Book of Exalted Deeds

CHAPTER 1:THE NATUREOF GOOD10ing their land for its natural resources. Violence against evil isacceptable when it is directed at stopping or preventing evil actsfrom being done.The third consideration is one of discrimination. Violencecannot be considered good when it is directed against noncombatants(including children and the females of at least someraces and cultures). Placing a fireball so that its area includes orcwomen and children as well as warriors and barbarians is evil,since the noncombatant orcs are not a threat and are comparativelydefenseless.Finally, the means of violence must be as good as the intentionsbehind it. The use of evil spells, obviously, is not good evenwhen the target is evil. Likewise, the use of torture or otherpractices that inflict undue suffering upon the victims goesbeyond the pale of what can be considered good.Within these limits, violence in the name of good is anacceptable practice in the D&D universe.RELATIONSHIPSImplicit in D&D’s definition of good—altruism, respect for life,and making sacrifices for the sake of others—is a sense thatgood is about maintaining a certain quality of relationship withothers. A good character’s relationships with other charactersshould be built on a mutual respect for one another, whetherthat relationship involves the companionship of an adventuringparty or the intimacy of a marriage.There is nothing inherently evil about human (or humanoid)sexuality, and being a good character doesn’t necessarily meanremaining a virgin. Certain religions and cultures in the D&Duniverse encourage or at least condone some people takingvows of chastity, but these are similar to vows of poverty or abstinence—rootedin the belief that giving up the enjoyment of agood and natural thing can have positive spiritual benefits, notderived from an attitude that sex is evil. However, a good characteris bound to realize that sexuality is laden with traditions ofexploitation and abuse, an area of interpersonal relationshipswhere power dynamics are often manifested in unfortunate—really, evil—ways. A good character is not opposed to sex inprinciple, but will not condone exploitative or coercive relationshipssuch as prostitution, the use of slaves for sex, or sexualcontact with children or others without the power to enterfreely and willingly into a relationship of mutual respect.Also within the context of respectful relationships, goodcharacters exercise caution in the use of compulsion magic toforce others’ behavior. Spells such as dominate person, geas, andsuggestion allow a caster to control another person, robbing thatperson of free will. This may not be an inherently evil act, but itcertainly carries a tremendous ethical responsibility. Forcinganyone to commit an evil act, of course, is evil. Furthermore, acreature under compulsion should be treated the same as a helplessprisoner, since that creature no longer poses a threat, at leastfor the duration of the spell. Once an enemy is dominated, forexample, he should not be killed, but shown mercy and treatedthe same as a prisoner who had willingly surrendered. (Thesame holds true for charmed and compelled creatures.)Perhaps the most important area of relationships for playercharacters involves a character’s interactions with the othermembers of the party. A good character respects the othercharacters, treats them fairly, and values their lives as highly ashis own. That said, he is within his rights to expect the sametreatment from them. Neutral characters are often joined toadventuring parties through bonds of friendship and loyaltyto the other characters, and a good character respects thosebonds and can trust a friend, even one who is not also good.Evil characters, however, typically join adventuring parties forpurely selfish reasons. Paladins, of course, are prohibited fromassociating with evil characters, but other exalted PCs shouldalso steer clear of evil companions, unless the evil characteris attempting to reform herself and making progress towardneutrality at least.Good characters in parties that also include neutral characterscarry a weighty burden of responsibility. They should serveas examples of the good life, demonstrating the virtue and therewards of following the righteous path. They must steer theirneutral companions away from evil deeds, and ought to encouragethem toward goodness, as gently or as bluntly as the individualcase requires. Good characters can be guilty byassociation with neutral characters who commit evil deeds, andsimply turning a blind eye to the questionable acts of their companionsis not an acceptable option.This important prohibition can cause a great deal of frictionwithin an adventuring party. Some players build their characterson the idea of being roguish, unsavory, perhaps a littlebrutal. If the paladin in the party is constantly getting in the wayof that character’s approach to things, everyone’s enjoyment ofthe game is at risk. Many of these problems can be eliminated atthe outset by working to achieve a consensus among the playersregarding what kind of game you are going to play. That doesn’tmean that everyone needs to agree to play good characters andstick to the straight and narrow, but players who want to playneutral characters need to know up front what they’re gettinginto, and the whole group needs to decide to what extent ethicaldebate is going to be a part of every game session. If everyone’shappy with the paladin and the rogue constantly being at crosspurposes,and the group decides to make that a central part ofthe roleplaying experience, that’s fine—as long as the playerstreat each other with respect and the characters don’t split theparty into two warring factions.DIVIDED LOYALTIESFor better or for worse, a paladin is not just good: she is lawfulgood, sworn not just to uphold the principles of good but alsobound by a code of conduct, and subject to local law as well.Many paladins are also members of a specific deity’s church, aknightly order of some sort, or both. At the best of times, thesevarious loyalties—her code of conduct, her church’s laws, herorder’s demands, the laws of her nation, and the abstraction ofher alignment—are all in harmony, and her path is clear beforeher. When circumstances are not so ideal, she finds herself tornbetween conflicting demands: her superior in her knightlyorder commands her to kill a brutal murderer who has escapedpunishment in court on a legal technicality, for example. Herpersonal code requires that she punish those that harm innocents,and this killer certainly falls in that category. However,her personal code also instructs her to respect legitimate authority,which includes both her knightly superior and the local lawthat has let the killer go free. The demands of her good alignmentsuggest she should punish the wrongdoer, but the