AllHailthed4
2020-07-23, 11:52 PM
So, I've found myself in a bit of a moral predicament with my paladin character.
Shocking, I know. It's not what you think (probably.)
The general gist is as follows: the character started out as a soldier for the setting's evil emipre (think ancient Rome, with Hextor!) His earlier missions shielded him from harsher realities of what his country was doing, but later on he was confronted rather suddenly with the situation, and it didn't end well. He ended up killing his CO in an attempt to defend the villagers his unit was ordered to wipe out. Fortunately, the rest of his unit covered for him and the higher-ups bought it. Unfortunately, the Empire's spy master caught wind of what had actually happened and used it to blackmail him into taking an ambassadorial assignment in Al-Hassan, a desert country to the south.
Fastforward to now. Ambassadorial duties are light, so our paladin has had time to (discretely) romp about with a group of local adventurers, who have come to view him as a big brother. He's also taken the Oath of the Supernal Defenders (a 5e rework of the Topaz Guardians) as a private act of penance, and, as it turns out, he's pretty good at the job. All in all, not a bad resolution. Until last session. Last session, the Sultan of Al-Hassan revealed to the party that an ancient artifact which went missing from the Empire in the last war had been relocated. He directed the party to acquire the artifact and deliever it to a coalition of allies to which Al-Hassan belongs, for the greater good. In the same session, the spymaster contacted the paladin, demanding that he find the artifact and return it to the Empire at any cost. To demonstrate his sincerity, the spymaster included some pretty explicit threats against the surviving members the paladin's old unit. Next session, the party departs for the artifact's location. The artifact just happens to be the Torch from War of the Burning Sky.
Long story short, I'm up for tackling the dilemma, but want to avoid the tired Third Act Misunderstanding trope. The party has no idea about the spy ring or the incident that led to the paladin being sent south. However, they have all grown quite close, so grabbing the Torch at the last second and running away cackling is out of the question. By the same token, delivering the Torch to the Empire may actually be the first step in steering the Empire towards a less evil path. I expect this module will last about three sessions. The player group is pretty roleplay-heavy. How do I handle this?
Shocking, I know. It's not what you think (probably.)
The general gist is as follows: the character started out as a soldier for the setting's evil emipre (think ancient Rome, with Hextor!) His earlier missions shielded him from harsher realities of what his country was doing, but later on he was confronted rather suddenly with the situation, and it didn't end well. He ended up killing his CO in an attempt to defend the villagers his unit was ordered to wipe out. Fortunately, the rest of his unit covered for him and the higher-ups bought it. Unfortunately, the Empire's spy master caught wind of what had actually happened and used it to blackmail him into taking an ambassadorial assignment in Al-Hassan, a desert country to the south.
Fastforward to now. Ambassadorial duties are light, so our paladin has had time to (discretely) romp about with a group of local adventurers, who have come to view him as a big brother. He's also taken the Oath of the Supernal Defenders (a 5e rework of the Topaz Guardians) as a private act of penance, and, as it turns out, he's pretty good at the job. All in all, not a bad resolution. Until last session. Last session, the Sultan of Al-Hassan revealed to the party that an ancient artifact which went missing from the Empire in the last war had been relocated. He directed the party to acquire the artifact and deliever it to a coalition of allies to which Al-Hassan belongs, for the greater good. In the same session, the spymaster contacted the paladin, demanding that he find the artifact and return it to the Empire at any cost. To demonstrate his sincerity, the spymaster included some pretty explicit threats against the surviving members the paladin's old unit. Next session, the party departs for the artifact's location. The artifact just happens to be the Torch from War of the Burning Sky.
Long story short, I'm up for tackling the dilemma, but want to avoid the tired Third Act Misunderstanding trope. The party has no idea about the spy ring or the incident that led to the paladin being sent south. However, they have all grown quite close, so grabbing the Torch at the last second and running away cackling is out of the question. By the same token, delivering the Torch to the Empire may actually be the first step in steering the Empire towards a less evil path. I expect this module will last about three sessions. The player group is pretty roleplay-heavy. How do I handle this?