D&D 5E Do you find alignment useful in any way?

[Oofta]

That's why I see no point to Alignment. If Orcs can be good, why bother listing then as evil?

The alignment is the default. Campaigns can change it as they see fit.

In my campaign I leave the default because otherwise they don't really serve a purpose in the narrative. In Eberron, which is telling a different story they use different assumptions, but it only applies to that campaign

 

[Ogre Mage]

Alignment is RPG shorthand for a character's morals. That said, in the RPG games I played that did not have alignment I did not miss it at all. It seems like an anachronism from an earlier TT RPG era. But it is also a "sacred cow" which the D&D gods have chosen to keep alive for now.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

I don't really play 5e, so I had to answer "Lemon Curry."

I'd personally say that, while I can see how some would find it useful, I don't see any utility it provides that can't be done just as well by something else...that lacks some of the difficulties that "alignment" (as a name and a system) can bring.

 

[Cadence]

It's interesting going back over the books for another thread, that in 1e alignment is one of the few things a player had control over about their player's background by RAW. Even age was rolled by the DM and secondary skill (if used) was picked or rolled by the DM.

 

[zarionofarabel]

If Orcs can use a longbow, why bother listing them with a javelin? If Orcs can wear plate armor, why bother listing them as wearing hide armor? If orcs can be good at the Arcana skill why bother listing them as a -2 intelligence and no proficiency in arcana?

It's all just a baseline to work from. The listing is just a generic typical orc, but you've always been free to adjust it to fit your campaign. It always said that right in the Monster Manual. The published adventures often did that as well.

Well, I have never seen a point in listing specific weapons in a creatures stat block, except for natural weapons. Same for worn armour.

 

[Mistwell]

Well, I have never seen a point in listing specific weapons in a creatures stat block, except for natural weapons. Same for worn armour.

Have you ever had to grab the MM to flip to an entry because your PCs unexpectedly encountered that thing? I have. In fact, it's not too uncommon for that to happen. In such instances, baseline is super useful.

 

[Ogre Mage]

It's interesting going back over the books for another thread, that in 1e alignment is one of the few things a player had control over about their player's background by RAW. Even age was rolled by the DM and secondary skill (if used) was picked or rolled by the DM.

Interesting point. Perhaps one aspect of alignment was to give players agency over their characters. As someone who first played D&D in 1986 using 1E, the 1980s seemed like an era when more control under RAW lay with the DM. In contrast, 5E gives players a lot of control over their characters (some have called it a "player centered" edition).

 

[Vaalingrade]

If Orcs can use a longbow, why bother listing them with a javelin? If Orcs can wear plate armor, why bother listing them as wearing hide armor? If orcs can be good at the Arcana skill why bother listing them as a -2 intelligence and no proficiency in arcana?

1) This is why I love 4e style stat blocks where the block is for a specific role and not a representative of the entire species.
2) Man, F that -2 Intelligence. I dislike racial stats in general, but literally making orcs less intelligent than other species is gross to me.

It's all just a baseline to work from. The listing is just a generic typical orc, but you've always been free to adjust it to fit your campaign. It always said that right in the Monster Manual. The published adventures often did that as well.

And to me, that's the books admitting that their 'defaults' are terrible.

 

[MGibster]

Alignment is RPG shorthand for a character's morals. That said, in the RPG games I played that did not have alignment I did not miss it at all. It seems like an anachronism from an earlier TT RPG era. But it is also a "sacred cow" which the D&D gods have chosen to keep alive for now.

I don't miss alignment in other games because I don't expect them to be there. I liked alignment in D&D because I found the idea of Law, Chaos, Good, and Evil being forces that shape the planes to be fun and interesting. I didn't care if alignment wasn't particularly realistic because it worked for the kinds of stories I want to tell in D&D which is just a simple Good versus Evil narrative. But over the years I've come to the realization that most of my players don't have that same interest. And that's totally cool. You're right, alignment is something of an anachronism in 5th edition just barely hanging on out of sheer momentum. WotC might as well rip the scab off quickly and just relegate alignment to the optional rules in the DMG at this point. I do miss alignment but I can still have fun without it. I'm always going to miss the LG paladin though.

 

[MGibster]

Well, I have never seen a point in listing specific weapons in a creatures stat block, except for natural weapons. Same for worn armour.

Seriously? You've never just opened the Monster Manual up and used the state block you found as is? It'd be awfully inconvenient if the Monster Manual didn't tell me what weapons orcs or drow typically used and included those in the stat block.