"Only Law could create such perfection and, Elric thought, such perfection defeated progress. That the twin forces complemented one another was now plainer than ever before, and for either to gain complete ascendancy over the other meant entropy or stagnation for the cosmos. Even though Law might dominate the Earth, Chaos must be present, and vice versa.“ - Michael Moorcock. Stormbringer (1965)
Original novel Robin Hood was actually NG, as he felt he was upholding the higher law of protecting the king's lawful right to rule by breaking the lower law of Prince John, whom he understood to be operating in an illegal manner. He was overall very loyal in a lawful sense to the true king of England. Just like his streaming wasn't just rich to poor, bur rather removing unlawfully taxed money, and returning that money to the disenfranchised Saxons from whom it was taken.
In my Dnd group and a standout antagonist, our DM used to introduce the BBEG as a Great Old One known as Mal'shoc'tha. They set many of the events of the early game in motion and had strong ties to my character's back story. The real standout was their alignment, Lawful Chaos. Good and evil were never factors in their motivation or thinking. What they did, they did because it was fun or they liked/disliked a person. This made interactions with them a consent surprise. The best way to describe them was a child with near-unlimited powers. They loved to play games, particularly those of chance, and were beholden to whatever rule/promise they made until the end. This was best exemplified in the crazy boss fight our DM made(a mix of checkers and tags, tagging is a successful attack.) The game only ended when my character brought up a past promise the Great Old One had yet to fulfill. With that, being at 23 hp, the childish horror surrounded and completed serval monumental tasks for the party before taking my character to the place where the game's equivalent of the Overlord was. I'll never forget when our DM described this entity that nearly killed us, like a child coming indoors after playing outside.
Thanks for the knowledge sharing, Esper, now I found the answer for a old question, how to turn Blend S opening into a alignments. Good: Smile Neutral: Sister Evil: Sadistic Chaotic: Surprise Lawful: Service If someone wanted to play was a maid cafe character, now you have the basics for your alignment.
alignment is indeed necessary. It is a guideline for the player. IRL I'm chaotic good. As in "do the right thing no matter how many bodies get stacked" It serves as a guideline. It's ok to do bad things to bad people for good reasons. It's ONLY ok to do bad things if it serves the greater good.
@@Daves_Not_Here_Man_76 what do you call "the right thing". A paladin can stack bodies while being lawful good. Besides people with adhd/add I often find it difficult to find people that actually fit the chaotic allignment. I have an extended friend group of about 15 people, and while I am most definitely lawful, in a 'truth or dare' kind of game I was rated 4th most chaotic of the group. rational thinking and following principles is something most people do most of the time, so if one of those sounds like you, you are probably neutral. It's possible that you are chaotic, but the reasons you mentioned... don't quite cut it by themselves.
@@Grimlore82 with the punisher I agree with esper as 'lawful neutral', so calling them chaotic good is quite odd. Batman is also a "soldier of justice", which firmly place him in lawful. Robin hood... He's either neutral or lawful as well. Breaking the law =/= being chaotic. All 3 of them follow a strict moral code.
If the character is a hero i like said hero to be chaotic good meaning he would break almost any rule to save someone. However as a villain i like them more when they are lawful evil since if i was a villain myself i rather be a conqueror than a destroyer.
Freedom is peculiar thing. Its resource. The more you have, the less others have. Chaotic good will spreads it around, while lawful evil just makes the rules his/hers own liking.
Congratulations on the subscriber milestone. I enjoy philosofical discourse, I was not surprised you decided not to name or quote too many philosofers. This lawful neutral lecture was a treat.
Thank you Richard! I also enjoy philosophy, though I am definitely no expert. Just a bard sharing ideas and encouragement and trying to enrich stories.
4:48 These two statements are not mutually exclusive. If the unexpected happens all the time, then with time the unexpected becomes expected. Contrasting the unexpected against the background of the expected will always have the best results.
I find it funny how wind is highest on the chaos scale, while there's also very precise predictions about it irl. Goes to show how everything in this world has an inherent part of order in it, even if the individual experiences things as chaotic.
I don't find it that hard to categorize myself. good-evil wise, I have a strong sense of justice but am also a bit to selfish/greedy to be considered good. So I would fall in the good part of neutral. In terms of order vs chaos, I am very rational and often judge situations based on principles. I can be a bit irratic, but I would ultimately fit into lawful fairly comfortably. So lawful neutral is the only logical conclusion for myself.
@@Olav_Hansen I believe I'm Chaotic Neutral Good. 99% of the time I'm a nice human, however, DO NOT MESS WITH MY FAMILY!! This is seen when slapping my daughter means I have to burn your house down. No, I didn't commit arson, I have a loving wife that can talk me down. I think Chaotic Good is knowing that you are capable of doing something, but choosing not to it.
The entire reason for the Law vs. Chaos spectrum was as an _alternative to_ the Good vs. Evil alignments, so that rival player groups in the same campaign wouldn't strictly be "the bad guys" even if they were heels. So there's no question of "If Team Evil wins, doesn't that mean the world is doomed/the kingdom is conquered?" Mechanically enforcing Law vs. Chaos and not Good vs. Evil lets moral good and evil be arguable and subjective. For some people, this is a benefit. It allows the Lawful Church of St. Cuthbert to have corrupt but ultimately rules-abiding priests who serve Law, and allows some of the creatures of Chaos to be decent folk even if they're not suited for polite society. One thing about both Law/Chaos and Good/Evil is they are very much _not_ symmetrical. Chaos is much easier than Law; without discipline and an active fight against decay, entropy sets in. Left to their own whims and caprices, people tend to fall into predictably selfish behaviors and spirals of self-destruction (hedonism and addiction). Evil likewise is much, much easier than Good. I tend to think of myself as a Chaotic Good person, but this is more how I'd describe the conflict between my Chaotic Neutral nature and my Lawful Good religious ethos and convictions. That I fail to live up to my ideals, that I'm a lot less disciplined than I ought to be. LUKE: "Is the Dark Side stronger?" YODA: "No, not stronger. _Easier._ "
An excellent, deep dive into the definition of the terms! Indeed, being somewhere in the middle sounds the best. There can be bursts of chaotic behavior, but only rarely and when truly needed.
Your computer needs a firewall and security software to keep bad information out, or it will become full of dangerous and destructive data (law), but it also needs an internet connection to let new data in to update and grow or it will quickly become stagnant and useless (chaos).
