Chaotic alignments and roleplaying… what’s your take?

[Goddess FallenAngel]

Chaotic alignments and roleplaying… what’s your take?

(Note: This is in reference to 3rd edition and older, given that the only chaotic alignment in 4e is CE. Also, I realize that everyone has their own interpretation of the alignments - and that’s OK.)

(Another Note: Yes, I realize that many people use Chaotic Neutral as an excuse to play a jerk and/or an evil character without having an evil alignment written on the sheet. We all know, or at least know of, those people, but I’d like to hear opinions of how you roleplay chaotic alignments, not horror stories of disruptive gamers. That’s a different thread.)

I’m starting a new character in a game this Friday, and just noticed last night that the class requires a chaotic alignment. Which got me to thinking how best to RP the character.

I’ve roleplayed CG and CN before. However, upon thinking back on it, how I usually rp chaotic is “impulsive”. Granted, depending on the good-evil axis, the motivations and impulses vary – but that’s that meat of it. With CN I usually throw in a dislike of authority in general, and with both CG and CN generally a disregard for the laws and/or rules if they aren’t serving the greater good, or if it is just inconvenient to follow them at that point in time and won’t cause any harm not to do so.

I’m not quite sure what I want to do with this character yet, so I am asking for the ENworld Community for ideas – how do you roleplay chaotic? What is there beyond just impulsive? Got any good stories to share? Maybe give me some ideas/examples?

 

[Crothian]

I don't do them as impulsive, I do them as free. They don't like feeling restrained. AS long as my character had the option open to him to just walk away he was great. He never needed to do that but when that choice was removed from him he got cranky and rebellious.

 

[Dyson Logos]

Chaotic involves a dislike of rules - especially rules applied to the character in question. The character might follow the rules anyways (pragmatists understand that some rules make sense anyways, or that if you break the rules you end up in trouble because of all the Lawful types who think the rules are important), but will not appreciate them, and will be willing to break them and/or won't find others at fault for breaking them.

The Evil/Good axis changes how they look at the results of the rules. A rule that says "thou shalt not kill" looks like a good idea to the CG character, who understands that there are evil schmucks out there and the rule was put in place to deal with said schmucks (although the CG character would rather deal with it through other means than the law). Meanwhile, the CE character views that rule as tripe.

My favourite CG character was not impulsive at all. He planned, he directed from behind the scenes, he LOVED rules because the rules gave him a frame of reference of how to expect people to behave, which makes behaving outside of that frame of reference easier. He eventually became the leader of a small thieves' guild - it never became big because he had a hard time setting and enforcing rules fairly within the guild (he could set them, but was prone to making exceptions in enforcement by either going too severe or letting people off the hook). It was his belief that the common people weren't properly served by the people in power, and that they needed to work together to break down the weird rules of status and power that kept the nobles noble and the serfs weak.

 

[Baron Opal]

Lawful: The needs of the Many outweigh the needs of the Few or the One. Society over Self

Chaotic: Once I can take care of myself, I can take care of others. Self over Society.

- or -

Lawful: Zoroastran
Neutral: Taoist
Chaotic: Objectivist

This lets people have different alignments yet cooperate as they pursue the prize.

 

[pawsplay]

I tend to prefer Chaotic characters. Many swords-and-sorcery protagonists are Chaotic, and by my standards, I am, too.

More than anything else, Chaotic is the willingness to stand against the accepted order. Someone who is psychotic might be Chaotic, but so might celeberated eccentrics like Richard Feynman, Tim Burton, John Waters, Jackson Pollock, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Zen Buddhist monks might be Chaotic, defying all social conventions in their quest for enlightenment. A Chaotic marauder might risk his life challenging the leader of a barbarian horde, while a Chaotic healer might defy the quarantine of a local ruler. Chaotic Good types view life as a lesson to be learned, and are not afraid to confront others with puzzles and challenges. Chaotic Evil types view life as a challenge to be mastered, and view rules, situations, and other people as either obstacles or resources in their personal quests. Chaotic Neutral is a balanced view, that life can be interpreted but not ascribed a specific meaning, and recognizing that although they may place their own goals ahead of others, that it is ultimately limiting to try to dominate others.

