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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Wombat" data-source="post: 2055838" data-attributes="member: 8447">My biggest problem with alignment has been that it is both Absolute and Relative similtaneously.Monsters have Absolute Alignment, as to certain spells, planes of existence, magical items.  An orc is Evil and thus always Evil.  For a paladin to kill an orc is thoroughly acceptable because the cause of Good is being forwarded by the destruction of Evil.  Now a lammasu is Good, so for a paladin to kill one would be an Evil act.  Clear cut, black and white interpretation of alignment allows this.  Characters have Relative Alignment.  The sum total of their actions show a tendency towards one of the nine alignments, but they are not forced into one or another mold.  A Good character can commit Evil acts and yet remain Good, not even really tingeing into Neutral, as long as he does relatively more Good acts (by number? by degree? by magnitude? by press coverage?).  These are merely the top of the pops for me, but this annoys me.  But consider the poor paladin -- he has a power (Smite) which is Good, but only when used right and only when he himself has been acting in accordance with his Paladin's Code.  Now are we to judge the paladin by the Relative Alignment code or the Aboslute Alignment code?  Must all of his actions conform to Absolute Alignment, thus placing him in a very tight straitjacket, or to Relative Alignment, which allows a heckuvalotta leeway?And, as noted above, what is Good and Evil is often shaped by personal views of the players in the modern world rather than the beliefs of the fantasy world.  Slavery could be considered Good, Evil, Lawful, or Neutral, depending on how you interpret it.  Similar arguments could be constructed for human/sentient sacrifice, bondage, capital punishment, transportation to the colonies, and dozens of other issues, many of which show up in at least my rpgs at one point or another.  So this is my problem -- alignment, even as presented, is neither Absolute nor Relative, but some fuzzy-bordered concept standing sadly and confusedly inbetween.</blockquote>

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