I am really glad that this channel is growing I have seen almost all of your videos and you definitely deserve to be successful I hope you never stop growing
absolutely loved the ending. i’m always for the short term pleasures and not the long term gains. destruction is easier than construction and anyone can destroy anything but to put your hands together and build something is great
Guessing your own D&D alignment is really hard! If you are introspective and honest with yourself, you will see that all the different layers of your personality have their own tendencies. But which one are important and which are superfluous? I, for example, am a quite orderly and therefor lawful person; put I take tremendous joy out of growing Chaos and confusion. A tough choice indeed.
I really enjoyed the exploration of Order and Chaos that L E Modesitt Jr. wrote about in "The Saga of Recluse." One of his explorations concerns the nature of life being about taming chaos, not extinguishing it. Immortality is achieved when someone orders themselves around their chaos (as opposed to embracing or eradicating chaos within themselves). This magic system tracks plausibly with the interface of physics and biochemistry.
Chaos has unlimited potential, and momentary law can exist within chaos. So if I had to choose, I would choose chaos. Also, I definitely wouldn't say that Lawful Good represents "real freedom." I would say it represents fairness. Chaos is real freedom.
Congratulations on the milestone! I remember that video back in 09, your 4th edition review helped me pick up that edition at the time, so thank you for your hard work and passion for the game 😊
This seems somewhat to philisophical, at least in the context of D&D. It's simply cosmological fact within the campaign setting, independent of our real life philisophical concepts of law/chaos and good/evil, since in real life it's dependent on time, culture, and society, at least beyond the surface level. It's why people buck against alignment, as it's not really representative of (at least) human behavior. Tywin Lannister is also probably a bad example, as we find out that everything he presents to the world is actually a lie, and he's essentially an older non-dwarf version of Tyrion, he just hides it better. Which is why he hates Tyrion so much, as well as why he hated his own father (Tytos) so much.
I unfortunately don't have a D&D Group to play with:( But I have created 6 different lvl 1 characters in case I found a group. ALL MY CHARACTERS ARE CHAOTIC NEUTRAL!!!
If someone really wants to explore the extremes of Law vs Chaos, largely separated from Good vs Evil, I highly recommend the mainline Megami Tensei series!
Extreme law is the removal of free will. Under extreme law, you can have life, but it functions as a computer. Extreme chaos means constant change. Nothing has a set form or function. Everything is in flux. There may be life one moment and none the next.
Absolute Chaos is a destroyed world without new life... Absolute Law is a stagnated world into oblivion... Chaos Corrupted is a very grim and deprived world but with hope and despair... Law Corrupted is to kneel before temporary Authorities but with redemption and ambition... But the Balance is absolute. Without the Balance, only Void remains... Only One is the Void. A world for the One and only for the One.
What I find interesting is that Mathematics is THE area of study defined by Law and order, while any type of art has at its core Chaos. It's an interesting version of this dichotomy, in some sense they display the extremes in what is possible while still staying within the bounds of what is reasonable.
As always, so insightful Esper. I think we’d be doing a serious disservice to our storytelling if we minimized alignment in our games. It’s a rich well of motivations for characters to draw from.
Tyler Durden is like the Joker in The Dark Knight. He appears chaotic on the surface but in reality follows a very disciplined and ordered worldview. He wouldn't be able to instigate chaos on the level he does if he were truly chaotic.
My answer, non. Both are equally needed. But in practice chaos is treated as basically evil most of the time and law as good most of the time so it dosen't matter.
LOL, Picard is definitely LG and xenomorphs are just animals with no malicious intent bent on eating and therefore true Neutral. Treebeard was on no ones side because of the politics of the world, not because he doesn't care. He's actually a good entity who I would place as Chaotic or Neutral Good. He helped the Hobbits out and refrained from killing them when he could have. Who made that list? Dr. Manhattan would be a better true Neutral. Cthulu would be a better NE and Data would be a better LN, but Picard and an alien animal?
Alignment disputes about fictional characters are lame, but I feel like Alan Moore would agree with me when I say you are giving Rorschach way too much credit, lol. Given his blatant disrespect for law and how much he's in it for the sadism, I suspect he may actually be the rare example of a productive party member who is Chaotic Evil.
I tend to prefer a more Lewisian/Tolkienian approach to law/chaos over the Moorcockish that DnD favors, where the perceived chaos ultimately acts, willingly or not, in service to the law, and I like my homebrew settings to reflect that. "The whole distinction between things accidental and things designed, like the distinction between fact and myth, was purely terrestrial. The pattern is so large that within the little frame of earthly experience there appear pieces of it between which we can see no connection, and other pieces between which we can. Hence we rightly, for our sue, distinguish the accidental from the essential. But step outside that frame and the distinction drops down into the void, fluttering useless wings." "And thou, Melkor, shalt see that no theme may be played that hath not its uttermost source in me, nor can any alter the music in my despite. For he that attempteth this shall prove but mine instrument in the devising of things more wonderful, which he himself hath not imagined." Viewing it as two opposing extremes seems both limited and boring to me.
Some of my favorite characters of specific alignment: LG: Goblin Slayer NG: Shrek CG: The Phantom Thieves from Persona 5 LN: Guts from Berserk, and Uncle Iroh TN: The Knight from Hollow Knight CN: Kenpachi from Bleach LE: Desperado from Metal Gear NE: Sephoroth CE: Majora from Zelda
Uncle Iroh was defenetly LG in the series. May have been LN before Lu Ten died but I would not put him in anything other than Good in the series, NG or LG.
On the 7:54 list of Law/Chaos words/concepts, I find myself very strongly identifying with Law, scoring 15 out of 19 possible, with only 2 Chaos-aligned (Unknown & Uninhibiting) and 2 that could go both ways (Conditioned/Wild & Tradition/Rebellion). I can safely say that I'm a highly Lawful individual - though, ofc, I already knew that. Still, this was fun to do. ^_^
Speaking of personality, the Jungian functions very precisely onto Law vs. Chaos: Law = Thinking, Feeling (the judging functions) Chaos = Sensation, INtuition (the perceiving functions) Most Lawful = T + S More Lawful = T + N, F + S Lawful = F + N Chaotic = S + T More Chaotic = S + F, N + T Most Chaotic = N + F
This is why we need to replace the alignment chart with a graph and place ourselves on an x-y axis, like 20/20 lines. It sounds like extra work but to me it seems like a decent alternative.
