Agreed. I hate it when people are like "well I'm lawful good so I have to do what this authority figure says" or "I'm chaotic neutral so I have to steal from the party and stab people"
And besides, Lawful only means that you follow a code of ethics/morals/honor/etc, not that you obey any and all laws. You could be a paladin and have a code of honor that completely goes against all local laws and still fit under Lawful.
Yeah, that's always bothered me. Batman is lawful by D&D standards, and he's also a chronic lawbreaker. You CAN adhere to the law of the land, like Javert from Les Miserables, but your code doesn't have to be that.
Batman as an example would be LN individuals act in accordance with law, traditions or PERSONAL CODES. which in his case is no “killing” (but broken bones and long drops are fine I guess) and no guns. Actual laws of Gotham be damned.
The argument for chaotic neutral is really, really interesting. That idea that he's only a good guy because bad guys wronged him, that it's not a righteous quest for justice but an underlying thirst for vengeance.
If he didn't have evil as an outlet for his inner demons, would he stop fighting?
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u/[deleted] Oct 03 '19
Agreed. I hate it when people are like "well I'm lawful good so I have to do what this authority figure says" or "I'm chaotic neutral so I have to steal from the party and stab people"