Name That Alignment! (#1)
So this is something I've wanted to try for awhile now but only now decided to take the time and make the effort to do so. I have several characters, one in particular, who's alignment somewhat alludes me. I have a pretty decent idea of what I think her alignment might be, but I am not entirely sure if it fits. I believe her to be Neutral Evil, but I don't know if her actions or demeanor really can be considered heinous enough to count as evil. As such, I'd love to get the community's opinion on what her alignment actually would be, if she was a Dungeons & Dragons character. I will include all alignment choices, even though I believe many of them are impossible to connect with her 
So, let's call this character "Fey", as I'm inclined to keep her name to myself for the time being.
Fey is born to a tribe of northerly, superstitious folk that might be on par with barbarians, but less barbarous. Fey is a very ambitions girl though and as she grows older, she dreams of being the High Chieftess of her tribe. She has no desire or interest in marrying any of the men in her tribe who would have a decent chance of achieving the rank of High Chief, she wants to be the sole leader of her tribe, and she believes she can obtain this goal.
As time goes by, however, she soon realizes that achieving this goal from within her tribe might be more difficult than she originally imagined. She believes if she were to obtain some sort of artifact of power, anything that might get the imaginations of her superstitious peers going, that they might make her the leader of their clan outright, and that even the current chief would be hesitant to resist such a change. So, she sets out on her own to attempt to achieve this goal.
In her travels she meets an older man who takes an interest in her. Originally, she has little interest in him, but as when he makes his interest very plain to her and she discovers him to be in the possession of an artifact of the caliber she is looking for, she starts to give in and feign interest. The two eventually marry and have two children of their own. Fey does make several attempts to take the item away from her husband, but he has it with him at all times and she is never successful. Soon, she settles in to the notion that when he passes he would give it to her.
This turns out not to be the case, however, as he soon makes it apparent that he plans to pass the item onto his son, their oldest child, when he passes from this world. Fey does not take this very well, but hides it with an amazing calm that no one suspects the planned treachery brewing deep within the ambitious woman's mind.
Eventually, Fey's husband dies and her son, let's call him Adar, obtains the heirloom for himself. Fey finds it even more challenging to try to take the item from her son because he is fiercely protective of it, as it is his only link to his father.
As time goes by, a small band of 'freedom fighters', who believe the device to be of a great power and able to upset the balance of the region in which they reside, should it fall into the wrong hands, makes an attempt to steal the item from Adar. Adar is caught by surprise, and the item is taken away from him. At first he is reluctant to pursue despite its importance to him. His mother, however, insists that he rally a small group of soldiers and route out the thieves and take back what is rightfully his. Adar is eventually convinced and while he is away on his quest, she hatches a scheme to get the item all for herself when Adar returns with it.
Adar's group of mostly mercenaries proves to be very diligent and sometimes brutal in their pursuit for the item and many innocents are interrogated and event forced to give up any and all information as to where the 'freedom fighters' might be hiding. This eventually leads to their lair being discovered and Adar regains his heirloom after a little bit of pillaging and looting, but minimal bloodshed.
When he returns to his mother, however, to tell her of the news, she subjects him to a trap of noxious fumes that knock him unconscious, leaving him powerless and allowing her to steal the item for herself. However, Fey's plan went even further than that. She had hired another woman with strikingly similar features to her own, to act more or less as her 'doppelganger'. This woman reluctantly seduces one of Adar's loyal soldiers and convinces him to join her (or rather, Fey) and act as her personal body guard. The soldier doesn't hesitate to follow, after all, a woman can sometimes be more convincing that mountains of gold to the right sort of person.
Fey makes her way to her tribe with her item of great power and plans to take what she believes to be her rightful place in history, as leader of her tribe, with a woman who looks strikingly similar to her (a very useful 'tool' she plans to utilize to garner power and favor within her tribe), and also a strong, burly and stupid personal body guard who is wrapped around her little finger (thanks to said doppelganger). Fey thinks far too highly of herself to seduce the man herself, even if she did perform a similar deed in the past with Adar's father.
So, that is a very summarized and basic description of this character, her deeds and her demeanor. What makes it difficult for me to slap on the 'evil' tag is the fact that she is very unlikely to kill anyone to meet her goals. She could have killed her husband, but she didn't. She bided her time to get what she wanted, even if killing him outright would have been infinitely easier. Though she clearly has no motherly instinct, she doesn't do any physical harm to her children either, other than deceiving them. She does cause indirect harm to others, though unintentionally, when she convinces her son to set out and reclaim the item of power, but she wouldn't dirty her hands with it herself.
