Having an NPC roll persuasion on YOU?

[Elredion]

Well its still subjective though as I may be remembering another eds definition here but isn't true neutral still supposed to favour good and law over evil?

So true neutral is Lawful Good lite? Sounds boring

 

[TheCosmicKid]

What makes a man turn neutral? Lust for gold? Power? Or were you just born with a heart full of neutrality?

 

[Sword of Spirit]

Well its still subjective though as I may be remembering another eds definition here but isn't true neutral still supposed to favour good and law over evil?

In 3e, neutral was the alignment of the average human--the baseline. Being good meant you had to go out of your way to help people who you have no real connection to. Being patriotic: probably neutral. Helping an old lady cross the street when she asks you to and you're going that way anyway: probably neutral.

Just think, "what would the average real-world person do" = neutral.

Personally, I love that way of looking at it. It nicely ends all of the absurd alignment debates over "is this lawful good or chaotic good?" because most of the time it is neither. Law and chaos, good and evil are extremes. If someone is self-sacrificing enough to be good, start by assuming they are neutral good. Then think, "are they strongly lawful/order-driven enough to be lawful, or strongly independent/freedom-loving (etc) enough to be chaotic?" Most of the time the answer is "probably not." Neutral is default, not some weird straddling of a borderline.

5e has a terse description sort of leaves it up to you whether you want to take than angle on it or whether you want to keep neutral as more disinterested.

 

[Elredion]

What makes a man turn neutral? Lust for gold? Power? Or were you just born with a heart full of neutrality?

For this purpose my character was lawful neutral with folk hero background and was possessed by an alien entity for the Great Old One warlock patron. Shown the true nature of chaos and even though he fights his patron's influence, he still realizes it has a place in the universe and must be respected.

 

[Sunseeker]

My NPCs make checks against the players all the time. (I keep a scorecard of their "defenses" ie: base stats and what they're proficient in) It just allows me have an answer for when players ask "do I believe them?" I can say "Well, I can't make you believe them, but they sound very convincing." Beyond that it's up to the players to make checks.

Allow me to let Bilbo put it better than I could have:

He often used to say there was only one Road; that it was like a great river: its springs were at every doorstep and every path was its tributary. “It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door,” he used to say. “You step into the Road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there is no telling where you might be swept off to.”

That's why we're here isn't it? That's why we're adventurers isn't it? To take that step, to risk losing your feet, to see where this is all going to go? If that's not your reason for being at the table, don't waste my time.