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Alignment - Action As Intent
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<blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 3610057" data-attributes="member: 22779"><p>Are you saying that a paladin, or any other good PC, who kills an innocent through their own actions <em>wouldn't</em> have to atone? Killing an innocent is an evil act. Full stop. Since paladin's only permanently lose their status by "willfully commits an evil act" (SRD), he is in no danger of that here. However, if a paladin PC whacked an innocent and then ignored that, I'd be having some problems. Same goes for any Good aligned divine caster IMO. </p><p></p><p>Sorry, while it wasn't a willfully evil act, it's still an evil one.</p><p></p><p>Intent does have some place in alignment, but, it's a very, very small one. What matters is the act, not the intent. The only way to change alignment is through actions. I can sit around thinking evil thoughts all day, but, if I never act upon them, my alignment never changes. </p><p></p><p>Back to the vampire for a moment. The act of saving the orphans is a good one. There's nothing precluding a vampire from performing good acts. The fact that he later uses the orphans as a steady supply of blood is an evil act, but, that doesn't retroactively make saving the orphans an evil act. </p><p></p><p>Put it another way. Say the vampire intends to eat the saved orphans when he saves them. So, his intent is pretty clearly evil. However, fate intervenes in the meantime and Mr Vampire is cured. Does that retroactively make saving the orphans a good act since he's no longer going to eat them?</p><p></p><p>Intent might explain why someone does something, but, alignment doesn't really care. The why's of an action are not explained by alignment, merely described. An act might be good or evil, but, that's based on a fairly absolute scale by RAW. If it's altruistic and selfless, then it's good. If it's the opposite, it's evil. Adding intents into the picture just blurs the distinctions and doesn't really serve any purpose.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Hussar, post: 3610057, member: 22779"] Are you saying that a paladin, or any other good PC, who kills an innocent through their own actions [i]wouldn't[/i] have to atone? Killing an innocent is an evil act. Full stop. Since paladin's only permanently lose their status by "willfully commits an evil act" (SRD), he is in no danger of that here. However, if a paladin PC whacked an innocent and then ignored that, I'd be having some problems. Same goes for any Good aligned divine caster IMO. Sorry, while it wasn't a willfully evil act, it's still an evil one. Intent does have some place in alignment, but, it's a very, very small one. What matters is the act, not the intent. The only way to change alignment is through actions. I can sit around thinking evil thoughts all day, but, if I never act upon them, my alignment never changes. Back to the vampire for a moment. The act of saving the orphans is a good one. There's nothing precluding a vampire from performing good acts. The fact that he later uses the orphans as a steady supply of blood is an evil act, but, that doesn't retroactively make saving the orphans an evil act. Put it another way. Say the vampire intends to eat the saved orphans when he saves them. So, his intent is pretty clearly evil. However, fate intervenes in the meantime and Mr Vampire is cured. Does that retroactively make saving the orphans a good act since he's no longer going to eat them? Intent might explain why someone does something, but, alignment doesn't really care. The why's of an action are not explained by alignment, merely described. An act might be good or evil, but, that's based on a fairly absolute scale by RAW. If it's altruistic and selfless, then it's good. If it's the opposite, it's evil. Adding intents into the picture just blurs the distinctions and doesn't really serve any purpose. [/QUOTE]
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