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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Elder-Basilisk" data-source="post: 494933" data-attributes="member: 3146">Re: Re: Re: Absolute vs relative alignment...Smite or protection from evil would work the same way on the bully and the demon but that doesn't mean that smiting a bully is the same as smiting a demon. Firing a pistol also has the same physical effect whether you're a policeman or a bank robber but that doesn't mean that there's no difference between a the policeman and a bank robber in a shootout.I think you're the only one who's confused here. A person can be evil. A demon is always evil. They're both evil but they're also different. What's so confusing about that? Where's the relative alignment that you're supposed to be confused about?Unless you decide to reduce all information about character, behavior, attitude, and belief to a pair of words--Lawful Good or Neutral Evil for instance--I don't see any inconsistency between saying that the miser and the mass murderer are both evil--although to different degrees and for different reasons--and that evil means the same thing in both cases (whether evil is defined as a failure of virtue or a transgression against moral law is irrelevant to the discussion).Well, it looks like you've you're own axe to grind here. Going back to D&D, it's far from clear that the logic is "we're good; those who are against us are evil." Sometimes that is the case. Sometimes it isn't. Good D&D characters find themselves opposing neutral creatures all the time--especially animals. In many campaigns, they find themselves opposing neutral and even good characters. In short although the mechanics of D&D do presuppose absolute moral reality, that neither necessitates nor leads to the "we're good; all who oppose us are evil" way of thinking. Nor do good characters usually have carte blanche to do whatever they want because they're good and their opponents are evil. The mechanics of D&D do not inevitably lead to some kind of fantasy world where good characters are dressed in jackboots and forced to act like some (even more) twisted version of the Inquisition that, unlike the real inquisition, can't even tell the difference between a child bully and the Prince of Lies. This thread itself is evidence of that--the DM decided that the (good) paladin's method of dealing with evil was unnacceptable and posted here to ask how he should deal with the situation.</blockquote>

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