"Trying to give actual examples of D&D alignment" Topic

I would say Lawful Evil- Nazi Germany, Taliban

Most modern 'western' countries aspire for Lawful Good, but tend towards Lawful Neutral.

Proper Anarchism (as a political ideal) Chaotic Good

Dirty Harry – Neutral Good

Han Solo – Chaotic Neutral, indeed most criminals (burglers muggers etc) are Chaotic Neutral.

Most revolutions (see themselves as) Neutral to Chaotic Good.

"I would say Lawful Evil- Nazi Germany, Taliban"

Lawful Evil supposedly places some importance on laws and contracts, both internally and externally. Both examples reserve(d) "the Law" for internal concerns, and hold no compunctions about outsiders. Nazi Germany cheerfully signed treaties with countries just to keep them out of the way until it was their turn to be conquered, and the Taliban, with their reportedly narrow (to the extreme) interpretation of the Koran, seem bent on ruling in a destructively misogynistic fashion and have no respect for anyone outside *their* definition of Islam; as such, the "Lawful" might be stretching things a bit.

That said, the alignments of D&D are too absolute to easily apply to real life.

I dunno…I'd have to say several of the 'western' countries are flirting more with Neutral Evil than Lawful Neutral…though it definitely varies with which economic strata you're from.

They'll be able to see the flames on this thread from orbit any minute now.

Adolf Hitler – Lawful Evil
Charles Manson – Chaotic Evil
Pat Boon – Lawful Good
Shirley Temple – Chaotic Good
Pat Sajak – True Neutral

Chaotic Good – Stone Cold Steve Austin, Riddick, Elric of Melniborne, = the classic anti hero.

Robin Hood – Chaotic Good (as a product of the times)
Han Solo – Neutral Good – he doesn't really care about things other than himself, but has that pesky streak of good in him…

The best example of Lawful Evil I've seen is (for our UK reders) Pauline form the League of Gentleman, Royston Vasey's Quickstart leader. Maliciously applying all the petty rules to dominate her charges and make them as miserable and de-motivated as possible -evil queen of her own little empire. And the scary part is, she's just like so many petty officials everywhere…

G.

Lawful Evil – Darth Vader?

The real question is what Alignment is Chuck Norris?

Chuck Norris is an alignment, but if you aspire to be Chuck Norris he'll kick your back to True Neutral

D&D alignment is a mechanic which can not be applied to the real world. In the real world good and evil are labels only. They are not measurable, and their applicability depends on the credulousness of the person making the evaluation.

Example: Adolph Hitler has been cited a few times above. I believe that the Holocaust is a historical fact. I would therefor rate Adolph Hitler as LE, as he was the lawful ruler of Germany (a discussion of his methods during his rise to power need not occur here) and ran an orderly and well organized society, and I find the killing of ~6 million of your own civilians based solely on intolerance to be quite evil.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on the other hand, does not believe that the Holocaust is a historical fact. If asked how he would place AH on the D&D alignment quadrant I doubt he would select LE.

But in the D&D world there need not be debate about whether this or that tale about someone is fact or hyperbole or fiction. You do not need to know with certainty if an individual murdered someone or not. That is irrelevant. You cast Detect Alignment and all is settled.

But Kompera- Santa is real isn't he 8-p

I would say the Taliban are Lawful, because they have a rigid set of 'laws' by which the conduct themselves. Whether those at the top believe in them is another matter.

Chuck Norris on the otherhand is Wussy Wetspants.

Han Solo – see your argument, but that Good was based on personal interest (in IV)- doing the 'Alderaan Tango' with Leia. "Hey, I saved the galaxy! Can we do sex now?"

Hitler probably thought of himself as LG- he possibly though he was doing the human race a favour (and indeed, this is how he always played his Elven Bard in the regular "Furherbunkerquest" game on a Thursday night).

I had trouble of thinking of examples where the subject would think of themselves as 'evil' (I couldn't remember Manson's name- he was one of the few I could see as self confessed evil). Even many dictators are more Neutral, as they are not actively seeking suppression, merely personal gain

Chuck Norris is an alignment, but if you aspire to be Chuck Norris he'll kick your Bleeped text back to True Neutral

This comment is the only one which treats D&D alignment with the proper level of respect….

Chuck Norris is an alignment, but if you aspire to be Chuck Norris he'll kick your Bleeped text back to True Neutral

This comment is the only one which treats D&D alignment with the proper level of respect….

I couldn't have said it better.
P.S. Gandhi was Chaotic Good.

Trying to give actual examples of D&D alignment

Don't bother, it's a fairly silly mechanic with limited application to reality.
-Kle.

In "virtual reality" aka "the game" one's actions display your character's actual alignment to the GM. Unless you are a cleric, one of those God-Touched/blessed/cursed classes such as paladin, or are involved with thinking aligned items it doesn't matter what you "say" you are.

I like the alignment system for NPCs but once ther game starts a PC establshes his "cred" by his actions. Several PCs have found out that exceptional greed/arrogance can make the "Good" NPCs a bit leery of becoming involved with them.

To paraphrase a movie character, "more of a set of guidelines than actual rules."

Gracias,

Glenn