a few ways to Grey Guard.

Falling doesn't lose the the character the powers of the PRC- simply prevents taking more levels.

And the basic principles of the group- tend toward a "sometimes, in the fight against evil, innocents will end up dying along the way" viewpoint- they are the kind of people who don't shy from actions that will lead to the deaths of innocents- but only when it's for the good of the many, and involves destroying powerful evil beings.

[grimbold]

Buy a phylactery of faithfulness.
Suss out the rules of what constitutes "evil" beforehand with your DM.
Define the terms of what vengeance you're after. "Slaughtering" might not be possible for you, but "Watching them hang for their crimes" might. That would depend on your DM though. Some evil "has" to be slain.
exactly this
also consider getting a morally ambiguous lacky to help you