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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 8348613" data-attributes="member: 42582">Here is Conan's account of his reason for needing to leave Argos in a hurry, at the start of <a href="http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0600961h.html" target="_blank">Queen of the Black Coast</a>:&quot;By Crom, though I've spent considerable time among you civilized peoples, your ways are still beyond my comprehension.

&quot;Well, last night in a tavern, a captain in the king's guard offered violence to the sweetheart of a young soldier, who naturally ran him through. But it seems there is some cursed law against killing guardsmen, and the boy and his girl fled away. It was bruited about that I was seen with them, and so today I was haled into court, and a judge asked me where the lad had gone. I replied that since he was a friend of mine, I could not betray him. Then the court waxed wroth, and the judge talked a great deal about my duty to the state, and society, and other things I did not understand, and bade me tell where my friend had flown. By this time I was becoming wrathful myself, for I had explained my position.

&quot;But I choked my ire and held my peace, and the judge squalled that I had shown contempt for the court, and that I should be hurled into a dungeon to rot until I betrayed my friend. So then, seeing they were all mad, I drew my sword and cleft the judge's skull; then I cut my way out of the court, and seeing the high constable's stallion tied near by, I rode for the wharfs, where I thought to find a ship bound for foreign ports.&quot;I don't think that's easy to reconcile with D&amp;D's understanding of Neutral Good. It doesn't get any easier if we consider Conan's reply to the ship master's question &quot;Can you pay for your passage?&quot;:&quot;I pay my way with steel!&quot; roared the man in armor, brandishing the great sword that glittered bluely in the sun. &quot;By Crom, man, if you don't get under way, I'll drench this galley in the blood of its crew!&quot;None of which is a reason to label Conan something else - perhaps Chaotic Neutral if we're determined to avoid Evil (although, as you posted upthread, alignment can change). It's a reason not to use alignment in S&amp;S RPGing.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 8348613, member: 42582"] Here is Conan's account of his reason for needing to leave Argos in a hurry, at the start of [URL='http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0600961h.html']Queen of the Black Coast[/URL]: [INDENT]"By Crom, though I've spent considerable time among you civilized peoples, your ways are still beyond my comprehension.[/INDENT] [INDENT][/INDENT] [INDENT]"Well, last night in a tavern, a captain in the king's guard offered violence to the sweetheart of a young soldier, who naturally ran him through. But it seems there is some cursed law against killing guardsmen, and the boy and his girl fled away. It was bruited about that I was seen with them, and so today I was haled into court, and a judge asked me where the lad had gone. I replied that since he was a friend of mine, I could not betray him. Then the court waxed wroth, and the judge talked a great deal about my duty to the state, and society, and other things I did not understand, and bade me tell where my friend had flown. By this time I was becoming wrathful myself, for I had explained my position.[/INDENT] [INDENT][/INDENT] [INDENT]"But I choked my ire and held my peace, and the judge squalled that I had shown contempt for the court, and that I should be hurled into a dungeon to rot until I betrayed my friend. So then, seeing they were all mad, I drew my sword and cleft the judge's skull; then I cut my way out of the court, and seeing the high constable's stallion tied near by, I rode for the wharfs, where I thought to find a ship bound for foreign ports."[/INDENT] I don't think that's easy to reconcile with D&D's understanding of Neutral Good. It doesn't get any easier if we consider Conan's reply to the ship master's question "Can you pay for your passage?": [indent]"I pay my way with steel!" roared the man in armor, brandishing the great sword that glittered bluely in the sun. "By Crom, man, if you don't get under way, I'll drench this galley in the blood of its crew!"[/indent] None of which is a reason to label Conan something else - perhaps Chaotic Neutral if we're determined to avoid Evil (although, as you posted upthread, alignment can change). It's a reason not to use alignment in S&S RPGing. [/QUOTE]

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