Telling Valygar to take off mid quest

[mad=dog]

I think I know what you are aiming at here Illumina and I must admit you have a point. However I would believe a Chaotic Good character helps others because it makes him feel good about himself.
There can be internal conflicts between the two alignment parts. Actually thats where roleplaying starts. Consider this: We are in the land of Balargon and three fellow travellers are walking along to slay an evil dragon. One is a LG Paladin of the Order of Efain, the second is a CG Ranger and the third is a LE Conjurer. The Order of Efain forbids mingling this Chobats - a tainted and evil race.
They have different ambitions for killing the dragon. The Paladin will do so to rid the world of an evil AND restore order in the province. The Ranger will do so to rid the world of an evil AND gain a lot of treasure. The Conjurer will do so to restore order in the province AND gain a lot of treasure. What they do with the treasure will differ. The Ranger will most likely use it to restore a spring in his forest and the conjurer will spend it all on magical components.
On the way they encounter a hungry and feebled Chobat. Who will feed him? The Ranger will - it's a good and honest deed. The Conjurer will not - the Chobat probably deserve it. The Paladin is conflicted about it - the Order forbids him to do so, but it is a good deed. The latter is an opening for excellent roleplay.
It's very human to feel conflicted about an action. "Should I eat the last cake", "should I play RPG or go to class", "should I avenge my sister", etc.
This big and redundant example is meant to illustrate what I cannot clearly express in short terms.

Lymond: That is the essence of roleplaying. You (as player) made a decision for the PC based on an array of information and acted as you interpret the PC would act.

EDIT: Typo

[ 04-29-2004, 12:38 PM: Message edited by: mad=dog ]

[Illumina Drathiran'ar]

I really don't know, Mad=Dog... Does Minsc help others because it makes him feel good? To him, goodness needs no reason. He does good for the sake of good. Law and order are just foreign concepts to him, aside from the rules of his warriors' society back in Rashemen. Chaotic Good characters aren't that self-centered.
A Chaotic *Neutral* character, on the other hand, might do good if it gave them a boost of if it made them look good...

[SixOfSpades]

Lawful Evil.....

"Would it be Lawful of me to finish the quest that I gave my word I would complete? Yes. Now that I know Valygar is a Good person who was acting in self-defense, would turning him in be Evil? Yes.

"Would it be Lawful of me to delay handing Valygar over until I've had a look at this Planar Sphere thing? Well, it wouldn't be unlawful, as Tolgerias made no mention of any time limit or to stay away from the Planar Sphere. Would it be Evil of me to take Valygar to the Sphere? That, too, is difficult to determine, since you can't predict what might happen once you get there. Lavok is definitely Evil (semi-Liches who feed off their family members don't score too highly on purity tests), so killing him would be Good (and therefore bad for you), but dropping Valygar in his lap would be Evil (and therefore good for you).

[mad=dog]

That is part of Minscs character and exactly what I mean by "loose" alignment definitions. Minsc has other traits as well (he is dumb as a brick for one), which combined with his alignment is part of his character concept. In BG1 Minsc was NG IIRC and Kivan was CG and far more spiteful and seclusive than Minsc.
I am afraid my shortcomings in the English language doesn't allow me to explain it any clearer than I have done so far. I gather that I misunderstand the meaning of self interest. I don't mean egoism if that is what you read into it. I simply mean that the individual functions poorly in a group and breaks rules if he/she doesn't believe in them (with a tendency to break oppressive rules for a CG character and verse visa) even rules made within the party.
As a DM I like to grant players the oppotunity to generate the PC's traits as they see them as long as it is solidly based on the alignment. Is your paladin flamboyant and spontanious or is he quiet and thoughtful? Would he duel man to man or inform the guards? Would he look the other way if a pauper steals a loaf of bread?
And I will be rude and quote myself [img]smile.gif[/img] . "The alignments are always something people debate and interpret."

[Illumina Drathiran'ar]

Very true... Alignments are flexible and open to interpretation. It's more important to use alignment to describe how a character already acts than to smack an alignment on a character and make them "act Lawful Neutral."

[mad=dog]

And to round it off with the Chaotic Neutral you mentioned above. My little brothers character (which is pulled out now and then for a session or two) is CN and it is perfect. His character is the completely spontanious personality - if he gets an idea he'll try to set it in motion regardless of the circumstances. Note that this is a "deep" character. A level 18 cleric that was created more than ten years ago with an enormous background and detailed personality.
It's a nightmare for the other players at times, but it is splendid RPG. Might as well play Yatzy if you only want to roll dice as I say.

[Lymond]

Upon further reflection, and rereading the above and the manual, I think I made an alignment mistake. I'm really more of a chaotic good guy than a lawful evil guy. Does that even matter in the game? I'm not overly concerned if it means getting some quests and options, but not others. But will I get penalized if I'm a lawful character and I break my word? Does the game notice that kind of thing?

If I wanted to switch, can the CLUA thing change it?

[TheGodThatFailed]

Not sure if CLUA can,but i know that shadow keeper can.

[Feral]

Your alignment has no bearing on the game. Only the choices you make during the game do. The alignment which your stats screen lists is there for roleplaying purposes. Not so with the NPCs' alignments.

[Hank Parsons]

Originally posted by Lymond: Upon further reflection...I'm really more of a chaotic good guy than a lawful evil guy.

LOL. That struck me as pretty funny. Ewww, I realized I am the opposite of what I thought I was...

Yes Lymond, Evil is evil, so in response to you're earlier statement "I"m not a bad guy" then yeah, you are probably not Evil.

I suggest giving Valgy some decent equipment and using him through the Sphere quest to be sure you see all the storyline and dialog. But at your option, you may dismiss him at any time after opening the door of the Sphere. Don't kill him, that would be evil.