Aligning Misconceptions #2 - Lawful Neutral

Typically Lawful Neutral is described as the judge. They have no regard to compassion or people's situations in matters of the law. The reason behind a crime means little; save a starving family or greed for jewels, a crime was committed.

This isn't to say that they are heartless or disinterested; they have faith in the system. If you've been accused of a crime, you must stand trial for it. They may present evidence for you or do what they can within the system to help your cause, but they will not act outside of it. However, Lawful need not only refer to laws of the state. Codes of ethics and discipline can be the focus of Lawful. The image of a monk comes to mind. Their discipline and ethics are what rule their lives.

The two can come into conflict. Should a pacifist monk be pressed into military service, what would they do? Do they compromise their ethics or the laws of their land? Would either action unlawful?

A Lawful Neutral character can even act in in selfish ways. They can exploit the system. Loopholes can be used to their advantage. Laws can be interpreted loosely (within limits, otherwise they veer into True Neutral). Laws can be overly enforced to selfish ends.

Lawful Neutral characters can also make amazing villains. The clerics from Equilibrium (which is amazing) are Lawful Neutral, yet they serve an oppressive, and arguably evil, government. They act without questions and they are entirely justified in what they do. Yet  because they are not evil themselves, they offer varying options for roleplay.

Perhaps they can be "turned." Exposed to the atrocities their government commits they can turn to the side of good. Or perhaps they embrace what they've done and turn to evil; abusing the system for personal gain. Or perhaps they turn away from the state laws and instead forge their own ethics.

Even boring old Lawful Neutral can be made interesting if you stop looking at alignments as absolute boundaries or black and white labels.