The woes of a sucky Paladin...

[BigBadQDaddy]

Okay,

So I have this 2nd ed. Yahoo! groups game I am running with a group of friends of mine...plus one d-bag I hardly know.
The party is pretty well balanced, I have got 2 mages (ones an NPC Necromancer) a begger, a Psionisist, a fighter (whom recently was eaten by an aligator) and a Paladin.
Unfortunately, the Paladin is being run by the d-bag. Within his first post in the game, his powers where already in jeopardy due to his character having a frustrated cussing fest.
Myself, along with the rest of the players where needless to say, appalled by his actions. I sent a post to him further outling the role of the Paladin an the role they play in a party and what they stand for, along with a few choice exerpts from the Paladins handbook to support my claims. Things where good for about a couple days when the character showed how much of a coward he could be by leaving a party member to die after a mere one round of combat. The Paladin was the only one in the party to make their horror save as well mind you.
So, basically I explained to him that he felt a great emptyness in his spirituality as if he had been truley abandonded and out of character made him aware that he must serve a penance and soon or else risk losing his powers permanently.
In game time 4 days have passed without him sering a second of his penance.
Now, here is my question: What would you do in this situation? Considering this is a Ravenloft game and the consequences of falling from grace should be more severe. Also keep in mind this is a 2nd edition game. I don't want to boot him, and I don't want him to become a fighter without feeling remorse. Any suggestions would be great.
-Thanks

[Brandi]

Life's too short to game with schmucks-- why exactly *don't* you want to boot him?

ETA: I should qualify that-- if he's bringing down the game's enjoyability for the other players you have even less of a reason to keep him around.

[Joël of the FoS]

Stop the game for a day or two and bring the matter publicly. Explain what you see isn't working and give examples. Ask Mr D to explain why he did this and that; and also ask other players's input on how they feel it is affecting the game.

I feel the discussion would be interesting for everybody.

That discussion could be his last warning. If he continues behaving silly, indeed, kick him out.

Joël

[Jack of Tears]

I agree with Brandi, if he is bringing down the game, kick him out.

If you intend to let him stay, then it seems he is in line to spend some time with the dark powers. Depending upon how you want to do things you could have him experience dreams wherein he realizes he has been failing his god ... omens, "visitations" etc. Or, you could have the Nightmare Court play with him a bit.

A fallen paladin should also be more than just a fighter by chance ... he has forsaken his codes, his god, his way of life ... others may well sense this. Priests of any religion friendly to his will be loath to deal with him, if not outright rude and dismissive. (they may not know why, just sense the echo of the fall in him) Innocents may well avoid him, animals may distrust him ... certainly if he had his steed by this point it will abandon him and any other horse of fine breeding may refuse to let him ride it.

But, there are some fun rp options with this as well ... you could treat the paladin thing something like the Jedi - with him being drawn toward the "dark side". Perhaps he may encounter a fallen Paladin who speaks freely of how limited the "unrealistic" philosophies were and attempts to corrupt him. (the fallen paladin in question is wholey corrupted and lost his soul long ago ... thus he is eager to lead others to damnation) Perhaps, through the actions of this individual - subtle at first - demonstrate what kind of person a fallen paladin becomes. (again, he's a forsaker, a betrayer, an oath breaker)

The dark powers would certainly take interest in a cowardly, angry paladin and they may well step in to offer him the power he is forsaking as a champion of light. (perhaps convincing him that he is doing the right thing by saving himself ... after all, as a champion of the church he is more important than any of these others .. in fact, more important than anyone else not of his church)

Also, make certain people who witness his actions react appropriately; have the npc treat him like a coward, as well as anyone else who witnessed it ... in many societies honor and bravery are revered. (even in Ravenloft this will be so, dependant upon the domain)

At any rate, if you intend to keep him in the game, don't let him off the hook easily ... every action has repercussions.

[BigBadQDaddy]

Thats some good advice. Turning this situation into a RPing opportunity is more what I was looking for. As far as booting him, granted I don't like the guy, but he is a member of our small rping Yahoo! groups community and in all honesty I wouldn't want the repurcussions of booting him to effect the other games.
Yeah it is kind of cowardly on my part but I would not want to be responsible for any drama (other than in character drama) on the groups site. If the situation gets bad enough, I will definately boot him. For the time being I would like to resolve the situatuation in an alternative fashion.

[Joël of the FoS]

But still I'd bring the matter in the open with all the players.

Otherwise, this player will feel punished for something he may not understand or guess why. Then, matters will be worse and degenerate quickly.

Joël

[HuManBing]

I second the "open discussion" idea. This guy may be an inexperienced or unwittingly blundering player, as opposed to one who intentionally mucks it up for the rest. Of course, you know much better than us which type it is.

But even if he might be an intentional bag of shower (a cursed magical item found in the French DMG), you still need to give him a chance to publicly understand what's going on and to remedy it.

If nothing else, you need the other players on your side in a passably democratic fashion. (Though from the sounds of it, this is not at all difficult...) Give him a chance to see the degree of unity among DM and other players of disapproval of his roleplaying. If he doesn't shape up, ship him out.

[Scipio]

I have had some recent experience with a player similar to this. I can tell you that the way I handled it was to bring it up to the group at the session. From there we had a vote which ended with the disruptive player leaving the group. It wasn't easy, and I still regret that it was necessary but sometimes it happens. If the player continues to be a disruption, then I would recommend a similar course of action.