When a Chaotic person wants something done, the first thing they try to do is to do it themselves. When something needs to change, the first thing they try to change is themselves. When a Chaotic person asks for allegiance, they ask for allegiance to themselves and their personal goals, and when they give allegiance, they assign themselves personally. Chaotic resist the idea that interpretation is ever final.

Being Chaotic does not mean denying constancy. Luke Skywalker, for instance, was loyal, determined, and dedicated to the Jedi Code, but approached problems in unexpected ways, relied on his intuition and experience more than precepts, and trusted his own moral purpose over the commands of his teachers.

A few chaotics from fiction: Luke Skywalker, Conan, Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, Jack Sparrow, Westley (the Dread Pirate Roberts), Merlin (from Sword in the Stone).

Real life possible CNs who do not fit the "impulsive" mold:
- Lao Tzu, author of the Tao Te Ching, = "A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving."
- Theodore Roosevelt, a vaunted trust-buster who also colluded with big business when he thought it was in the public interest. - "I care not what others think of what I do, but I care very much about what I think of what I do! That is character!"

 

[Voadam]

Alignment is a very flexible concept.

I've played chaotic ones as individual focused. "I don't care about your alignment, race, religion, or kingdom. If you are my friend, you are my friend and I will stand by you to the death. If you are my enemy, you are my enemy and I will rip you to shreds." This has worked well when playing CN orc and troll barbarian PCs in a mixed race party.

I've played one as a thug/thief who hated the city watch and was a jerk.

I've played the crusader who fights evil wherever he finds it.

I've played a fanciful/delusional elf beguiler who kept telling about his past exploits among the faery court, dicing with demon lords, gaming with giants, etc.

I've played it as adventuresome and impulsive, seeking excitement.

Lots of options.

 

[ProfessorCirno]

My friend likes to joke that all my Chaotic Good characters end up as "Paladins who became libertarians." It's not much of a joke, seeing how it's, er, kinda true. Maybe not the paladin part.

 

[Lanefan]

I don't know if you've already rolled the stats yet, but the easiest way to achieve a Chaotic (non-Cleric) character is to make Wisdom the dump stat, and hope for a nice low number to stick in there.

Then, once the adventure starts, just do whatever leaps into your head without regard for what happens next... It'll take a few tries and maybe a few fists before you learn it's better to annoy the enemy than the party, but if the character is otherwise useful, you're set.

Two more examples of chaotic-fun characters from recent fiction: Fred and George Weasley.

Lanefan

 

[Dyson Logos]

Yeah, but that's falling back into the stereotype of Chaotic Impulsive.

You can be wise and chaotic also.

 

[tyrlaan]

Like some folks have already pointed out, there's a lot of room for interpretation on how you define chaotic, let alone how you play it. I've actually played 3 different CN characters that serve as some (hopefully) interesting examples:

1) This was a being of unknown race (homebrew game) with odd connections to the element of fire. Due to various points in his background, he ultimately decided that there was no such thing as fate and everything was merely random. He embraced it and became a priest of the god of chaos. He was 100% chaotic. He introduced himself with new names from one town to the next. When someone asked for money he would say yes to one then no to the next, for no reason. He would also just take out a handful of coin and hand it over, never really counting how much he'd lend out. He would start brawls at inns, forge wanted posters, etc. If it caused more chaos he would do it. The quintessential CN crazy guy I suppose.

2) This one was an elf obsessed with knowledge and the truth. Nothing was more important than exposing the truth, which would lead to knowledge. He was compulsively honest and would blatantly disregard any rules or whatnot that would get in his way from uncovering a truth. He didn't care about doing the right thing or the wrong thing, just getting the truth of it all. I found it interesting to play a seeker of knowledge that was CN

3) A human woman betrayed by family at a young age who decided the only person she could trust was herself. She looked at every situation from a "what can I gain from this" angle. She never outwardly stole from the rest of the party, but she would broker extra deals on the side or sometimes keep the change on a good sale if no one was the wiser. She saw the rest of the party as sort of a personal insurance policy. She came a little close to evil sometimes, but CN fit the bill.