Does Neutrality have a true enemy? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Does Neutrality have a true enemy? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
TeenageHeat
01-06-08, 12:24 AM this board always leaves the impression in my mind that it's the only one that actually discusses roleplaying issues, so i decided to come here.

most alignments have an polar opposite (enemy alignment) such as
Chaotic Good<------>Lawful Evil, Neutral Good<----->Neutral Evil.
(you get the picture.)

but what is the enemy alignment of True Neutral? is there one? are all other alignments it's enemy? what alignment are you if you hate True Neutral to the core of your soul? well it doesn't have to be hate, but alignment conflicts most with it?
Terjon of the Blue Rose
01-06-08, 01:31 AM That depends heavily on which nuetral your talking about.

I tend to think lawfuls like nuetrality less then chaotics. Something about that whole "all it takes for evil to succeed" line always struck me more as a lawful statement than a good since it can easily be reversed by changing evil to good and do nothing to act.

However in this case your talking nuetral through lack of alignment. The other option is nuetral through conflicting alignment. In this case I tend to think that good is more opposed to nuetrality than evil. Evil loves a conflicted character. The more conflicted the more easily influenced. Good on the other hand tends to seek resolute forces.

Of course any alignment question comes down to personal perception so I'd love to hear what you, or any other posters, think on this as well.
Terjon of the Blue Rose
01-06-08, 01:42 AM Almost forgot. There's also the nuetral of the non-aligned cause-head. Typically found in druids your alignment doesn't fall into the good-evil or chaos-law axis (for druids its more of a nature-artifice axis). This alignment is often an enemy to chaos since most causes require devotion and thus lend themselves to the force of law.
Xavon
01-06-08, 01:40 PM Zapp Brannigan!!

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

I would say it depends.

For a True Neutral person who isn't too good, too evil, too ordered, or too chaotic; but basically selfish and not concerned with the cosmic balance, no. There is no enemy.

However, for a True Neutral whose goal is to maintain the cosmic balance, anyone who actively promotes one of the absolutes would be an enemy; so NG, LN, CN, and NE would be the enemies of the TN.

This might seem counter-intuitive to some, but it is also one of the limits of the cardinal alignment system. Is a NG person someone who promotes Good while ignoring Law/Chaos, or a basically Good while trying to maintain the balance between Law and Chaos.
Prime32
01-13-08, 12:06 PM A neutral character is more likely to make enemies as they come along, as opposed to a good/evil character, who makes another character his enemy because they are evil/good.
CrimsonDeath
01-13-08, 01:58 PM For a True Neutral person who isn't too good, too evil, too ordered, or too chaotic; but basically selfish and not concerned with the cosmic balance, no. There is no enemy.

For such a character, I'd say Evil is more likely to become an enemy, since Evil characters are more likely to attack and exploit him. However, since sometimes bystanders indirectly benefit from the actions of evil people, Good characters still might manage to make enemies of "Apathetic Neutrals".
Orchomenos
01-14-08, 03:35 PM Last year I played a cleric of Kelanen in Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil. It is a martial demi-god who promote balance, and command to fight all extremes (CE, LE, CG and LG). I had (and still has) an hard time understanding why I should fight LG and CG. This came into importance because we had an aasimar paladin in the party. I played a cold relationship with the pally, until explaining her that currently, the biggest threat to the balance was the bad things in the ToEE, so we were allies. But in other wars, we might find ourselve in opposite camps...
mathew99
01-15-08, 12:30 AM chaotic evil is everyone's enemy
lawful good are only friends of do-gooders
So technically all the "one-sided" alignments are opposed to each other. Every other alignment has one dramatic opposite, so it seems to be the only reasonable explination to me.
Now, people of the boards, compel me.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
TeenageHeat 01-06-08, 12:24 AM	this board always leaves the impression in my mind that it's the only one that actually discusses roleplaying issues, so i decided to come here. most alignments have an polar opposite (enemy alignment) such as Chaotic Good<------>Lawful Evil, Neutral Good<----->Neutral Evil. (you get the picture.) but what is the enemy alignment of True Neutral? is there one? are all other alignments it's enemy? what alignment are you if you hate True Neutral to the core of your soul? well it doesn't have to be hate, but alignment conflicts most with it?
Terjon of the Blue Rose 01-06-08, 01:31 AM	That depends heavily on which nuetral your talking about. I tend to think lawfuls like nuetrality less then chaotics. Something about that whole "all it takes for evil to succeed" line always struck me more as a lawful statement than a good since it can easily be reversed by changing evil to good and do nothing to act. However in this case your talking nuetral through lack of alignment. The other option is nuetral through conflicting alignment. In this case I tend to think that good is more opposed to nuetrality than evil. Evil loves a conflicted character. The more conflicted the more easily influenced. Good on the other hand tends to seek resolute forces. Of course any alignment question comes down to personal perception so I'd love to hear what you, or any other posters, think on this as well.
Terjon of the Blue Rose 01-06-08, 01:42 AM	Almost forgot. There's also the nuetral of the non-aligned cause-head. Typically found in druids your alignment doesn't fall into the good-evil or chaos-law axis (for druids its more of a nature-artifice axis). This alignment is often an enemy to chaos since most causes require devotion and thus lend themselves to the force of law.
Xavon 01-06-08, 01:40 PM	Zapp Brannigan!! Sorry, I couldn't resist. I would say it depends. For a True Neutral person who isn't too good, too evil, too ordered, or too chaotic; but basically selfish and not concerned with the cosmic balance, no. There is no enemy. However, for a True Neutral whose goal is to maintain the cosmic balance, anyone who actively promotes one of the absolutes would be an enemy; so NG, LN, CN, and NE would be the enemies of the TN. This might seem counter-intuitive to some, but it is also one of the limits of the cardinal alignment system. Is a NG person someone who promotes Good while ignoring Law/Chaos, or a basically Good while trying to maintain the balance between Law and Chaos.
Prime32 01-13-08, 12:06 PM	A neutral character is more likely to make enemies as they come along, as opposed to a good/evil character, who makes another character his enemy because they are evil/good.
CrimsonDeath 01-13-08, 01:58 PM	For a True Neutral person who isn't too good, too evil, too ordered, or too chaotic; but basically selfish and not concerned with the cosmic balance, no. There is no enemy. For such a character, I'd say Evil is more likely to become an enemy, since Evil characters are more likely to attack and exploit him. However, since sometimes bystanders indirectly benefit from the actions of evil people, Good characters still might manage to make enemies of "Apathetic Neutrals".
Orchomenos 01-14-08, 03:35 PM	Last year I played a cleric of Kelanen in Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil. It is a martial demi-god who promote balance, and command to fight all extremes (CE, LE, CG and LG). I had (and still has) an hard time understanding why I should fight LG and CG. This came into importance because we had an aasimar paladin in the party. I played a cold relationship with the pally, until explaining her that currently, the biggest threat to the balance was the bad things in the ToEE, so we were allies. But in other wars, we might find ourselve in opposite camps...
mathew99 01-15-08, 12:30 AM	chaotic evil is everyone's enemy lawful good are only friends of do-gooders So technically all the "one-sided" alignments are opposed to each other. Every other alignment has one dramatic opposite, so it seems to be the only reasonable explination to me. Now, people of the boards, compel me.