A LG, LN, or NG Rogue?

[hong]

oh - small wrinkle:
He's been a thief in his past.
How can these alignments possibly steal from anyone who is not evil, or at least a jerk.

Sheer force of will, would be my guess.

 

[Dispater]

LG or LN rogues: Urban bounty hunters and law enforcerers. They know the tricks and their way around the city.

NG: A thief who sometimes ends up on the wrong side of the law, in conducting his business, but good all in all.

 

[Shallown]

I have a player running a lawful nuetral/good rogue. My campaign starts at the end of a two year war so the character , who at campaign start is 16, was a scout/courier for the human army. he has a much more developed background of being the son of a fairly evil father and questionable mother that were part of a thief/smuggling ring until they were killed off, most likely by his uncle. So he has had some exposure to the darker side of the rogue and has a few low skills in questionable areas such as pickpocket and innuendo. But mostly he ran messages for the military so he is lawful and doesn't steal but since he is young and weak (average con/str which is weak compared to most adventurer's) so he strikes from the shadows and sneak attacks. He had to to survive sneaking through enemy lines and such.

Just one possibility.

 

[shilsen]

I'm currently running a LN rog/rgr in a RttToEE campaign. He served as a scout in the elven army for a while, used to be a bounty hunter, and is now an adventurer. More principled than anyone else in the party, but totally based on his own code of values, which in some ways differs strongly from conventional society values (hence the LN). Never lies, never steals, never cheats. Uses his stealth abilities less than his scouting ones (Spot, Search, Listen) and those for dealing with obstacles (Open Lock, Disable Device). Very different from the 2e Thief character, but fits fine with the open-ended 3e rogue.

 

[Hand of Evil]

I could see a LG rogue as a cop/member of the watch. But it could also be played as a private eye with 'lawful' being his code of conduct to his clients.

I do think you will have to define what lawful means to the character. This is something gamers do not do in most cases. An example: Would stealing from a thief be wrong? Or is that recovery?

 

[Storm Raven]

I can see a CG Rogue using his PickPockets, etc to fight against injustice, but how does NG etc feel anything but shame for his stealthy abilities and deceptive ways?

Well, one way is for the rogue to take any number of the numerous non-stealthy and deceptive skills.

Balance
Bluff
Diplomacy
Gather Information
Intimidate
Sense Motive
Tumble
Use Magic Device

There's 8 skills off the top of my head. Now you have a budding swashbuckler. Charming, acrobatic and a dash of magical flair.

 

[Ysgarran]

A NG rogue doesn't have a huge amount of respect for laws because they are laws, he has respect for those that further the cause of good.

He wouldn't have any problem at all stealing blind some slum lord who was charging exorbitant rental rates or stealing from the mining magnate who charged more in food and lodging then he actually pays out in wages.

Realistic characters and personalities are not perfect. Alignments do not cover all aspects of an NPCs personality. A NG rogue may occasionally steal from someone who has earned it in a perfectly moral way but he may still rationalize it as "Well, this doesn't really hurt him and I'll give some money to people who 'really' need it".

A LE character may be honorable and believe in fair combat but he also believes there is nothing wrong in using torture to extract information from captured prisoners. Or he may believe in fair and honorable combat with only those who are human and of the noble class.

One of the things I ask from my players is for them to give me one aspect of their character that does not follow their alignment. For example, I have one dwarf in my group of players who says he would be tempted to break his alignment code to find out the location of Mithral Hall.

Ysgarran.

edit: there -> their.

 

[Crypt King]

Actually all three are viable, only in 1E did you have to have a non-good Rogue. Ravenloft had a LG Rogue, the guy who does all the guides to monters, Van Richten (sp)

NG: You do what you do for the betterment of others, laws don't mean much, hence not being lawful, yet your not a guy whose going to back stab someone outright, give into whimsey, have a love slave type thing. Rogue /= Evil cutpurse, backstabbing pick pocket. You should accept the alignment the rogue has really.

Just be "original," in what you do!

 

[Umbran]

How can these alignments possibly steal from anyone who is not evil, or at least a jerk.

I agree with you that a lawful or good rogue cannot steal willy-nilly. But what's wrong with stealing only from evil jerks? Really? Is this somehow a limit on his income? Jerks are generally easy to find. And they often have money.

Also, as people point out, rogue is no longer synonomous with theif. Even if he's got the skills, that doesn't mean he has to use them for theivery.

 

[pennywiz]

What do you guys think of a rogue that is either LG, LN, or NG?

1) Does this kind of get in the way of most of your ideas of roleplaying a rogue?

2) What approach would those alignmented rogues take?
I can see a CG Rogue using his PickPockets, etc to fight against injustice, but how does NG etc feel anything but shame for his stealthy abilities and deceptive ways?

Paging TSR! Paging TSR! We've found the last remaining 2E player and he's ripe to buy that leftover pile of kit books!

I'm sorry. Couldn't help it. You've got to stop thinking 'Thief' whenever you play a 'Rogue'

Alignments are a guide, not a restriction. They can change depending on how you play the character. Better be careful about what the DM has set up for the game. If he goes by the rules, a change in aligment can be risky at best and devastating in some cases.