Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Oofta" data-source="post: 8693142" data-attributes="member: 6801845">Not sure who you're directing this to, but according to the PHB alignment is &quot;A typical creature in the game world has an alignment, which broadly describes its moral and personal attitudes ... Individuals might vary significantly from that typical behavior, and few people are perfectly and consistently faithful to the precepts of their alignment.&quot; (emphasis mine).That's all.&nbsp; It's not a straightjacket.&nbsp; It doesn't dictate every aspect of behavior.&nbsp; Two individuals may have the same alignment and make different choices, it's just one descriptor of the individual's personality just like traits, ideals, bonds and flaws.&nbsp; Personally I've always looked at alignment from a Psych 101 viewpoint: alignment is the general framework you use to view the world.&nbsp; Someone lawful views life like a clockwork mechanism that works best when things follow a pattern.&nbsp; A chaotic person doesn't see any inherent pattern and believes any patterns are one we artificially impose.&nbsp; Good is empathetic and cares about others, evil is self-centered and generally cares little for the welfare of others outside of how it helps them.&nbsp; Ultimately it's just a quick tool for deciding NPC's and monster's if I don't have any other details that dictate behavior.&nbsp; As it says in the MM: &quot;A monster’s alignment provides a clue to its disposition and how it behaves in a roleplaying or combat situation.&quot;</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Oofta, post: 8693142, member: 6801845"] Not sure who you're directing this to, but according to the PHB alignment is "[I]A typical creature in the game world has an alignment, which [B]broadly [/B]describes its moral and personal attitudes ... Individuals might vary significantly from that typical behavior, and few people are perfectly and consistently faithful to the precepts of their alignment.[/I]" (emphasis mine). That's all. It's not a straightjacket. It doesn't dictate every aspect of behavior. Two individuals may have the same alignment and make different choices, it's just one descriptor of the individual's personality just like traits, ideals, bonds and flaws. Personally I've always looked at alignment from a Psych 101 viewpoint: alignment is the general framework you use to view the world. Someone lawful views life like a clockwork mechanism that works best when things follow a pattern. A chaotic person doesn't see any inherent pattern and believes any patterns are one we artificially impose. Good is empathetic and cares about others, evil is self-centered and generally cares little for the welfare of others outside of how it helps them. Ultimately it's just a quick tool for deciding NPC's and monster's if I don't have any other details that dictate behavior. As it says in the MM: "[I]A monster’s alignment provides a clue to its disposition and how it behaves in a roleplaying or combat situation.[/I]" [/QUOTE]

Verification