Of the following two alignments which one is "worse" that is... which is a greater problem?
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@futurebird If you haven't seen @darius 's "D&D alignment of the D&D alignments" chart, I'm happy to introduce you to it.
"Neutral" isn't really neutral the way that I see it. (These are just my off the cuff opinions of what these mean.)
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@futurebird I think this question is in a way antithetical to the idea of d&d alignments. It's forcing a dualist structure onto a moral/alignemt system that tries to be non-dualist. It's also assuming the alignment of the respondent to be some version of good but doesn't specify which one.
If you are chaotic good, lawful evil is the greater problem, if you are lawful good chaotic evil is a greater problem, if you are lawful evil chaotic evil is less helpful, if you're chaotic neutral, lawful neutral is a greater enemy to you than either chaotic good or chaotic evil, etc.
@futurebird because our irl societies are heavily dualist players perceive the good/bad dichotomy the main one and the chaotic/lawful one to be just a "flavour" for it, but for intrinsically chaotic societies like the fey the good/bad is just the "flavour"
I mean this is my philosophical/ethical headcanon for d&d, fun is most important ofc
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@futurebird because our irl societies are heavily dualist players perceive the good/bad dichotomy the main one and the chaotic/lawful one to be just a "flavour" for it, but for intrinsically chaotic societies like the fey the good/bad is just the "flavour"
I mean this is my philosophical/ethical headcanon for d&d, fun is most important ofc
I don't think "being a problem" is the same thing as being just... evil. I agree that evil is a kind of boring one-dimensional notion. It's possible to see something as evil only if you ignore aspects of why it exists or how it works.
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Of the following two alignments which one is "worse" that is... which is a greater problem?
lawful evil = evil with power.
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Of the following two alignments which one is "worse" that is... which is a greater problem?
Is this about the two US parties?
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Of the following two alignments which one is "worse" that is... which is a greater problem?
@futurebird Problem for whom? Other players, the DM, characters in the campaign?
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@futurebird Problem for whom? Other players, the DM, characters in the campaign?
A problem for the quality of the experience as a story for everyone.
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@futurebird @mhoye @darius that is an excellent chart. Would you mind if I borrowed it for my game group?
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@futurebird @mhoye @darius that is an excellent chart. Would you mind if I borrowed it for my game group?
@cocaine_owlbear @mhoye @darius
Not at all!
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Would it be feasible to assign an ant species for each category, I wonder?
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Would it be feasible to assign an ant species for each category, I wonder?
@futurebird
Or are all ants just "Lawful Good"? -
Would it be feasible to assign an ant species for each category, I wonder?
i gotchu fam
myrmepropagandist (@futurebird@sauropods.win)
Attached: 1 image @u0421793@toot.pikopublish.ing I think if I made this alignment chart every singe day for a year every chart would be different. The most interesting ant on this chart is Tetramorium atratulum... a remarkable social parasite of pavement ants (Tetramorium species too!) These ants have no workers! They just have queens who latch themselves on to a queen in a productive Tetramorium colony and lay eggs that are cared for by their hosts. They kind of creep me out!
Sauropods.win (sauropods.win)
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I have to admit, I'm not a huge fan of the alignment system due to how unintuitive it is.
The basic axis - good/evil - is so straightforward altruistic/egoistic, that you hardly need a system for it.
Everything else seems to overcomplicate things.
To me, the distinction between chaotic and neutral doen't seem well defined. Both ignore social rules and expectations? ... ok.
And this "neutral" between good and evil seems this "I don't care about anything" aspect
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i gotchu fam
myrmepropagandist (@futurebird@sauropods.win)
Attached: 1 image @u0421793@toot.pikopublish.ing I think if I made this alignment chart every singe day for a year every chart would be different. The most interesting ant on this chart is Tetramorium atratulum... a remarkable social parasite of pavement ants (Tetramorium species too!) These ants have no workers! They just have queens who latch themselves on to a queen in a productive Tetramorium colony and lay eggs that are cared for by their hosts. They kind of creep me out!
Sauropods.win (sauropods.win)
@futurebird
haha, brilliant! Thanks. -
@futurebird @darius I've sometimes wondered if there's a third axis for this chart that involves motivation: constructive, intrinsic, destructive.
@mhoye @futurebird @darius I played around with some ideas for a three-axis alignment chart a couple years back on my previous account: https://tenforward.social/@bruceiv/111088653550048791
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@futurebird @mhoye @darius I'm curious about what would go in true neutral
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Of the following two alignments which one is "worse" that is... which is a greater problem?
@futurebird One of the scary things about conservative Evangelicals is that more than one has told me that the worst thing about D&D is that they believe "Lawful Evil" is a contradiction in terms.
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@futurebird One of the scary things about conservative Evangelicals is that more than one has told me that the worst thing about D&D is that they believe "Lawful Evil" is a contradiction in terms.
oh dear
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@futurebird @mhoye @darius As I understand it, the alignment system was invented by Dave Arneson trying to deal with a problem player at his table.
I used to say that every D&D player I knew would argue that the alignment system doesn't make sense, but it would almost make sense if... And this would lead to a heated argument.
Computer RPGs used to insist on some version of the game rating your actions as good or evil. I remember people condemning Elder Scrolls: Morrowind as "postmodernist" because it doesn't do that.
I can't think of a TTRPG other than D&D (and its retroclones) with anything like a formal alignment system.
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Of the following two alignments which one is "worse" that is... which is a greater problem?
@futurebird depends. With the right type of structure, lawful evil individuals can be restrained. But once you get too many of them and they organize, watch out.
