What true neutral looks like?

[Veilgn]

You cant too evil and too good. Confusing because neutral good and evil exist.

[DM Beckett]

It really depends on interpritation, but also on the creature's type/subtype, Int score, and a few other factors. For instance, animals are (true) Neutral because they lack the ability to make/understand moral or ethical choices, (with the exception of felines). Certain Outsiders are Neutral because they are physically and spiritually constructed of fence-sitter energies.

For most humans, it can range between "Im too lazy to be Good/Lawful and to boring to be Chaotic/Evil", to "I don't want to be affected by Alignment stuff" to "I'm basically a goodish person, but I use a bit of darkness/look out for myself and friends and family first/don't have strong convictions about not doing ________ if it's called for or easier", to "balance in all things", to "I'm evil, but I can't write that on the Character Sheet", (a big one for Paizo), to "I don't want the DM or other Players to tell me how to play my character", to "I mostly devoted to {enter some basic, unaligned platitude such as "knowledge", "magic", "history"} for it's own same", to "because I believe sometimes different roads are needed".

Its a bit difficult to say which of these is "the right way" for (true) Neutral, because all of the other Alignments are basically guidelines very much up to interpritation, and most people don't understand/accept that in the setting, Alignment is a real, physical and metaphorical force/energy/scientific law that is NOT subjective, (which is to say that an Evil act does not become a Good act just because a particular person's culture/upbringing/religion/history/snowflake status believes otherwise.

[Ventnor]

Feed a puppy. Then kick it.

Now the balance is restored.

[Kobold Catgirl]

Anybody read Clariel: The Lost Abhorsen? Now that's a Chaotic Neutral character. She has a conscience, and a sense of loyalty, but above all just wants to be free and left alone.

True Neutral, on the other hand, is basically just that minus the overpowering need for freedom. You might help someone who's dying on the street, but probably not if it meant you would be killed or badly injured in the process. A TN 20th level wizard might save some orphans from a gang of street thugs, but a TN 1st level wizard might be just as likely to walk away, trying to avoid eye contact.

Neutrality is the absence of strong moral convictions or failings. You aren't evil—you would never kill an innocent for fun—but you aren't altruistic enough to be good.

Meanwhile, Neutral Good just has no strong ethical boundaries. You'd help those orphans, but you might not worry too much about making sure the thugs are taken to stand trial (at least not for the law's own sake). You'll abide by the law when possible, but if it gets in the way of doing good, hell with it.

A Neutral Evil character just has great desire for neither structure nor freedom. They'll put up with their parole officer, but they won't worry too much about skipping out if it puts them at risk.

[Daedalus the Dungeon Builder]

More variations of TN ideology:
"Good and Evil are mere illusions, as are order and chaos. They do not define/constrain me."

"Evil needs to be stopped at all costs, be it a tyrant or a madman, and I will do whatever it takes to stop them" (This is admittedly perhaps a bit closer to LN than TN, but if the methodology is inconsistent, the C would balance the L out)

"The Great Beyond needs to cease meddling on the Material Plane. Angel or Devil, Protean or Axiomite, I chase outsiders back to their home."

"I have a code for my own personal gain, but will break it when needed, and I will help people on occasion even if it doesn't directly benefit me- provided it doesn't inconvenience me."

"I will help you, but I want something in return."

And so on. I think Champions of Balance also had a section on each of the Neutral alignments, and what might motivate them/their way of thinking.

[Mighty Glacier]

True Neutral can be looked at in a lot of different things. I play a lot of true Neutral characters in PFS, so maybe I can tell you how playing one looks like in practice.

One of them is a pragmatist first, and chose to be true Neutral because he is aware of the impact alignment can have on a person. He deducted that true Neutral is the best alignment to have. As a result, he actively seeks to maintain that alignment, and bases his decisions around that.

One of them is a good person at heart (Neutral Good, most likely), but his unique circumstances forced (maybe not forced, but at least encouraged) him to be true Neutral and tone down on the goodwill. He makes decisions mostly based on these circumstances.

One of them is a good person with evil powers. She enjoys being good as much as she enjoys being evil (though she would never describe these feelings with words like "good" and "evil"). She tries to balance the good and evil in her life, and she's really good at that. What Ventnor said about "feed a puppy, kick a puppy" applies to her, in a way.

One of them is just selfish, and lacks the motivation to devote himself to freedom, order, good, or evil. He justifies this by "wanting to remain morally flexible", which he sees as a benefit other alignments can't have. He does whatever he wants, generally speaking.

One of them is just Neutral Evil, but Pathfinder Society cannot have that, so he discreetly erased the "E" from his character sheet and toned down the evil-icky stuff. Don't tell anyone!

[Create Mr. Pitt]

Anything! There are multitudes in every alignment.

