looting and being a saint Dilema. [Archive] - Wizards Community

looting and being a saint Dilema. [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Fnep Wigglesworth
12-04-04, 09:05 AM Ok, during the session yesterday, our group found this amazing loot that was the body of 4-5 dead bodies killed by monsters. Now to be a saint you need to follow the exalted path of good and etc.

Now taking loot from a body that wasn't killed by you and wasn't evil, would that be desecrating the corpse and therefore I wouldn't be able to profit from that loot or am I just crazy? :crazy:

Anything would help.
JosephKell
12-04-04, 06:26 PM yes.

This is why being Exalted is bad.
Morka
12-04-04, 09:57 PM If you use their money to buy you a beer, it's definitively non-exalted. If you keep their healing and buffing potion, as well as some weapons they might have, and promising to their soul to find their murderers and avenge them, I think you could keep your exaltation.
Wil Harvey
12-05-04, 08:02 PM If you use their money to buy you a beer, it's definitively non-exalted. If you keep their healing and buffing potion, as well as some weapons they might have, and promising to their soul to find their murderers and avenge them, I think you could keep your exaltation.

No way.

You can never, ever loot a man's corpse of his weapons. You just don't do it.

In fact, if you know who the body is, and know how to find his surviving family members, every effort should be made to return all of the deceased's possession to them. Ideally, you'd bring them the body also, but that's not often feasible.

If you don't know who the body is, pretty much everything is up for grabs except those one or two items a person prides himself on. For example, you don't rob a dead warrior of his sword or armor, you don't steal a dead wizard's staff or spellbook, etc.

If you know the person died in an honorable way while upholding high ideals, it would be very appropriate to take the warrior's weapons, but to never sell them. Instead, do whatever you can to try and find the warrior's family and give them his weapons and his armor. Nothing is more exalted than searching for a family through miles of cities and countryside so that when you can finally find them, you can inform them of their husband/father's heroic death and give them his most treasured items to keep in their family for generations.
Core
12-06-04, 12:24 PM If you're stripping the corpses of every little trinket to pawn at the next town then you're not going to remain a saint long, but taking up the holy defender (or shield or whatever) of a fallen paladin and using it as it was meant to be used is entirely in line with the exalted path given in the book.

As long as you act in a manner that your patron deity would expect you have no problem - this might include being respectful, giving the corpses a burial if appropriate, or other similar actions (but then again it might not - if you're the sainted hero of a nature goddess, it might be bad not to remove man-made objects and then leave the corpeses to decay).

If you can positively identify the person/people involved, then it might be good and wise to notify any kin, and in that case you should probably return any posessions too, though wether or not that would be an act of kindness or otherwise would depend on many other factors.

Your character is a saint in a D&D world, not a Christian in America (though I suppose that's possible :p).

Core
Wil Harvey
12-06-04, 02:00 PM If you're stripping the corpses of every little trinket to pawn at the next town then you're not going to remain a saint long, but taking up the holy defender (or shield or whatever) of a fallen paladin and using it as it was meant to be used is entirely in line with the exalted path given in the book.

I don't agree with that. I don't think there's a warrior in the world that would want his weapon wielded at any time without his consent. Take his amulet of natural armor, but leave the man with his weapon. For a warrior, his weapon is his existence. That's not something you take from a guy once he dies and use yourself.