In the beginning of DND, Alignment was only Lawful, Chaotic or Neutral. This was derived from Michael Moorcock's Elric of Melnibone books. The good and evil axis was added later BTW, Moorcock's name refers to a swamp avian, not a sexual persuasion
@@zenvariety9383 I haven't heard of those, so forgive me if I am wrong. Wikipedia says that the first Shen Megami Tensai game was released in 1987, Dnd with basic lawful/neutral/Chaotic in 1974,and Moorcock's Elric in 1961. This timeline suggests that the influence went the other way. It seems AD&D had introduced the second alignment axis in 1977 ten years before Shen Megami was released. Please correct me if I am misinformed
i feel like if i had to constrain myself to an alignment its definitely chaotic, but somewhere straddling the line of chaotic good and chaotic neutral. i tend to try to mind my own business but i follow the beat of my own drum whether or not more traditionalist types like it or not and i tend to find myself in the company of chaotic artistic people who i feel i vibe with.
in my games i tend to treat alignment loosely. its more of a guideline of "this person acts this way more often then not" as extenuating circumstances or situations where one must choose good/evil over order/chaos. ifeel most folks would lean more towards their good or evil side of the axis in the case of good/evil vs lawful/chaotic
@@OttoVonBonesmarck As I’ve gotten older, in my mid 30ies now. I’ve found I possess all sides of the alignment chart in every which way imaginable. Based on certain conditions I can become the worst human being on the planet, yet if my life is going the way I want, and I am around supportive loving people, I find it harder to commit evil nor want to. It’s just when things go to crap, and everyone around you is an asshole, you can really see how hard it is to stay true to order, or good, as you have been compromised. It’s fighting that base nature of wanting to dominate or destroy things you do not like or find harmful to you, your loved ones and your personal safety
@@OttoVonBonesmarck I still wonder if this is an objective truth with humans or just n extremely personal view and reaction to stress, pain, abuse, etc. Not all of us retaliate or want to destroy I’ve also realized. This is why I’ve struggled to define myself as I self regulate a lot and DEFINITLY associate personal actions with good or evil intentions when perhaps it more or less just “is”
@@kozmo7 idk i dont really have the want to destroy or dominate things i dont like personally, i just dont want to be near them. even if i were to have to defend myself from death i wouldnt WANT to have to kill or cause harm id just HAVE too. i definitely think folks have the nuance to not be certain alignments but i certainly think the alignment chart is more like the political chart where you arent firmly in one box per say but the box is kind of a gradient. i like to think i myself am near the upper corner of the chaotic neutral box near chaotic good cause sometimes i do help strangers and alot of times i help my close friends, but theres times i dont help strangers or will even ignore them if i dont want to do something to help them cause i have other shit im doing. i know i can be selfish but i dont really ever want to actively harm someone just to get what i want like an evil aligned person may
@@OttoVonBonesmarck Yeah I get that. It’s weird on one hand if everything in my life is going the way I want it to, I’m lawful good or neutral good, but then if bad stuff happens to me, and I mean real bad, I either go chaotic neutral or sometimes rarely lawful evil which I tend to hate the most- lawful evil really sucks to me haha
I would say I am mostly Chaotic Neutral with some good and nuetral takes depending on what moral/ethic thing is being brought into question. I have gotten more Chaotic and Nuetral overtime as a Child I would say I was Nuetral/Good with lawful leanings.
Good/evil is the degree to which you will set aside your own fortune for the well being of others; Law/chaos governs that which motives you to be good/evil
Alignment can be a good baseline, but it shouldn't be who the Character is. Simply because you are a Paladin doesn't mean you agree with all Laws. Simply because you are a Anarchist doesn't mean you want to kill people. There are exceptions to everything.
I kinda see Alignment as a sort of political compass to help portray the vibe I want a character to give off. Chaos is to anarchism as Lawfulness is to authoritarianism. A chaotic society doesnt function as a society, but offers freedom to do as you please. Lawful society may be orderly, safe and secure, but breathing room, and room to grow isn't there.
Right now I am playing a lawful character who is a pirate, con artist, murderer etc. She cares nothing for the laws of man but cares very deeply for the laws of the universe, nature, preserving weave and the balance. Very much the deep personal codes stuff you talked about. She is very much an agent of freedom but does not believe chaos is freedom, but neither is order. She's a very weird person morally, she dose a lot of good things...and generally cares about the persevervstion of the world and the people in it from a macro perspective. And would die to protect a child or a friend. But she is also capable of horrible things like torture, killing innocents etc. And is going to go a step further than someone whose "good". It's a lot like Tywin Lannister and Batman shoved into one person. And we are only 4 sessions in so I am excited to see how she evolves
Of the worst mistakes Gary Gygax ever made was changing the original alignment system. Law meant civilization, and chaos meant the wilderness. Law was good, chaos was evil. These were opposing forces that tried to destroy each other.
chaos isn't devoid of organization just the rigidity of order. Chaos allows what doesn't work to be dropped and what does work to flourish and as life changes and situations change what works changes.
Apologies for my long-winded musings and ramblings coming up here. I like to humans beings (and by extension a lot fantastical individuals that one replays) may lean more toward Chaotic or Lawful, but can never go full blown one way or another. Mainly because Chaos and Order are inextricably linked. We create seek to create Order when there is disruptive chaos, and Chaos when there is an oppressive order. Beings such as ourselves (especially artists) create new order from chaos and things not organized for better or worse. Or even within limitations change or work within the limitations in such a way to make a new order for better or worse. Off tangent, I think we also simplify good and evil. I absolutely do think good and evil exist, but do so on spectrum of virtues and sins. Some good people may conflict on how to help others based on good intentions yet different virtues. How to best help the downtrodden and weary. What action is not only just good but is the right thing to do in that moment? Two righteous kings debating whether they should take a more hands on or hand off approach in governing their people. To guide them with wisdom and responsibility, or to trust their people with their freedom and putting their own responsibility in their own hands so they might grow. While others may have malign motives that compete against each other to swindle, backstab, and eradicate the other to enact their own immoral ends. Demons and devils are the best examples, for one seeks to torment, bring ruination and perhaps move on, while the other wishes to preserve a perverse system of oppression. It should also be worth noting I don’t think we’d be able to recognize good and evil on logic alone. There is indeed a key emotional component to helps us recognize it.
Even if good and evil was to be stretched into a spectrum, what is at either end? Is evil just harm, death, destruction, dishonesty, manipulation and selfishness? Is good protection of life, empathy, caregiving, kindness, love and selflessness? Ar these traits antagonistic? Can a dictator that orchestrates genocide but loves their partner selflessly be classified as an evil person? Would a Christian mother of 4 children who volunteers at a soup kitchen, takes care of her fsmily with love and care but commits adultry and steals from retail stores be classified as good? Evil? Is there some hidden tally of all of our actions and inactions where certain things are weighted against another to determine our morality? What is good? What is evil? Does a country that protects its people but invades others and kills innocents or of other nations be considered good? I’m looking at you UNITED States, my home country. Are we that different from Russia invading Ukraine? How? Because Ukraine is less brown? More democratic? More… relatable? Industrious? I ponder on these things a lot. Feel free to counter, disagree, I still quite haven’t found my conclusion on these topics.
