So what is the purpose of alignment? We are distilling down a vague idea into one of nine values to classify our character and then use it as a yard stick for future behaviour. Why not just keep the core premise? Why not have a list of characteristics that interact with the notion and purpose of the character? Why do motives need to be simple? Here we have a couple of chapters above -- and a couple of books elsewhere on the forum -- for the very same topic. If you are talking about it you want to do something more than slap a "chaotic evil" sticker on a kobold and be done with it.
Killing the kobold can't be justified by the sticker he wears; can it? Isn't he mean-spirited, fearful little creature who delights in seing others suffer? Doesn't that tell you more? If we apply the label we get into a debate over what the label means. If I tell you that they have a perverse delight in killing even when they do not use (eat) what they kill and go out of their way to do so, you will know more about them. I could create a set of games that they play where they exhibit these characteristics. The label confuses. The label categorizes. Labels are used for grouping things by similarity. What purpose does grouping the inhabitants of a world by ethics serve? Does it mean that the Lawful Good are always morally more correct than the Chaotic Good? No. MORALS HAVE CONTEXT! Applying a label without context is like saying that H2O is a solid -- true in the arctic, not in Jamaica. Eliminate prejudice, eliminate critical thinking, eliminate debate -- make way for alignment, the all-knowing moral compass that allows me to ignore context and skip over regret and reflection.
Oh, in case you missed it, I don't like Alignment rules. (Rant done -- phew!)
So what is the purpose of alignment? We are distilling down a vague idea into one of nine values to classify our character and then use it as a yard stick for future behaviour. Why not just keep the core premise? Why not have a list of characteristics that interact with the notion and purpose of the character? Why do motives need to be simple? Here we have a couple of chapters above -- and a couple of books elsewhere on the forum -- for the very same topic. If you are talking about it you want to do something more than slap a "chaotic evil" sticker on a kobold and be done with it.
Killing the kobold can't be justified by the sticker he wears; can it? Isn't he mean-spirited, fearful little creature who delights in seing others suffer? Doesn't that tell you more? If we apply the label we get into a debate over what the label means. If I tell you that they have a perverse delight in killing even when they do not use (eat) what they kill and go out of their way to do so, you will know more about them. I could create a set of games that they play where they exhibit these characteristics. The label confuses. The label categorizes. Labels are used for grouping things by similarity. What purpose does grouping the inhabitants of a world by ethics serve? Does it mean that the Lawful Good are always morally more correct than the Chaotic Good? No. MORALS HAVE CONTEXT! Applying a label without context is like saying that H2O is a solid -- true in the arctic, not in Jamaica. Eliminate prejudice, eliminate critical thinking, eliminate debate -- make way for alignment, the all-knowing moral compass that allows me to ignore context and skip over regret and reflection.
Oh, in case you missed it, I don't like Alignment rules. (Rant done -- phew!)