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<blockquote data-quote="Oofta" data-source="post: 7581955" data-attributes="member: 6801845">There is no one definition or use of alignment.&nbsp; So here's how I view it.One theory of how people view the world is that they see the world based on experience and feedback.&nbsp; It's why we look at clouds and see smiley faces or dogs (the technical term is pareidolia).&nbsp; We see patterns because it helps us interpret the world and react to it in an appropriate manner.Which does not mean that everyone views the world the same way.&nbsp; Two people may see the exact same thing and come to different conclusions.&nbsp; I may see a puppy in the clouds, you may see a clown.&nbsp; One person may see a cruel man beating his innocent wife, another may see a guy being strong and regretfully punishing his wife for her indiscretions. Another may just see the strong exercising their right to enforce their will on others.So alignment is just a simplified version of that.&nbsp; How does someone view the world and how do they interpret it?&nbsp; A lawful person may see the universe as a clockwork mechanism where everything has it's place.&nbsp; A chaotic person may recognize order, but not see anything natural about it and doesn't think order is inherently better than chaos.&nbsp; A good person has empathy and tries to not harm innocents.&nbsp;&nbsp; An evil person may view others as tools or objects, but put little value in what other people think or feel other than how it will affect them.Which is all broad brush-strokes and my way of saying: if it makes sense to you and your DM it works.&nbsp; Alignment is only as important as you make it.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Oofta, post: 7581955, member: 6801845"] There is no one definition or use of alignment. So here's how I view it. One theory of how people view the world is that they see the world based on experience and feedback. It's why we look at clouds and see smiley faces or dogs (the technical term is pareidolia). We see patterns because it helps us interpret the world and react to it in an appropriate manner. Which does not mean that everyone views the world the same way. Two people may see the exact same thing and come to different conclusions. I may see a puppy in the clouds, you may see a clown. One person may see a cruel man beating his innocent wife, another may see a guy being strong and regretfully punishing his wife for her indiscretions. Another may just see the strong exercising their right to enforce their will on others. So alignment is just a simplified version of that. How does someone view the world and how do they interpret it? A lawful person may see the universe as a clockwork mechanism where everything has it's place. A chaotic person may recognize order, but not see anything natural about it and doesn't think order is inherently better than chaos. A good person has empathy and tries to not harm innocents. An evil person may view others as tools or objects, but put little value in what other people think or feel other than how it will affect them. Which is all broad brush-strokes and my way of saying: if it makes sense to you and your DM it works. Alignment is only as important as you make it. [/QUOTE]

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