Neutral alignment

[Brother MacLaren]

As far as the PHB definitions go, many people who think of themselves as "basically good people" are really more neutral because they lack the commitment to be Good.
Good -- will make sacrifices to help others
Neutral -- will try not to hurt others but will not make sacrifices to help them
Evil -- both "do not care if hurt others" AND "actively try to hurt others"

 

[shilsen]

As far as the PHB definitions go, many people who think of themselves as "basically good people" are really more neutral because they lack the commitment to be Good.
Good -- will make sacrifices to help others
Neutral -- will try not to hurt others but will not make sacrifices to help them
Evil -- both "do not care if hurt others" AND "actively try to hurt others"

I think the PHB lines need "others whom you have no real connection to" instead of "others" to really work.

Good, neutral and evil characters, IME, can all make sacrifices to help people who matter to them. For example, a CE murderer may risk drowning to save his wife and child and still remain evil. For alignment, what matters is how they treat strangers. A good person will make sacrifices for a stranger. An evil person will not care if he hurts a stranger and will sometimes actively try to do so to benefit himself. A neutral character won't sacrifice himself for a stranger but will have moral compunctions against hurting strangers just to benefit himself.