what kind of role play should this alignment be?

[djwood]

Lawful Good -

neutral good

Chaotic Good

Chaotic Neutral -

Chaotic Evil -

Neutral Evil -

Lawful Evil -

Lawful Neutral

I mean I suck a RP and I want to get better but don't really get the alignment system so please give me examples and tips to improve RP. Cause I just end up the guy that barely talks out of combat!

[Chronikoce]

I found this to be helpful: http://www.easydamus.com/alignment.html

Way easier to just link you there than it would be to convey that much information.
I will note that I do not agree with all their interpretations on alignment. In general alignment is debated because different DMs have varying ways in which they wish to use the system.

[djwood]

thank you friend but does it help with RP too?



I found this to be helpful: http://www.easydamus.com/alignment.html

Way easier to just link you there than it would be to convey that much information.
I will note that I do not agree with all their interpretations on alignment. In general alignment is debated because different DMs have varying ways in which they wish to use the system.

[Honest Tiefling]

I would actually speak with your DM. Not everyone agrees on alignment, so our opinions are just that, opinions. We could help you, but your DM might have alternative ideas and in the end, their opinion matters more for your game oddly enough. If you have a party, I would pick the same or a similar alignment to them and work on an interesting character within that alignment first.

[OldTrees1]

Alignment follows personality not vice versa. If alignment is obstructing you from RPing, then RP a character and then ask your DM what alignment it ends up being.

So start off with identifying some goals/motives for your character. If nothing got in their way and every obstacle was easily overcome, what would they be doing?

However obstacles exists and life does get in the way. How do they react to obstacles? What are the tools they seem to jump to, and why? What tools would they avoid, and why?

What are their strengths (beyond mere numbers on your character sheet)? Likewise what are their weaknesses? How do they treat their strengths (they might even treat different strengths differently)? Likewise how do they treat their weakness?

Where did they come from? What circumstances did they come from? How has that influenced them? What people matter deeply to them (love or hate)? How have these people influenced the character?

Basically the easiest way to know what to say out of combat, is for the character to have an agenda/goal/motive, have opinions about topics, and to have personality traits.

[dascarletm]

Lawful Good -

Neutral good

Chaotic Good

Chaotic Neutral -

Chaotic Evil -

Neutral Evil -

Lawful Evil -

Lawful Neutral -

I mean I suck a RP and I want to get better but don't really get the alignment system so please give me examples and tips to improve RP. Cause I just end up the guy that barely talks out of combat!

You can put many different personalities within the same alignment. That is, they are very broad categories and hard to narrow down.

Here are some tips for attempting to fit within an alignment though:

Good vs Evil: Good generally will care about others. Neutral on this scale will generally care about friends, and those he/she is involved with. Evil generally doesn't care about others.

Lawful vs Chaotic: This can be done many different ways. Honor/Dishonor, Organized/Disorganized, Rigid/Free, etc.

So I would combine the two up there to make your 9-alignment chart

LG - Cares about others and is honorable.

etc.

[Red Fel]

Alignment follows personality not vice versa. If alignment is obstructing you from RPing, then RP a character and then ask your DM what alignment it ends up being.


You can put many different personalities within the same alignment. That is, they are very broad categories and hard to narrow down.

These, both.

Rather than creating a personality to fit an alignment, I'd suggest first crafting your character's personality, and creating an alignment to fit.

Let me give you an example. I once created a character who grew up on the streets. She ran with a group of orphans and punks; they were the local gang, performing acts of petty vandalism and theft, but also keeping more serious thieves and criminals out of their territory. She was the leader, and cared for her gang like family. One day, an itinerant came through, and easily fended off her attack on him. He saw potential, and offered her the chance to leave the slums and train in combat. She did, and studied hand-to-hand fighting. She is foul-mouthed, quick-tempered, brash and coarse. She is barely literate and has little to no grasp of etiquette or table manners.

