Alignments...hmmm....

D & D has a good system...for D&D.  I\'ve played a few different games out there, and two that I\'ve dipped into have by far my favorite type of alignment \"structures\" (or lack of).

Rifts:
Principled
    The classic \"lawful good\" alignment, respecting law, order, authority figures, self-discipline, and honor. These characters will never knowingly break the law. Principled characters do not use torture, nor will they kill for pleasure. These characters will always keep their word, and rarely, if ever, lie. Neither this character nor the Scrupulous character will kill or attack an unarmed foe.

Scrupulous
    This is the classic action hero as portrayed by Charles Bronson, Chuck Norris, and Jackie Chan. While the character prefers to work with the law, he or she knows the difference between law and justice, and often finds him or herself working outside or even against the law in order to correct injustice.

Unprincipled
    This is the type of selfish character best portrayed by Harrison Ford in his classic roles of Han Solo and Indiana Jones. This character is generally out for himself, yet finds himself helping others and hating himself for doing so. This character will associate with both good and evil characters, and is often tempted to lie and cheat.

Anarchist
    The Anarchist character epitomizes the term \"every man for himself\". These characters don\'t break the rules, they bend them... a lot. This character has little to no respect for authority, so long as, when the stuff hits the fan, he comes out smelling like a rose.

Miscreant
    One step down from the Anarchist is the Miscreant character. Like the Anarchist, the Miscreant is simply out for himself. However, the Anarchist is not necessarily ruthless in attaining his goals; the Miscreant is. While the other alignments will not kill for pleasure, this character may.

Aberrant
    This is the classic \"lawful evil\" alignment. This character is driven to attain his goals through power, force, and intimidation, but lives by a strict, if twisted, code of ethics. He will always keep his word or honor, but is careful to say exactly what he means, and he means exactly what he says. For instance, if this character says, \"If I find out that you lied to me, I will kill you,\" the person he said that to better not be lying. This character will always twist the law to meet his goals, and will never torture or kill for pleasure.

Diabolic
    I\'ve seen this alignment is best described as \"your typical everyday slimeball\". This is the alignment typically reserved for merciless killers, megalomaniacs, and the like. Be extremely careful when playing this alignment, for the character may not last long. I usually reserve this alignment for NPC villains.

and...

Shadowrun:
Pretty much no alignments... just different shades of grey.  Everyone has their idiosyncracies...good?  evil?  No way to be purely either....

Ex.:  The shopkeeper is out for his own hide.. wants to make money any way they can..keep turning a profit...one day, a poor, bedraggled stranger walks in, faints on his floor, and is nearly unrevivable.  Biting the bullet, the shopkeeper dips into his reserves (at a loss, no less (!)) and feeds/gets healing for the stranger (that way they\'re not laying on the floor, scaring away the business..big priority for the shopkeeper as the dollar/trias/gold/nuyen/whatever flow is the only thing keeping his undercover assassin ring supplied. ).

These are just examples...myself, I prefer the second, although the Rifts example is a good framework.  As far as the whole G/N/E L/C thing goes, I\'ve always found it a bit too limiting as far as expression goes.

Maybe its just me...

[DA@planeshift]#  Dikoke?  He\'s...well...that\'d be telling, now wouldn\'t it?

I did the exact opposite.  I installed using the cvs system, and compiled everything as a user and put it in my /home/ directory.

[CK@planeshift]#  Meow.