I think a fin example is nature as Its balanced by having both, it has loops/order in trees, instinct, birth. And change/chaotic through natural disasters tho lava will end up making nicely versatile soil. Also adapting is in need of both.
Lawful Good is STILL better. Chaos will just create an Ouroborosian cycle that will never end. People will suffer and die but that's okay according to chaos/neutral advocates because "I don't like the mundane xd." When we reach our ultimate purpose we won't care whether something is mundane or not, we won't even be able to tell what that is because that is a necessary sacrifice in paradise. Life will be peaceful, and we will all be happy at last.
Funny enough I believe I went from Neutral/chaotic good to lawful good in a lot of ways. I have a lot of opinions and will fight head and toe for what I believe in and always have but I honestly believe I have changed my way of doing so. I don't wish to destroy and then rebuild anymore but rather build something out of what is already there (Althought I truely do believe some things are completly unchangeable and simply needs to be either destroyed and then rebuild in another way...or just destroyed and be completly replaced.)
thanks for the content buddy. chaos does not always imply it is influenced by the protoganist. chaos still implies that a protoganist still must eat each day. no matter how much we assume chaos is possible. set fundamental features still retain their stability..such as physics.....so which begat something like physics. law or chaos. lawful fate. chaotic influence? why would chaos need such order
Here is an example for you. Being cunning crafty and unpredictable is what separates me from the humans. If I am predictable, that means I am doing my job wrong. Chaotic = good.
I came across a story that illustrate the flaws of lawful alignments a while ago. In the story a obviously evil group manage the conquer a lawful kingdom with no war, bloodshed or evil intriguing. All they did was operating within the kingdoms laws so the authorities couldn't lift a hand against them. I know that this is an example of the lawful alignment taken to a dogmatic extreme but as I see it the point still stands:if you value law so highly that you rather abide lawful evil even when it lawfully destroy all you hold dear then you should adjust your priorities.
Oh and I'm chaotic something, don't have that strict personality or that many personal codes that I follow, additionally I tend to work a lot outside of groups and people. My focus on morality and malevolence is negligible, but I don't break the laws I consider important.
Chaotic evil is actually a really odd alignment for a typical drow to have. If drow are to serve Loth they really should be ready to obey her teachings. Loth can be chaotic evil but it make no sense for her follower to do that.
my belief is that absolute order is not really "order". A part of law is balance, a law that becomes excessive is, in my opinion, a form of chaos. "true" law should be self-regulating, never being excessive even in its own nature. Perhaps I am seeing too much of good into law, but I think it is reasonable.
its not through the order of nature but through the flaws there in which allow us to exsiste in the way that we do. It is the freedom given to all through nature which allow for natural evils and for life itself to arise out of the ever changing stat of the world. and so order must exsist to protecte freedom for either to exsiste. as if not there will be only silence or eternal suffering. As all things must be balanced and counter balance for it to have any meaning or value in the first place.
I like Law vs Chaos, but for the other Axis, I say it should be creation vs destruction. The Good side wants to create and preserve life, and the evil side wants to destroy life. And then good and evil is relative to what you believe in. If you are Lawful Creative, then you see that as good, and any kind of chaos or destruction as evil. Or from your point of view the Jedi can be evil. :D
Neutral good is the best alignment for good characters IMO, they are chaotic enough to bend the rules for the good of others, but are also lawful enough to show restraint when necessary. When it comes to Evil however, i quite like lawful evil characters. Especially i like lawful evil characters that believe they're on the right, but go to far on their righteousness to the point of it becoming opression. Also Devils, as a DM i love using the scheming and mischiveous plotting the devils are know for.
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
"Only Law could create such perfection and, Elric thought, such perfection defeated progress. That the twin forces complemented one another was now plainer than ever before, and for either to gain complete ascendancy over the other meant entropy or stagnation for the cosmos. Even though Law might dominate the Earth, Chaos must be present, and vice versa.“ - Michael Moorcock. Stormbringer (1965)
Excellent quote. I have read that Moorcock greatly influenced the alignment system in D&D.
I mean... perfection defeats progress because there is nothing to progress from. Otherwise it is not perfect.
Original novel Robin Hood was actually NG, as he felt he was upholding the higher law of protecting the king's lawful right to rule by breaking the lower law of Prince John, whom he understood to be operating in an illegal manner. He was overall very loyal in a lawful sense to the true king of England. Just like his streaming wasn't just rich to poor, bur rather removing unlawfully taxed money, and returning that money to the disenfranchised Saxons from whom it was taken.
In my Dnd group and a standout antagonist, our DM used to introduce the BBEG as a Great Old One known as Mal'shoc'tha. They set many of the events of the early game in motion and had strong ties to my character's back story. The real standout was their alignment, Lawful Chaos. Good and evil were never factors in their motivation or thinking. What they did, they did because it was fun or they liked/disliked a person. This made interactions with them a consent surprise.
The best way to describe them was a child with near-unlimited powers. They loved to play games, particularly those of chance, and were beholden to whatever rule/promise they made until the end. This was best exemplified in the crazy boss fight our DM made(a mix of checkers and tags, tagging is a successful attack.)
The game only ended when my character brought up a past promise the Great Old One had yet to fulfill. With that, being at 23 hp, the childish horror surrounded and completed serval monumental tasks for the party before taking my character to the place where the game's equivalent of the Overlord was. I'll never forget when our DM described this entity that nearly killed us, like a child coming indoors after playing outside.
Thanks for the knowledge sharing, Esper, now I found the answer for a old question, how to turn Blend S opening into a alignments.
Good: Smile
Neutral: Sister
Evil: Sadistic
Chaotic: Surprise
Lawful: Service
If someone wanted to play was a maid cafe character, now you have the basics for your alignment.
LOL
As a kid, I was Chaotic Evil, but nowadays, I'm probably Neutral Good
That's an improvement!
Same.
All kids are chaotic evil. They lack the life experience for empathy and therefore view themselves as the only *real* things.
I still like alignment use in D&D. I think monsters and characters should have alignment.
Congrats on the growth
Agreed. Alignment is a deep dimension of the game, and if we lose it, the game gets narrower and shallower.
alignment is indeed necessary. It is a guideline for the player.
IRL I'm chaotic good. As in "do the right thing no matter how many bodies get stacked" It serves as a guideline. It's ok to do bad things to bad people for good reasons. It's ONLY ok to do bad things if it serves the greater good.