She is also an LG Monk/Cleric/Paladin/Champion of Irori. Despite being ill-mannered and ill-tempered, she has a heart of gold and boundless compassion. Despite being crass and possessed of a filthy sense of humor, she is respectful of legitimate authority and humble when it is merited. And despite her brash manner and quick temper, she has learned a deep spirituality and a respect for all people. ("Except the jerkwads," she would point out.)

She is, in short, a pretty solid subversion of the LG archetypes, and (in my opinion) a good illustration of how alignment does not dictate roleplay; rather, roleplay indicates the trend of alignment.

[madtinker]

*snip*
Good vs Evil: Good generally will care about others. Neutral on this scale will generally care about friends, and those he/she is involved with. Evil generally doesn't care about others.

*snip*

Respectfully disagree. Evil characters might still have someone they care about, but when they go about achieving goals they will disregard the freedoms and well-being of anyone who gets in the way. they may even enjoy wanton destruction. That doesn't mean they aren't capable of caring if they want to.

I'm using this idea in a game I'm DMing; two of the villains are definitely evil, but they also happen to be devoted to one another.

[Vhaidara]

*alignment subversion*

And secretly she was LE. Because this is Red Fel talking.

But yeah, it would be better if you gave us a personality and we gave a fitting alignment. If you can find a PDF online of the Hero Builder's Guidebook (3.0 book), there's a little personality quiz that you can take for the character to get an idea for an alignment. It's pretty transparent, but it is something.

[Knaight]

Alignment follows personality not vice versa. If alignment is obstructing you from RPing, then RP a character and then ask your DM what alignment it ends up being.

This. Don't role play an alignment. Role play a character. If you're having trouble with that, instead of falling back upon an alignment, fall back upon a literary archetype (or even an existing character) until you get the hang of it, then branch out.

[dascarletm]

Respectfully disagree. Evil characters might still have someone they care about, but when they go about achieving goals they will disregard the freedoms and well-being of anyone who gets in the way. they may even enjoy wanton destruction. That doesn't mean they aren't capable of caring if they want to.

I'm using this idea in a game I'm DMing; two of the villains are definitely evil, but they also happen to be devoted to one another.

Oh I agree 100% with that. My current CE character is totally devoted to his friends. He would die for them. He however instigated a hostile overthrow of a certain royal family since they posed a threat to his ally. He knew it would cost 100s of innocent lives, but he didn't care.

When I say generally I mean exactly that. Generally they don't care about others. That is, they are typically not altruistic. That doesn't bar them from caring about someone.

[Red Fel]

Oh I agree 100% with that. My current CE character is totally devoted to his friends. He would die for them. He however instigated a hostile overthrow of a certain royal family since they posed a threat to his ally. He knew it would cost 100s of innocent lives, but he didn't care.

When I say generally I mean exactly that. Generally they don't care about others. That is, they are typically not altruistic. That doesn't bar them from caring about someone.

Yeah, I think Dascarletm makes a fair point, with the caveat. With the exception of friends and loved ones, a Good person is more likely to put others before himself than a Neutral or Evil person; an Evil person is more likely to enjoy or find benefit in the suffering of others than a Good or Neutral person. Again, the caveat can and should apply. Even my worst, most monstrous characters - and as Keledrath points out, they're my favorites - care deeply, and sincerely, about their friends and loved ones. They just have a unique way of showing it.

One of my favorite scenarios actually entails an LE character being told that his son has been kidnapped and is being held for ransom. He informs the spokesman for the kidnappers that no ransom will be paid, and that the spokesman will be tortured, slowly, to extract the information about where the son is being kept. The spokesman warns that the son will be harmed if he does not return. The LE character responds calmly that he has divination specialists on hand who will locate the boy no matter where he's hidden; healers on hand to repair any injury to the boy; and if needed, Clerics specializing in resurrection. No matter what, the LE figure will have his son back, and in perfect health. The only difference, he explains, is just how many people are going to be flayed alive before that happens. And he's going to start with the spokesman. Then he'll move on to his family, his colleagues, his friends and neighbors, their friends and neighbors... And he might stop when he gets his son back. Or not. One way or another, nobody will ever again even consider trying to hurt him through his son.

