[Cyril Darkcloud]

Cerek, I remember reading that very same example quite a ways back.

Personally, I've found that a large amount of the stereotyping of such characters as paladins has very much to do with the way alignment functions both in the rule books themselves as well as within individual game worlds.

Even within the official rule books there is a tendency to be rather simplistic in the examples given to illustrate alignement behavior. What happens frequently is that the lawful good alignment is modeled as somehow being the most good and virtuous of the good alignments. Understood this way, not only paladins, but lawful good characters in general, are set up to be annoying cartoons. The interplay of order and goodness and the way duty can check the demands of spontaneous generosity in the life of a paladin should not be lost sight of. I believe, in fact, that some of the richest roleplaying possibilities in the D&D system arise precisely when the demands of law and goodness do not easily coincide for a paladin. It might well be in cases like this that the chaotic good or neutral good party member might be frustrated at the way a paladin's obligations hold back or limit the group's pursuit of a good end. In a case like this, the 'do-gooder' lable is on someone other than the paladin.