Tips on role-playing a lawful good flirt?

[MonkeySage]

Best way I can describe my monk is that he's playful, but not to the point of being obnoxious. He knows when to be serious, and he respects boundaries.

He's a skilled harp player, and plays both as practice with stringed instruments (like his bow), and as an opportunity to entertain others.

While playing, if he sees someone he's interested in he'll cast them a gentle smile, but won't approach unless they seem interested as well.

He doesn't go on about it (monk humility and painful memories combined), but he's also the son of a sovereign Prince, and he's on a path seeking revenge against the person who destroyed his home and family 120+ years ago.

[JNAProductions]

Be a nice guy about it. If the people he's interested in say no, respect that. Don't overstep boundaries.

I dunno. I don't see anything contradictory in Lawful Good Flirt. Is there something specific you want help with?

[MonkeySage]

Mostly it was the lawful part i was having trouble with, not the good part. :P There's a stereotype of lawful characters often being sticks in the mud, and lawful good types aren't known for being all that playful.

[Nifft]

Mostly it was the lawful part i was having trouble with, not the good part. :P There's a stereotype of lawful characters often being sticks in the mud, and lawful good types aren't known for being all that playful.

Roy flirts. He's lawful good.

[hymer]

Maybe it isn't so much about the flirt itself, but about the handling of it - and especially the handling when it goes wrong.

[Ninja_Prawn]

I'm with JNA: 'flirty' is a relatively alignment-agnostic personality trait. Even if you are an old stick-in-the-mud-type LG paladin, it doesn't mean you can't flirt, you know? Plus, like, you don't have to behave perfectly lawfully every second of every day to qualify for a lawful alignment, unless you're a modron.

[Luccan]

Mostly it was the lawful part i was having trouble with, not the good part. :P There's a stereotype of lawful characters often being sticks in the mud, and lawful good types aren't known for being all that playful.

That's more a stereotype that has very little to do with Lawful alignment, I think. That said, you could always try these:


https://i.imgur.com/ZWZZgJa.jpg

[Paleomancer]

Mostly it was the lawful part i was having trouble with, not the good part. :P There's a stereotype of lawful characters often being sticks in the mud, and lawful good types aren't known for being all that playful.

Au contrare, being lawful is entirely in line with being playful. One cannot have a fair and just game without rules, after all :smallbiggrin:.

More seriously, I would recommend coming up with a small list of rules your character follows, maybe examining chivalric romance or similar sources for guidance. Examine as well why your character flirts, what he desires out of it (broadly or deeply, experience or true love). Within whatever limits are appropriate (for your group, your game, age range, etc.), how far does/would he go, and what preconditions apply?

[hamishspence]

That's more a stereotype that has very little to do with Lawful alignment, I think.

The traditional vices of Law do include some things that sound stick-in-the-mudley:

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/description.htm#theNineAlignments


"Law" implies honor, trustworthiness, obedience to authority, and reliability. On the downside, lawfulness can include close-mindedness, reactionary adherence to tradition, judgmentalness, and a lack of adaptability.

but a lawful character doesn't have to have those vices.

[Anymage]

Does anybody get fussed over how Roy placing ten gold piece bets is clearly a chaotic trait?

Being a flirt may not be the most Mechanus level Lawful trait out there. It's minor enough that I don't see it ever being an issue for characters who aren't distillations of pure abstract thought.

[Luccan]

Does anybody get fussed over how Roy placing ten gold piece bets is clearly a chaotic trait?

Being a flirt may not be the most Mechanus level Lawful trait out there. It's minor enough that I don't see it ever being an issue for characters who aren't distillations of pure abstract thought.

No it's not. He always pays up. Keeping your word (even in the face of people you know could easily have cheated * cough * Haley * cough *) is incredibly lawful.

I honestly don't think there's anything about being Lawful that prevents a person from flirting, since I don't see how that could be considered a Chaotic action or even non-Lawful.

[Pleh]

Flirting tends to be whimsical and spontaneous, which trends more chaotic than lawful.

But nothing stops you from just being very likeable, confident, and charming. That's just having a high charisma.

If you want a heavy lawful good while expliring romance, it would probably look like courtship (with or without an arranged betrothal). Modern western fairy tales like to drag courtship through the mud a lot, but it really doesn't have to be so bad. If everyone is behaving in a good aligned manner, having more experienced relatives help you form a solid marriage can actually be quite a leg up on figuring out how the relationship works.

[Frozen_Feet]

How did it go again?

"Look at your man. Now at me. Now back at your man. Now back to me. Sadly, he isn't me, but if he swore to become the champion of all that's right and virtuous, he could become like me. Look down. Now up. Your home village has now been saved from the orcs. Look again. All people you know and love have been cured from their wounds and illnesses."

"I"m on a celestial warhorse."

