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View Full Version : Pin the alignments in my group!



Glass Mouse
2010-01-18, 11:36 AM
I'm playing in a D&D group which is very big on roleplaying. Sometimes, we stop and discuss alignment (all in good spirit), and we never really agree on WHAT we are.

We have four characters.

One is Symore. He's a human sorcerer with... weird ideas. He's out to punish all those who do "wrong" (and gain power in the process), and he'll torture and kill his way though. Most at ease in an orderly environment, though he'll sometimes start talking to himself or laugh maniacly over thoughts that the rest of the team won't ask about. They silently agree that he is quite crazy and that his psyche is not to be challenged. Once, he threw a fireball at the BBEG, a friendly NPC, and the rest of the party, mostly because they didn't listen to him. In general, if someone insults him or hurts his pride, his first instinct is to punish them. Severely.

A second one is Baubharis; a half-elf monk. He's naive, helpful, and he generally wants to do the "right" thing. He will, however, hurt (or at least turn a blind eye to his team hurting) those who deserve it - of which he has a quite liberal interpretation. His compassion especially stops when it comes to drow, tyrants and those he percieve as "evil". Also, he is a drunkard and very, very suspisious of magic which sometimes brings him on odds with Symore and Saromihe.

Saromihe is a bard who doesn't show her face - which she explains with "I've vowed to hide my face until I've found my parents' murderer". She's charming and playful at best, moody and arrogant at worst. She detests uglyness and is quite proud; don't tell anyone, but she has a sadistic streak and enjoys to see enemies suffer. Highly paranoid, she has occasional "manic" moments where she talks to herself, yells at the team and generally indulges in paranoia. This paranoia doesn't extend to the team, though, and she'll go to lengths to keep her friends safe. She doesn't like to challenge the authorities and doesn't have qualms about doing the "right" thing when it shows up (as long as she's sure that she's safe, first).

Last, there's Karl. He's a mercenary fighter; quite intelligent in theory, blunt and reckless in reality. He's got a nose for money and will try to collect it whenever he can - especially by hurting criminals (a breed which he feels very little sympathy towards). He's very big on loyalty and tends to insist on this inside the party. Apparantly, he never really lies. Also a drunkard, he's becoming quite good friends with Baubharis (and tends to get the half-elf drunk if he needs something from him). Stinky and ragged, he is highly detested by Saromihe. Skilled with a sword, he is respected by Symore.

These descriptions are, of course, incomplete (I don't know everything about the other characters, as we keep backstories and motivations hidden from each other).
I'm merely curious as to what alignment you would pin on these guys.

So, go ahead, play my little game. At some point, I'll post the alignments we've got on our sheets - for now, I'm just curious as to what you'd pin on them.

Kylarra
2010-01-18, 11:39 AM
Based on the descriptions you've given:

Symore - LE
Baubharis - NG
Saromihe - N
Karl - LN/N

hamishspence
2010-01-18, 11:44 AM
My best estimates:

Symore: NE, or CE. A little crazy- cruel, destructive, but more comfortable in an orderly environment.

Baubharis: LN- possibly with LG tendencies (Monk). A little to much Pay Evil unto Evil to be Good, a little more compassionate and keen on doing the right thing to be evil.

Saromihe: Hard to pin down- Could be N, CN, NE, or CE- but I'd say N with mild Chaotic and Evil tendencies.

Karl. LN, possibly with mild LE tendencies.

These are approximations, based on the limited info available.

Foryn Gilnith
2010-01-18, 11:46 AM
Symore: NE, leaning towards LE, with the caveat of insanity.
Baubharis: NG (N). Screw monk alignment restrictions.
Saromihe: N
Karl: lLN (N)

This is purely based on the description. I could very easily see the "proper" alignments being different due to seemingly insignificant habits overlooked by the OP.

hamishspence
2010-01-18, 11:48 AM
If the alignment restrictions aren't in place, NG seems more plausible than LG for the monk- since little in the description speaks of either Lawful or Chaotic traits.

Zaydos
2010-01-18, 11:48 AM
From the descriptions I'd say in order:
LE
Something Good
TN with NG tendencies could argue NG
LN

Godskook
2010-01-18, 12:03 PM
Symore is definitively evil, but seems to be bipolar between lawful and chaotic, so NE seems to be the best fit for him.

