Lord Karick wrote:
Thanks guys, what I'm struggling with though is how to turn the outcome of being virtuous in those situations into a death sentence. The others I've got down:
Charity - starve to death in another's place
Justice - be executed for owning up to stealing the key
Mercy - after you let the guard who surrendered live, he takes a dirk from his boot whilst your back is turned and stabs you
Courage - you let the dogs take you so that the other can go free
I'm drawn to the idea of prudence (which was one of the cardinal virtues in Greek philosophy). In that sense, prudence involved making the best judgement from a range of choices - if they were bad choices, the one that would do the least damage.
Could a character be exposed to a plague like condition during the escape, and know that there is a cure available for them (a scroll of
Cure Disease or a bespoke potion, or something, but they can only access it by passing through a group of innocents who they would likely infect?