So what do you, the community of one of the greatest RPG series ever, think of this character? What sort of alignment would you slap onto her based on what information is provided here? I would love to open this up to commentary and discussion as well, mind you. Thanks for taking the time to read my post and participating in the vote
So, let's call this character "Fey", as I'm inclined to keep her name to myself for the time being.
Fey is born to a tribe of northerly, superstitious folk that might be on par with barbarians, but less barbarous. Fey is a very ambitions girl though and as she grows older, she dreams of being the High Chieftess of her tribe. She has no desire or interest in marrying any of the men in her tribe who would have a decent chance of achieving the rank of High Chief, she wants to be the sole leader of her tribe, and she believes she can obtain this goal.
As time goes by, however, she soon realizes that achieving this goal from within her tribe might be more difficult than she originally imagined. She believes if she were to obtain some sort of artifact of power, anything that might get the imaginations of her superstitious peers going, that they might make her the leader of their clan outright, and that even the current chief would be hesitant to resist such a change. So, she sets out on her own to attempt to achieve this goal.
In her travels she meets an older man who takes an interest in her. Originally, she has little interest in him, but as when he makes his interest very plain to her and she discovers him to be in the possession of an artifact of the caliber she is looking for, she starts to give in and feign interest. The two eventually marry and have two children of their own. Fey does make several attempts to take the item away from her husband, but he has it with him at all times and she is never successful. Soon, she settles in to the notion that when he passes he would give it to her.
This turns out not to be the case, however, as he soon makes it apparent that he plans to pass the item onto his son, their oldest child, when he passes from this world. Fey does not take this very well, but hides it with an amazing calm that no one suspects the planned treachery brewing deep within the ambitious woman's mind.
Eventually, Fey's husband dies and her son, let's call him Adar, obtains the heirloom for himself. Fey finds it even more challenging to try to take the item from her son because he is fiercely protective of it, as it is his only link to his father.
As time goes by, a small band of 'freedom fighters', who believe the device to be of a great power and able to upset the balance of the region in which they reside, should it fall into the wrong hands, makes an attempt to steal the item from Adar. Adar is caught by surprise, and the item is taken away from him. At first he is reluctant to pursue despite its importance to him. His mother, however, insists that he rally a small group of soldiers and route out the thieves and take back what is rightfully his. Adar is eventually convinced and while he is away on his quest, she hatches a scheme to get the item all for herself when Adar returns with it.
Adar's group of mostly mercenaries proves to be very diligent and sometimes brutal in their pursuit for the item and many innocents are interrogated and event forced to give up any and all information as to where the 'freedom fighters' might be hiding. This eventually leads to their lair being discovered and Adar regains his heirloom after a little bit of pillaging and looting, but minimal bloodshed.
When he returns to his mother, however, to tell her of the news, she subjects him to a trap of noxious fumes that knock him unconscious, leaving him powerless and allowing her to steal the item for herself. However, Fey's plan went even further than that. She had hired another woman with strikingly similar features to her own, to act more or less as her 'doppelganger'. This woman reluctantly seduces one of Adar's loyal soldiers and convinces him to join her (or rather, Fey) and act as her personal body guard. The soldier doesn't hesitate to follow, after all, a woman can sometimes be more convincing that mountains of gold to the right sort of person.
Fey makes her way to her tribe with her item of great power and plans to take what she believes to be her rightful place in history, as leader of her tribe, with a woman who looks strikingly similar to her (a very useful 'tool' she plans to utilize to garner power and favor within her tribe), and also a strong, burly and stupid personal body guard who is wrapped around her little finger (thanks to said doppelganger). Fey thinks far too highly of herself to seduce the man herself, even if she did perform a similar deed in the past with Adar's father.
So, that is a very summarized and basic description of this character, her deeds and her demeanor. What makes it difficult for me to slap on the 'evil' tag is the fact that she is very unlikely to kill anyone to meet her goals. She could have killed her husband, but she didn't. She bided her time to get what she wanted, even if killing him outright would have been infinitely easier. Though she clearly has no motherly instinct, she doesn't do any physical harm to her children either, other than deceiving them. She does cause indirect harm to others, though unintentionally, when she convinces her son to set out and reclaim the item of power, but she wouldn't dirty her hands with it herself.
So what do you, the community of one of the greatest RPG series ever, think of this character? What sort of alignment would you slap onto her based on what information is provided here? I would love to open this up to commentary and discussion as well, mind you. Thanks for taking the time to read my post and participating in the vote
- Name That Alignment! (#1)25 votes
- Lawful Good0.00%
- Neutral Good4.00%
- Chaotic Good0.00%
- Lawful Neutral16.00%
- True Neutral4.00%
- Chaotic Neutral8.00%
- Lawful Evil8.00%
- Neutral Evil56.00%
- Chaotic Evil4.00%
1
Comments
Would love to see results.
But waaaaaay TLDR.
