D&D 4E My Special Rules for Nine Alignments in 4E

[TarionzCousin]

Special rules? There are none.

Seriously.

Why did they change the alignment system in 4E? Five alignments isn't any simpler than nine--it is just fewer options.

Was this just change for change's sake?

Is there any thing that would be screwed up in 4E if the game had nine alignments?

 

[ColonelHardisson]

I'm convinced this was change simply for the sake of change, and it bugs me.

I've mentioned it elsewhere, but it reminds me of how comic book writers and artists will take on a classic, iconic character and talk about how they want to revamp it for a modern audience. Eventually, another creative team will take over and change everything back and say "y'know, for a while it seemed like everyone forgot what attracted everyone to this in the first place, so we decided to go back to basics."

In other words, a creative team who had grown bored with something got hold of it and changed it, not quite getting that maybe they're the only ones really bored with it because they're immersed in it everyday.

I get most of the changes made for 4e, and like them. There are a few glaring changes that I dislike quite a bit, and this is one of them.

 

[Camelot]

I think it was because they were trying to separate roleplaying from the rules. In 3e, certain classes and abilities were tied to your alignment. In 4e, they wanted to get rid of that mentality, so they wanted the alignment to seem less rigid. With the fewer, vaguer alignments, new players won't feel restricted to the alignment they chose at character creation.

 

[TarionzCousin]

I'm convinced this was change simply for the sake of change, and it bugs me.

I agree wholeheartedly.

With the fewer, vaguer alignments, new players won't feel restricted to the alignment they chose at character creation.

But now you have 5 choices for your character--fewer than you had before.

They could easily have removed the alignment restrictions without removing the alignments themselves.

 

[Camelot]

I agree wholeheartedly.

But now you have 5 choices for your character--fewer than you had before.

They could easily have removed the alignment restrictions without removing the alignments themselves.

I think it has to do with psychology. For the new players (who 4e was then and still is now trying to draw in), they wanted the alignment system to be open and nonrestrictive. For the players of previous editions of D&D, they wanted the alignment system to exist. Imagine the nerdrage if they removed alignments from D&D!

 

[Fredrik Svanberg]

Since they changed the name from Neutral to Unaligned, the game has just one alignment that I care about now. Neutral was for some reason presented as a difficult path to follow. It's not. Calling it Unaligned makes it clearer that it's not a matter of balancing good deeds against evil ones, or anything like that. The Unaligned just don't care.

 

[kalfalnal]

What did alignments ever do for D&D?

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

What did alignments ever do for D&D?

I'm a fan of alignments, myself. Or at least, I'm a fan of Good, Evil and Neutral. (Sorry, I mean "unaligned".) Law and chaos can take a long walk off a short pier.

Regardless of my own feelings though, adding or removing alignments doesn't add or remove anything from 4e. Because alignment isn't in 4e, unless you use house rules. There's a few paragraphs on the topic, but alignment doesn't do anything or affect anything.

 

[TarionzCousin]

What did alignments ever do for D&D?

They enabled players to have a quick system for determining creatures' (including PC's and NPC's) basic philosophical tendencies.

When running a game, it was another tool to assist the DM in determining what someone would do in a given situation. Will the Queen throw the PC's in the dungeon immediately or will she question them? Will the monster parley honestly or lie? Will the paladin be able to smite this guy or not?

 

[kalfalnal]

My question was a bit trolly but I really would like people to think about why they like alignments. I suspect that when it comes down to it many are in favor of them because it is what they're used to.

I didn't start my role-playing with D&D. I played Marvel Superheroes, Middle Earth RPG, Rolemaster, then Star Wars d6. To the best of my memory those games don't have alignments and I never felt the lack.

Alignments often seem to be an impediment to giving a character an interesting personality, in my observation and experiences. They also seem to be the crux of several pervasive problems in previous editions of D&D.