Right there? Decimating a population, spreading torture and terror across a countryside, simply to ensure that nobody ever lays a hand on your flesh and blood? That's real love.

[kellbyb]

Yeah, I think Dascarletm makes a fair point, with the caveat. With the exception of friends and loved ones, a Good person is more likely to put others before himself than a Neutral or Evil person; an Evil person is more likely to enjoy or find benefit in the suffering of others than a Good or Neutral person. Again, the caveat can and should apply. Even my worst, most monstrous characters - and as Keledrath points out, they're my favorites - care deeply, and sincerely, about their friends and loved ones. They just have a unique way of showing it.

One of my favorite scenarios actually entails an LE character being told that his son has been kidnapped and is being held for ransom. He informs the spokesman for the kidnappers that no ransom will be paid, and that the spokesman will be tortured, slowly, to extract the information about where the son is being kept. The spokesman warns that the son will be harmed if he does not return. The LE character responds calmly that he has divination specialists on hand who will locate the boy no matter where he's hidden; healers on hand to repair any injury to the boy; and if needed, Clerics specializing in resurrection. No matter what, the LE figure will have his son back, and in perfect health. The only difference, he explains, is just how many people are going to be flayed alive before that happens. And he's going to start with the spokesman. Then he'll move on to his family, his colleagues, his friends and neighbors, their friends and neighbors... And he might stop when he gets his son back. Or not. One way or another, nobody will ever again even consider trying to hurt him through his son.

Right there? Decimating a population, spreading torture and terror across a countryside, simply to ensure that nobody ever lays a hand on your flesh and blood? That's real love.

Just another demonstration of why Red Fel = Awesome.

[Tragak]

I'd like to add my own thoughts and experiences on making Evil PCs that are playable (even in a mostly-Good party) and 3-dimensional without being any less evil…


Yeah, I think Dascarletm makes a fair point, with the caveat. With the exception of friends and loved ones, a Good person is more likely to put others before himself than a Neutral or Evil person; an Evil person is more likely to enjoy or find benefit in the suffering of others than a Good or Neutral person. Again, the caveat can and should apply. Even my worst, most monstrous characters - and as Keledrath points out, they're my favorites - care deeply, and sincerely, about their friends and loved ones. They just have a unique way of showing it.

One of my favorite scenarios actually entails an LE character being told that his son has been kidnapped and is being held for ransom. He informs the spokesman for the kidnappers that no ransom will be paid, and that the spokesman will be tortured, slowly, to extract the information about where the son is being kept. The spokesman warns that the son will be harmed if he does not return. The LE character responds calmly that he has divination specialists on hand who will locate the boy no matter where he's hidden; healers on hand to repair any injury to the boy; and if needed, Clerics specializing in resurrection. No matter what, the LE figure will have his son back, and in perfect health. The only difference, he explains, is just how many people are going to be flayed alive before that happens. And he's going to start with the spokesman. Then he'll move on to his family, his colleagues, his friends and neighbors, their friends and neighbors... And he might stop when he gets his son back. Or not. One way or another, nobody will ever again even consider trying to hurt him through his son.

Right there? Decimating a population, spreading torture and terror across a countryside, simply to ensure that nobody ever lays a hand on your flesh and blood? That's real love. … except I'm out of my league :smalleek:

[dascarletm]

Red Fel, you're the guy I would most like to be in an evil-only campaign with.:smallamused:


EDIT... needed a with at the end of that sentence there.....

[Vhaidara]

Red Fel, you're the guy I would most like to be in an evil-only campaign.:smallamused:

I nominate Red Fel as Evil Overlord in the Playground, should he ever transcend to Mod status.

[Tragak]

I nominate Red Fel as Evil Overlord in the Playground, should he ever transcend to Mod status. And I for one would welcome our new Evil Overlord.

