Lawful Vs Chaotic

I think the difference between law and chaos lies in your tie to a greater structure.

A lawful person would operate within the law, perhaps not always following the law especially if the laws go against his good/evil alignment but using the law none-the-less (whether by influencing legislation to favor his goals openly or influencing politics with having key people assassinated or involvement with a lawful society already suited to his good/evil axis.

A chaotic person would pursue his goals outside of law. The only consideration that laws would get would be, "If I do this, will I get caught or get in trouble?" You might even form a small band or group or be part of a clan (likely ruled by charisma or brute strength or consensus rather than any loyalty to a system) that defends its members' unlawful activities or even actively tries to disrupt lawful powers.

Although some interpret law vs. chaos as discipline vs. spontaneity I don't really like this view of things because it can get so muddy. For example, what if a character decided to flip a coin and abide by the coin toss in every decision (Two-Face style from Batman, perhaps)? His actions could appear chaotic and random (because they would be), but his method of deciding on those random actions is very systematic (lawful?). Perhaps that would make him neutral, then?

How about someone with obsessive compulsions that cause him to do something illegal? I forget my literature class, but there is a classic novel about a pair of guys who do migratory farm work. One of the guys had a compulsion with petting soft animals, but he didn't know his own strength and often killed them. This compulsion caused him to kill their boss's daughter accidentally, which of course got him in trouble. Since the man was following his typical pattern of behavior, was this a lawful act even though it was against the law? Again, I'd argue that it was probably neutral.

In fact, I'd argue that both routine and spontaneity are neutral in essence; in and of themselves they seek neither to work within the law nor outside it.



Are you kidding? A chaotic Knight of Corellon couldn't be honorable! Just kidding, Entori. They'd be like elven Robin Hoods, in the middle of the woods with their bows, robbing from the rich to give to the poor: "honorable thieves." So, I don't think honor and law necessarily have anything to do with each other. That's how lawyers get their reputation. ;D So, honor is also neutral with regards to law/chaos. I'd say honor is more on the good axis of alignment.