Bring back alignments?

[Tequila Sunrise]

They don't really elaborate beyond saying, "You must be LG." If there's any discussion of what happens when your alignment changes, I couldn't find it.

So, in other words, no actual restriction.

 

[F700]

I actually miss items with alignment restrictions.

 

[Nemesis Destiny]

I actually miss items with alignment restrictions.

Some of them I do, others, not so much.

In general, I miss the old style of items, moreso than the alignment restrictions on them.

 

[I'm A Banana]

I enjoy the breadth of alignments, because they help players (especially n00bs) focus on what is important to their character, cosmologically speaking.

Does your character value order, or freedom? Does your character believe in compassion, or power? How does your characters' view differ from your own?

I think "unaligned" is a great option (and a solid replacement for the sometimes-weird Neutral), and I think that not everybody needs to bother to use them (some games really don't care about the cosmological alignment of a person's beliefs, and that's juuuust fine!), but I would want them to exist.

Mearls keeps talking about dials. The "Alignment" dial could be something added to the game, where the simplest rule is "no alignments," and then maybe "Good vs. Evil or Law vs. Chaos" and then maybe "Nine Alignments" and then maybe "Nine Alignments + Restrictions/items/powers that use them."

That way, we could all play what we have fun playing, instead of pretending that our way is the One True Way.

 

[ForeverSlayer]

Right now there is no incentive to play using alignments and I think this is where the new alignment system has failed.

Restrictions and certain alignment mechanics actually made the "Alignment" something tangible and real.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

My personal preference is for the 9, no question.

But given what 4Ed has now, I'd rather they'd gone with a simpler G-U-E system or dropped it altogether...because what there is now is as pointless as a third nipple on a dude.

 

[Barastrondo]

I enjoy talking about the AD&D nine-fold system over appetizers, and think it is the superior choice for that and for Internet charts attempting to illustrate alignment with, say, Muppets. But honestly I don't miss that system at any point during actual play or prep. Alignments work best as a thought exercise to get a first stab at what motivates a character, but I prefer just starting with the question "What does this character want, and why?"

 

[Gortle]

Anyways - does anyone else miss Alignments? Do you remember the fun Alignments brought to old editions?

No, and yes.

Alignments are a nice starting place for players to start thinking about their characters. But the rules associated with them were always a problem and far too open to interpretation.

I am glad they got rid of most of the alignment specific effects. Protection from Evil was always odd; 4th ed powers to specifically effect demons or undead make more sense. Know Alignment and Detect Good/Evil was always just a munchkin shortcut to avoid roleplaying.

Changing alignment should be a common part of character growth and there shouldn't be any penalties from it for most.

The addition of the unaligned alignment was a good thing, and makes for a useful default.


I can only guess they removed most of the alignments to simplify things, and down grade the importance of alignment.

I'd be happy for it to be back, without all the mechanics and powers associated with it.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Protection from Evil was always odd; 4th ed powers to specifically effect demons or undead make more sense.

PfE and Circles made perfect sense for anyone who read a lot of legends & myths- many contain totems, symbols, gestures, wards, charms and actual physically drawn circles that were meant to ward of evil of ANY kind, not just specific kinds of evil creatures.

Know Alignment and Detect Good/Evil was always just a munchkin shortcut to avoid roleplaying.

No, not always. Again, there are many characters of myth and legend who could "look into your soul" or read an area's "aura" and ascertain the presence of a good or evil being. The spells (and the powers based on them) modeled that pretty well.

It could be problematic, though, if you didn't use the RAW, at least as a starting point. Looking back at 3.X (because I can't remember the 1Ed rule at this time), a Paladin's ability to Detect Evil was "as the spell"...and when you look at the spell, you find it was directional (a cone) and it actually took concentration and time to work: 2-3 rounds to get anything meaningful beyond the presence or absence of evil. IOW, your Paladin was unlikely to be able to use the ability surreptitiously or in combat. In addition, if the evil was strong enough, using this power could result in your Paladin's being stunned. Not exactly what you want from your Holy Meat Shield when the fit hits the shan.

 

[MrMyth]

Right now there is no incentive to play using alignments and I think this is where the new alignment system has failed.

Restrictions and certain alignment mechanics actually made the "Alignment" something tangible and real.

See, this is what I don't quite get. All the earlier posts were talking about how the heart of the alignment system is roleplaying. Shouldn't the only incentive you need to use alignments... be the desire to roleplay those alignments?

Adding in more mechanical elements makes it more problematic for those who don't want to deal with such things.

Now, I do get the second sentence above - the fact that having mechanical support makes the experience more worthwhile if you do want to use alignments. And I'd be cool with an optional system that adds in such elements for those who want it.

But that first sentence... that the failure is the lack of 'incentive'... I can't think of any good way to implement such things. Any system that forces or encourages the use of alignment is just going to frustrate those who don't want to deal with it. Indeed, I've only found that such things impede roleplaying rather than enhance it.

In the end, I'll stick with my previous advice - if you want to roleplay a certain alignment, that's totally up to you, regardless of edition. If you want to have more in-game consequences, mechanical limitations, or other ways to make alignment feel 'relevant'... what you need to do is talk to the DM, because that is something that should be tied to the campaign, not to the game system itself.