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The "orc baby" paladin problem
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<blockquote data-quote="Hypersmurf" data-source="post: 3327560" data-attributes="member: 1656"><p>Well, that's a whole 'nother debate.</p><p></p><p>Is alignment a record of past deeds, or an indication of inclination and disposition?</p><p></p><p>Let's take a vicious Warrior Princess, who has led her armies rampaging across a continent spreading slaughter and misery, and delighting in every minute of it. Either way - record or inclination - she's Evil.</p><p></p><p>And then she has a revelation - meets someone who provides a good example, perhaps - and realises she has wasted her talents fighting for the wrong side. She resolves to atone for her past and become a champion of goodness... to make up for all the pain she caused by fighting evil and righting wrongs.</p><p></p><p>What is her alignment at this moment? You'll see people give three different answers.</p><p></p><p>1. Evil. She's been a bad girl, and she hasn't actually accomplished anything to balance that, despite her new resolution.</p><p></p><p>2. Neutral. She's sworn off evil, so she isn't one of the bad guys any more, but she's yet to prove that she can cut it on Team Good.</p><p></p><p>3. Good. If you gave her the choice right now between a bag of gold or saving the life of a peasant, she'd save the peasant... and that's the Good choice, not the Evil choice. Her past deeds were the acts of an Evil person, but she wouldn't commit those same acts any more.</p><p></p><p>Now, I personally favour the Inclination reading, so I'd say that having made her resolution sincerely, she is now good-aligned. (The Helm of Opposite Alignment, for example, describes the character as having a 'new outlook'. If alignment were simply a record of past deeds, it would have no effect on one's outlook...)</p><p></p><p>But what this means is that a troll baby, despite never having done anything evil in its life, could still be an evil creature... as long as its inclination would be to make an evil choice over a good one when such a situation might arise in the future.</p><p></p><p>Others disagree, though, and consider alignment a record... so the troll baby who hasn't done anything wrong <em>yet</em> is neutral, even if it's currently plotting how to escape its playpen and devour all the peasants in the nearby village.</p><p></p><p>-Hyp.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Hypersmurf, post: 3327560, member: 1656"] Well, that's a whole 'nother debate. Is alignment a record of past deeds, or an indication of inclination and disposition? Let's take a vicious Warrior Princess, who has led her armies rampaging across a continent spreading slaughter and misery, and delighting in every minute of it. Either way - record or inclination - she's Evil. And then she has a revelation - meets someone who provides a good example, perhaps - and realises she has wasted her talents fighting for the wrong side. She resolves to atone for her past and become a champion of goodness... to make up for all the pain she caused by fighting evil and righting wrongs. What is her alignment at this moment? You'll see people give three different answers. 1. Evil. She's been a bad girl, and she hasn't actually accomplished anything to balance that, despite her new resolution. 2. Neutral. She's sworn off evil, so she isn't one of the bad guys any more, but she's yet to prove that she can cut it on Team Good. 3. Good. If you gave her the choice right now between a bag of gold or saving the life of a peasant, she'd save the peasant... and that's the Good choice, not the Evil choice. Her past deeds were the acts of an Evil person, but she wouldn't commit those same acts any more. Now, I personally favour the Inclination reading, so I'd say that having made her resolution sincerely, she is now good-aligned. (The Helm of Opposite Alignment, for example, describes the character as having a 'new outlook'. If alignment were simply a record of past deeds, it would have no effect on one's outlook...) But what this means is that a troll baby, despite never having done anything evil in its life, could still be an evil creature... as long as its inclination would be to make an evil choice over a good one when such a situation might arise in the future. Others disagree, though, and consider alignment a record... so the troll baby who hasn't done anything wrong [i]yet[/i] is neutral, even if it's currently plotting how to escape its playpen and devour all the peasants in the nearby village. -Hyp. [/QUOTE]
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