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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Matthias" data-source="post: 6195893" data-attributes="member: 3625">I thought I had explained the moral and ethical axes in my original post, but as it seems unclear I will try again.Good and Evil as I understand its use in a d20 context refers to how much the welfare of the group matters over the welfare of the individual. A paladin seeks the greatest amount of benefit for the greatest number of people, while the antipaladin is out for himself first, everyone else second. A morally balanced person tries to acknowledge both as important, believing in enlightened self-interest, while the morally apathetic person considers their ethical position (law/chaos axis) as more relevant and will do whatever is more expedient (whether good or evil) to further the cause of their ethical belief.Law and Chaos (again, my personal understanding) is concerned about social order and following the rules vs. anarchy and everyone doing their own thing their way. In most cases, ethics is subordinate to morals; one's ethical belief is deemed the most effective means to promote one's moral worldview (Good, Evil, etc.). A Lawful (Good/Evil/Balanced person believes following the rules is the best method of achieving their moral cause (though an Lawful  Apathetic will consider Law as an end unto itself rather than a means to an end). A Chaotic (G/E/B) person believes that whatever one's moral cause is, a whole bunch of rules and regulations is going to interfere with individual improvement and enlightenment--you do your thing your way, and I'll do my thing, my way.Does that help any?That is a better way of putting it, I think. It will also make a distinction between an (Active)LG Paladin ["let's rescue the world from evil!"] and a (Passive)LG Cleric ["my children, let's be excellent to each other."]. An (Active)True Neutral Druid may champion "moderation in all things" (what I described as True Balance) while a (Passive)True Neutral Commoner just doesn't care enough about anything to try to make a difference beyond his very small monkey sphere, perhaps because he is a serf living hand-to-mouth. (True Apathetic)Animals would still be classified as True Apathetic, as they are also motivated by self-preservation and little else.</blockquote>

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