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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DonAdam" data-source="post: 693945" data-attributes="member: 2446">As a thought experiment for my players, rather than a set of rules, I broke alignment down into four components. They are still subdivided by the old axes, and a character's alignment would basically be determined by an "average" of sorts:Law/Chaos (although I prefer the term "Orderly" to Lawful, since I come from a Judeo-Christian background in which Law and Good are synonymous):Political Axis: Individualist, Neutral, OrganicThis axis reflects, obviously, political beliefs. The individualist is characterized by a belief in libertarian or anarchical ideas, and sees any notion of "society as a whole" or "the state" as useful constructs but things with no inherent dignity or worth. The organic ideal is that society is a whole greater than the some of its parts, and that individuals must, at least to some extent, be subject to it. Communism, fascism, statism, and extreme nationalism fall into this category. A neutral position might be expressed as utilitarianism.This axis was actually the inspiration for the whole system. It explains why a monk or paladin can revolt against a government without violating the lawful part of their alignment, which could be satisfied by the othe part, namely...Discipline Axis: Rigid, Neutral, Free-spiritedThis axis is a question of how the person pursues their personal ends. The Rigid person, in the extreme, is anal retentive in his organization. He is very disciplined and follows a rigid set of guidelines, and probably a strict schedule. Monks should be Rigid (though not necessarily as extreme as what I just described). The Free-spirited person does little planning and is very spontaneous.Good/Evil:Morality Axis: Moral/Neutral/ImmoralThis axis represents a combination of two old (ie Aristotilean or Thomist) ways of looking at ethics, namely the person's adherence to negative moral norms and any moral virtues not associated with the next category. Will the person be dishonest (in the full sense of denying information to those with a right to it)? Will he use someone else as a mere object of sexual gratification? Will he murder an innocent? Does he infringe upon the dignity of others? Is he temperate in consuming food and drink? This is a difficult category to assess given competing ethical systems.Charity Axis: Selfless, Neutral, SelfishNote that I am using a restricted sense of the classic definition of charity, "to will the good of another." I am restricting this sense to not include negative moral norms (don't kill, don't steal, don't commit adultery) and instead restricting it to a sense of an active effort to do what the character sees is the good of another. A Selfless character is willing to make great personal sacrifices, maybe even risking his life, to help someone else. A neutral character would be willing to risk his life for a huge number of people or for a close friend, but not a stranger.The political views issue is on its own, but the other three provide a good start on roleplaying one's character. Here are some sample combinations:Rigid/Moral/Selfless: this could be an ascetic monk or disciplined paladin, who believes that it is through discipline that one can remain virtuous and give himself to othersNeutral/Moral/Selfless: this could be another ascetic monk who wants and tries to live rigidly but fails occasionally; his inconstancy sometimes lead to bad decisions, like drinking too much of the monastery wine, but he is always sorryFree-spirited/Moral/Selfless: continuing with the religious example for ease of comparison, this might be a charismatic preacher whose passion for what is good drives him to be reckless at times, or a barbarian who would give anything to keep his people free from a tyrannical invader?/Immoral/Neutral- this guy has right and wrong all mixed up but is loyal to his friendsRigid/Moral/Selfish- This guy has the right ideas about personal morality, but is self-righteous and won't help anybody else- they're clearly deserving what they get for being sinnersetc etcEdit: Having purchased Monte's BHM, I'm considering reworking this onto a scale. If anybody is terribly interested you can email me (check my profile) and if I get it done I'll send it to you.</blockquote>

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