A "lawful" debate forgive me please

[Calico_Jack73]

I just have to say that I think Psion hit the nail on the head.

 

[Zimri]

Silveras

I do thank you (and everyone else) for your opinion on the matter . I was looking for points of view and I got some, and I would like more if anyone else is so inclined.

As I said my DM is by and large not commenting at all so the problem can't be all that large anymore in his eyes, or at the very least is getting better.

Also from the SRD in regards to LN

Lawful Neutral, “Judge”: A lawful neutral character acts as law, tradition, or a personal code directs her. Order and organization are paramount to her. She may believe in personal order and live by a code or standard, or she may believe in order for all and favor a strong, organized government.

 

[Silveras]

I do thank you (and everyone else) for your opinion on the matter . I was looking for points of view and I got some, and I would like more if anyone else is so inclined.

As I said my DM is by and large not commenting at all so the problem can't be all that large anymore in his eyes, or at the very least is getting better.

Also from the SRD in regards to LN

Heh, yes, if I was going to quote the SRD I probably should have included the Lawful Neutral entry as well.

What I do in my campaign for alignment is this:
I have created pairs of behavioral traits (Selfish/Generous, for example) and assigned each pair to the Lawful-Neutral-Chaotic or Good-Neutral-Evil axis of a graph. The player selects 2 to 5 pairs on each axis for each character, and assigns a number rating from -15 to +15 to show how strong each tendency is. - Numbers are Chaotic and Evil, + numbers are Lawful and Good (just a convention, not a judgement). The player adds up all the numbers on the same axis and divides the result by 3. The resulting number indicates where that character falls on the axis.

Why not just average ? Because then too many characters wind up True Neutral.

This system allows a couple of things:

• the players know what sort of behavior I expect from each alignment
• the characters have a defined personality
• that personality can have an occasional quirk "against type"
• people without strong convictions (few traits rated, no high number values) tend to be some flavor of Neutral, while those with strong convictions (large number values, more traits rated) are the ones who wind up in the extreme alignments (LG, CG, LE, CE).
• the system allows for gradual change over time (keep casting evil spells and I will keep nudging the numbers on the Good-Neutral-Evil axis down toward Evil, for example)

I don't expect this system to work for everyone, but it helped clarify things for my group and greatly reduced arguing about a alignment.

 

[Zimri]

True that and it seems like a decent enough system. I kick myself in the butt frequently for not choosing one of the monastic orders in the FR setting book. Instead I chose to make my own "personal maoral and ethical code" and have been struggling to do so ever since. At least had I choosen an order I would have guidelines.