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<blockquote data-quote="Aldarc" data-source="post: 8294943" data-attributes="member: 5142">I apologize to the OP for this digression of mine.But I would posit that the problem is not the existence or framing of Chaos as a conflict, but, rather, it's Good.<img src="https://media2.giphy.com/media/PsBRTPKG71YVq/200.gif" alt="Chevy Chase Community GIF" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />The existence of Good as an Alignment fundamentally invalidates a lot of actual moral and philosophic complexities in the 5e D&amp;D mythos and cosmology. What is Good? Let's ask Neutral Good, which some would regard as the purest manifestation of Goodness. What is the social value of Law and/or Chaos when objective Good exists? What are the downsides of Good again? Not sure if there are any. The objective existence of Good seems like a winning ticket. What are the actual conflicts, plot hooks, and dramatic tension between Chaotic Good and Lawful Good in the cosmos? Pretty non-existent. Why? Because Good. They seem to mostly either cooperate, peacefully co-exist, or get along. This is what drives the Blood War as the popular metaplot. This is because, repeat after me, Good is boring. Although Gygax likely thought that introducing Good vs. Evil into the mix of Law vs. Chaos would add greater complexity to the game, it ironically had the opposite effect because the existence of Good nullifies a lot of that complexity. This is also why Michael Moorcock opted to pick up Poul Anderson's use of Law and Chaos. It shifts the debate from Good vs. Evil to something more morally ambiguous. Additionally, this is also what I appreciate about the color White in the Magic the Gathering. It's not framed as being fundamentally &quot;good.&quot; It's framed as being concerned about Morality, which provides a lot of breathing room about questions of goodness, morality, and ethics. White is not necessarily &quot;good,&quot; but it does have ideas on goodness, morality, and virtue that it wants to sell you on.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Aldarc, post: 8294943, member: 5142"] I apologize to the OP for this digression of mine. But I would posit that the problem is not the existence or framing of Chaos as a conflict, but, rather, it's [I]Good[/I]. [IMG alt="Chevy Chase Community GIF"]https://media2.giphy.com/media/PsBRTPKG71YVq/200.gif[/IMG] The existence of Good as an Alignment fundamentally invalidates a lot of actual moral and philosophic complexities in the 5e D&D mythos and cosmology. What is Good? Let's ask Neutral Good, which some would regard as the purest manifestation of Goodness. What is the social value of Law and/or Chaos when objective Good exists? What are the downsides of Good again? Not sure if there are any. The objective existence of Good seems like a winning ticket. What are the actual conflicts, plot hooks, and dramatic tension between Chaotic Good and Lawful Good in the cosmos? Pretty non-existent. Why? Because Good. They seem to mostly either cooperate, peacefully co-exist, or get along. This is what drives the Blood War as the popular metaplot. This is because, repeat after me, [I]Good is boring[/I]. Although Gygax likely thought that introducing Good vs. Evil into the mix of Law vs. Chaos would add greater complexity to the game, it ironically had the opposite effect because the existence of Good nullifies a lot of that complexity. This is also why Michael Moorcock opted to pick up Poul Anderson's use of Law and Chaos. It shifts the debate from Good vs. Evil to something more morally ambiguous. Additionally, this is also what I appreciate about the color White in the Magic the Gathering. It's not framed as being fundamentally "good." It's framed as being concerned about Morality, which provides a lot of breathing room about questions of goodness, morality, and ethics. White is not necessarily "good," but it does have ideas on goodness, morality, and virtue that it wants to sell you on. [/QUOTE]

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