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From: ekblaw@uiucdcs.Uiuc.ARPA
Newsgroups: net.games.frp
Subject: RE:changing alignment
Message-ID: <9300045@uiucdcs>
Date: Wed, 3-Jul-85 21:45:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: uiucdcs.9300045
Posted: Wed Jul  3 21:45:00 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 5-Jul-85 07:42:12 EDT
References: <438@busch.UUCP>
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Nf-From: uiucdcs.Uiuc.ARPA!ekblaw    Jul  3 20:45:00 1985



I suppose the situation would depend on the man in the flower and your
previous alignment.  For instance, if the man in the flower was considered
evil and you were good, I could see where listening to him would be 
against your alignment, thus constituting a punishment of one experience
level.  (Note:  Most people would ask why this would not make a person
evil.  One, it what the man is saying is not wilely evil and the listener
does nothing in response, the listener has not done too serious an action
against his/her alignment.  Two, it harder to completely swing from side
of the spectrum to the other.  One improper act would not warrant such
an extreme reaction.)  

Obviously, it is possible to change to another alignment from neutral. 
If we take the classic medieval ideal of neutrality, i.e. a sense of a
natural balance of order v. disorder and good v. evil, the character must,
in the long run, have an approximately equal number of all types of actions
(good, evil, logical, chaotic, lawful, illegal, chivalrous, disrespectful, 
etc).  Of course, the measurement of good v. evil, etc. is most successfully
determined by allied player characters, NPC's, and the DM, as a neutral person
would have deemed the action necessary in each case; not based on a set of
moral, ethical, or legal standpoints (that is, after all, the basis for a
TRUE absolutely neutral person).  Clerical admonition is a good way to restore
one's original alignment from neutral to something else, but remember that
there are some drawbacks.  One, it won't work if the person is/was an 
atheist (I've run characters like that before;  it gets interesting in
spell or religious situations).  Two, the character would have to have been
a previous believer in the god/goddess/hero of the cleric (and if that 
character is no longer a believer, it may not work and/or the cleric may
not accept him/her).  [Note:  if the character was originally a cleric-type
class, he/she must go a cleric of the same denomination as he/she originally.
The change in class will eliminate all previous spell/divination/admonition
capabilities.]  Three, the god/goddess/hero may require a servile duty or
quest to prove the character's willingness to work in order to return to
his/her original alignment (as well as being a good form of punishment for
allowing the alignment change in the first place).

Good luck, and try to avoid such things in the future.  Alignment changes are
hard on all involved; character, DM, and associates/allies.

Robert A. Ekblaw, ekblaw@uiucdcs
                         
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

("Don't look at me to help," said the thief.  "I just steal 'em, I don't use 
'em.")