[Boomerang Nebula]

My interpretation on alignment is that the vast majority of people are actually true neutral and therefore most character concepts are neutral.

[taks]

What makes a man turn neutral? Lust for gold? Power? Or were you just born with a heart full of neutrality?

[Kerney]

taks wrote:

What makes a man turn neutral? Lust for gold? Power? Or were you just born with a heart full of neutrality?

I think so in a real sense. We are taught things like materialism, to be selfless or to look down on people. All of that is upbringing. Time, place, environment as well as our reactions too it make us who we are. But at birth, we have no deep prejudices other than a preference for having food.

[Cuup]

taks wrote:

What makes a man turn neutral? Lust for gold? Power? Or were you just born with a heart full of neutrality?

If I don't survive, tell my wife hello.

[KestrelZ]

A large number of "townsfolk" NPCs are lawful neutral, so its not much of a stretch to imagine people that aren't as concerned by order or freedom to land as true neutral.

Granted, I have a hard time justifying how an adventurous PC would have a true neutral alignment. It is not quite the alignment one would expect out of someone driven to pursue a hazardous career.

[Mighty Glacier]

KestrelZ wrote:

Granted, I have a hard time justifying how an adventurous PC would have a true neutral alignment. It is not quite the alignment one would expect out of someone driven to pursue a hazardous career.

True Neutral adventurer, why are you an adventurer, and defy danger?

"Are you kidding me? This job pays crazy well! I used to earn some gold pieces a week, now I regularly complete jobs that pay me in thousands!"

"Overcoming obstacles makes me powerful. If you ask me it's a lot more dangerous to stick at home, and wait for the next wave of monsters to raid your town. No one is safe in this world, but at least I know where my dangers are."

"Felt like doing it. Why not? Makes life a bit less boring. You'll get used to it."

"Someone very important to me chose to begin their quest of adventures. I am just following along. Can't let them go by themselves, it's dangerous out there."

"One day I was just chilling at the local tavern, and these guys just grabbed me. 'You look like a PC!' they said. 'Come on, we got gazebos to slay!' And we've been on this quest ever since. At this point I'm too deep into this mess to quit."

"The BBEG kicked my pet puppy! NO ONE MESSES WITH ME OR MY PUPPY. Oh, you're gonna hide in your Trapmaster's Evil Castle of Spiked Doom? Bring it on."

"A prophecy told me to. The world needs to be saved. That's all there is to it. It's a dangerous job, but I like this world, and someone needs to do it."

"I am a murderhobo. Do I need a motivation to kill stuff?"

[QuidEst]

I've had TN adventurers that were only advenurers because the situation was dire, and they were the only ones in a position to help. While the didn't have strong convictions the situation was urgent enough to result in strong action.

TN also works as an "it's complicated" alignment. Characters with both lawful and chaotic tendencies in different areas of their life, with mainly self-interested motives.

[quibblemuch]

My favorite description of one version of TN, from Champions of Balance:

"Mortals' belief that anything they do makes a real difference in the machinations of gods and the crushing vastness and complexity of the multiverse isn't just absurd--it's deluded. Everything is so far outside their scope or comprehension that there's no point in fighting it: what will be will be, and no amount of mortal intervention can change this undeniable truth. The best the fatalist can do is scramble to stay afloat for the duration of his stay on the Material Plane, and only because that illusion seems better than the only knowable alternative."

[Luthorne]

Yeah, true neutral looks like a lot of things. Most people on average are probably true neutral. By Pathfinder's alignment system, I certainly consider myself fairly neutral. Remember that good specifically makes personal sacrifices to help other people. Are you someone who doesn't really want to do bad things, but aren't really willing to risk yourself solely to do something that's right? Someone who wouldn't jump out in front of an oncoming car to push another pedestrian out of the way? See injustice, personally think it's terrible...but don't do anything about it, either? You might think of yourself as a good person, but according to Pathfinder, you're probably neutral. Which Pathfinder itself notes; humans are said to be, as a whole, neutral overall, though often influenced by their societies.

Of course, adventurers do take risks...but they might not take them solely because it's the right thing to do. They might do it to prove something to themselves, for the money, because they want to be famous, because they're desperate, because they have an overinflated sense of their own ability, because they need to hunt down a MacGuffin or knowledge to achieve their ambitions, because they want to impress a boy/girl/???, and so on and so forth. Hell, it might even be for a friend or family member...you're not here because you want to save these people, why would you? You don't know them. But your brother's an idiot and he's family so you'll do your best to keep him alive despite his apparently suicidal tendencies. But your best friend sees something in all these idiots and even if you can't see that they're worth risking your life for, you'll help fight for your friend's vision...or survival.

I personally like neutral characters myself because I feel like they make me think more about my character's ambitions and motivations, why he or she is doing it beyond just because it's the right thing, but that's just me...