CptAmyrica wrote:
In the case of paladins of the Red Knight, she is a deity of battle tactics and strategy, not cloak-and-dagger machinations. Her purview is properly preparing the battlefield, intelligent application of forces, anticipating enemy movements, and so forth, not lacing the enemy's bread with poisons so that they die foaming, convulsing deaths the night before the battle. She would look favorably upon a paladin who had kept a force of cavalry hidden and ready to counter an enemy's charge versus the commander who fouled the wells.
This is the only person I see who has really cut to the heart of the issue here. The part of this discussion that has been focused on is whether use of poison is appropriate for a Paladin or not, but the part of it that has been been touched on is whether or not the Red Knight would allow their Paladins specific allowances beyond those of other paladins because "that action is the best available tactic," and the answer is probably not. The Red Knight is about grand strategy, and a Paladin of the Red Knight would likely see the use of poison, while strategically viable and perhaps optimal, as a strategy that they did not have available to themselves.
If you look at things from the perspective of lanceboard, the Lady will look most favorably upon the follower that can come up with an effective strategy to win the game using the pieces and moves that they had available to them. A skilled player might be able to beat an unskilled player even with only half her pieces available to her at the start of the game.
I know the initial thought is, "Why would I be starting with half my pieces? That's not fair." Well, the lanceboard analogy can only be taken so far. Real battles are not fair. Tacticians more often than not do start from an unequal playing field with a different number of pieces. A paladin of the Red Knight's best option would be to simply assess the battlefield carefully, and come up with a strategy to beat her opponent using the options she had available to her.
There is a nice book I wrote in the IG library system that explains some concepts of the RK. It is under the religion tab, and is called "Elegance of Strategy." You should give it a read!
mireigi wrote:That being said, Poison can sometimes have strategic advantages, which would put some of them in line with the tenets of the Red Knight, whom embodies strategy as a core tenet. As such, a Paladin of the Red Knight might be less reserved than other Paladins when it comes to use of Poisons for situations such as the above, provided the usage serves a part in some strategy and is not with the intent of altering the outcome of combat.
This is not exactly the right way to look at it. "If something has a strategic advantage, that is within the tenants" is incorrect, as if this were the case a Paladin of the Red Knight could lie, cheat, torture, steal, poison, assassinate, and even purchase or employ slaves in combat. The most strategic answer is usually a pretty underhanded one. A follower that embodies the Red Knight will not have to employ what is "the best strategy," but will instead gain favor using what she has available to her.
All that being said, role play your character how you want, in the end! You will never see my character giving a Paladin of the RK flak in game if you decide that he's allowed to use poison (as she has no idea about a paladin's oaths or tenets)! I hope you enjoy playing your RK character, the server could use more of them. Just keep having fun and logging in!
