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Nevar
2007-08-06, 10:55 AM
Scenario: Dwarf has a life debt toa particular lord from his family line in which they have not repaid yet. While growing up his family has worked for this lord for many years waiting for the chance to pay off thier life debt. Their Lord is LG. Suddenly another evil lord comes in and kills thier lord PC is unable to fulfill his life debt because he knows this evil lord is way too powerful for him. So he sets off to adventure and become stronger to avenge his lords death and end the lifedebt. Now the Evil lord see's the error of his ways and is now LG the PC is still going to fulfill the life debt because his honor in fulfilling the life debt is higher then anything else as he see's it. What allignement should he play?

Studoku
2007-08-06, 10:59 AM
It sounds like Lawful Neutral. He's following an oath to avenge someone (Lawful) but if he's still willing to kill someone who has repented, he's Lawful Neutral.

nagora
2007-08-06, 11:01 AM
Now the Evil lord see's the error of his ways and is now LG the PC is still going to fulfill the life debt because his honor in fulfilling the life debt is higher then anything else as he see's it. What allignement should he play?

LN. The morals are not entering into the decision, only the Lawful issue of fulfilling an oath.

Krellen
2007-08-06, 11:02 AM
Lawful Neutral.

He's not particularly Good-minded (he's not doing things to improve the state for others), but neither is he Evil (he's not doing things to worsen the state for others, either). He's Lawful because this oath - one he didn't even take - is the driving force of his life, and he feels extremely bound by it.

ArmorArmadillo
2007-08-06, 12:28 PM
Playing simply off of what you've mentioned, he'd be LN for the reasons mentioned earlier.

He could be LG, if he generally sought to do good things on the whole, considering that even though the villain is repentant he is still guilty of a crime for which he the dwarf is seeking to punish him.

The act of killing a repentant person for vengeance on a life debt is Nongood, but not a complete impediment to being good on the whole.

AKA_Bait
2007-08-06, 03:35 PM
Here is a question that might help: Would the character to ANYTHING that the original lord commanded if it would pay off the life debt?

Also, is he going after the new Lord to fulfill the lifedebt simply because he feels bound by the oath itself or is he doing it because he want's to be free of the debt and he doesn't care what action he needs to take to be free of it?

NamelessArchon
2007-08-06, 03:43 PM
Lawful Neutral, for the reasons others have provided. Killing for vengeance is probably a single evil act, but doing so in accordance with oath and bond is most assuredly lawful - the very definition of it.

Did he personally profit by it? Repeat it elsewhere without the oath? If not, and the sole motivator was the oath itself and not his personal gain, then LN is probably his calling.

Assuming it was a murder in cold blood (and not a fight in self-defense after being attacked) and the character went on to turn himself in for the crime of murder immediately and voluntarily, he'd *might* be better suited by LG, despite this one evil act. He'd be submitting to the laws of the land for the good of society, after all. This would be more applicable if he'd spent all his adventuring time actually refusing reward and personal gain for doing good deeds, and generally behaving like a Good Guy(tm).

If he finished the act off by destroying evidence (so as to be found innocent by the use of the letter of the law), took pains to hide and distort his culpability (manipulated others into taking partial credit or minimizing his guilt), researched reasons why the letter of the law makes him an innocent, and/or did it all for personal profit and gain, then he's probably better off playing LE.

Even Good people can slip - one evil act does not a lifetime of Good unmake, nor one act of good a lifetime of villainy redeem.