Quote Originally Posted by Mnemnosyne View Post
Even ignoring the paladin's code, it's not too reasonable that most good characters would be inclined to ignore someone indiscriminately stealing. Stealing from a merchant can cause them serious harm - if you steal an expensive magical item from them, this may cause their business serious harm. Perhaps even make them go bankrupt, if enough of their capital was invested in it. Would any good character be ok with making innocent people lose large quantities of money, possibly lose their business? It might be justifiable if this was the only way to stop some greater problem, but in the case of just random indiscriminate theft, it's certainly not justified.
Indeed. A Good character should have issues with people randomly stealing from "innocent" folks. If they don't, maybe they should be Neutral, or even Evil.

That doesn't mean they have to *act* on those impulses. Having to grin and bear it when your normal instincts are screaming against what is going on is an excellent roleplaying opportunity - these types of conflict are the core of much drama in fiction. Played right, breaking the typical behavior can actually reinforce how important it is to the character, while giving them more depth.