Thanks for the post regardless, glad you like the idea!
Interestingly enough, Chaotic Neutral was my second choice
I mean, she deceived, poisoned (albeit not a deadly poison) and stole from her son, turned one of his colleagues against him and manipulated a woman who looks very much like her into seducing the colleague and betraying her son and his other colleagues. I think you'd have a hard time spinning that as *not* evil. No, she didn't set out to kill anyone, but killing is not the be-all and end-all of evil. Betrayal is another biggie on the evil scale. I mean, look at Dante's "Inferno"- the greatest evil act, the one depicted at the very lowest depths of hell- is betrayal/treachery. Satan betrayed God, and traitors to kindred are immured in the first part of the ninth circle of Hell- Caina. They are buried up to their waists in ice.
Possibly your character transitioned from N to NE when she decided to act against her own son and poison him to get the artifact she wanted, as well as her subsequent acts of other treachery/betrayal.
Yeah, I'd say she's straddling the line between TN and NE, sliding deeper towards Evil as she goes.
I should have voted "Lawful Evil".
I believe "Lawful Evil" would best fit. "Lawful Evil" says that there must be rules and order; but he (she) who is strongest is the one who make the rules.
I don't think the lack of a "killer instinct" or having committed murder is a prerequisite for an evil alignment. Many people we consider evil either have others do the dirty work for them--as this character did--or commit other types of crimes entirely. I'm sure most of us would classify rapists, thugs and thieves as evil more often than not (in the more black and white D&D system).
I would say she is a neutral evil character, since the way you described her indicates that all of that was just in order to fulfill a selfish desire. She seduced a man and is having children with him. Children she wouldn't kill, but she doesn't care about them at all. All for one artifact that may, and only may help her reaching her goal - there is no guarantee that it will help at all.
It would be helpful, thought, had you stated reason she wanted to become a High Chieftess of the tribe. Is that because lust for power, or maybe she just loves her tribe and wish to protect it? But considering she left it, I doubt that.
So, I would say Neutral Evil.
She does not seem... Well evil. And as for pulling out all the stops to stay on the right side of the law!
She wants the tribe to make her chieftain outright = Lawful
She marries the man carrying the artifact and awaits for him to die and bequeath it to her in his will = Lawful.
Being the wife and chief executor of her husbands will, she actually follows through the commandments of the will... Why oh why if she wanted that staff... = Lawful stupid.
Sends out a force to gather lost artifact that is stolen = Paladanic proportional Lawful.
Decides to knock son out using noxious vapours, wouldn't want to kill the lad now would we... THAT WOULD BE BREAKING THE LAW! So we will get him tipsy on alcoholic vapours, why not just get him howling drunk, (My mom gives me beer... I am grey myself now though...) And can you allow a person smacked out of his face on noxious vapours, control of a powerful artifact? No. Better confiscate the keys... I mean artifact then= Bending the law in my favour Lawful.
PERSUADES... Please note, you used this word. PERSUADES... Not charmed, not coerced by threats, PERSUADES a women who looks just like her to seduce a bodyguard. = Lawful. Ever been persuaded by an advert for McDonald's, even though it is like, really bad for you, and will put you into an early grave quicker than smoking? THEN YOU TOO HAVE BEEN PERSUADED. It is however not breaking the law... = Lawful.
As for evil or good. She is a self-centered prig, who does not care about others, or even carries a notion of other possible contenders for the Chieftain status. She has no hopes or dreams for the future of the tribe to take them to a better place or improve their lot, apart from that she should rule them. While this sentence more or less describes the modern politician, it does not make her inherently evil. The fact that her actions do not help others however, shows a lack of goodness. = Self centered Neutral.
I presume, secretly, she knows she is wanting in some respects, in that she sees that her only way to power is through an artifact. That she marries a man that she does not love, does not make her evil. Many, perhaps too many, women in the world marry men they do not love, simply because there culture forces them to, or they wish to marry to improve their career and life prospects. This does not make such women evil (I would even suggest in some cases it is done for others so is notionally done for good). = Neutral.
As a Chaotic Evil Mummified Gnome... I know what I WOULD have done!
Stole the artifact. Made a funny glove puppet out the mans head and spine. Then act all american and gone to the tribe and civilised them by selling them whisky whilst taking all things of value and worth, included the land they hunt and farm on, before leaving them to starve, bereft in a mountain cave somewhere...
*Snicker*
In fact, I think I've just planned my next holiday...
*Evil chuckle*
EDIT: I have seperated actions that would fall under the remit of a law LAWFUL - CHAOTIC axis, from her life choices GOOD - EVIL axis.