I think it'd be perfectly acceptable, though, to maybe take his weapon and present it to his church or the town he was defending of something similar if you can't find his family. If you don't know any of those details, I'd say the exalted thing to do would be bury the warrior with his weapon.
Mirikon
12-06-04, 02:54 PM I would say you should give the bodies a proper burial as according to local tradition/your diety, complete with the most important things (weapons and armor for fighters, instrument for the bard, spellbook for the wizard, etc.). Potions, scrolls, and nonpermanent magic items I'd say were up for grabs. If they have a holy symbol that you can identify, it'd be your duty, if you come across another of that order, to tell them where their fallen brother is, so they can retrieve the body, and do whatever. If there is anything you aren't sure about ("Well, it's a shame to let those boots of teleportation go to waste...") cast Augury or some other divination spell, to try and see what your god wishes. This is why they have divination spells.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Fnep Wigglesworth 12-04-04, 09:05 AM	Ok, during the session yesterday, our group found this amazing loot that was the body of 4-5 dead bodies killed by monsters. Now to be a saint you need to follow the exalted path of good and etc. Now taking loot from a body that wasn't killed by you and wasn't evil, would that be desecrating the corpse and therefore I wouldn't be able to profit from that loot or am I just crazy? :crazy: Anything would help.
JosephKell 12-04-04, 06:26 PM	yes. This is why being Exalted is bad.
Morka 12-04-04, 09:57 PM	If you use their money to buy you a beer, it's definitively non-exalted. If you keep their healing and buffing potion, as well as some weapons they might have, and promising to their soul to find their murderers and avenge them, I think you could keep your exaltation.
Wil Harvey 12-05-04, 08:02 PM	If you use their money to buy you a beer, it's definitively non-exalted. If you keep their healing and buffing potion, as well as some weapons they might have, and promising to their soul to find their murderers and avenge them, I think you could keep your exaltation. No way. You can never, ever loot a man's corpse of his weapons. You just don't do it. In fact, if you know who the body is, and know how to find his surviving family members, every effort should be made to return all of the deceased's possession to them. Ideally, you'd bring them the body also, but that's not often feasible. If you don't know who the body is, pretty much everything is up for grabs except those one or two items a person prides himself on. For example, you don't rob a dead warrior of his sword or armor, you don't steal a dead wizard's staff or spellbook, etc. If you know the person died in an honorable way while upholding high ideals, it would be very appropriate to take the warrior's weapons, but to never sell them. Instead, do whatever you can to try and find the warrior's family and give them his weapons and his armor. Nothing is more exalted than searching for a family through miles of cities and countryside so that when you can finally find them, you can inform them of their husband/father's heroic death and give them his most treasured items to keep in their family for generations.
Core 12-06-04, 12:24 PM	If you're stripping the corpses of every little trinket to pawn at the next town then you're not going to remain a saint long, but taking up the holy defender (or shield or whatever) of a fallen paladin and using it as it was meant to be used is entirely in line with the exalted path given in the book. As long as you act in a manner that your patron deity would expect you have no problem - this might include being respectful, giving the corpses a burial if appropriate, or other similar actions (but then again it might not - if you're the sainted hero of a nature goddess, it might be bad not to remove man-made objects and then leave the corpeses to decay). If you can positively identify the person/people involved, then it might be good and wise to notify any kin, and in that case you should probably return any posessions too, though wether or not that would be an act of kindness or otherwise would depend on many other factors. Your character is a saint in a D&D world, not a Christian in America (though I suppose that's possible :p). Core
Wil Harvey 12-06-04, 02:00 PM	If you're stripping the corpses of every little trinket to pawn at the next town then you're not going to remain a saint long, but taking up the holy defender (or shield or whatever) of a fallen paladin and using it as it was meant to be used is entirely in line with the exalted path given in the book. I don't agree with that. I don't think there's a warrior in the world that would want his weapon wielded at any time without his consent. Take his amulet of natural armor, but leave the man with his weapon. For a warrior, his weapon is his existence. That's not something you take from a guy once he dies and use yourself. I think it'd be perfectly acceptable, though, to maybe take his weapon and present it to his church or the town he was defending of something similar if you can't find his family. If you don't know any of those details, I'd say the exalted thing to do would be bury the warrior with his weapon.
Mirikon 12-06-04, 02:54 PM	I would say you should give the bodies a proper burial as according to local tradition/your diety, complete with the most important things (weapons and armor for fighters, instrument for the bard, spellbook for the wizard, etc.). Potions, scrolls, and nonpermanent magic items I'd say were up for grabs. If they have a holy symbol that you can identify, it'd be your duty, if you come across another of that order, to tell them where their fallen brother is, so they can retrieve the body, and do whatever. If there is anything you aren't sure about ("Well, it's a shame to let those boots of teleportation go to waste...") cast Augury or some other divination spell, to try and see what your god wishes. This is why they have divination spells.