D&D 5E What do you think should be done with alignment?

[Steampunkette]

Substantially keep alignment like it is, a generally useful introductory tool for new players and method of describing their characters.

I'd also largely keep it for NPC Monsters and Humanoids. The difference is that intelligent creatures, humanoid or otherwise, would default to Neutral and have some cultural stuff added to their creature descriptions for examples of why they might come into conflict with PCs or Society and need to be battled.

Things like Lizardfolk being Neutral, but their territorial nature and aggressive posturing combined with their tendency to perform cannibalism dispassionately as a means of survival often puts them at odds with settlements near water sources.

Stuff like that.

 

[Steampunkette]

Wrestling as an alignment? Or descriptors based on wrestling? Or...?

Probably kayfabe personality traits. Things like Faces and Heels with a good ol' Face-Heel turn and stuff.

 

[el-remmen]

Ok, I just read the 5E page on alignment for the first time. It's fine, but I would (and have) jettison the "Alignment in the Multiverse" part and its "in-born" traits thing. If that is what people are objecting to, I get it. But baby and bathwater and all that.

 

[Xeviat]

I find the 9 alignment system to be useful as a way to quickly describe an aspect of your character. I'd like more to be linked to it, actually. I'd like some guidance on what is good, evil, lawful, and chaotic, then little rules on what you gain for acting in your alignment and what penalty you get for acting outside. This would be something small, like the inspiration system, or maybe something moderate like World of Darkness's Virtue/Vice system.

The way I describe alignment is that it is a descriptor for how you intend to play your character. Alignment shows what gives your characters "the warm fuzzies". If, let's say, painting a picture is a good action and eating broccoli is an evil action (being wacky to not start fights), then painting makes a good persons feel good and eating broccoli makes a good person feel guilty, and vice versa. Circumstance can force a good person to do evil, and if that circumstance comes up enough then it becomes prudent to switch to Neutral at a certain point (but that switch is something you might not want to do, because you still want your warm fuzzy points for doing good).

 

[Minigiant]

Wrestling as an alignment? Or descriptors based on wrestling? Or...?

Babyface Anti-Hero Face Tweener, Heel, Monster Heel, Chicken Heel

Orcs were monster heels. Hobgobins were chicken heels.

 

[TheSword]

Early days but 1/3 would remove and 2/3 would keep. Not dissimilar to the last simpler poll.

 

[Cadence]

Early days but 1/3 would remove and 2/3 would keep. Not dissimilar to the last simpler poll.

I was kind of surprised by how much love each of the editions got.

Edit: And after I hit return, the votes start separating them more...

@Oofta made me reconsider 5e in the previous one poll thread. Thinking about it more, my only really strong dislike is that the names Good and Evil show up in the Protection spell, and the big improvement I'd want is asking folks to throw an adjective or three in the box too.

 

[Oofta]

I was kind of surprised by how much love each of the editions got.

@Oofta made me reconsider 5e in the previous one poll thread. Thinking about it more, my only really strong dislike is that the names Good and Evil show up in the Protection spell, and the big improvement I'd want is asking folks to throw an adjective or three in the box too.

It's kind of odd that we have spells with labels that include "good and evil" when they don't really have anything to do with alignment.

But I guess "[detect/dispel/protection from] aberration, celestial, elemental, fey, fiend, or undead" is a bit of a mouthful.

 

[Cadence]

It's kind of odd that we have spells with labels that include "good and evil" when they don't really have anything to do with alignment.

But I guess "[detect/dispel/protection from] aberration, celestial, elemental, fey, fiend, or undead" is a bit of a mouthful.

Outsiders? Unnatural?

Are elementals and fey even good or evil?

 

[Disgruntled Hobbit]

It's fine as is
All we need is to add the word "usually" or "often" to many humanoids. And anything with a civilization gets "any"