Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
How do you REALLY play Chaotic Neutral?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Byrons_Ghost" data-source="post: 1541176" data-attributes="member: 7396"><p>My longest-running 2e character (I've mostly DMed 3rd ed) was a CN illusionist. He was a sort of surrealist artistic type, using magic to try and alter reality (or at least the perception of it) around him. He was fond of experimentation (both magical and chemical) and large quantities of magic, art, or style simply for the experience of it. </p><p></p><p>Really, he was almost sort of a sorcerous Aesthete (as in the artistic movement). He definately had that artistic "rock star" sort of personality- craving attention, acting egotistical, not being concerned about other's needs or feelings, or at least not those of the general populace.</p><p></p><p>That being said, I played him as sort of an amalgam of all the different CN sterotypes, going from one to another depending on the circumstances- and trying not to get too extreme or disruptive with things, though I'm sure that's a matter of opinion. I didn't really use it as an excuse for evil deeds, though I had my share of them. OOC I tried to balance them out more or less, IC it was mostly just whims, or following the Neutral idea of hurting your enemies and helping your friends.</p><p></p><p>Speaking of whims, there were some "random" acts each session, but not so much to derail the group. Nothing like "I leave the dungeon and go on vacation", more like "Hey, I wonder what this lever does?" Things like that were still somewhat irritating IC (except to the rogue, oddly enough- I think he appreciated never having to disarm these things), but the game could still flow.</p><p></p><p>None of these acts really came from insanity, although the high-level magics and altered perceptions did lend itself toward a slightly skewed outlook. As did all those castings of <em>Contact Outer Plane</em>, a spell which I'd never cast under 3e. I mean, if it can't drive you insane, then what's the point?</p><p></p><p>The character did have a lot of problems with authority, although since the game went for several game years I played him settling down after a while. He started off as a young punk apprentice, though, the kind that would deal with demons specifically because he was told not to. He eventually quit testing and rebelling against everything, and would only really get mad when someone was trying to directly control him (which still led to a couple of legal entanglements and ticked-off nobles). In the end he ended up a noble in a frontier type area (Norwold, for those who remember it) with his own domain to adminster. He wasn't exactly a dedicated ruler, or a strict one- upon taking over he immediately halved taxes and declared extra holidays. Generally, as long as the commoners behaved, he'd leave them alone. As for all that boring paperwork and court hearings, well- that's what the simulacrum is good for. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue :p" data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Byrons_Ghost, post: 1541176, member: 7396"] My longest-running 2e character (I've mostly DMed 3rd ed) was a CN illusionist. He was a sort of surrealist artistic type, using magic to try and alter reality (or at least the perception of it) around him. He was fond of experimentation (both magical and chemical) and large quantities of magic, art, or style simply for the experience of it. Really, he was almost sort of a sorcerous Aesthete (as in the artistic movement). He definately had that artistic "rock star" sort of personality- craving attention, acting egotistical, not being concerned about other's needs or feelings, or at least not those of the general populace. That being said, I played him as sort of an amalgam of all the different CN sterotypes, going from one to another depending on the circumstances- and trying not to get too extreme or disruptive with things, though I'm sure that's a matter of opinion. I didn't really use it as an excuse for evil deeds, though I had my share of them. OOC I tried to balance them out more or less, IC it was mostly just whims, or following the Neutral idea of hurting your enemies and helping your friends. Speaking of whims, there were some "random" acts each session, but not so much to derail the group. Nothing like "I leave the dungeon and go on vacation", more like "Hey, I wonder what this lever does?" Things like that were still somewhat irritating IC (except to the rogue, oddly enough- I think he appreciated never having to disarm these things), but the game could still flow. None of these acts really came from insanity, although the high-level magics and altered perceptions did lend itself toward a slightly skewed outlook. As did all those castings of [i]Contact Outer Plane[/i], a spell which I'd never cast under 3e. I mean, if it can't drive you insane, then what's the point? The character did have a lot of problems with authority, although since the game went for several game years I played him settling down after a while. He started off as a young punk apprentice, though, the kind that would deal with demons specifically because he was told not to. He eventually quit testing and rebelling against everything, and would only really get mad when someone was trying to directly control him (which still led to a couple of legal entanglements and ticked-off nobles). In the end he ended up a noble in a frontier type area (Norwold, for those who remember it) with his own domain to adminster. He wasn't exactly a dedicated ruler, or a strict one- upon taking over he immediately halved taxes and declared extra holidays. Generally, as long as the commoners behaved, he'd leave them alone. As for all that boring paperwork and court hearings, well- that's what the simulacrum is good for. :p [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
How do you REALLY play Chaotic Neutral?
Top