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<blockquote data-quote="BSF" data-source="post: 2780307" data-attributes="member: 13098"><p><strong>Alignment & Morality</strong></p><p></p><p>D&D heavily relies on the concept of good and evil, order (called law) and chaos. It is possible to downplay these elements in the game and to leave morality a lot more ambiguous. But I am pretty sure Gary Gygax's ideas were to have a heroic game where good trimuphs over evil and gets phat lewt in the process. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p>OK, maybe he wouldn't have said it like that. But the fact remains that there are spells like Protection from Evil, monsters like devas and demons, and items like the Holy Avenger and the Book of Exalted Deeds. In order for all of this to remain consistent, you need to have solid concepts of good and evil. </p><p></p><p>In that context, ambiguous or relative morality has a much more difficult time existing. In some ways this is good. If evil is always evil, you don't need to worry about the moral quandry of what you are doing. You are wiping out evil! On the other hand, playing with shades of grey can lead to some wonderful RP moments. However it is a little more challenging to have both. Primarily because in the end, the judgement call will be by the DM. Because it would be possible to have an act that is considered as evil, but was in the best interests of whatever group you are serving. That quandry can create tension at the table. Not good tension, like strong RP, but bad tension where there are real life hurt feelings. That's why I try to lay these things out in advance. </p><p></p><p>D&D has the obvious alignment system. When using that, I prefer the scaled alignment as presented by Monte Cook in the Book of Hallowed Might. We are currently using that system. But there is another option.</p><p></p><p>D20 Modern presented the idea of Allegiances. These can be found in HTML format at <a href="http://www.darkshire.net/~jhkim/rpg/srd/srd_modern_html/msrdallegiances.html" target="_blank">http://www.darkshire.net/~jhkim/rpg/srd/srd_modern_html/msrdallegiances.html</a>. Essentially each PC would choose allegiances and work toward the best interests of that allegiance. These are interesting because they contain elements for morality, ethics, belief, nationalism, organizations, etc. It would be interesting to bring in elements such as allegiances and then modify classes, spells, items, etc to better fit within that framework. Sure, it would be a lot of work, but it would still be interesting.</p><p></p><p>What are your thoughts? Do you like/dislike the alignment system? Do you prefer absolute ethics & morality? Or would you like to see more of a variant scale?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="BSF, post: 2780307, member: 13098"] [b]Alignment & Morality[/b] D&D heavily relies on the concept of good and evil, order (called law) and chaos. It is possible to downplay these elements in the game and to leave morality a lot more ambiguous. But I am pretty sure Gary Gygax's ideas were to have a heroic game where good trimuphs over evil and gets phat lewt in the process. :) OK, maybe he wouldn't have said it like that. But the fact remains that there are spells like Protection from Evil, monsters like devas and demons, and items like the Holy Avenger and the Book of Exalted Deeds. In order for all of this to remain consistent, you need to have solid concepts of good and evil. In that context, ambiguous or relative morality has a much more difficult time existing. In some ways this is good. If evil is always evil, you don't need to worry about the moral quandry of what you are doing. You are wiping out evil! On the other hand, playing with shades of grey can lead to some wonderful RP moments. However it is a little more challenging to have both. Primarily because in the end, the judgement call will be by the DM. Because it would be possible to have an act that is considered as evil, but was in the best interests of whatever group you are serving. That quandry can create tension at the table. Not good tension, like strong RP, but bad tension where there are real life hurt feelings. That's why I try to lay these things out in advance. D&D has the obvious alignment system. When using that, I prefer the scaled alignment as presented by Monte Cook in the Book of Hallowed Might. We are currently using that system. But there is another option. D20 Modern presented the idea of Allegiances. These can be found in HTML format at [url]http://www.darkshire.net/~jhkim/rpg/srd/srd_modern_html/msrdallegiances.html[/url]. Essentially each PC would choose allegiances and work toward the best interests of that allegiance. These are interesting because they contain elements for morality, ethics, belief, nationalism, organizations, etc. It would be interesting to bring in elements such as allegiances and then modify classes, spells, items, etc to better fit within that framework. Sure, it would be a lot of work, but it would still be interesting. What are your thoughts? Do you like/dislike the alignment system? Do you prefer absolute ethics & morality? Or would you like to see more of a variant scale? [/QUOTE]
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