Backstories exist for a reason and the indiscriminate hate towards chaotic neutral is quite annoying.
I've played a lot over the years and long has it been my wish that I could say my character is chaotic neutral without people cringing.
My interpretation has always been that a CN character's loyalties simply don't extend beyond arm's reach; there's no greater good for them to serve and their focus isn't broad enough to care about the world at large until it affects them or their loved ones personally.
That's exactly my thoughts. Chaotic neutral is just someone who acts without a real code that they follow and they don't necessarily want to hurt anyone but don't necessarily want to help either.
It's sad that chaotic neutral gets such a bad rep when it can really make for interesting characters and can be a driving force for interesting stories if played right.
"Chaos" feels like an awkward term for alignment too. I get that it's supposed to reflect the common D&D cosmology, but it's such a bad word for intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation, and you get people who want to play a chaotic alignment as stupid, random, or over-the-top quirky.
I agree, it's definitely difficult and i definitely don't get it perfect all the time. Especially when I was new, my character was horrible as far as RP goes. That being said, a good back story really helps to judge what a character would do and that was a problem i had early on was my backstory was trash
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u/YDAQ 🏆 World's okayest DM Mar 25 '21
I've played a lot over the years and long has it been my wish that I could say my character is chaotic neutral without people cringing.
My interpretation has always been that a CN character's loyalties simply don't extend beyond arm's reach; there's no greater good for them to serve and their focus isn't broad enough to care about the world at large until it affects them or their loved ones personally.