Paladin may be capital-G Good, but I still wouldn’t want to adventure with the guy. As we established way back in this one, our gold-plated aasimar is the Lawful Stupid alignment. It seems that applies to interpersonal relationships as well as adventuring.

It’s become something of a cliché in recent years, but I’d like to add to the dogpile of popular opinion: the phrase “it’s what my character would do” is no excuse for breaking Wheaton’s Law. If there’s no way your dude would ever consent to party up with the morally gray adventurers of the multiverse, maybe you should reconsider your life choices. That’s because “what my character would do” is infinitely less important than “what’s fun for the group.” Like we said in Mean Girls, Part 1/3, there are any number of ways to justify a paladin/necromancer team-up. The same goes for barbarian/wizard issues (“Thrud hate magic!”) and rogue/people who own things problems (“Ima steal your stuff. Get used to it.”). If everybody else has to change to accommodate your creative vision, you’re not staying true to the character or somehow preserving the integrity of the fiction. You’re being selfish.

Now that said, I can hear the army of counterexamples charging for my castle gates. Why should the paladins of the world have to change? They’ve got codes and oaths to uphold! And to that I say, “Good call.” This mess is a two-way street, and it should never fall solely on one dude’s shoulders to make the change.

Remember when I mentioned on Monday’s comic that I’m dealing with exactly this issue? Well full disclosure: It wound up being a moot point thanks to scheduling problems for my paladin friend. However, the solution we both favored was a compromise. My necromancer would have given up the explicitly evil animate dead spell while the paladin agreed to turn a blind eye to the questionably evil necromantic servant ability. Both characters bent a little, and neither one broke because of it.

As for the short-lived relationship between Paladin and Necromancer, it looks like failure to compromise will have consequences. What manner of consequences?

*maniacal laugh*

Just you wait and see.

ARE YOU AN IMPATIENT GAMER? If so, you should check out the “Henchman” reward level over on The Handbook of Heroes Patreon. For just one buck a month, you can get each and every Handbook of Heroes comic a day earlier than the rest of your party members. That’s bragging rights right there!