@@Daves_Not_Here_Man_76 what do you call "the right thing". A paladin can stack bodies while being lawful good. Besides people with adhd/add I often find it difficult to find people that actually fit the chaotic allignment. I have an extended friend group of about 15 people, and while I am most definitely lawful, in a 'truth or dare' kind of game I was rated 4th most chaotic of the group.
rational thinking and following principles is something most people do most of the time, so if one of those sounds like you, you are probably neutral.
It's possible that you are chaotic, but the reasons you mentioned... don't quite cut it by themselves.
I use Robinhood or The Punisher as examples of CG. Batman also now that I think of it.
@@Grimlore82 with the punisher I agree with esper as 'lawful neutral', so calling them chaotic good is quite odd. Batman is also a "soldier of justice", which firmly place him in lawful.
Robin hood... He's either neutral or lawful as well. Breaking the law =/= being chaotic. All 3 of them follow a strict moral code.
Always a pleasure to see and upload from you
If the character is a hero i like said hero to be chaotic good meaning he would break almost any rule to save someone.
However as a villain i like them more when they are lawful evil since if i was a villain myself i rather be a conqueror than a destroyer.
Freedom is peculiar thing. Its resource. The more you have, the less others have. Chaotic good will spreads it around, while lawful evil just makes the rules his/hers own liking.
Congratulations on the subscriber milestone. I enjoy philosofical discourse, I was not surprised you decided not to name or quote too many philosofers. This lawful neutral lecture was a treat.
Thank you Richard! I also enjoy philosophy, though I am definitely no expert. Just a bard sharing ideas and encouragement and trying to enrich stories.
4:48 These two statements are not mutually exclusive. If the unexpected happens all the time, then with time the unexpected becomes expected. Contrasting the unexpected against the background of the expected will always have the best results.
Absolutely one of the best videos that I’ve seen about alignment, hands down. I’m sharing it far and wide.
Thank you for this!
I find it funny how wind is highest on the chaos scale, while there's also very precise predictions about it irl. Goes to show how everything in this world has an inherent part of order in it, even if the individual experiences things as chaotic.
I don't find it that hard to categorize myself. good-evil wise, I have a strong sense of justice but am also a bit to selfish/greedy to be considered good. So I would fall in the good part of neutral.
In terms of order vs chaos, I am very rational and often judge situations based on principles. I can be a bit irratic, but I would ultimately fit into lawful fairly comfortably.
So lawful neutral is the only logical conclusion for myself.
If we don't understand it, it seems like chaos. When we understand it, it seems like order.
Actually, I agree with wind. Have you ever seen the destruction that an EF3/5 tornado can do? How about hurricanes?
@@Olav_Hansen I believe I'm Chaotic Neutral Good. 99% of the time I'm a nice human, however, DO NOT MESS WITH MY FAMILY!! This is seen when slapping my daughter means I have to burn your house down. No, I didn't commit arson, I have a loving wife that can talk me down. I think Chaotic Good is knowing that you are capable of doing something, but choosing not to it.
The entire reason for the Law vs. Chaos spectrum was as an _alternative to_ the Good vs. Evil alignments, so that rival player groups in the same campaign wouldn't strictly be "the bad guys" even if they were heels. So there's no question of "If Team Evil wins, doesn't that mean the world is doomed/the kingdom is conquered?"
Mechanically enforcing Law vs. Chaos and not Good vs. Evil lets moral good and evil be arguable and subjective. For some people, this is a benefit. It allows the Lawful Church of St. Cuthbert to have corrupt but ultimately rules-abiding priests who serve Law, and allows some of the creatures of Chaos to be decent folk even if they're not suited for polite society.
One thing about both Law/Chaos and Good/Evil is they are very much _not_ symmetrical. Chaos is much easier than Law; without discipline and an active fight against decay, entropy sets in. Left to their own whims and caprices, people tend to fall into predictably selfish behaviors and spirals of self-destruction (hedonism and addiction). Evil likewise is much, much easier than Good.
I tend to think of myself as a Chaotic Good person, but this is more how I'd describe the conflict between my Chaotic Neutral nature and my Lawful Good religious ethos and convictions. That I fail to live up to my ideals, that I'm a lot less disciplined than I ought to be.
LUKE: "Is the Dark Side stronger?"
YODA: "No, not stronger. _Easier._ "
An excellent, deep dive into the definition of the terms!
Indeed, being somewhere in the middle sounds the best. There can be bursts of chaotic behavior, but only rarely and when truly needed.
Your computer needs a firewall and security software to keep bad information out, or it will become full of dangerous and destructive data (law), but it also needs an internet connection to let new data in to update and grow or it will quickly become stagnant and useless (chaos).
Perfect timing
Major family drama is happening to me and it’s making me question big time where I fall in these spectrums at the moment
You are not alone there. We all go through that, to some degree or another. Take good care!
@@esperthebard
Thank you.
I will try to keep my chaotic evil side at bay… it’s just not as fun. Sigh 😂
Before I watch this I need to say I have been thinking about law and chaos a lot lately and I am excited to see your take on the topic.
Quite the sync-up then, enjoy!
I've been watching you for years and this is some of your best work. Keep up the creativity my man.
Milord Esper; I have enjoyed your work for a few years. This is your MOST profound work. Thank you
Lol I thought this was a SMT video at first when it appeared on my feed. I love this discussion!
I'd love for him to analyze SMT characters and see how they fit their alignments, especially the Strange Journey characters.
I am really glad that this channel is growing I have seen almost all of your videos and you definitely deserve to be successful I hope you never stop growing
Such a fantastic explanation of the alignment system.
absolutely loved the ending. i’m always for the short term pleasures and not the long term gains. destruction is easier than construction and anyone can destroy anything but to put your hands together and build something is great
16:14 I knew you'd come through for me! I do hope players will listen to what you explain here.
Guessing your own D&D alignment is really hard! If you are introspective and honest with yourself, you will see that all the different layers of your personality have their own tendencies. But which one are important and which are superfluous?
I, for example, am a quite orderly and therefor lawful person; put I take tremendous joy out of growing Chaos and confusion. A tough choice indeed.
I really enjoyed the exploration of Order and Chaos that L E Modesitt Jr. wrote about in "The Saga of Recluse." One of his explorations concerns the nature of life being about taming chaos, not extinguishing it. Immortality is achieved when someone orders themselves around their chaos (as opposed to embracing or eradicating chaos within themselves). This magic system tracks plausibly with the interface of physics and biochemistry.
Chaos has unlimited potential, and momentary law can exist within chaos. So if I had to choose, I would choose chaos.
Also, I definitely wouldn't say that Lawful Good represents "real freedom." I would say it represents fairness. Chaos is real freedom.
