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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Primitive Screwhead" data-source="post: 6459960" data-attributes="member: 20805">Yes and no. My definition is anemic because it is not a definition of absolute chaos. As you state, there is a range that spans from the extremes of Lawful Stupid in which the letter of the law is followed rigidly and without question to the other extreme of Chaotic Stupid where every law is questioned and challenged simply because its a law.In my definition of non-extreme Chaos, individuals appear lawful when they follow the rules of society, but their motivation has nothing to do with the rule of law. I am not saying "Chaotic people are Lawful but Chaotic when convienient". I am saying Chaotic people appear Lawful by happenstance when their personal rules match the rules of society.  If a Lawful person was in a Chaotic society, they could appear Chaotic as they apply the Chaotic rules of society.. and if they were Lawful to the extreme they might actualy be happy with that.Regarding the Good/Evil split, I see that dicotomy to be based on the differing weights used in a cost/benefit analysis. Good weighs the benefit to others higher and the benefit to self lower, while Evil weighs the benefit to self higher and the benefit to others lower.  Again, this runs the gamut from the fully self-sacrificial to the fully self-absorbed. And you can have situations where evil appears good {and vice versa}.Lay these two over each other and you get the Chaotic Good more willing to simply ignore a rule they don't like {or leave for better pastures} and a Chaotic Evil that is more willing to destroy the system and make a new one that is more fitting.A Lawful Good that will work within the system to change a law from within for the betterment of the society, and a Lawful Evil that will try to suborn the system and force a change to fit their personal preferences.Combined you have a pretty decent short-hand way to describe how a character could be expected to act in any given circumstance. As long as its understood that the alignment system is a short-hand simplification of a wide spectrum of behaviors, having it written on the character sheet can be a good thing. And much better if you and the other people at the table agree with what those two word combinations mean <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> {sorry, had to tie back to the OP, I have been derailing too many threads recently!}</blockquote>

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