[Red Fel]

Aww, you guys are sweet. I probably won't massacre you in my rise to power.

Probably.

But coming back to the OP, the point - as now several people (myself included) have made - is that there is no single way to play an alignment. Alignment is a description, a single facet of a character, like eye color, handedness, appreciation of cats or lack thereof, alcohol tolerance, and capacity for karaoke. And just like there is no single way to play a blue-eyed, left-handed, cat-hating Dwarf who enjoys performing the works of Barry Manilow for an inebriated audience, there is no single way to play LE, or CE, or LG, or any of the other far less interesting alignments.

It's like, you're trying to put me in a box, man, with your labels, man. You can't put me in a box, man. I'm not part of your system.

[goto124]

While alignment does not dictate personality like a (well) dictator, it helps to go for 'in the ballpark of this alignment'. Since OP is probably new, it's likely that he'll be in a Good party, and being Good (aka in line with the rest of the party) helps quite a bit, and will avoid a lot of arguments about alignment clashes.

It is possible for a CE and LG to be in the same party. It's just a lot harder, and not worth the effort for new players.

[djwood]

I'm making an fire genasi, dread necromancer, lvl 8

In my head, my character has a extremely intimidating personality. He is able to control the undead, the only person shown so far whom they submit to. He has a certain level of respect for all of his corps, former and present, and has utter faith in their abilities. He possesses a strong winners-mentality, believing that winners get everything in life while losers are denied all. However he also has a tendency to take victory for granted as he holds that, for him, winning is merely a given and thus, lost the sense of accomplishent in victory. he also views his power and skill as absolute and grows violent when anybody opposes what he says.


Alignment follows personality not vice versa. If alignment is obstructing you from RPing, then RP a character and then ask your DM what alignment it ends up being.

So start off with identifying some goals/motives for your character. If nothing got in their way and every obstacle was easily overcome, what would they be doing?

However obstacles exists and life does get in the way. How do they react to obstacles? What are the tools they seem to jump to, and why? What tools would they avoid, and why?

What are their strengths (beyond mere numbers on your character sheet)? Likewise what are their weaknesses? How do they treat their strengths (they might even treat different strengths differently)? Likewise how do they treat their weakness?

Where did they come from? What circumstances did they come from? How has that influenced them? What people matter deeply to them (love or hate)? How have these people influenced the character?

Basically the easiest way to know what to say out of combat, is for the character to have an agenda/goal/motive, have opinions about topics, and to have personality traits.

[Vhaidara]

This sounds like very classic LE mentality. That or NE, depending on how seriously he takes it when he gives his word.

[Honest Tiefling]

Why are you saying you suck at RP again? That seems like a great start to a character.

[JusticeZero]

Sounds generally LE, but your GM can figure it out. The alignment isn't a restriction, it's the designation of how the physics of the universe classifies you. Does the universe think you are good, or evil? Lawful, or chaotic? Acid, or base? Negatively charged, or positively charged?

[OldTrees1]

I'm making an fire genasi, dread necromancer, lvl 8

In my head, my character has a extremely intimidating personality. He is able to control the undead, the only person shown so far whom they submit to. He has a certain level of respect for all of his corps, former and present, and has utter faith in their abilities. He possesses a strong winners-mentality, believing that winners get everything in life while losers are denied all. However he also has a tendency to take victory for granted as he holds that, for him, winning is merely a given and thus, lost the sense of accomplishment in victory. He also views his power and skill as absolute and grows violent when anybody opposes what he says.

Nice start. The central personality trait gives him an opinion on a lot of topics and gives his speech a texture. His attitude towards his corps can be used as a motive when they are involved. I would add some goal for when his corps is not involved.

Alignment is still an open book depending on how he acts on the "losers denied all" belief. However it hints at CE to me if he is oppressing others as a result of a "might makes right" philosophy.

