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<blockquote data-quote="Rechan" data-source="post: 4656224" data-attributes="member: 54846">What you describe is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_relativism" target="_blank">moral relativism</a>. There is no true right or wrong, merely perspective based on cultural definition. The same act is Good for group A, but evil for group B, because group A defines it as good and group B defines it as evil. Such as suicide; in Japanese culture, suicide is acceptable because it is seen as taking the utmost of responsibilities for your action, and absolving yourself/your family of shame. In Western culture, it is seen as shameful/sinful/selfish, etc. This of course is ignoring the fact that in D&amp;D, alignment is a living breathing thing that exists in the room. Both because of the existence of supernatural forces that exemplify those alignments, and because alignment (up until 4e) was a mechanic ingrained in the system. The [Evil] keyword beside the spell Animate Dead removed all subjective argument; casting the spell moves your alignment if you do it too often, period. You can't really argue perspective with the paladin when you show up on his Detect Evil.Now, what I meant by &quot;Chaotic&quot; is not 'random action', but 'anti-order'. Or anti-civilization, if you will; a race of rebels without a cause. A group of raiders who burn crops and tear houses down, but do not kill anyone, who blockade roads and disrupt logging efforts would be agents of chaos. As are fae that spend their existences frollicing and cavorting around, their dancing rings drawing in the unwary, unable to escape; they are chaotic due to their hedonistic natures of 'do what feels good'; those fae have no structure to their existence. It can mean &quot;Untamed&quot; and &quot;Wild&quot;, &quot;Unreliable&quot; and &quot;Not one for commitment&quot;. Tarzan and the Vikings.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Rechan, post: 4656224, member: 54846"] What you describe is [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_relativism"]moral relativism[/URL]. There is no true right or wrong, merely perspective based on cultural definition. The same act is Good for group A, but evil for group B, because group A defines it as good and group B defines it as evil. Such as suicide; in Japanese culture, suicide is acceptable because it is seen as taking the utmost of responsibilities for your action, and absolving yourself/your family of shame. In Western culture, it is seen as shameful/sinful/selfish, etc. This of course is ignoring the fact that in D&D, alignment is a living breathing thing that exists in the room. Both because of the existence of supernatural forces that exemplify those alignments, and because alignment (up until 4e) was a mechanic ingrained in the system. The [Evil] keyword beside the spell [I]Animate Dead[/I] removed all subjective argument; casting the spell moves your alignment if you do it too often, period. You can't really argue perspective with the paladin when you show up on his [I]Detect Evil[/I]. Now, what I meant by "Chaotic" is not 'random action', but 'anti-order'. Or anti-civilization, if you will; a race of rebels without a cause. A group of raiders who burn crops and tear houses down, but do not kill anyone, who blockade roads and disrupt logging efforts would be agents of chaos. As are fae that spend their existences frollicing and cavorting around, their dancing rings drawing in the unwary, unable to escape; they are chaotic due to their hedonistic natures of 'do what feels good'; those fae have no structure to their existence. It can mean "Untamed" and "Wild", "Unreliable" and "Not one for commitment". Tarzan and the Vikings. [/QUOTE]

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