I can't recall ever not having an argument over what to do with a prisoner. Usually it's actually Pat's fault. Paladins have special rules governing their moral ethics. If he let a prisoner die, he'd end up losing all the abilities that make playing a Paladin worthwhile. I've found as a DM the easiest way to arbitrate this situation is to put it to a vote amongst the party, and not penalize Good players for the actions of others. Plus, if keeping a prisoner never seems to come back to bite the party later, and they keep getting stuff out of the deal (in this case directions and a map), they're more likely to take prisoners.
This comic also comes back to that morals stuff that you may remember from an earlier comic when Valdren tried to use his Smite Evil ability. Because the 'goblin warcamp' campaign is a bit overplayed, I wanted to add depth by saying that goblins weren't actually that bad. Of course that idea isn't original either, but I wanted the players to question their actions more than just bullying people who were smaller than them.
