gambling and alignment

[alsih2o]

now, let's try and remember the board rules about politics and religion, we can do this...

irl gambling is seen by many groups as less then good aligned. not necessarily evil, but not good.

does your alignment view allow for gambling by good characters?

i see it as an act that isn't exactly evil, but surely not a subject in your first semester of paladin school.

any thoughts?

 

[TiQuinn]

now, let's try and remember the board rules about politics and religion, we can do this...

irl gambling is seen by many groups as less then good aligned. not necessarily evil, but not good.

does your alignment view allow for gambling by good characters?

i see it as an act that isn't exactly evil, but surely not a subject in your first semester of paladin school.

any thoughts?

I would say it's one of those things were moderation determines whether it's "good" or "bad". If a paladin goes to the town's tavern to have an ale, IMO, he's not breaking any vows or going against his code. If he goes to the tavern, and leaves falling down drunk every single night of the week, he's probably either skating on thin ice or is already breaking his code. I think the same thing would apply with gambling. It's the difference between whether you have a gambling addiction or whether you gamble as a means of diversion and being social.

 

[BigFreekinGoblinoid]

In my Roleplaying experience, gambling has generally not been treated as evil by good/religious players - It's just not particularly a WISE thing to do, so therefore avoided by clerics and other wisdom centric characters

 

[Datt]

I don't really see gambling as a non-good act. Sure it may not be the best thing in the world, but I don't see it as evil. I mean let's face it just about every where has gambling of some form or another. If it isn't a casino it is a state sponsored lottery.

 

[Ranes]

I agree with BFG. An enlightened ruler could use the taxes from legal gambling to put to good causes, for example. Even a less philanthropic scenario than that could still be a good thing.

However, gambling is a vice and, even in the situation described above, there are those who may stoop to an evil act as a consequence of becoming involved in it. Someone who lives by the strictures of paladinhood is, in my view, unlikely to condone gambling, let alone engage in it. Nevertheless, under the right circumstances, such an individual may tolerate it.

 

[diaglo]

any thoughts?

gambling, alcohol, prostitution, slavery, etc...add other religious "sins"

they seem to lumped into one big no-no.

but i basically agree with TiQuinn. it is all in the moderation of the use of the elements.

i tend to make them neutral based elements in the game. but there are extremes both good and evil. the bingo/gambling church fund raiser vs. the den of thieves rob you blind underground poker parlor.

 

[Arnwyn]

does your alignment view allow for gambling by good characters?

Absolutely. I see no correlation between alignment and gambling.

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

It depends on the type of gambling. Take a game of 'pokir' - standard DnD card game - IMO there is a world of difference between betting a few coppers and every gold you own (and more you don't, most likely)?

What constitutes 'a few coppers' also differs wildly depending on personal wealth. A few thousand GP is simply pocket change to a high level FR character after all?

I would say 'serious' gambling, and many other vices, are more chaotic acts than anything to do with good/evil? I think this is especially true for gambling due to the random nature of it.

Stealing/killing/etc to feed a vice are evil in themselves. They do not make the vice itself a 'bad' thing, IMO.

Edit: In other words, I'd see it as quite in keeping for a chaotic good character, but the paladin is skating on thin ice....

 

[Altalazar]

There is no correlation between alignment and gambling. It is a game, one that just happens to have a chance of winning money, low though it may sometimes be. Is buying a lottery ticket evil? I somehow doubt it. Every business investment is a gamble, of sorts. The stock market is full of gamblers. It is what makes the world go round. To call it evil is to call all economies evil. Which is more of a fringe ideology than an alignment.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

I agree that rules-wise there is no correllation between gambling and alignment, but what if your character follows a strict fundamentalist religion defining gambling as an evil act, along with drinking etc. Would everyone in a bar or casino detect as evil to a cleric of that religion?

Oops, I'm probably opening up that whole detect good/evil can of worms again...