Quote Originally Posted by toapat View Post
Congradulations, you caused the death of 500+ children
No, I created the possibility of the deaths of 500 children. They didn't just magically explode in the same moment I struck down the succubus, who by the way, was killing people in a much more direct fashion. You can't hold anyone, paladin or no, responsible for every cascading effect of every action they take, otherwise there can be no paladins. If the orphans die, it's not because the succubus died, it's because they can't take care of themselves. Many of them will get on well-enough by turning to petty crime. It's how a lot of orphans in medieval europe got along after all.

Quote Originally Posted by menteith
so they're fundamentally similar to elves, warforged, (other long-lived races)
No. Among those, only the constructs and undead are truly immortal. Undead fall under the same heading as [evil] subtype creatures. Many of them have a hunger that they must sate, and amongst those that don't they usually became undead through an evil act. Constructs have a basic mindset programed into them. They are just as different from outsiders as they are from mortal creatures.
... There isn't a stable body of rules governing alignment...
You're right, it doesn't make perfect sense, that's why we end up with these debates. That and the dissonance between the alignment rules and the social construct of morality. That doesn't change the fact that they are the rules.