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Alignment thread - True Neutrality
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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 6758493" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>If it is a crack, it's not just in <em>my</em> theory - it goes back to Gygax's description of True Neutrality as a "naturalistic ethos"!</p><p></p><p>This is yet another point where - to me, at least - it becomes evident that alignment is not an all-purpose labelling system, but rather makes sense against a particular set of world assumptions.</p><p></p><p>You are right that <em>if</em> the mortal realm ("nature") is the creation of the gods, and in some sense plays out or expresses their cosmological concerns, then the idea of nature as "neutral" or "balanced" breaks down. But, in that case, True Neutrality as described by Gygax ("this naturalistic ethos", "Nature will prevail and keep things as they were meant to be" - see the OP for more quotes along similar lines) is erroneous, because it rests on a false premise about the character of "nature" and the "natural" world.</p><p></p><p>It seems to me that, if the GM has already decided as part of the campaign backstory that the world is created in the way you describe, and hence that Gygaxian naturalistic True Neutrality is already known by the game participants to rest on a false premise, then there is no point allowing True Neutrality as an alignment option. It would just be a trap (in something like the way [MENTION=2656]Aenghus[/MENTION] has articulated in posts upthread).</p><p></p><p>Another way of going, though, would be to allow the cosmological status of the mortal world to be something that is up for grabs in play. Is it, in fact, as the naturalistic True Neutrals conceive of it, and to the extent that it looks otherwise that's just because of imbalances introduced by human and divine action? Or is it inherently a site of mortal and divine striving that makes so-called True Neutrality mere foolishness? That could make for an interesting game.</p><p></p><p>In 4e, it might involve something to do with the nature and role of primal spirits. In my 4e game, the primal spirits have played no role in the campaign to date (and are extremely unlikely to do so in the remaining handful of sessions), but a somewhat similar sort of question is playing out, as the PCs (and their players) struggle to decide whether the mortal world is something good in itself, worth preserving with all its apparent imperfections, or whether the Lattice of Heaven should be rebuilt, or whether the Dusk War should come and everything be started again from scratch, Ragnarok-style.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 6758493, member: 42582"] If it is a crack, it's not just in [I]my[/I] theory - it goes back to Gygax's description of True Neutrality as a "naturalistic ethos"! This is yet another point where - to me, at least - it becomes evident that alignment is not an all-purpose labelling system, but rather makes sense against a particular set of world assumptions. You are right that [I]if[/I] the mortal realm ("nature") is the creation of the gods, and in some sense plays out or expresses their cosmological concerns, then the idea of nature as "neutral" or "balanced" breaks down. But, in that case, True Neutrality as described by Gygax ("this naturalistic ethos", "Nature will prevail and keep things as they were meant to be" - see the OP for more quotes along similar lines) is erroneous, because it rests on a false premise about the character of "nature" and the "natural" world. It seems to me that, if the GM has already decided as part of the campaign backstory that the world is created in the way you describe, and hence that Gygaxian naturalistic True Neutrality is already known by the game participants to rest on a false premise, then there is no point allowing True Neutrality as an alignment option. It would just be a trap (in something like the way [MENTION=2656]Aenghus[/MENTION] has articulated in posts upthread). Another way of going, though, would be to allow the cosmological status of the mortal world to be something that is up for grabs in play. Is it, in fact, as the naturalistic True Neutrals conceive of it, and to the extent that it looks otherwise that's just because of imbalances introduced by human and divine action? Or is it inherently a site of mortal and divine striving that makes so-called True Neutrality mere foolishness? That could make for an interesting game. In 4e, it might involve something to do with the nature and role of primal spirits. In my 4e game, the primal spirits have played no role in the campaign to date (and are extremely unlikely to do so in the remaining handful of sessions), but a somewhat similar sort of question is playing out, as the PCs (and their players) struggle to decide whether the mortal world is something good in itself, worth preserving with all its apparent imperfections, or whether the Lattice of Heaven should be rebuilt, or whether the Dusk War should come and everything be started again from scratch, Ragnarok-style. [/QUOTE]
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