Baubharis is CN or CG, far as I can tell.

Saromihe sounds very TN, but of the quadpolar variety, rather than anything resembling 'balanced'.

Karl, I'd pin a Neutral(good) morality on him, but his ethics are harder to establish. In the end, I'd go with a lazy lawful over a diligent chaotic. Where Karl thinks ethics are important(loyalty, lies, work), he's very lawful, where as he gets lazy when it doesn't matter(his clothing, drinking, etc). So LN(Good).

Short answer:
Symore - NE(Bipolar lawful/chaotic)
Baubharis - CN/CG split evenly
Saromihe - TN(Quadpolar erratic)
Karl - LN(Good)

Kylarra
2010-01-18, 12:06 PM
Ah... yeah I forgot about monk alignment restrictions. That'd make my first guess for the monk actually LN, but he really acts more NG imo.

Tengu_temp
2010-01-18, 12:13 PM
Symore - NE
Baubhanis - LG. Behaviour fits more closely to NG, but hey, monk.
Saromihe - N
Karl - non-chaotic and non-evil, most likely LN.

2xMachina
2010-01-18, 12:17 PM
LE (Orderly)
NG (might be L or C. No description, so chugging him in N)
LG (like authorities, does the right thing.)
LN (Never lies. Might be G or E. No real tendencies, so N)

Insanity =/= Chaotic. Bouts of mania does not make one chaotic.

The 3rd one... I'd say it's TN/LG. Very lightly LG. L cause of authorities, G because she does the right thing. Liking to see enemies suffer isn't really evil. She's not the one making them suffer. Also, wanting bad guys to suffer isn't really evil. Wishing that a serial killer suffers isn't evil. Now, for an enemy, it is less justifiable, but if she's good, all enemies are evil.

Sliver
2010-01-18, 12:26 PM
Symore - CN, considers himself CG.

Baubharis - LN or TN, but considers himself LG.

Saromihe - TN.

Karl - LN.

elonin
2010-01-18, 12:26 PM
Symore LE heading toward NE

Baubharis LG with tendancies toward LN

Saromihe NN or CN

Karl LN

hamishspence
2010-01-18, 12:31 PM
Main reason I tag Symore as more Chaotic than Lawful- is that in D&D, revenge has little to do with either Law or Chaos. There are CE and NE gods of revenge, as well as LN and LG ones.

"Punish those who have wronged you" despite using Lawful language, doesn't seem like an especially Lawful goal.

jiriku
2010-01-18, 12:34 PM
Symore - insane, attempting to function as LN but too dysfunctional to do so consistently. Symore seems to be a sociopath, unable to control his emotions or make moral judgements.
Baubharis - NG. Ruthlessness towards one's enemies is not an evil trait in a world as violent as D&D, and even good people are vulnerable to racism, prejudice, and addiction.
Saromihe - LG although not strongly so. She seems a lot like a true neutral character who feels the calling to be a LG hero but struggles to avoid backsliding into a self-focused mindset. She also seems a little mentally unstable, which is about par for the course among for an orphaned, violent, traveling hobo looking for vengeance.
Karl - True Neutral. He seems the type to always look out for #1, then look out for friends of #1, and help others only if #'s 1 and 2 are already taken care of.

imperialparadox
2010-01-18, 12:43 PM
Symore is Lawful Evil. He seems to have his own self-developed standards that he ruthlessly holds others too. He also seems to like the idea of control, another staple of LE.

Bhaubharis is Chaotic Neutral - despite meaning a monk. Even if he 'wants to do the right thing,' it seems to be implied that he doesn't. His willingness to turn a blind eye to the others supports that. While he may prefer harmony, he doesn't go out of his way to promote it - thus he is neutral, lacking the altruism that defines good. I say Chaotic because he is willing to bend his standards, and seems to lack discipline.

