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Discussion: Alignments - Chaotic Neutral

Tags: #RP:Discussion  #Alignments  #Zonnonn  #RP:Series 
  • Member
    November 3, 2017

    Ugh, seems that I forgot to post this on Thursday again, I blame... someone else, it's not like I was playing Skyrim all day and just forgot or anything...

    Anywho, we're on the penultimate discussion folks! And slowly bt surely we're slipping into darker territory with

    Chaotic Neutral

    So who are these guys and girls then? Are they the anarchists who just want to watch the world burn? Or do they have a grander purpose, and burning stuff on the way is a happy bonus to their big plan? Discuss everyone! And make sure to comment on someone else's comment when you make your own!

  • Member
    November 5, 2017

    I had a Chaotic Neutral character. My interpretation, likely wrong, was of a guy who was largely unconcerned with good and evil, or rather was not inclined to either and felt balance between the light and dark was key, but who also valued total freedom above most things. He was quite single-minded in his pursuit of knowledge and became a Mora cultist to satisfy his indulgences and cravings for arcane power. He wasn't a bad guy, a bit ambitious and sometimes weak willed, but also not the sort of bloke you'd want to have a drink with every night.

    So who are these guys and girls then? Are they the anarchists who just want to watch the world burn? Or do they have a grander purpose, and burning stuff on the way is a happy bonus to their big plan?

    So he kind of fits that latter, although burning stuff along the way wasn't quite how it worked out. More like that if things happened to burn and he felt like watching while on his way he would. He may feel inclined to put the fire out, but mostly if there were a payoff that helped him towards his greater goal.

  • Member
    November 5, 2017

    I view CN as a pure survivalist, someone more than willing to break the law if it gives them a better chance of survival. Some cases of CN would thieves, bandits, and poachers.

  • Member
    November 6, 2017

    Paws said:

    I had a Chaotic Neutral character. My interpretation, likely wrong, was of a guy who was largely unconcerned with good and evil, or rather was not inclined to either and felt balance between the light and dark was key, but who also valued total freedom above most things. He was quite single-minded in his pursuit of knowledge and became a Mora cultist to satisfy his indulgences and cravings for arcane power. He wasn't a bad guy, a bit ambitious and sometimes weak willed, but also not the sort of bloke you'd want to have a drink with every night.

    So who are these guys and girls then? Are they the anarchists who just want to watch the world burn? Or do they have a grander purpose, and burning stuff on the way is a happy bonus to their big plan?

    So he kind of fits that latter, although burning stuff along the way wasn't quite how it worked out. More like that if things happened to burn and he felt like watching while on his way he would. He may feel inclined to put the fire out, but mostly if there were a payoff that helped him towards his greater goal.

    Shush Phil, there's no right answers when it comes to this stuff, it's like in GCSE English except its actually true this time and its not just the teachers telling you that to make you feel better about getting an F...

    Anywho, I reckon I interpret it the same way. The big misinterpretation with Chaotic aligned charactes is that they're the 'bad guys'. But in reality they just want to do what they want, and are self driven. And I especially like your last point - sometimes he lights the fires, sometimes he puts them out, sometimes he just watches.

    So basically its your mate that does dumb stuff on a night out, or the other mate egging him on.

    Ebonslayer said:

    I view CN as a pure survivalist, someone more than willing to break the law if it gives them a better chance of survival. Some cases of CN would thieves, bandits, and poachers.

    Do you think it can extend beyond survival though? Like Phil said, self-motivation seems to be the key here. Of course the most primal aspect of that is survival, but branching out to more 'civilised' traits such as greed, lust, basically all the sins, could work. Or on the flip side they could be the zealous hard workers who always strive to help. Yeah, they might have alterior motives, but they go beyond survival onto something more. Just a thought though, and I definitely reckon that the simplest definition of CN is someone focused on pure survival.

  • Member
    November 6, 2017

    Zonnonn said:

    Do you think it can extend beyond survival though? Like Phil said, self-motivation seems to be the key here. Of course the most primal aspect of that is survival, but branching out to more 'civilised' traits such as greed, lust, basically all the sins, could work. Or on the flip side they could be the zealous hard workers who always strive to help. Yeah, they might have alterior motives, but they go beyond survival onto something more. Just a thought though, and I definitely reckon that the simplest definition of CN is someone focused on pure survival.

    The way I see it Good is someone who's selfless and will usually help others, Evil is selfish and will do anything to get power so long as it falls into their lawful/chaotic alignment. For Neutral I needed a middle ground, a purpose that's not selfish or selfless, so I chose survival as that's the closest thing I could get to not being selfish but also not being uncaring to everything around them if it stands in their way.

    Now that I think about it, my definition of Chaotic Neutral may stray a bit towards evil as they will hurt others to get their own way. I think a better definition would be someone who will threaten in order to continue living, someone who wouldn't be afraid to put a gun to your head if you stepped foot on their property and weren't known to them. Basically a low-functioning sociopath.

     

  • Member
    November 8, 2017

    Ebonslayer said:

    The way I see it Good is someone who's selfless and will usually help others, Evil is selfish and will do anything to get power so long as it falls into their lawful/chaotic alignment. For Neutral I needed a middle ground, a purpose that's not selfish or selfless, so I chose survival as that's the closest thing I could get to not being selfish but also not being uncaring to everything around them if it stands in their way.

    Now that I think about it, my definition of Chaotic Neutral may stray a bit towards evil as they will hurt others to get their own way. I think a better definition would be someone who will threaten in order to continue living, someone who wouldn't be afraid to put a gun to your head if you stepped foot on their property and weren't known to them. Basically a low-functioning sociopath.

    Interesting, I like your definition, especially the last bit. They don't seek out killing, but if they have to then oh well basically. Nice one Ebon!