D&D 5E can warlocks be good guys?

[Mirtek]

That's because he's not a PC, and thus, doesn't matter.

And that's why he made the pact, to be as good as those PCs would could do it on their own power where he needed the pact

 

[BigVanVader]

And that's why he made the pact, to be as good as those PCs would could do it on their own power where he needed the pact

Depending on the backstory. Which, btw, is unimportant, as your character doesn't exist before 1st level. Nothing happens prior to the first game that the DM runs. It's like Total Recall.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

"A paladin swears to uphold justice and righteousness, to stand with the good things of the world against the encroaching darkness, and to hunt the forces of evil wherever they lurk. Different paladins focus on various aspects of the cause of righteousness, but all are bound by the oaths that grant them power to do their sacred work. Although many paladins are devoted to gods of good, a paladin’s power comes as much from a commitment to justice itself as it does from a god."

From the first page of the paladin section. While the oath is critical to the power of the paladin, I'll point you to the last line there. "A paladin's power comes as much from a commitment to justice itself as it does from a god." As in, the oath is just as important as the god. Implying they're both important.

That's the same passage I was thinking of, and it's saying the opposite to me of what it says to you: "SOME paladins are religious, but ALL paladins are ideological." There are no paladins who are more religious than Oath-driven, but the converse is not implied.

 

[Mistwell]

RE: Harry Dresden

[sblock]He certainly had an infernal pact with Lash...Hellfire. Just sayin'.[/sblock]

Yes, that's right. I think you could say he's had Fey, Infernal, and Celestial pacts at some point or another.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Yes, that's right. I think you could say he's had Fey, Infernal, and Celestial pacts at some point or another.

And Great Old One (Outsider) as well. Don't forget about the whole Starborn connection that Maggie LeFay arranged...

 

[Sunseeker]

Depending on the backstory. Which, btw, is unimportant, as your character doesn't exist before 1st level. Nothing happens prior to the first game that the DM runs. It's like Total Recall.

Bah that's nonsense. There's plenty of room for "what happened before I became a level 1 noob". I mean lets be honest, you don't actually go from being level 0 to being level 1. You go from 1 to 2. So there's a whole world of things that could have happened between you being born to the point that you become a level 1 mook.

 

[BigVanVader]

Bah that's nonsense. There's plenty of room for "what happened before I became a level 1 noob". I mean lets be honest, you don't actually go from being level 0 to being level 1..

I don't, because I'm a person and not a character. Characters aren't born, usually, they just suddenly exist, with memories already in their heads.

 

[Sunseeker]

I don't, because I'm a person and not a character. Characters aren't born, usually, they just suddenly exist, with memories already in their heads.

Semantic garbage. They "suddenly exist" just as much as their history can "suddenly exist". While it may not be for everyone, since most of my games include mature themes and I often play in mature games, I usually make 18+ characters. Sure the princess in the story world can still get married off to a distant princeling at 13, but for the sake of keeping the table "legal" so to speak, there's at least 18 years of history that "suddenly exists" just as much.

 

[Umbran]

Just to give my own answer to the OP...

In games where I use alignment, I view it as a long-term average of actions, intentions, and results.

Selling your soul? Well, that's shaky ground, but really, if you sell your soul, and the only person you hurt is yourself. Do you sell your free will? Does that sale force you to act in way that harm others? Then, we have an issue.

It also may depend a bit on the rules of the game you're playing - in some previous editions, for alignment purposes there was a difference between those who were personally nasty people, and those who had power from certain powers. A cleric of an evil god would show as "evil" for purposes of spell effects, but could actually be one step of alignment away from their god, personally.

 

[BigVanVader]

Semantic garbage. They "suddenly exist" just as much as their history can "suddenly exist". While it may not be for everyone, since most of my games include mature themes and I often play in mature games, I usually make 18+ characters. Sure the princess in the story world can still get married off to a distant princeling at 13, but for the sake of keeping the table "legal" so to speak, there's at least 18 years of history that "suddenly exists" just as much.

Sure, but that history just "exists" the same way Kevin Costner's talent "exists". The history is there, but it's largely irrelevant to the game at hand unless it's mentioned by the DM. And even then, it just exists in the words of the DM, not on its own merit.