I would like to focus on the nature of alignment in order to settle confusion on how they will be treated in the game. I don't really care about what a given character's alignment is on paper. Your actions will reveal your alignment better than what you have written down. However, for those who want to try to play a particular alignment, here are some guidelines.

This is a not-uncommon player response to any effort to detect alignment. The common misconception about evil is that evil creatures are vile, loathsome, foul creatures. As a result of this stereotype, players (especially paladins) are generally pre-disposed towards ethnic clensing.

Good can best be conceptualized as "altruistic". Good creatures are willing to sacrifice their own needs in order to fulfil the needs of others.

Evil can best be conceptualized as "selfish". Someone who is willing to put their own needs over the needs of others is more or less evil depending on the degree that they are willing to subjugate the needs of others.

In order to illustrate this concept, consider the following:

Example: Two people are hungry and there is only one sandwich between the two of them.
• A character who hogs the sandwich to themself has demonstrated an evil tendancy. They feel that their needs are superior to the needs of others.
• A character who splits the sandwich is behaving neither good nor evil. They are placing the needs of their companion on equal measure with their own.
• The character who gives the sandwich to his companion is behaving in a good manner only in that they are placing the needs of others above their own.

"So What?" you say? "How does this apply to my character?"

Yes, the above example is very simplistic, but provides a "good" baseline to compare your character to. Many people identify their characters as good, only to spend their adventuring careers in a quest for money, power and fame. Those are not good motivations. The quest for riches serves only self and has little redeemable value (Unless you are at a bank, of course)

Now, there is nothing wrong with wanting to get rich. Living a life that seeks self-improvement or advancement is fine, unless it is disproportionately the expense of others. Here, evil begins to rear its ugly, vile, loathsome...oh. Sorry.

Example: A man's goal in life is to get rich.
• If the man gets rich by cheating the tax system, selling addictive substances, or exploiting those less fortunate than themselves, you guessed it, they are evil! They have sought out their own advancement at the expense of others. The more disproportionate the other person's loss is, the more evil the act. (Getting rich at the expense of other people's lives is very evil)
• A person who invests in soybean futures is arguably neither good nor evil. They have provided a benefit to the soybean farmer that is roughly proportionate to the gain they will receive when the harvest is sold and wealth is distributed back to shareholders.
• The person who gets rich by going to medical school, getting a degree then researching a cure for cancer is good only in that they have spent their energies towards creating a benefit that is vastly disproportionate to their reward. The wealth acheivable from finding a cure for cancer is small compared to the value of the number of lives they have saved and enriched.

Lawful can best be conceptualized as "Disciplined". Lawful creatures are focused, organized, and methodical. They plan ahead when taking on a project and tend not to do things at the last minute. They keep their surroundings neat and orderly and generaly have a "place for everything". When working on problems, they will apply reasoned, step-by-step systematic problem-solving techniques. They read the manual before turning on the VCR.

Chaotic can best be conceptualized as "Erratic". Chaotic creatures are impulsive, mutable, and haphazard. They don't plan much further than theit next, immediate goal. Their priorities seem to shift from day to day. When solving problems, they apply whatever method seems right at the time. They set up the VCR and only check the manual when it doesn't work.