Melkor said:
First, Hello, Melkor!
I think chaotic evil characters would be willing to go along with a group of people for a common goal, such as crossing a dangerous mountain pass. However, it should be emphasized that chaotic alignments stress a lot on individualism and differ largely on the degree of rights that others deserve. A chaotic good character generally would insist that everyone in a society should enjoy the same rights and should act responsibly towards each other as individuals. Indeed, a chaotic good character might argue that only by allowing individuals to have rights that their choices can have meaning. By contrast, chaotic evil characters generally seem to believe that individual desires justify any actions, and talk of rights are the folly of the weak. Mind you, a chaotic evil character may serve a more powerful master, but generally out of fear or a desire for long term advancement. Perhaps a chaotic evil character might believe in a form of Social Darwinism, arguing that the individuals who are most competent rise to the top, while others sink to the bottom.
A chaotic neutral character generally is not much concerned about matters of morality, but should have some limits on what such a character considers justifiable. This is probably something for a DM and players to work on, as in the matter of all alignments. (Alignments can be impacted by such matters as faith and culture. Also, a good or lawful aligned individual can be as complex as those of chaotic alignment. I do not believe that playing CN necessarily requires a more adult individual, as I have seen some very self-willed individuals prove to not always act in their long term interests. From my observations, actions tend to have consequences in the real world. I would argue the same would be true of a good campaign. (Thanee says rightly that there are examples of mature and immature ways of playing alignments. For example, one character may follow a code because he or she is told to do so while another may agree with that code based on his observations of the world, experiences, and deeply held beliefs. I have seen people play CN, LG, and other alignments well and badly. There are paladins and there are pala
dims..) A chaotic neutral character would likely relate to many situations on a case by case basis. There may be some people whom such a character always responds to in a given manner because of deeply held personal beliefs. For example, a CN character may have a soft spot for those he or she considers downtrodden in his homeland. He or she may not react the same in another country. The character may not actively seek harm to people at random, but may at times seem indifferent to the plight of some people while interested in the plight of others.
Chaotic neutral is not a license that allows everything. However, a CN character may decided to obey a law if it makes sense, not just because it is a law. Many matters should be judged on a case by case basis, but there are probably at least some people to whom a CN feels an individual connection. This may make the character seem very self-interested to others, but a CN character might respond that one should make decisions on a case-by-case basis. Perhaps a good question for a player of a CN character to ask is what matters to that character and why?
