"High Paladin! Why are you defending the dark lord!"

He's not talking to the fucking audience.

Perhaps saying that would happen would give that event power? Not in the situation described, but I seem to recall a series (KonoSuba, I think) where the hero was unable to help unless directly invited due to some curse. Something along those lines would get you your misunderstanding-conflict without being complete tripe.

Yes, he effectively is. Long, dramatic speeches where the villain waxes on about how he's the real good guy is a writing trope largely used for the benefit of dummies who can't handle real nuance. This guy is the "High Paladin", why does he need to justify himself to some random nosebleeds? He knows he's right, and presumably if indiscriminate violence against dissenters was off the table he wouldn't have thrown in with an actual Dark Lord in the first place. If he's willing to tell these guys the truth, then he should be willing to tell it to the masses as well.

Another point, I question the intelligence of any character who takes this horseshit Greater Good excuse at face value. It's the exact kind of deflection you should expect from an oppressive institution. Maybe he's telling the truth. Maybe he's been duped. Maybe he's just outright lying. But presenting this speech and expecting players to just go "aw yeah, he must be right" is lazy GMing and lazier writing.

>Another point, I question the intelligence of any character who takes this horseshit Greater Good excuse at face value. It's the exact kind of deflection you should expect from an oppressive institution. Maybe he's telling the truth. Maybe he's been duped. Maybe he's just outright lying. But presenting this speech and expecting players to just go "aw yeah, he must be right" is lazy GMing and lazier writing.

True, but at least it's something. Not a 'There are things you are not meant to know, turn back' clause.

The High Paladin justifying himself to random nosebleeds? A damn good reason would need to happen, as his rank shows he earned the respect and word of those around him. But what if the group he was heading up against was a band of heroes/PC's and knew damn well they had the capability to kill him in a battle? What would the High Paladin lose at that point telling the truth, or at least the reasons of his actions, to the group then?

Again, a point I made is if the Paladin is at all interested in divulging this secret then there's no real reason he's been keeping it secret. I don't see why he should divulge this information other than to force some kind of hackneyed Catch 22 on the party. A good GM would build up to this twist with foreshadowing and hints, allowing the party to digest it over time and cone to a conclusion organically. Not just throw it out to the wind at the past minute. It reeks of desperation and wannabe cleverness.

If he has some personal stake in the status quo then it's one thing but otherwise it just sounds like an excuse. Honestly I think that would be more interesting; there is no "greater evil", the paladin just made it up to secure his place.

Because it's supposed to be a secret and the PCs are not very trustworthy.

From a GM standpoint I really like the first option. Its not the most logical interaction but the first option is very good for "show and dont tell." Which I think is great for getting reactiona out of players and building a better story.

"You think your God will save you? Save any of us? You weren't there for what we saw. There is no future for anyone if you let this happen. If the Dark Lord wins, his masters will consume this world and everything in it! It is those masters who feed you your power, who feed the Church its powers - they have played you for a fool this whole time! They wear the face of your faith like a cheap plaster mask! Did you not think it odd that priests and paladins only became superhuman a century ago?

Look! Even now, the lords of the Void gaze upon us, awaiting our deaths! But you can stop this now, High Paladin! Turn back - do what you know is right and prevent them their entry into this world! The order you seek is not what they will bring!"

Name at least three books you read that did the first thing you said, including it’s author.
If you can name at least three then I’ll believe it’s something you didn’t just pull out of a JRPG, which are not noted for their high quality writing.

Fire Emblem is not an anime though?

OP is complaining about something that is something almost entirely found in Japanese writing. He or she adds “and literature” at the end of his query because he or she doesn’t want to admit he’s never actually seen anything like this shit out of a JRPG or anime, neither of which are known for their especially complex writing on average and most of which are aimed at the 16 and under crowd to a culture that is mostly pacifists. That in itself is the answer to OP’s question.
What I haven’t decided is if OP is aware enough of shit OUTSIDE of JRPG writing and bad manga to realize that in actuality “so many” things he or she is seeing that stuff in is actually sort of just a tiny little microcosm he’s not managed or not even attempted to try and look outside of, akin to assuming everyone on earth speaks only the one language everyone on your town speaks just because you’ve never heard any others.

>I don't see why he should divulge this information other than to force some kind of hackneyed Catch 22 on the party.

Because he should at least attempt to save himself the trouble of getting stabbed in the face. If the party feels a catch 22 then it's on them but at least he made an effort to not be a retard.

>Fire Emblem is not an anime though?

youtube.com/watch?v=RbgVuEsmrlo

The Paladin has Charisma as his dump stat and failed a roll.

To this day, I don’t understand why Tharja is said to have the best body when clearly other people have better bodies.

>Defending the Dark Lord
>Not becoming the High Lord
Gayer than a fruitcake-flavored rainbow cappuccino in a Florida nightclub.

To this day I don't understand why people like Tharja as all. She's a nothing filler character who has less to say than this post does.

Horribly abusive mother who regularly tests curses on her own kids, not even amazing in gameplay, she’s a terrible person.

Roy looks oddly cute in that pic, almost like his face doesn't match the body

>A: "High Paladin! Why are you defending the dark lord!"
>B: "I'm afraid I cannot answer this question, for the fear of information spreading into wrong ears, but trust me - the consequences of the Dark Lord's death would be most dire, to the point of destroying our world.
>B: "...And that's not a metaphor, buddy. Like, literally, our entire world? Gone, like tears in rain. Evaporated. Disintegrated. Completely and utterly destroyed, like your mum's butthole last night. Under no circumstances you are to kill the Dark Lord. Capturing him, however, is a fair game. Do I make myself clear, soldier?"
>A: "...Yes, sir."
>B: "Jolly good, my fellow. Tell your mother to expect me this evening."

>thinking the Japanese are the only ones that do this

You're cute.

- In Marvel one of the reasons Galactus destroyed and devoured worlds as a sentient being. They did finally say that he was doing it to keep some sort of ancient evil in check, but I highly doubt they had that done at the beginning. He just ate planets because he was Galactus. Even when called out multiple times by the heroes and they had a shot at beating him? Boiled down to "You don't want to do that, trust me" (Which any person about to be shot would say) and "Fuck you, I'm Galactus."

- The Suicide Squad movie was horrible, in which they also told the main characters fuck all on the issue they were going to face.

- A Few Good Men, "You can't handle the truth." Which I admit is a slightly better reason, but boils down to "I don't need to tell you shit"

- The Forever War novel, in which shit was held back for the main character quite a bit in which they only came on the level when Man explained everything. Or replace this with a lot of military stuff. I understand that military does things on a need to know basis at times, but just saying "training" as an excuse for horrific training exercises or not disclosing what the fuck you're actually fighting (Not the entire truth, but at least how to fight it without horrifically dying assuming the higher ups know the truth) is garbage.

The prior isn't inherently a bad option, but when presented like it's a lame dodge next to actual dialogue, of course it comes off as a lame dodge.

Other people have already given better examples in this very thread of the same concept being applied well: This concept is fine, it's all in presentation.

And here I was hoping it'd be a FIre Emblem thread. ;_;

And no, it's not.

Don’t worry user. Soon we will have Lyndis legs and thighs.

Roy is my boy