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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ysgarran" data-source="post: 4941499" data-attributes="member: 709">Out of curiosity is there room for redemption for evil NPCs in your  campaign world?   If so, what is that process from good to evil?   Is it like flipping a switch?Does the possibility of redemption play into the PCs thoughts when they  are judging an NPC?  If this possibility does play into their judgment of the NPC what attributes do they look for?   Is it enough for the NPC to cry "I'm good now!   Really!   Just check with your alignment spell and see!"?  In my own campaign the characters have a history with the NPC that they can look to help with this, something beyond just what the various alignment spells tell them.Is there room for internal conflict with regards to alignment in any of your NPCs?  Since alignment is so simply defined are these conflicted NPCs LN one day, LE the next, maybe LG on an off day until this conflict is resolved?  Or do they stay one alignment until the conflict is resolved?  If they stay one alignment until they change how do you communicate to the players that the evil NPC is having second thoughts and maybe is looking for help on the path to good?Does intent play a role in alignment?  If a NPC greatly desires to "hurt, oppress, and kill others" but is only kept from doing so because of fear of retribution is that NPC evil?   That NPC hasn't 'done' any of the above... he just would if he knew he would not be caught.Do evil characters in your campaign rationalize to themselves that they are actually good?  If they do what rationalizations do they use?I have tribes of barbarians in my campaign that are very kind, considerate, willing to make sacrifices, altruistic for members of their own tribe.  They would lay down their life in a second for a member of their own tribe.  Their judgment and treatment of sentient beings is strictly culturally based.  There are absolutely no rules or restrictions on how anyone outside of the tribe is treated.  I've found this to be a very uncommon paradigm in D&D but it works for my campaign.  This might be what you consider to be a *corner case* but I've found it makes my campaign more interesting.  What alignment would a barbarian from that tribe be if they never met someone from outside the tribe?  That barbarian has never engaged in an evil act in their life.We might be alike in that I have a pretty clear answer for that question that works for my campaign.  As side note, one of the alignment arguments that floored me was the one about Varsuvius in <a href="http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0639.html" target="_blank">Giant In the Playground Games</a>With one Paladin I had the NPCs chances of survival was actually greater if the NPC *didn't* repent.  If he repented the Paladin would kill him saying "This is the best chance he has of a good reward, he would only backslide if I let him go".   Now, that evil NPC almost always was guilty of some crime deserving of death so usually was not a problem...Paladin alignment wise...</blockquote>

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