"Chaos is the only answer!" =)
Congratulations on the milestone! I remember that video back in 09, your 4th edition review helped me pick up that edition at the time, so thank you for your hard work and passion for the game 😊
This seems somewhat to philisophical, at least in the context of D&D. It's simply cosmological fact within the campaign setting, independent of our real life philisophical concepts of law/chaos and good/evil, since in real life it's dependent on time, culture, and society, at least beyond the surface level. It's why people buck against alignment, as it's not really representative of (at least) human behavior.
Tywin Lannister is also probably a bad example, as we find out that everything he presents to the world is actually a lie, and he's essentially an older non-dwarf version of Tyrion, he just hides it better. Which is why he hates Tyrion so much, as well as why he hated his own father (Tytos) so much.
Oh my gosh, what game did he do with AJ Pickett?
Blood Lament
@@esperthebard Thanks so much! You're a big creative inspiration, congrats on 100k. I'll add Blood Lament to my watch list now.
I unfortunately don't have a D&D Group to play with:(
But I have created 6 different lvl 1 characters in case I found a group.
ALL MY CHARACTERS ARE CHAOTIC NEUTRAL!!!
Chaotic Good is the best good.
Bound by the laws of Nature but not by the laws of man and always acting for Virtue.
Lawful can do more with less because they make plans.
Chaotic just does what seems good (or evil or just entertaining) at the moment
Ah, but chaotic can also do more with less, just not in a predictable way. It's not straightforward. Each has their weaknesses
If someone really wants to explore the extremes of Law vs Chaos, largely separated from Good vs Evil, I highly recommend the mainline Megami Tensei series!
good to see a smt fan here
I love some of those games but they're so biased against Law it's embarrassing. Especially SMT 2.
ruclips.net/video/yoALN7HnvxA/видео.html
Extreme law is the removal of free will. Under extreme law, you can have life, but it functions as a computer.
Extreme chaos means constant change. Nothing has a set form or function. Everything is in flux. There may be life one moment and none the next.
Neither extremes of both are bad in equal measure a little chaos isn't bad same with law, but too much of either makes a world without freedom
Absolute Chaos is a destroyed world without new life...
Absolute Law is a stagnated world into oblivion...
Chaos Corrupted is a very grim and deprived world but with hope and despair...
Law Corrupted is to kneel before temporary Authorities but with redemption and ambition...
But the Balance is absolute. Without the Balance, only Void remains... Only One is the Void. A world for the One and only for the One.
What I find interesting is that Mathematics is THE area of study defined by Law and order, while any type of art has at its core Chaos. It's an interesting version of this dichotomy, in some sense they display the extremes in what is possible while still staying within the bounds of what is reasonable.
As always, so insightful Esper.
I think we’d be doing a serious disservice to our storytelling if we minimized alignment in our games. It’s a rich well of motivations for characters to draw from.
Tyler Durden is like the Joker in The Dark Knight. He appears chaotic on the surface but in reality follows a very disciplined and ordered worldview. He wouldn't be able to instigate chaos on the level he does if he were truly chaotic.
My answer, non.
Both are equally needed.
But in practice chaos is treated as basically evil most of the time and law as good most of the time so it dosen't matter.
It depends. Most people want order, but not too much order. Stay out of my personal life, in other words.
I enjoyed this content, thank you for sharing.
Well done.... bravo!
LOL, Picard is definitely LG and xenomorphs are just animals with no malicious intent bent on eating and therefore true Neutral. Treebeard was on no ones side because of the politics of the world, not because he doesn't care. He's actually a good entity who I would place as Chaotic or Neutral Good. He helped the Hobbits out and refrained from killing them when he could have. Who made that list?
Dr. Manhattan would be a better true Neutral. Cthulu would be a better NE and Data would be a better LN, but Picard and an alien animal?
Alignment disputes about fictional characters are lame, but I feel like Alan Moore would agree with me when I say you are giving Rorschach way too much credit, lol. Given his blatant disrespect for law and how much he's in it for the sadism, I suspect he may actually be the rare example of a productive party member who is Chaotic Evil.
Awsome discussion
I tend to prefer a more Lewisian/Tolkienian approach to law/chaos over the Moorcockish that DnD favors, where the perceived chaos ultimately acts, willingly or not, in service to the law, and I like my homebrew settings to reflect that.
"The whole distinction between things accidental and things designed, like the distinction between fact and myth, was purely terrestrial. The pattern is so large that within the little frame of earthly experience there appear pieces of it between which we can see no connection, and other pieces between which we can. Hence we rightly, for our sue, distinguish the accidental from the essential. But step outside that frame and the distinction drops down into the void, fluttering useless wings."
"And thou, Melkor, shalt see that no theme may be played that hath not its uttermost source in me, nor can any alter the music in my despite. For he that attempteth this shall prove but mine instrument in the devising of things more wonderful, which he himself hath not imagined."
Viewing it as two opposing extremes seems both limited and boring to me.
Some of my favorite characters of specific alignment:
LG: Goblin Slayer
NG: Shrek
CG: The Phantom Thieves from Persona 5
LN: Guts from Berserk, and Uncle Iroh
TN: The Knight from Hollow Knight
CN: Kenpachi from Bleach
LE: Desperado from Metal Gear
NE: Sephoroth
CE: Majora from Zelda
Uncle Iroh was defenetly LG in the series. May have been LN before Lu Ten died but I would not put him in anything other than Good in the series, NG or LG.
You, sir, got great tastes
Read Micheal Moorcock and Poul Anderson
I like the alignment wheel over the grid personally.
A degree of chaos makes an interesting story. Too much chaos makes a dadaist experiment, and no one woogle Farina mustard pants 🌲🌪️ haberdasher.
Well presented
u are such a smart person esper
On the 7:54 list of Law/Chaos words/concepts, I find myself very strongly identifying with Law, scoring 15 out of 19 possible, with only 2 Chaos-aligned (Unknown & Uninhibiting) and 2 that could go both ways (Conditioned/Wild & Tradition/Rebellion).
I can safely say that I'm a highly Lawful individual - though, ofc, I already knew that. Still, this was fun to do. ^_^
Much like the majority of things, chaos and order are neutral forces. They’re not necessarily negative. It’s aaaall about keeping them in moderation.
Funny how you say that, being a very chaotic person working for a very lawful organization.
Speaking of personality, the Jungian functions very precisely onto Law vs. Chaos:
Law = Thinking, Feeling (the judging functions)
Chaos = Sensation, INtuition (the perceiving functions)
Most Lawful = T + S
More Lawful = T + N, F + S
Lawful = F + N
Chaotic = S + T
More Chaotic = S + F, N + T
Most Chaotic = N + F
This is why we need to replace the alignment chart with a graph and place ourselves on an x-y axis, like 20/20 lines. It sounds like extra work but to me it seems like a decent alternative.
