[Cerek]

Since we're having a discussion about alignments, here are a couple of examples from the PnP days that give good examples of how someone could do something seemingly outside their alignment. Both examples center on paladins, who are by definition, Lawful Good.

1) In the AD&D comic series, one of the primary characters was a paladin. But he had a serious character flaw. He was an alcoholic. He upheld the ideals of good and law on a daily basis, but he would get roaring drunk every night. While that may not specifically violate the Lawful Good alignment, it certainly is not the type of behavior the commoners expect to see from a paladin. In the comics, he did suffer because of his affliction. In Issue#1, he was fighting an evil wizard (or fighter/wizard) and got hit with a Rod of Wilting - which permanently reduced his Strength to 3! He eventually got some Guantlets of Ogre Power and - much later in the series - finally managed to redeem himself and regain his natural strength.

In game terms, the losing of his Strength would have been the DM's "punishment" for acting in a manner unbecoming of a paladin.

2) In Dragon magazine several years ago, a DM was describing the actions of a paladin in the party playing under him. At the end of the adventure, the party was approached by a dryad. Several members were injured and the dryad immediately starting trying to Charm various party members. The paladin was basically the only one that could stop her attempts, but since he didn't know what she would try to make the Charmed characters do, he really couldn't justify attacking and killing her. Finally, he just punched her square in the nose, which caused her to run away. The DM penalized the paladin some XP points for his action, but said that he later decided he had been wrong. The paladin had ended a potentially dangerous situation without causing any permanent damage or harm to the offender. In hindsight, he had handled the situation the best he could.

I disagree with many of the opinions offered so far. Alignment does define your character and the actions he/she can be expected to take. You have a choice about which alignment to choose BEFORE you create the character. That means you should have already considered what the PC's personality and motivation will be - and you should then choose an alignment that is compatible with these factors. While alignments are "guidelines" (and are definitely subject to change during game play), they do define the actions your character can be expected to take and the game and/or DM is perfectly within their rights to punish or penalize a player that violates their chosen alignment.