Opinions of Alignment 4E

[FullofQuestions]

I understand that people should play their characters to their alignments or there would be no point for them in the game. What I don't understand is what to do if a character wants to act out of alignment. Say, for example, he's Lawful Good, and his friend gets arrested for killing someone and is going to be put to death. His friend told him, though, that he did it in self defense. It is the character's alignment that he should uphold the laws that say anyone who kills is to be killed, but he wants to free his friend. Seems like more of a Good alignment thing to do. Sorry if that is a bad example, but I think you get my point. What should I am GM do if a character wants to act out of alignment?

[valadil]

It's okay if characters act against their alignments. With only 9 alignments to begin with and even less in 4e you'd be limiting players way too much if you restricted them to those choices.

In this case you're asking the PC to choose between Lawful and Good. It sounds like he's choosing Good. Had he left his friend to die, you could argue that he was prioritize L over G.

[hamishspence]

In 4E, since there's no penalty for changing alignment (and no alignment-detecting spells) characters can act pretty freely- according to their personalities rather than just their alignment.

LG characters who disapprove of a law (like one that mandates the execution of people who acted in self-defense) might say "It's an Evil law- I don't have to uphold it."

[Eorran]

As a GM, if you notice your players consistently choosing out-of-alignment actions for their characters, you should suggest to the player that he should change the line on his character sheet.

Unless the character is magically compelled to act a certain way, you have no reason to arbitrate the player's choices. Unless he's deliberately trying to mess up your game, in which case you don't have an alignment problem, you have a player problem.

In essence, the character should have an alignment that matches his choices, not the other way around.