Alignments...

[Khorod]

I also prefer that the players not actually know there alignment- they make up a background, roleplay there characters, and the alignment dependent affects will come as they come.

Playing in Star Wars, without alignment, gave me the idea. My character was pretty obviously LN, but by not thinking about it, at all, he was a much more fluid personality than most D&D characters concerned with alignment I've ever seen.

And, of course, real people don't actually know that they are GOOD. They know they are generally compassionate people, and that this counts for something.

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

I think one of the easiest ways to define your character through their alignment is to consider what you would do differently from another character of a different alignment.

Example:

A LG character could react to a kingdom ruled by an apparently evil tyrant by trying to find a better heir who had a legitimate claim to the position and promised to create laws that would help all.

A NG character would perhaps seek to merely kill the king and find any suitable replacement, believing that the law or lack of law is irrelevant, but that an evil would have been removed, presumably making things better.

A CG character could perhaps seek to kill the king but not care at all about a replacement, since he could believe that any form of government is inherently bad and that small communities that get by rather than large countries is the way to go.

You see what I'm saying? All the above IMHO etc etc.

Also, I'm curious about people's reactions to the True Neutral alignment. My thoughts are that it represents one of two things, depending on character. Either someone who believe in balance and that no particular philosopical force should out power another, or, someone who simply considers law, chaos, good and evil irrelevant to their life.

 

[GuardianLurker]

Also, I'm curious about people's reactions to the True Neutral alignment. My thoughts are that it represents one of two things, depending on character. Either someone who believe in balance and that no particular philosopical force should out power another, or, someone who simply considers law, chaos, good and evil irrelevant to their life.

True Neutral could also be total apathy ("I know the "alignment" poles are important and directly effect me, I just don't care.")("They leave me alone, I leave them alone."), or a complete willow-in-the-wind ("Oh, order definitely makes sense, yah, yah. Oh chaos definitely makes sense, yah, yah.") who does whatever the last big influence was.

Of the various approaches, I believe apathy generates more true neutrals than anything else.