Just saying, being a literal knight in shining armor can have its benefits...

[gkathellar]

It sounds like you know exactly how to play your monk, and you're just getting worried about whether you're "allowed," to play that way within your alignment. You are. Law is about form (as opposed to formlessness), the belief that there's a correct way to do things, and consistency both internal and external - but how that manifests is an open question for any given character.

[JNAProductions]

How did it go again?

"Look at your man. Now at me. Now back at your man. Now back to me. Sadly, he isn't me, but if he swore to become the champion of all that's right and virtuous, he could become like me. Look down. Now up. Your home village has now been saved from the orcs. Look again. All people you know and love have been cured from their wounds and illnesses."

"I"m on a celestial warhorse."

Just saying, being a literal knight in shining armor can have its benefits...

Beautiful. Brings a tear to my eye.

[Pleh]

Beautiful. Brings a tear to my eye.

Look again. Your tears are now diamonds.

Anything is possible when you swear fealty to justice and righteousness and not vain ambitions.

[Frozen_Feet]

It just keeps getting better. :smallbiggrin:

[redwizard007]

Think Lancelot. Before all the sleeping with his king's wife.

Write sonnets or poetry. Or commission them from a well respected bard. Bow. Be courteous and flattering. Get all worked up over small slights to your lady's honor. Stuff like that. It works fine for knights. Just translate see to fit your monk's culture and worldview.

[Celestia]

I don't know why more paladins/monks don't "play the field," as it were. They're perfect for it: disease immunity means all the fun and none of the downsides. :smalltongue:

[Xuc Xac]

I don't know why more paladins/monks don't "play the field," as it were. They're perfect for it: disease immunity means all the fun and none of the downsides. :smalltongue:

I played a womanizing paladin once. Immune to diseases and very charismatic? It would be a waste not to! When people asked why I didn't fall from paladinhood for it, I just explained:

1. I took a vow of celibacy. That means never getting married.
2. I didn't take a vow of chastity, which is the "no sex" one.
3. Sex isn't bad. It's actually a joyful celebration of one of the most fundamental aspects of life.
4. Booze and music too.
5. You can be a paladin and also fully immerse yourself in "wine, women, and song".

Being a paladin actually makes me better at those things than a bard. The bard has an advantage on the "song" part, but a holy warrior's constitution and supernatural healthiness gives me the advantage on the other two.

[The Glyphstone]

IIRC, that was one of the bits that the much-maligned BoEF did 'right', so to speak - justifying that paladins didn't have to be chaste as long as they were still honest and up-front with their partner about the nature of the relationship (or lack thereof, for one-night stands).

[Delta]

IIRC, that was one of the bits that the much-maligned BoEF did 'right', so to speak - justifying that paladins didn't have to be chaste as long as they were still honest and up-front with their partner about the nature of the relationship (or lack thereof, for one-night stands).

This is the most important part. Be honest. Be truthful. Often, when you see "flirty" characters, they embellish, they're pretending, they're pulling all the tricks and so on, and that's not really compatible with a LG "flirt".

I'd look at it like this: The LG flirt isn't trying to "get" people, he's "offering" something. You're not trying to get the other person drunk and get them to do something you know they'd regret in the morning, because that would be wrong. But there's absolutely nothing wrong about saying "Hey, I like you. Wanna have some fun?" (okay, maybe a few words more than that, but I think it gets the point across), be straightforward, be honest, be truthful.

[Wraith]

IIRC, that was one of the bits that the much-maligned BoEF did 'right', so to speak - justifying that paladins didn't have to be chaste as long as they were still honest and up-front with their partner about the nature of the relationship (or lack thereof, for one-night stands).

This would be my interpretation, too; a Lawful Good character can certainly play the field, but they can''t be sleazy about it.

Very likely, you would have excellent manners. When you approach a lady or gentleman, you tell them your REAL name, engage in some pleasant small talk, and you ask their permission before offering to buy them a drink or pay for their meal, or whatever. You don't just rock up, plonk some cheap house wine in front of them and go "that's for you, now you owe me" because that is incredibly rude and imposing.

You can try to impress them with boasting about your achievements. Unlike a Neutral or Chaotic character, yours tales will be honest accounts of things that you have actually done - you might even demonstrate modesty by insisting that you were just there to help your friends, rather than boring people with endless stories about things you killed. Similarly you might try to woo them with gifts - gifts which you have bought legally, rather than plundered from the local Dark Lords' tower, and which are not likely to cause offence if presented in public. A bouquet of roses is lovely for anyone involved; a leather collar and a riding crop might be suitable for what you both intend, but you're probably going to be discreet about it so as not to offend onlookers.