You know, you mentioned a lot of things in a lot of ways I didn't really consider before, and I find that very intriguing! Especially since you use humor in a lot of your examples
The one thing that caught my eye was the lawful stupid comparison. I had to pause for a moment and consider the gravity of your accusation! Haha, actually, it's my fault. I should have pointed out that she failed to steal the artifact from her husband (despite sleeping in the same bed as him), because of how fiercely he protected the item. However, trying to steal such an item from your son would be even more challenging - lest they had a very strange relationship
I would say she would be conflicted between attempting to steal the item outright, and also having great challenge in even carrying out that task were she in the right place at the right time to carry it out.
But still, you've given me a lot to think about and I thank you for it
@ZelgadisGW & @Isandir
You are right that you don't have to be a killer to be evil, I agree with you here. I just put some emphasis on the fact that she hadn't killed anyone, because I think that combined with other possibly less visible traits might be enough to remove that evil tag from her character, if that makes sense.
Thank you for your posts just the same, I appreciate it
Overall it leans more towards the Evil end of the alignments, but the fact that she doesn't just straight out kill whoever she needs to get her goals means she lives by at least some "rules" making her more Lawful than Neutral.
Also, towards the end starting to manipulate things with a few "doppelgangers" to meet your own goals is more of a Lawful Evil person's way of doing things in my opinion.
A very good bit of insight there, I am noticing a trend that many people declare her to be more lawful than I originally considered her to be, so that will certainly affect my opinion of what her alignment might truly be
I agree you don't need to kill to be evil. Forcing people to pay for parking at hospitals is an evil act worthy of the nine hells, for instance...
This bit though...
Being the wife and chief executor of her husbands will. The chief executor i.e. the person who ensures the will, the wishes of the deceased, is carried out on the death of a husband (or wife), is usually a solicitor in modern times. However medieval times, it would be the closest relative or a pre-named trusted friend. In medieval Europe, women were thought of as inferior (total garbage, as a big fan of Boudicca, Elizabeth the first (and second!) and Maggie Thatcher, I am just stating the then assumed wisdom...) However in the forgotten realms setting of Faerun and indeed on the character selection screen, women can do anything a man can (So true! But men are still better at writing there name in the snow)
Fey would be the chief executor of her husband. The ability to manipulate (hell this has happened in my own family!) in your favour is overwhelming. That Fey does not, shows how lawful she truly is... Unless there is a special rule or back story you are going to put in place like, "The country Fey lives in believe that women have the intelligence on par with small rodents, and reading causes infertility and boob shrinkage..."
Not sure why you would do that...
Plus the artifact must be very small... Never to part with it in 10+ years of marriage? Even when doing the horizontal mamba dance?
A necklace? A ring? A bracelet?
It can't be anything else as he would have to remove it at some point Although if it is a helmet or a large Oaken staff you create a story with amazing humour potential!
First, I must say I really enjoyed the thought exercise and I thank @Varwulf for taking time to write it!
I feel she is acting within the bounds of her society (rather barbarous) and bides her time for many years to accomplish her goal. So I feel she is a Lawful character relative to her background. I have a hard time seeing how a Neutral or Chaotic character would play such a long game to get what she wanted.
I also see how she avoids at all costs doing anything overtly evil or harmful to others (although she would not win any Mother of the Year awards to be sure). I envision an evil character having no qualms about poisoning the gentleman long before marrying him and producing children.
Hence my Lawful Neutral vote. I can see some Lawful Evil in regard to her treatment of her children. She certainly lacks any empathy and it could be her Lawful nature that prevents her evil side form truly taking the forefront.
Hey, I appreciate your opinion and insight just the same and am glad you enjoyed the bit of a brain tease
@Auduin
I should have probably specified that the artifact was indeed an amulet, so he'd have worn it around his neck over all those years
Again, your insight is appreciated very much, and has had a profound affect on the way that I view the Lawful side of any alignment. It also, actually, means that I might have more Lawful Neutral characters than I thought, as that is an alignment that has been most poorly understood to me. Now, it is making more sense. Thank you once again, I really appreciate the detailed post
She is obvioulsy very selfish and uncaring about others, however she uses mostly lawful means to achieve her aims - marriage and the gaining of a powerful item to become chief. A neutral evil character might be more inclined to pay off some barbarians, even conquer her way to chiefdom through hired men. And maybe even kill off her husband - if not, hire some thugs to steal the item from him. I mean getting into marriage and having children and everything - wow. And the way you describe it the son sounds to be at least 15 - meaning she has bided her time for very long. How could she be bothered unless she is somewhat bound by some sort of sort of code (dont kill your husband) or simmilar?
Very interesting story by the way - it makes me curious to understand this woman more. As I said it is hard for me to see how she found having children and marrying for a long time would be a rational thing to do. When she is as amibitous as you portray her to be.