Ahhh Aurelius the great.
In the beginning of DND, Alignment was only Lawful, Chaotic or Neutral. This was derived from Michael Moorcock's Elric of Melnibone books.
The good and evil axis was added later
BTW, Moorcock's name refers to a swamp avian, not a sexual persuasion
And it also stems from the Shen Megami Tensei games too.
@@zenvariety9383 I haven't heard of those, so forgive me if I am wrong.
Wikipedia says that the first Shen Megami Tensai game was released in 1987, Dnd with basic lawful/neutral/Chaotic in 1974,and Moorcock's Elric in 1961. This timeline suggests that the influence went the other way.
It seems AD&D had introduced the second alignment axis in 1977 ten years before Shen Megami was released.
Please correct me if I am misinformed
And it did mean alignment with greater forces more than a personality trait.
i feel like if i had to constrain myself to an alignment its definitely chaotic, but somewhere straddling the line of chaotic good and chaotic neutral. i tend to try to mind my own business but i follow the beat of my own drum whether or not more traditionalist types like it or not and i tend to find myself in the company of chaotic artistic people who i feel i vibe with.
in my games i tend to treat alignment loosely. its more of a guideline of "this person acts this way more often then not"
as extenuating circumstances or situations where one must choose good/evil over order/chaos. ifeel most folks would lean more towards their good or evil side of the axis in the case of good/evil vs lawful/chaotic
@@OttoVonBonesmarck
As I’ve gotten older, in my mid 30ies now. I’ve found I possess all sides of the alignment chart in every which way imaginable.
Based on certain conditions I can become the worst human being on the planet, yet if my life is going the way I want, and I am around supportive loving people, I find it harder to commit evil nor want to.
It’s just when things go to crap, and everyone around you is an asshole, you can really see how hard it is to stay true to order, or good, as you have been compromised.
It’s fighting that base nature of wanting to dominate or destroy things you do not like or find harmful to you, your loved ones and your personal safety
@@OttoVonBonesmarck
I still wonder if this is an objective truth with humans or just n extremely personal view and reaction to stress, pain, abuse, etc.
Not all of us retaliate or want to destroy I’ve also realized. This is why I’ve struggled to define myself as I self regulate a lot and DEFINITLY associate personal actions with good or evil intentions when perhaps it more or less just “is”
@@kozmo7 idk i dont really have the want to destroy or dominate things i dont like personally, i just dont want to be near them. even if i were to have to defend myself from death i wouldnt WANT to have to kill or cause harm id just HAVE too. i definitely think folks have the nuance to not be certain alignments but i certainly think the alignment chart is more like the political chart where you arent firmly in one box per say but the box is kind of a gradient. i like to think i myself am near the upper corner of the chaotic neutral box near chaotic good cause sometimes i do help strangers and alot of times i help my close friends, but theres times i dont help strangers or will even ignore them if i dont want to do something to help them cause i have other shit im doing. i know i can be selfish but i dont really ever want to actively harm someone just to get what i want like an evil aligned person may
@@OttoVonBonesmarck
Yeah I get that. It’s weird on one hand if everything in my life is going the way I want it to, I’m lawful good or neutral good, but then if bad stuff happens to me, and I mean real bad, I either go chaotic neutral or sometimes rarely lawful evil which I tend to hate the most- lawful evil really sucks to me haha
I would say I am mostly Chaotic Neutral with some good and nuetral takes depending on what moral/ethic thing is being brought into question.
I have gotten more Chaotic and Nuetral overtime as a Child I would say I was Nuetral/Good with lawful leanings.
Good/evil is the degree to which you will set aside your own fortune for the well being of others; Law/chaos governs that which motives you to be good/evil
down with alightment, Up with Color Wheel!
Alignment can be a good baseline, but it shouldn't be who the Character is.
Simply because you are a Paladin doesn't mean you agree with all Laws.
Simply because you are a Anarchist doesn't mean you want to kill people.
There are exceptions to everything.
*In the beginning around age 1-18: I was Chaotic Neutral. Now that I'd embraced a higher calling from a higher power at age 31? Lawful Evil.*
I kinda see Alignment as a sort of political compass to help portray the vibe I want a character to give off. Chaos is to anarchism as Lawfulness is to authoritarianism. A chaotic society doesnt function as a society, but offers freedom to do as you please. Lawful society may be orderly, safe and secure, but breathing room, and room to grow isn't there.
Right now I am playing a lawful character who is a pirate, con artist, murderer etc. She cares nothing for the laws of man but cares very deeply for the laws of the universe, nature, preserving weave and the balance. Very much the deep personal codes stuff you talked about.
She is very much an agent of freedom but does not believe chaos is freedom, but neither is order.
She's a very weird person morally, she dose a lot of good things...and generally cares about the persevervstion of the world and the people in it from a macro perspective. And would die to protect a child or a friend. But she is also capable of horrible things like torture, killing innocents etc. And is going to go a step further than someone whose "good".
It's a lot like Tywin Lannister and Batman shoved into one person. And we are only 4 sessions in so I am excited to see how she evolves
Sounds cool and fun to play. Probably gives a birds eye view of the walking conundrum that us humans tend to be
@@kozmo7 I am kinda playing her this way for that exact reason
@@andromedastormcrow3288
Humans are strange things aren’t we?
@@kozmo7 yep
I like your d&d lore videos. I dont play i just like nerding on it
Of the worst mistakes Gary Gygax ever made was changing the original alignment system. Law meant civilization, and chaos meant the wilderness. Law was good, chaos was evil. These were opposing forces that tried to destroy each other.
Congrats on increased subscribers
I think the question is why does chaos always have to be looked at as unorganized. Certainly there’s order in the unorganized
chaos isn't devoid of organization just the rigidity of order. Chaos allows what doesn't work to be dropped and what does work to flourish and as life changes and situations change what works changes.
Apologies for my long-winded musings and ramblings coming up here.
I like to humans beings (and by extension a lot fantastical individuals that one replays) may lean more toward Chaotic or Lawful, but can never go full blown one way or another.
Mainly because Chaos and Order are inextricably linked. We create seek to create Order when there is disruptive chaos, and Chaos when there is an oppressive order.
Beings such as ourselves (especially artists) create new order from chaos and things not organized for better or worse. Or even within limitations change or work within the limitations in such a way to make a new order for better or worse.
