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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 1870177" data-attributes="member: 177">No, because you've presented a Kobayashi Maru scenario.  No matter what the character does, he's going to lose, morally speaking.  Either he lets a few die or he lets many die.  Neither is really an acceptable result.  Creatures incapable of moral action are neutral.  Those people left in a position where there is no moral choice cannot really do Good or Evil.If it is truely unavoidable, there is no choice being made, and so no moral character to the event.Fully aware of the spirits there?  Then the character is certainly on questionable moral ground.  Sounds like "Let's say there's a dam, behind which is a huge amount of water. The character digs at the base of the dam,looking for treasure."  Of course the character is responsible when the dam breaks and floods the village!  Typically, no, I don't tell them.  For the vast majority of characters, it makes no real difference.  Characters who have alignment restrictions on their class abilities get some warning to change their ways or face the consequences.3.5e PHB, pg 104, top of left hand column:"Choosing an alignment for your character means stating your intent to play that character a certain way.  If your character acts in a way more appropriate to another alignment, theDM may decide that his alignment has changed"3.5e DMG, pg 134, left column "Changing Alignment":"A character can have a change of heart that leads to the adoption of a different alignment.  Aligments are nto commitments, except in specific cases (such as paladins and clerics).  Player characters have free will, and their actions often dictate a change of alignment."Both of which indicate that the actions make the alignment, not the other way around.  Characters have free will, whatever teh two letters on the character sheet say the alignment is.The devil lies in the details.  If the character is shown to put the organized, disciplined behavior ahead of the goal, then there has surely been an alignment change.  Short of that, the DM has to make a call, looking at the end sand the means, and see which, if either, is in dominance.In a way, yes.  Note that, according to the rules, most folks are neutral.  Being Good, Evil, Lawful, or Chaotic indicates dedication to an ideal or pattern above and beyond that seen in the run of the mill person.  To an aligned character, how they behave is more important than their own interests.No, not a pathology.  Merely a goal unto itself.  A chaotic person really and truely loves personal freedom of action, and would not have that curtailed if at all possible.  A lawful person really and truely feels that an organized society is the best way to go, and will put himself out to reach that end.Just like Good and Evil, really.  Good people will sacrifice their own well-being for the greater good.  A Chaotic being will do things that aren't in their own best interest for the greater freedom.The moral and ethical implicatiosn of events are not based solely on the events themselves, but also on the context, and the characters motivations and intentions are part of that context.The Chaotic person being orderly to bring about a greater chaos is a good example.  Surely, committing minor orderliness is allowed, if the intended result is great chaos.  The end justify the means.  But as the orderliness required to bring about the end grows, the less the ends justify the means, and the less chaotic the character is, in total balance.One can imagine a chaotic character who gets so wrapped up in achieving the goal, that he kind of forgets the goal, and in fact winds up inflicting more order on the world than his plan will ultimately undo.  Such a character is perhaps more lawful than he originally intended to be.The road to Law may be paved with Chaotic intentions <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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