Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Understanding Alignment
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 4941861" data-attributes="member: 4937"><p>I personally feel that the trolley problem in its generic form doesn't really intersect each alignment's interests particularly strongly. And I think pretty much every alignment is going to view the trolley problem as one with no 'right' answers (or no 'wrong' answers, depending on how they view right and wrong). Even an alignment like neutral evil - for which IMO this is as clear as any alignment - is going to be bothered by the fact that they can't kill both parties. And an alignment like lawful good, for which this might seem to be a clear cut problem, in addition to being deeply troubled that they can't save everyone, is going to make exceptions for the general 'Flip the switch' default answer, for example, if the single person on the tracks is the King or some other figure very valuable to society. Conversely, the chaotic alignments probably make exceptions based on whether one group or the other contains someone who is valuable to them personally. For example, chaotics are likely to be very much more sympathetic to to 'don't flip the switch' if the one person on the track is their child or spouse. We can also imagine situations where the lawful society forgives 'don't flip the switch' if the one person the track is a parent or similar authority figure (as a lesser version of 'I can't kill the King', even to save a larger group because it's outside my authority) where they wouldn't forgive 'It's was my child!"</p><p></p><p>I think we learn much more about the alignments by trying to figure out what additional circumstances in the trolley problem that they would feel is relevant to the solution.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Why do I need to do that? </p><p></p><p>I believe that all you need to do is come up with and communicate a relatively clear and unambigious system that your players can understand. I don't think that alignment needs to operate the same way at every table.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Celebrim, post: 4941861, member: 4937"] I personally feel that the trolley problem in its generic form doesn't really intersect each alignment's interests particularly strongly. And I think pretty much every alignment is going to view the trolley problem as one with no 'right' answers (or no 'wrong' answers, depending on how they view right and wrong). Even an alignment like neutral evil - for which IMO this is as clear as any alignment - is going to be bothered by the fact that they can't kill both parties. And an alignment like lawful good, for which this might seem to be a clear cut problem, in addition to being deeply troubled that they can't save everyone, is going to make exceptions for the general 'Flip the switch' default answer, for example, if the single person on the tracks is the King or some other figure very valuable to society. Conversely, the chaotic alignments probably make exceptions based on whether one group or the other contains someone who is valuable to them personally. For example, chaotics are likely to be very much more sympathetic to to 'don't flip the switch' if the one person on the track is their child or spouse. We can also imagine situations where the lawful society forgives 'don't flip the switch' if the one person the track is a parent or similar authority figure (as a lesser version of 'I can't kill the King', even to save a larger group because it's outside my authority) where they wouldn't forgive 'It's was my child!" I think we learn much more about the alignments by trying to figure out what additional circumstances in the trolley problem that they would feel is relevant to the solution. Why do I need to do that? I believe that all you need to do is come up with and communicate a relatively clear and unambigious system that your players can understand. I don't think that alignment needs to operate the same way at every table. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Understanding Alignment
Top