Off tangent, I think we also simplify good and evil. I absolutely do think good and evil exist, but do so on spectrum of virtues and sins. Some good people may conflict on how to help others based on good intentions yet different virtues.
How to best help the downtrodden and weary. What action is not only just good but is the right thing to do in that moment?
Two righteous kings debating whether they should take a more hands on or hand off approach in governing their people. To guide them with wisdom and responsibility, or to trust their people with their freedom and putting their own responsibility in their own hands so they might grow.
While others may have malign motives that compete against each other to swindle, backstab, and eradicate the other to enact their own immoral ends.
Demons and devils are the best examples, for one seeks to torment, bring ruination and perhaps move on, while the other wishes to preserve a perverse system of oppression.
It should also be worth noting I don’t think we’d be able to recognize good and evil on logic alone. There is indeed a key emotional component to helps us recognize it.
Even if good and evil was to be stretched into a spectrum, what is at either end?
Is evil just harm, death, destruction, dishonesty, manipulation and selfishness?
Is good protection of life, empathy, caregiving, kindness, love and selflessness?
Ar these traits antagonistic? Can a dictator that orchestrates genocide but loves their partner selflessly be classified as an evil person?
Would a Christian mother of 4 children who volunteers at a soup kitchen, takes care of her fsmily with love and care but commits adultry and steals from retail stores be classified as good? Evil?
Is there some hidden tally of all of our actions and inactions where certain things are weighted against another to determine our morality?
What is good? What is evil?
Does a country that protects its people but invades others and kills innocents or of other nations be considered good? I’m looking at you UNITED States, my home country. Are we that different from Russia invading Ukraine? How? Because Ukraine is less brown? More democratic? More… relatable? Industrious?
I ponder on these things a lot. Feel free to counter, disagree, I still quite haven’t found my conclusion on these topics.
I think a fin example is nature as Its balanced by having both, it has loops/order in trees, instinct, birth.
And change/chaotic through natural disasters tho lava will end up making nicely versatile soil.
Also adapting is in need of both.
I've been subbed to your channel so long I've resubbed 3 times from youtubes Cleansing
Lawful Good is STILL better. Chaos will just create an Ouroborosian cycle that will never end. People will suffer and die but that's okay according to chaos/neutral advocates because "I don't like the mundane xd."
When we reach our ultimate purpose we won't care whether something is mundane or not, we won't even be able to tell what that is because that is a necessary sacrifice in paradise. Life will be peaceful, and we will all be happy at last.
in real life, Law, in fantasy... Chaos... obviously... ;-)
Though, I also like Lawful Evil at times...
1:14 What a cute bird...
In a game like tactics ogre being chaotic is more of just loving freedom being lawful is obviously living within the law
Funny enough I believe I went from Neutral/chaotic good to lawful good in a lot of ways.
I have a lot of opinions and will fight head and toe for what I believe in and always have but I honestly believe I have changed my way of doing so.
I don't wish to destroy and then rebuild anymore but rather build something out of what is already there (Althought I truely do believe some things are completly unchangeable and simply needs to be either destroyed and then rebuild in another way...or just destroyed and be completly replaced.)
never misunderstand chaos with violence and order with stagnation
thanks for the content buddy. chaos does not always imply it is influenced by the protoganist. chaos still implies that a protoganist still must eat each day. no matter how much we assume chaos is possible. set fundamental features still retain their stability..such as physics.....so which begat something like physics. law or chaos. lawful fate. chaotic influence? why would chaos need such order
Here is an example for you.
Being cunning crafty and unpredictable is what separates me from the humans. If I am predictable, that means I am doing my job wrong.
Chaotic = good.
I came across a story that illustrate the flaws of lawful alignments a while ago.
In the story a obviously evil group manage the conquer a lawful kingdom with no war, bloodshed or evil intriguing.
All they did was operating within the kingdoms laws so the authorities couldn't lift a hand against them.
I know that this is an example of the lawful alignment taken to a dogmatic extreme but as I see it the point still stands:if you value law so highly that you rather abide lawful evil even when it lawfully destroy all you hold dear then you should adjust your priorities.
Damn, i'm more chaotic than orderly 😧
We should ask Michael Moorcock.
Grats on 100k good sir.
Personally I believe being as neutral as possible is the best way to balance one self.
Sub to you for years yet feel like yesterday
I'm currently playing a lawful evil character. It's interesting
Spiderman is Neutral Good, he is sometimes on the side of order and sometimes on the side of chaos, but mostly hangs between those ideas
Oh and I'm chaotic something, don't have that strict personality or that many personal codes that I follow, additionally I tend to work a lot outside of groups and people. My focus on morality and malevolence is negligible, but I don't break the laws I consider important.
As a paladin of a demoness marchosias and raise by a Eligos a demon knight follow the code of chivalry I have to say it goes either way
Neutral good here.
Chaotic evil is actually a really odd alignment for a typical drow to have. If drow are to serve Loth they really should be ready to obey her teachings. Loth can be chaotic evil but it make no sense for her follower to do that.
my belief is that absolute order is not really "order". A part of law is balance, a law that becomes excessive is, in my opinion, a form of chaos. "true" law should be self-regulating, never being excessive even in its own nature. Perhaps I am seeing too much of good into law, but I think it is reasonable.
Blood for the Blood god! Skulls for the Skull Throne!
its not through the order of nature but through the flaws there in which allow us to exsiste in the way that we do. It is the freedom given to all through nature which allow for natural evils and for life itself to arise out of the ever changing stat of the world. and so order must exsist to protecte freedom for either to exsiste. as if not there will be only silence or eternal suffering. As all things must be balanced and counter balance for it to have any meaning or value in the first place.
I like Law vs Chaos, but for the other Axis, I say it should be creation vs destruction. The Good side wants to create and preserve life, and the evil side wants to destroy life.
And then good and evil is relative to what you believe in. If you are Lawful Creative, then you see that as good, and any kind of chaos or destruction as evil. Or from your point of view the Jedi can be evil. :D
Law and Chaos are both insane
Neutral good is the best alignment for good characters IMO, they are chaotic enough to bend the rules for the good of others, but are also lawful enough to show restraint when necessary.
When it comes to Evil however, i quite like lawful evil characters. Especially i like lawful evil characters that believe they're on the right, but go to far on their righteousness to the point of it becoming opression. Also Devils, as a DM i love using the scheming and mischiveous plotting the devils are know for.
I think most people are Neutral Good it’s a loose alignment with easy flexibility towards true neutral and lawful good
I normally play Lawful natural or Lawful Evil
Inquisitor: *Points bolter at your head*
Inquisitor: "Choose your words wisely heretic"
Imperial citizen: "I think chaos is way cooler!" *head explodes*