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Message: <blockquote data-quote="takyris" data-source="post: 1263497" data-attributes="member: 5171">Just weighing in on the neutral side of things.It also depends, as it always does, on the character's motivation.- Too scared to do anything -- No Step- Want to watch -- Step toward Evil- Don't want to risk being known as snitch -- Step toward Neutral from Good, but not toward Evil from Neutral- Don't want guards to stop fight -- Step toward Evil- Caught by conflicting desire, don't want to get into fight with my own race, but don't want to see even somebody from a race I despise get killed -- No StepIf the level of despise is one of those elf-dwarf things, for example (ie, not dwarf versus orc, elf versus drow, where there's a clearly delineated good-evil difference), then the PC is not evil for failing to overcome his ingrained prejudices enough to try and stop people, but would have stepped toward Good by trying to do so.A person heading toward Good, or in Good, would have done something, even if it was sneaking off to go get guards.A person in Neutral or heading that way either didn't care ("Last time I tried to stop this, it turned out to be a murderer getting beaten to death by the victim's friends -- who am I to judge again this time?") or was conflicted ("He's one of THOSE people, but that doesn't mean he should just be KILLED... that's something THEY would do").A person in or heading for Evil wanted to stay anc watch without getting his own hands dirty.And there are other restrictions.  In one of my campaigns, there was a deity devoted to healing and life.  His clerics were forbidden to kill except in defense of one who absolutely could not defend himself (ie, children).  He was free to destroy undead and constructs and attack outsiders until they were banished to their homeworld, but he was could not lift a hand help his fellow PCs, except by healing them, even if they were in a losing fight.Someone with a similar mindset might have thought that, from a perspective of preserving the most amount of life, waiting until the attackers left and then doing his best to heal the victim was the best course of a bad lot.Overall, not saying that it's right or good or wonderful.  In real life, there aren't any races that I dislike enough to have that kind of quandry, but it's good for D&D to bring that kind of thing up once in awhile to make the players think a bit.  I'd like to think that I'd try to help, if not by attacking the attackers, then by calling for the guards.But maybe I'd freeze up in fear.  Who knows.</blockquote>

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