You can hit the town, dance the night away and get riotously drunk with them if you want to. You also remember though that just because you're drunk doesn't mean you're not responsible for your actions - you'll pay your tab (and maybe theirs too, if you're generous), if something gets broken then you'll apologise and offer to replace it, and if some Chaotic Good Barbarian has a few too many and tries to start a fight then you'll be the one to insist that "they're not worth it" and try to stop people from spoiling a good night out by getting arrested.
Which is not to say that you're going to be a pushover, of course. If your beau is insulted or has a drink tipped down them, it is well within the rules of chivalry to insist upon an apology from the offender. If the insult is grave enough, if your partner is sufficiently upset, and the law allows it, you might even call the person out to a duel to demand satisfaction in the matter. You certainly shouldn't kill the other person of course, but standing up for your partner and proving both your loyalty and your capability to defend them is entirely appropriate.

If, on the other hand, the target of your affection tells you to bugger off, then you apologise for interrupting them and you do it, no hard feelings.
If the night goes even better than you expected, you'll actually follow up on any promises to "keep in touch".
If it all goes wrong and one or more of you ends up pregnant (I'm not judging, but magic isn't just for the battlefield...) then you'll do the decent thing by either offering to marry your partner or - if the legal system allows it - buy yourself out of the obligation as is appropriate for your lifestyle. You're Good, after all, not Stupid - while being an attentive and upstanding parent is ideal, but sometimes the greater good comes from recognising that having an absent murderhobo as a parent is a terrible influence on a child, and it's better for them to be brought up comfortably and educated but without you around making things complicated.

[Delta]

a leather collar and a riding crop might be suitable for what you both intend, but you're probably going to be discreet about it so as not to offend onlookers.

That's another important aspects, a lot of people seem to instantly assume that LG automatically means "boring" or "vanilla", but really, it doesn't have to. Unless your religion (or country, or whatever specific laws your character follows) has any specific rules regarding sexuality, your paladin can be into as kinky and weird stuff as you want him to be, the big thing being that they wouldn't pressure, trick, much less force anyone to take part in it.

[Anymage]

I'm going to have to repeat that alignment is not the whole of personality here.

Lawful characters in general would prefer a stable relationship, because stability and predictability are the hallmarks of lawfulness. Probably have a thing for courtly love, too.

An individual can enjoy things like improv theater or placing small bets on games of chance, those are unlikely to cause even the slightest disturbance for a paladin. Similarly, if you enjoy playing the field and have a knack for finding others on your wavelength (one of the little conveniences of being a fantasy hero), I don't see how that creates any noticeable blip on the alignment meter.

[Knaight]

Roy flirts. He's lawful good.
Similarly while O-Chul's relationship with Lien isn't flirtatious there's a definite playful camaraderie there that suggests he absolutely could be, with other people in other circumstances.


Think Lancelot. Before all the sleeping with his king's wife.

Write sonnets or poetry. Or commission them from a well respected bard. Bow. Be courteous and flattering. Get all worked up over small slights to your lady's honor. Stuff like that. It works fine for knights. Just translate see to fit your monk's culture and worldview.
This isn't even a Lancelot thing - chivalric fiction in general is all over this, from a bunch of other characters in the King Arthur sagas in particular (with Tristan arguably being an even better example than Lancelot) to numerous characters in the broader genre.

A lot of them don't come off as so good to a more modern reading, but that's generally less due to flirtiness and more due to some truly horrifying historical perspectives popping into the foreground occasionally.

[Wraith]

That's another important aspects, a lot of people seem to instantly assume that LG automatically means "boring" or "vanilla", but really, it doesn't have to. Unless your religion (or country, or whatever specific laws your character follows) has any specific rules regarding sexuality, your paladin can be into as kinky and weird stuff as you want him to be, the big thing being that they wouldn't pressure, trick, much less force anyone to take part in it.

Hell yeah. Lawful Good characters of the worlds: Let your freak flag fly (with the express consent of your partner and at appropriately designated venues)!!! :smalltongue:

[gkathellar]

This isn't even a Lancelot thing - chivalric fiction in general is all over this, from a bunch of other characters in the King Arthur sagas in particular (with Tristan arguably being an even better example than Lancelot) to numerous characters in the broader genre.

A lot of them don't come off as so good to a more modern reading, but that's generally less due to flirtiness and more due to some truly horrifying historical perspectives popping into the foreground occasionally.

Aye. Courtly love (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courtly_love) is a whole thing, and the archetypal example would involve a lower-status knight and a higher-status noblewoman, usually a married one. It was a sort of weird courting ritual that was generally though not necessarily expected to be chaste, but seemed to pass the time. Knights writing odes and getting handkerchiefs for their trouble, that kind of thing. I agree that there's nothing especially Lawful Good about it, but then, there was nothing especially Lawful Good about knightly culture in general.

[Jerrykhor]

A skilled harp player you say? Try some of these pick up lines while wielding the hard: "Hey baby, wanna feel some of my.... fingering?"