Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Tashanen 09-12-06, 03:17 PM	Our group just got a new player who is migrating [1st timer for D&D] from other RPGs. His character background and history is intriguing, but his inability to actually chose an alignment for the character is somewhat frustrating. At my request he's outlined the following principles that he perceives his character following... hopefully with these I can get some assistance in determining what the characters alignment actually is. Has high regard for freedom and life. Always keeps his word of honor. Lies, cheats, and steals if he feels it necessary. May or may not kill and unarmed foe. Helps those in need. Does not use torture unless absolutely necessary. Tries not to harm innocents, but if they are protecting his foe... Respects legitimate authority, but dislikes confining laws and regulations. Never kills for pleasure. Never betrays a friend. Taking all those into consideration, I think I'd classify his character as True Neutral. Anyone agree, disagree? Why?
Alakar 09-12-06, 03:22 PM	I must be way off then, because I think of Chaotic Good when I here that criteria. Just my two cents.
Tashanen 09-12-06, 03:27 PM	I was thinking that at first too, but after looking in the BoED it turns out that torture and killing and killing a foe that's already surrendered (the unarmed foe in this case) are always evil.
dvlsadvct 09-12-06, 03:55 PM	Has high regard for freedom and life. C/G Always keeps his word of honor. any lawful Lies, cheats, and steals if he feels it necessary. C/N May or may not kill and unarmed foe. any non-good Helps those in need. any non-evil Does not use torture unless absolutely necessary. any non-good Tries not to harm innocents, but if they are protecting his foe... any non-good Respects legitimate authority, but dislikes confining laws and regulations. any non-chaotic Never kills for pleasure. any non-evil Never betrays a friend. any non-chaotic So you take the good you take the bad add them both and in the end you'll have; Lawful Neutral. Remember, LN means you live to a code, not necessarily someone elses code. It wouldnt be a stretch to say Chaotic Neutral or True Neutral. It would be a stretch to claim good. Would he rather be a Judge, Free Spirit, or 'undecided'?
Tashanen 09-12-06, 04:46 PM	Thanks dvlsadvct. You've helped a bunch - I hadn't thought of simply examining each piece independent of the rest and then examining where they all fell in relation to each other. That said, I think I'll have to ask him some more questions to determine if he's lawful/true neutral. Pax, Tash
Need_A_Life 09-13-06, 11:14 AM	When in doubt; True Neutral. I think this character is true neutral with chaotic and evil tendencies.
Sikyanakotik 09-14-06, 03:17 AM	You know, this is just one more example of why alignment is a poor mechanic. Depending on the light in which these are viewed, this list could just as easily describe Lawful Good as it can Neutral Evil. Ultimately, beyond defining how certain spells and effects act on you, alignment just doesn't have much descriptive power. Unless he needs to meet particular restrictions for his class, I'd just call it True Neutral and be done with it. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v402/Sikyanakotik/koboldgrin.gif Well, I'm not so sure it's all that worthless. Perhaps the real issue is that we don't know why the character holds to these various traits. For example, does he never kill for pleasure because he he respects life too much, or because he knows it'll just cause needless trouble for him? With alignment, what you do isn't important, it's why you did it. That's true, I suppose. But in that case, we can't really judge that either, since we know nothing of his character's motivations at this point. I'd still prefer to cast alignment away altogether, or use an allegience system like d20 Modern. Yeah, but when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Poking fun at their togas would just be counterproductive. Really, I don't think there's enough information to work with here. Again, perhaps you should focus less on what the character's willing to do, and more on why he's willing to do it. I'm still not conviced True Neutral is wrong, because most of his belief seem to be in line with the human norm. Still, remember even the most cruel of sociopaths tends to appear completely normal, often quite likable, on the surface. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v402/Sikyanakotik/mooglesmile.png But I like togas! Not my point...