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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MrGrenadine" data-source="post: 4229362" data-attributes="member: 62619">So close...If you see the Chaos and Law as universal concepts, then you're probably going to have trouble with the old D&D alignment system.The solution is to see only the Good-Evil axis as universal--as someone stated earlier, Good and Evil are forces in the universe, and how you act places you somewhere on that axis.  The concept of Good has an absolute, just as the concept of Evil.  Murder of another sentient being without any provocation is an evil act, everywhere.  Risking your life to save the life of another is a good act.  Yes--a country could decide that it is unlawful to save someone's life, or encourage the wholesale slaughter of innocents--but that would not make self-sacrifice 'evil' or murder 'good'.  That would only define those acts as lawful or unlawful. Chaos and Law, on the other hand, aren't universal, because laws change from culture to culture, country to country, state to state, religion to religion, etc.So, to say you are Lawful, doesn't mean you obey every rule someone scrawls on a sign by the side of the road.  Lawful means you abide by a set of laws.  Period.  Those laws may be a combination of religious observances, moral leanings, customs from your home-country--whatever.  The point is that you follow them.Chaotic, on the other hand, means that you do not abide by a set of laws--you can wear what you want, go where you want, eat what you want, cross the street when you want, etc etc. Acting lawful or unlawful is really independent of the Good-Evil axis.It should also be stated that as you continue to act, your place on the Good-Evil and Law-Chaos axes change, so alignment can never be a straightjacket for a character.  A character's actions define his or her alignment, not the other way around.  In other words, a 'good' character is certainly free to hack a kitten apart to hear it scream--but at the cost of slipping on the Good-Evil axis toward Evil.  An 'evil' character is free to try to selflessly save said kitten--and by doing so would slip a little toward Good.  All characters have free will!  Alignments are merely a shorthand to describe how they would act in most cases based on how they've acted in the past.</blockquote>

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