Quote Originally Posted by Shining Wrath View Post
So, alignment wise, is it Good to take advantage of the fact that someone is as dumb as a box of rocks, given that killing them is a practical and moral necessity? Does Haley have any moral obligation to communicate clearly?
Taking advantage of someone is neither Good nor Evil, inherently. What matters is what you take advantage of them for. Communicating clearly enough for Crystal to be 100% aware that Haley was about to trick her into walking into a pit of lava would have resulted in an immediate resumption of hostilities and, probably, more gnomish deaths. Haley is not under a moral obligation to sacrifice lives so that she can be sure Crystal understands the Terms and Conditions. Therefore, taking advantage of Crystal's tendency to follow and her inability to grasp complex rhetorical points in order to save lives is a Good action. If Haley pulled the same exact stunt in order to kill an innocent person and steal their gold, it would be an Evil action.

Maybe you can argue that it was a Chaotic action rather than a Lawful one, due to the aforementioned advantage-taking. Although the fact that she was willing to spell out her reasoning for no longer being truthful to Crystal sort of places this in the Neutral category. Because frankly, a Chaotic Good character is not under a moral obligation to tell Crystal the truth at all in this scenario. Haley never agreed to a truce, she simply delayed her attack when told that Crystal would try to kill her "later." It would have been entirely within her alignment to say, "Hey, check it out, the gnomish wizards came up with a way that you won't hurt anymore. Just follow me and I'll bring you to their workshop." And then dumped her in the lava. That she did tell her the truth (even while nonverbally tricking her) is more a testament to Haley's state of mind than any responsibility to Crystal. Haley went above and beyond the requirements of her own alignment here.

Unless people are arguing that being Chaotic Good is morally wrong, in which case that is treading on the forum's rules.