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<blockquote data-quote="delericho" data-source="post: 3578462" data-attributes="member: 22424">I would rule that a truly isolated hermit couldn't be Evil, because he would be unable to commit any Evil acts. However, as mentioned earlier in the thread, it's highly unlikely that such a hermit will not have at least animals to visit his Evil upon.In the context of the game, I rule that one's alignment is determined by one's actions (because how can the DM really judge the thoughts and motivations of a PC?).The best way to do this, I think, is to take an appropriately broad view of Evil - it essentially comes down to harming others for one's own benefit. So, the merchant who cheats his clients, the tax-farmer who legally inflicts great suffering on the populace, and the corrupt politician may well all be Evil, but some or all of them may not have committed an actual crime, and they probably haven't committed crimes worthy of summary execution.Bear in mind also that the Detect Evil power does not indicate the magnitude of Evil a person has committed, but only the power of the individual who is Evil. So, a 1st level Commoner serial killer would appear to be less Evil than a 10th level Fighter whose only crime is that he hates dogs and enjoys kicking them at every opportunity. (Of course, one could argue that Evil is Evil is Evil, and that there is actually no distinction... but that's an argument that I don't feel like getting into.)</blockquote>

[QUOTE="delericho, post: 3578462, member: 22424"] I would rule that a [i]truly[/i] isolated hermit couldn't be Evil, because he would be unable to commit any Evil acts. However, as mentioned earlier in the thread, it's highly unlikely that such a hermit will not have at least animals to visit his Evil upon. In the context of the game, I rule that one's alignment is determined by one's actions (because how can the DM [i]really[/i] judge the thoughts and motivations of a PC?). The best way to do this, I think, is to take an appropriately broad view of Evil - it essentially comes down to harming others for one's own benefit. So, the merchant who cheats his clients, the tax-farmer who legally inflicts great suffering on the populace, and the corrupt politician may well all be Evil, but some or all of them may not have committed an actual crime, and they probably haven't committed crimes worthy of summary execution. Bear in mind also that the [i]Detect Evil[/i] power does not indicate the magnitude of Evil a person has committed, but only the power of the individual who is Evil. So, a 1st level Commoner serial killer would appear to be less Evil than a 10th level Fighter whose only crime is that he hates dogs and enjoys kicking them at every opportunity. (Of course, one could argue that Evil is Evil is Evil, and that there is actually no distinction... but that's an argument that I don't feel like getting into.) [/QUOTE]

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