[Drimoran]

NWN had some names for each alingment so you would have an idea of the kind of person who shall have such alingment

Lawful Good - Crussadder (Paladin, Jedi, John Snow)

Lawful Neutral - Judge

Lawful Evil - Dominator (Corrupted Politician, Evil King, Rumplestinskin)

Neutral good - Benefactor

Neutral - Reconciler

Neutral Evil - Malefactor (The Grinch)

Chaotic Good - Rebel (Robin Hood)

Chaotic Neutral - Free Spirit

Chaotic Evil - Destroyer (Sauron)

[djwood]

because I really just mash up like three anime characters that I like and copy-past them with some edition!


Why are you saying you suck at RP again? That seems like a great start to a character.

[Vhaidara]

because I really just mash up like three anime characters that I like and copy-past them with some edition!

So? I've literally ported Seto Kaiba from Yu-Gi-Oh into PF. And Oberyn Martell from Game of Thrones.

The quality of RP is how you play, not what you play.

[Honest Tiefling]

because I really just mash up like three anime characters that I like and copy-past them with some edition!

And? As long as people cannot tell where you got your inspiration from and it doesn't detract from the game, why would it matter where you got your inspiration from? What should matter is again, how you play and if it brings fun to the table. Heck, I've made a modern era character based off a Disney character once.

[djwood]

I mean, I don't have the ability of ''what would he do in this situation''

or when I 100% create a character the role play isn't a great as my friends, that do mexican accents or what not, I can tell because the interaction with me when I role play is totally different from theirs. My problem is voice, his attitude, the personality, etc

I don't have the ''get into your characters shoes'' ability, but I guess its a giving skill


So? I've literally ported Seto Kaiba from Yu-Gi-Oh into PF. And Oberyn Martell from Game of Thrones.

The quality of RP is how you play, not what you play.

[Tragak]

I mean, I don't have the ability of ''what would he do in this situation''

or when I 100% create a character the role play isn't a great as my friends, that do mexican accents or what not, I can tell because the interaction with me when I role play is totally different from theirs. My problem is voice, his attitude, the personality, etc

I don't have the ''get into your characters shoes'' ability, but I guess its a giving skill The first thing to remember is: the player putting on his/her character's costume and accent in real life is not role-playing. Those are props, and props can make the game more fun, but actual role-playing is just that first thing you mentioned, "what would he do in this situation" 100%. Not 35%, not 70%, 100%. Focus on that.

Tips for doing so:

1) Remember that the character doesn't exist. The character is not an objectively external entity that you would get in trouble for not channelling perfectly, the character is a fictional construct that you invented for the sake of telling a story. Don't worry about "My character SHOULD do something, and I'm playing the game wrong if I have him do that instead."

2) Remember that there are other people playing with you. If you don't have any ideas that you like for what the character could do in the party, then perhaps your friends have ideas to bounce off of you?

3) Remember that it gets easier with practice. If your choices are "play the game now, eventually getting 'better' at role-playing in the future" vs. "get 'better' at role-playing now, eventually playing the game in the future," then don't take the option that stops you from playing the game now. This is a game, not a job, so "definitely having fun, possibly being 'good' at it" beats "definitely being 'good' at it, possibly having fun" every time.

TL, DR:

#1: Don't pressure yourself to "get it right" the first time.
#2: Ask your friends the same questions you're asking us.
#3: see #1.

[HyperDunkBarkly]

I find it easiest to simply pick a small number of traits and RP that first and foremost. if my allignment is locked due to a class/race restriction, I pick the traits based on that.

[Doctor Awkward]

Lawful Good - "Without rules to guide you, how do you know you're doing the right thing?"

neutral good - "You don't need a reason to help people."

Chaotic Good - "Doing good is the price of being free."

Chaotic Neutral - "Screw the rules, I'm know what I'm doing."

Chaotic Evil - "You're either the predator or the prey."

Neutral Evil - "How will this benefit me?"

Lawful Evil - "I'm always on the winning side."

Lawful Neutral - "Rules are the foundation of a wholesome society."