Alignment, a personal perspective :) [Archive] - Wizards Community

Alignment, a personal perspective :) [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Leap_UK
02-25-06, 09:12 AM Is alignment just a result of confusing politics?

Allow me to explain….

The two base alignments are Chaotic and Lawful and from this the four corner alignments are based on how they see themselves and their opposite (I'm not looking at the "Ooooh dont ask us we dont know" neutral alignments here hehehe). Anyway, so:

Chaotic sees itself as chaotic good but Lawful sees it as chaotic evil.
Similarly, Lawful sees itself as Lawful Good whilst Chaotic see it as Lawful Evil.

To unpack a little……

Chaotic says “I am about liberty, play, gentleness, ease, simpleness and the community of the wild, [Chaotic Good] but you (lawful) are about oppression, slavery, hardness, greed and the shattering hammering forge and factory [Lawful evil]”. “No” says Lawful, “you’ve got it all wrong. I am about industriousness, collective-gain, dutifulness, reliability and progress [Lawful good], whilst you are about being loose, slacking, easy, lazy, selfishly irresponsible, undutiful, lawless wasters [Chaotic evil]. I make things neat, you make them messy. I give them coherence, you give them confusion”. “No, no, no, no, no” replies Chaotic, “Its not ‘mess’ you an*l loon, its being relaxed, and its not confusion its just that things don’t need to be controlled and orderly”

See?

:)

Just an idea :)
CryoSilver
02-25-06, 11:20 AM Seems kind of convoluted to me, but maybe that's why I shouldn't post in the morning.

Personally, I'm a bit of a fan of tossing alignment out the door and using Sanity or Taint instead.
Seeker95
02-25-06, 11:31 AM The two base alignments are Chaotic and LawfulBecause I disagree with this premise, I find myself unable to comment on the rest of your post.

There are two base alignment spectra: Law/Chaos and Good/Evil
The two are completely independent of each other.
Feor
02-25-06, 12:09 PM Your annalysis seems accurate for thosecreatures who's primary belief is in Law over Chaos or vice versa, however, WoTC has decided that most creatures in D&D concern themselves with Good over Evil, rather than Law over Chaos. (as evidenced by printing the BoXDs and not their law/chaos counterparts) Also, Alignment is open enough that your analysis is only one of many, and some people may disagree with it entirely.
Koga:The ninja trick
02-25-06, 01:41 PM It's pretty much how The Koga sees it, though as said, law/chaos play a backseat role as compared to good/evil.

Personaly The Koga would be considerd lawful neutral. "Don't care, don't care, don't care, just make sure anarchy doesn't breakout will you?" :P
pres_man
02-25-06, 02:03 PM I usually treat Lawful as "conservative" and Chaotic as "liberal".
Seeker95
02-25-06, 04:33 PM I usually treat Lawful as "conservative" and Chaotic as "liberal".So do voters. :D

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Leap_UK 02-25-06, 09:12 AM	Is alignment just a result of confusing politics? Allow me to explain…. The two base alignments are Chaotic and Lawful and from this the four corner alignments are based on how they see themselves and their opposite (I'm not looking at the "Ooooh dont ask us we dont know" neutral alignments here hehehe). Anyway, so: Chaotic sees itself as chaotic good but Lawful sees it as chaotic evil. Similarly, Lawful sees itself as Lawful Good whilst Chaotic see it as Lawful Evil. To unpack a little…… Chaotic says “I am about liberty, play, gentleness, ease, simpleness and the community of the wild, [Chaotic Good] but you (lawful) are about oppression, slavery, hardness, greed and the shattering hammering forge and factory [Lawful evil]”. “No” says Lawful, “you’ve got it all wrong. I am about industriousness, collective-gain, dutifulness, reliability and progress [Lawful good], whilst you are about being loose, slacking, easy, lazy, selfishly irresponsible, undutiful, lawless wasters [Chaotic evil]. I make things neat, you make them messy. I give them coherence, you give them confusion”. “No, no, no, no, no” replies Chaotic, “Its not ‘mess’ you an*l loon, its being relaxed, and its not confusion its just that things don’t need to be controlled and orderly” See? :) Just an idea :)
CryoSilver 02-25-06, 11:20 AM	Seems kind of convoluted to me, but maybe that's why I shouldn't post in the morning. Personally, I'm a bit of a fan of tossing alignment out the door and using Sanity or Taint instead.
Seeker95 02-25-06, 11:31 AM	The two base alignments are Chaotic and LawfulBecause I disagree with this premise, I find myself unable to comment on the rest of your post. There are two base alignment spectra: Law/Chaos and Good/Evil The two are completely independent of each other.
Feor 02-25-06, 12:09 PM	Your annalysis seems accurate for thosecreatures who's primary belief is in Law over Chaos or vice versa, however, WoTC has decided that most creatures in D&D concern themselves with Good over Evil, rather than Law over Chaos. (as evidenced by printing the BoXDs and not their law/chaos counterparts) Also, Alignment is open enough that your analysis is only one of many, and some people may disagree with it entirely.
Koga:The ninja trick 02-25-06, 01:41 PM	It's pretty much how The Koga sees it, though as said, law/chaos play a backseat role as compared to good/evil. Personaly The Koga would be considerd lawful neutral. "Don't care, don't care, don't care, just make sure anarchy doesn't breakout will you?" :P
pres_man 02-25-06, 02:03 PM	I usually treat Lawful as "conservative" and Chaotic as "liberal".
Seeker95 02-25-06, 04:33 PM	I usually treat Lawful as "conservative" and Chaotic as "liberal".So do voters. :D