Saromihe I lean towards Lawful Good, possibly Lawful Neutral, though it's hard to peg. I don't consider crazy = Chatioc Neutral, and despite perceptions Good people can have plenty of problems. She is driven to avenge her parents, but doesn't quarrel with authorities. She also seems interested in actually doing the right thing. That along with her uniform dislike of 'ugly things,' I would still say Lawful Good.

Karl seems Neutral. He's loyal to his friends, which is a trait possible for any alignment really. He's uncouth, dirty, undisciplined, but loyal to his friends, so I'd say its a wash and label that part of alignment as neutral. He's greedy, but nothing indicates that he will harm people to fulfill his coin-lust - instead he indulges in his greed by going after bad people - though since it's through a desire for reward and not altruism, again I'd say he's simply Neutral.

Freshmeat
2010-01-18, 12:47 PM
Symore - CN or CE. He may be at ease in an orderly environment, but punishing people for not listening to him or insulting him suggest a serious lack of self-control and are seriously chaotic warning signs to me. His sense of justice (punishing whoever does 'wrong') seems to come down to 'whoever annoys me gets a fireball in the face'. There doesn't seem to be a particular rhyme or reason to his actions. In fact, they come across as just plain whimsical.

Baubharis - To be a monk, he has to be lawful, although the description hints a little otherwise. I'd go with NG though. Much on the law-axis depends on whether his slightly extremist views stem from himself, or if he's simply been brought up that way.

Saromihe - Chaotic neutral and rather self-obsessed. Probably only avoids trouble with the authorities because she'll get punished otherwise. Seems interested in doing good, but only when it poses no risk to her. Will stick up for her friends, although it's unclear if she'd do the same for people she has no emotional investment in.

Karl - Depends on whether he has any principles or standards when he chooses his jobs. Lawful seems a given, so I'll go with LN. From your description, he actually sounds like a pretty nice guy.

Myou
2010-01-18, 02:07 PM
Symore: CE (Read stupid evil).

Baubharis: TN.

Saromihe: LN.

Karl: LN

Kelb_Panthera
2010-01-18, 03:07 PM
Symore: N by reason of insanity. (and being pretty balanced on both alignment axes)

Baubharis: LN trying to be LG but not quite making it. Even if he's not really lawful I guarantee that's what it says on his sheet :smalltongue:

Saromihe: CE but without really meaning to be evil.

Karl: Also TN but trying to be Lawful.

that's my to cp anyway.

Glass Mouse
2010-01-18, 07:45 PM
This is pretty cool. Status update and big reveal:

So far, it seems the only thing people agree on with Symore is that he's evil. Mostly LE or NE. But apparantly he goes all the way to CN.
On the sheet, though, he's stated as LE.

Baubharis is widely considered NG, or at least some kind of good. A few neutral in there, but people agree a little more on him (though on the L/C axis, he's all over the place).
On the sheet, he's stated as LN, but the GM considers tossing him into LG.
(personally, I agree that he seems more NG than LN/LG, but hey - the monk alignment restriction is stupid, anyway).

Saromihe is (which surprises me a bit; my description was probably off) seen as TN. People go all the way from LG to CE, though, with most thinking LG.
On the sheet, she's stated as CE, with neutral tendencies.
Serves me right for deleting the sentence about not caring for strangers.

People really agree on Karl. LN all the way, except for a few who regard him as TN. This is weird, compared to the player's own perception.
On the sheet, he's stated as CG.

I really like seeing how differently people percieve these characters. Especially because everyone focuses on something different when characterizising.
Thanks for playing along :smallsmile: (so far.. Any more suggestions are welcome)


His sense of justice (punishing whoever does 'wrong') seems to come down to 'whoever annoys me gets a fireball in the face'.

Haha, that's about right (except you should probably replace "fireball" with "isolate, torture into submission, then leave all trails and do some fast-talking to your team")! And the reason we were all tip-toing around him after the fireball incident.
In response to "Are we friends?", he actually answered "Well, you're the persons I'd least like to kill. No, wait... that came out wrong... Yeah. I guess we are."
There's a reason we've affectionately dubbed his alignment Lawful Wacked.


Myou, Symore's not really stupid evil. Crazier than a mule on a wheel, sure, but the player is a great roleplayer, and the character has a lot of firepower, so the character comes off as definately more scary than stupid.