Say I have a temple full of monks. Not a cult, not organizing a coup, nothing. However, the leader is evil and is extorting extra taxes out of the surrounding countryside. He's convinced the other monks that they must take a small cut of the community's money to keep the temple running, ie helping people.
What would the alignment of the mook monks? I want to say LN, but since they are doing the extortions for what they have been tricked into thinking is a good thing, I almost want to say LG.
However, I don't think it would sit well with my players killing LG monks who were just doing their jobs. Any ideas?
I wouldn't say they're lawful at all. To me, this seems like an "ends justify the means" kind of thing, and lawful characters have always been more "by the books". Maybe you can skirt lawful neutral, but a lawful good temple wouldn't probably only accept donations and not force taxes on people (being selfless and all that).
hmmm, monks, alignment, and mass killing of mooks... I'm glad I got into this thread before it hit 1,000 posts!
First of all, how rigid is alignment in your campaign? If you play a more "realistic" world where alignment is subjective and shifting, you could have all three alignments within the monastery. It is a great opportunity for a lot of roleplaying, as the PCs sort out the political situation. If you play alignment more "strictly", you probably want to present the mooks as victims of the Evil leader.
The next question that I can't help thinking about is all of these lesser monks making sense motive checks. I have a hard time believing that someone could bluff all these monks, unless they had some outside help - such as from a devil or three. There would also need to be some explanation of how the temple helps people, how the taxes are collected and used, and how the order feels about material goods and its place in society.
My suggestion would be to have the LG monks locked away in some fashion, such as kept in isolation and vow of silence. The LN monks could be made to fight, but would be willing to help the party if diplomacy is used. The LE monks serve the leader (and his small inner circle of clerics, devils, bodyguards, and other monsters) willingly and will fight to the death.
Hmmm... Well, that is a moral quandary. First, I would have to ask whether the monks themselves have been involved in any of the type of actions that would require the party to go in fireballs ablazing. If the temple has been doing somewhat questionable things, then you might want to lean your monks LN.
But if it was just a small group of the head monk's cronies handling quest worthy misdeeds, and the majority of the temple was just doing the "greater good," then you might want to lead your party towards some diplomacy checks. There are social skills for a reason. You can guide your party towards trying by noting the monk's apprehension and confusion about a group of armed strangers barging in. LE monks would be expecting interlopers because they are paranoid trying to hide dirty secrets. LG monks would be expecting a quiet day of meditation and charity works. The later are obviously much more reluctant to get into a fight. Give them the hook, and let then reel them in.