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Phaseroth 03-08-07, 12:07 AM

The other day I got to thinking about my own line of work (the restaurant business) and the fact that the different jobs within that business tend to attract, or even encourage, certain types of people. And that got me to thinking, "What D&D-style alignments would be associated with different professions, and should this be taken into consideration when choosing a PC's Profession?" Here's what I came up with for the restaurant business: Kitchen Staff (chefs, cooks): Lawful. Working in a commercial kitchen benefits from a Lawful orientation/mindset. Recipes need to be followed correctly. Even inventing a new recipe requires a certain reliance on past experience and knowing how different ingredients in different proportions work together following expected behavior. Procedures must be followed when cooking. There are health codes that must be observed at all times. Advantages: Observance of proper procedures ensures that the expected result comes to pass (you don't burn the toast). A knack for organization allows a cook to prepare multiple items, each with different requirements, and have all of the items finish at the same time. An organized cook is efficient and quick. Disadvantages: Being inflexible can cause difficulty for a cook when the unexpected occurs. A lawful cook may become irritable when the toaster jams and burns the toast, or the food he just prepared falls on the floor, or a customer orders their meal with multiple special requests, or a server places an order that is incorrect or illegible, because these things disrupt his "system". Serving Staff (waiters, waitresses, bussers): Chaotic. A server benefits strongly from a Chaotic mindset. The job often requires thinking on your feet and quickly adjusting to changing circumstances. Advantages: A flexible server is able to deal with unexpected requests, unusual situations, and dealing with many people simultaneously. He or she can easily make on-the-spot, spur of the moment decisions to keep the customers happy. Disadvantages: Being too flexible can result in customers taking advantage. Too little organizational skill can result in taking on too many things at once, and inconsistent quality of service. Extremely chaotic servers can quickly get on the bad side of the cook :D because they tend to allow customers to order things that they shouldn't (like dinner during the breakfast hours, or disallowed substitutions that are more costly than the original item). Bartenders: Neutral. Serving alcoholic drinks requires an approach that is balanced between Lawful and Chaotic. On the Lawful side, a bartender must be responsible for mixing drinks correctly, neither overpouring nor underpouring the alcohol, and know the proper recipes for hundreds of different drinks. He must be observant and ready to respond to illegal behavior (such as underage patrons attempting to purchase alcohol). On the Chaotic side, it is up to a bartender to facilitate a good time, make on-the-spot decisions as a server would, and judge when customers have had enough to drink in spite of the fact that everybody reacts differently to intoxication. I don't think the Good/Evil axis applies to any of these positions. So, what alignment best suits your profession? What alignments best suits the professions one would expect to find in a D&D campaign?