Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Alignment Situations I
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Mercule" data-source="post: 808696" data-attributes="member: 5100"><p>You can justify almost any response on the Law/Chaos axis.</p><p></p><p><strong>Situation A: The group is attacked by a group of thieves right outside a city. The thieves are easily subdued. Some are unconscious and bleeding to death.</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Question 1: What should the healers do?</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p></p><p>Any good would probably heal them. I don't think L/C matters here.</p><p></p><p>Alternatively, Law could justify not healing them because it's an unnecessary drain on resources. Chaos because they don't think the individuals are deserving.</p><p></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Question 2: Should the group take prisoners and turn them in at the local guard?</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p></p><p>What else are they going to do with them? That's important. Also, is the city guard "good"?</p><p></p><p>Law is going to be most inclined to the brigands over to the watch regardless. On the other hand, if they've been given any legal power that could apply (even if the jurisdictions overlap), they would be well within bounds to mete out justice on their own.</p><p></p><p>Law could also apply the law of their homeland, order, religion, etc. to every situation. In that case, they'd do whatever was called for ("thieves should die, I kill them"). They could also deal a "favor of the gods" scenario and leave them dying, although that probably isn't a good act.</p><p></p><p>Chaos would probably turn them in just because it's a hassle to deal with it themselves. Unless the chaotics think that the brigands are deserving of death for their crimes, in which case, they may go ahead and coup d'grace.</p><p></p><p>The thing to keep in mind here is that "chaotic" != "stupid". Even if they completely believe the brigands should die, they will probably not do it themselves if it's illegal. The cost/benefit ratio is too high. Chaotics do not usually disobey laws simply to "stick it to the man".</p><p></p><p>On the other hand, even though chaos may take into account what the legal _repurcussions_ of their actions are, they don't incorporate the _legality_, as such, into their decisions. If the chaotic believes the brigands should live (or die) and the law says otherwise, he'll weigh the _punishment_ of his disobedience against his values and decide based on that.</p><p></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Situation B: The group is attacked by 2 Fire Giants. One is taken down and then the other cries surrender.</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Question 1: How should they react?</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Question 2: The group paladin already determined they were evil. Would this change how the group should react?</strong></p><p><strong></strong> </p><p></p><p>Of course, the base line is as for the brigands. The only differences depend on whether the giants are innately evil.</p><p></p><p>It depends on beliefs about rehabilitation, which is neither lawful nor chaotic. I have to believe that killing a creature that could be converted with any reasonable effort qualifies as a non-good act.</p><p></p><p>If fire giants are inherently evil (a campaign-world decision), then there is no reason not to kill the fire giant. Of course there's always the function reasons like the giant has information, or a show of mercy may beget mercy and avert a war, etc. But we're talking morality here.</p><p></p><p>About the only difference here is that, if a treaty exists, the lawful would be inclined to take prisoners because the treaty dictates. A chaotic would only care because of the loss of life that would follow the breaking of the treaty.</p><p></p><p>If the fire giants could be rehabilitated, then most good characters would spare the giant. Whether they turned the giant over to the autorities would depend on a number of factors. Lawfuls would look to what was stipulated in the law or his order's beliefs. Chaotics would simply consider what was "good".</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Mercule, post: 808696, member: 5100"] You can justify almost any response on the Law/Chaos axis. [B]Situation A: The group is attacked by a group of thieves right outside a city. The thieves are easily subdued. Some are unconscious and bleeding to death. Question 1: What should the healers do? [/B] Any good would probably heal them. I don't think L/C matters here. Alternatively, Law could justify not healing them because it's an unnecessary drain on resources. Chaos because they don't think the individuals are deserving. [B] Question 2: Should the group take prisoners and turn them in at the local guard? [/B] What else are they going to do with them? That's important. Also, is the city guard "good"? Law is going to be most inclined to the brigands over to the watch regardless. On the other hand, if they've been given any legal power that could apply (even if the jurisdictions overlap), they would be well within bounds to mete out justice on their own. Law could also apply the law of their homeland, order, religion, etc. to every situation. In that case, they'd do whatever was called for ("thieves should die, I kill them"). They could also deal a "favor of the gods" scenario and leave them dying, although that probably isn't a good act. Chaos would probably turn them in just because it's a hassle to deal with it themselves. Unless the chaotics think that the brigands are deserving of death for their crimes, in which case, they may go ahead and coup d'grace. The thing to keep in mind here is that "chaotic" != "stupid". Even if they completely believe the brigands should die, they will probably not do it themselves if it's illegal. The cost/benefit ratio is too high. Chaotics do not usually disobey laws simply to "stick it to the man". On the other hand, even though chaos may take into account what the legal _repurcussions_ of their actions are, they don't incorporate the _legality_, as such, into their decisions. If the chaotic believes the brigands should live (or die) and the law says otherwise, he'll weigh the _punishment_ of his disobedience against his values and decide based on that. [B] Situation B: The group is attacked by 2 Fire Giants. One is taken down and then the other cries surrender. Question 1: How should they react? Question 2: The group paladin already determined they were evil. Would this change how the group should react? [/B] Of course, the base line is as for the brigands. The only differences depend on whether the giants are innately evil. It depends on beliefs about rehabilitation, which is neither lawful nor chaotic. I have to believe that killing a creature that could be converted with any reasonable effort qualifies as a non-good act. If fire giants are inherently evil (a campaign-world decision), then there is no reason not to kill the fire giant. Of course there's always the function reasons like the giant has information, or a show of mercy may beget mercy and avert a war, etc. But we're talking morality here. About the only difference here is that, if a treaty exists, the lawful would be inclined to take prisoners because the treaty dictates. A chaotic would only care because of the loss of life that would follow the breaking of the treaty. If the fire giants could be rehabilitated, then most good characters would spare the giant. Whether they turned the giant over to the autorities would depend on a number of factors. Lawfuls would look to what was stipulated in the law or his order's beliefs. Chaotics would simply consider what was "good". [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Alignment Situations I
Top