Jallorn
2015-10-22, 03:05 AM
I have nothing to disclaim. Why is this here? Because those whom I am copying had one. Well, that and it seemed a good place to set a tone for this article. What tone? Oh I dunno, Neutral Goodish I hope. Now stop reading this and get to the place where I actually said something of value.
http://www.spiritvoyage.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/20090910_light_beam.jpg
The Right Thing for the Right Reason
A Guide to Neutral Good
"Do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, to all the souls you can, in every place that you can, at all the times you can, with all the zeal you can, as long as you ever can."
-John Wesley
I. Introduction
As far as I know, this is the fourth of it's kind, and like those (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?448542-Compliance-Will-Be-Rewarded-A-Guide-to-Lawful-Evil) before (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?448507-Rules-are-for-Jerks-A-Chaotic-Good-Alignment-Handbook) me, I copy the format of another (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?446414-No-Limits-No-Regrets-A-guide-to-the-Chaotic-Evil-alignment).
The purpose of this guide, again, like those before it, is to iron out the specifics of the chosen alignment. In this case, Neutral Good, specified here in case you missed it in any of the other many places it sits in this article. Neutral Good is an alignment primarily described in opposition to Lawful Good, but just not so much as Chaotic Good. This can sometimes result in a little confusion over where the line between Chaotic and Neutral sits, a confusion I hope to resolve by the end of this article.
http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Luke_Skywalker.jpg
II. What is Neutral Good?
WotC has defined Neutral Good as:
A neutral good character does the best that a good person can do. He is devoted to helping others. He works with kings and magistrates but does not feel beholden to them..
Neutral good is the best alignment you can be because it means doing what is good without bias for or against order.
It's pretty hard to screw up a definition with so few words, and thus so few chances to contradict or confuse, but while I would call this accurate, it is far from precise. The seeds are there, but there's a little more to it, especially in relation to the balance of Law and Chaos.
Devoted to Helping Others
This is the crux of being Good, and what all three Good alignments share in common. At the end of the day, for the most part, as long as you're working towards Good, even Chaos and Law can get along, if not work together. For the Neutral Good, helping others and making the world better for as many people as possible is their driving goal, to the point where Neutrality on the Law-Chaos axis is in service to Good. The choice is as much a commitment as any other, but the pull towards balance between order and freedom will never be more important than the desire to do good. Where a Lawful Good character might say that, "Good inspires peace and thus is a valuable tool in the cause of Law," a Neutral Good character always sees Good as the end of all causes, and if possible the method as well.
Good Without Bias For or Against Order
This phrasing is one of WotC's imprecisions, the statement that spawned the idea of Neutral Good's universal apathy towards Law. In fact, disregard for Law is a behavior of Chaos; Neutral Good has very definite opinions on the topic. A Neutral Good character looks at the world and says, "Rules are important for learning right from wrong, for guiding our decisions, and for showing us what to look at when considering our actions." A Neutral Good character wants a degree of Law and order in the world. They don't trust absolute freedom, because they know there are those out there who will abuse it. On the other hand, they also don't trust absolute order, since, even if it's not being abused, it is less effective at dealing out the best good. No code can answer every single situation, the world is too complex. So they temper it, refusing to be hidebound and promoting Laws more like guidelines, outright defying them if they are or become unjust.
Pragmatism, Best Good by Best Methods
The element most missing from WotC's definition, Neutral Good is pragmatic in its approach to creating Good in the world. In the face of this goal, all other concerns and ideologies are moot. The pragmatism of Neutral Good is why they refuse both Law and Chaos, citing both alone as insufficient to best aid others. This pragmatism is both their strength, ensuring that they consider many paths to helping other, and their weakness, sometimes tricking them into a fall from grace through sacrifices for the greater good.
http://www.spiritvoyage.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/20090910_light_beam.jpg
The Right Thing for the Right Reason
A Guide to Neutral Good
"Do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, to all the souls you can, in every place that you can, at all the times you can, with all the zeal you can, as long as you ever can."
-John Wesley
I. Introduction
As far as I know, this is the fourth of it's kind, and like those (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?448542-Compliance-Will-Be-Rewarded-A-Guide-to-Lawful-Evil) before (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?448507-Rules-are-for-Jerks-A-Chaotic-Good-Alignment-Handbook) me, I copy the format of another (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?446414-No-Limits-No-Regrets-A-guide-to-the-Chaotic-Evil-alignment).
The purpose of this guide, again, like those before it, is to iron out the specifics of the chosen alignment. In this case, Neutral Good, specified here in case you missed it in any of the other many places it sits in this article. Neutral Good is an alignment primarily described in opposition to Lawful Good, but just not so much as Chaotic Good. This can sometimes result in a little confusion over where the line between Chaotic and Neutral sits, a confusion I hope to resolve by the end of this article.
http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Luke_Skywalker.jpg
II. What is Neutral Good?
WotC has defined Neutral Good as:
A neutral good character does the best that a good person can do. He is devoted to helping others. He works with kings and magistrates but does not feel beholden to them..
Neutral good is the best alignment you can be because it means doing what is good without bias for or against order.
It's pretty hard to screw up a definition with so few words, and thus so few chances to contradict or confuse, but while I would call this accurate, it is far from precise. The seeds are there, but there's a little more to it, especially in relation to the balance of Law and Chaos.
Devoted to Helping Others
This is the crux of being Good, and what all three Good alignments share in common. At the end of the day, for the most part, as long as you're working towards Good, even Chaos and Law can get along, if not work together. For the Neutral Good, helping others and making the world better for as many people as possible is their driving goal, to the point where Neutrality on the Law-Chaos axis is in service to Good. The choice is as much a commitment as any other, but the pull towards balance between order and freedom will never be more important than the desire to do good. Where a Lawful Good character might say that, "Good inspires peace and thus is a valuable tool in the cause of Law," a Neutral Good character always sees Good as the end of all causes, and if possible the method as well.
Good Without Bias For or Against Order
This phrasing is one of WotC's imprecisions, the statement that spawned the idea of Neutral Good's universal apathy towards Law. In fact, disregard for Law is a behavior of Chaos; Neutral Good has very definite opinions on the topic. A Neutral Good character looks at the world and says, "Rules are important for learning right from wrong, for guiding our decisions, and for showing us what to look at when considering our actions." A Neutral Good character wants a degree of Law and order in the world. They don't trust absolute freedom, because they know there are those out there who will abuse it. On the other hand, they also don't trust absolute order, since, even if it's not being abused, it is less effective at dealing out the best good. No code can answer every single situation, the world is too complex. So they temper it, refusing to be hidebound and promoting Laws more like guidelines, outright defying them if they are or become unjust.
Pragmatism, Best Good by Best Methods
The element most missing from WotC's definition, Neutral Good is pragmatic in its approach to creating Good in the world. In the face of this goal, all other concerns and ideologies are moot. The pragmatism of Neutral Good is why they refuse both Law and Chaos, citing both alone as insufficient to best aid others. This pragmatism is both their strength, ensuring that they consider many paths to helping other, and their weakness, sometimes tricking them into a fall from grace through sacrifices for the greater good.