D&D General Which edition handled alignment best?

[Minigiant]

4e

Most of the time, characters were only in those 5 anyway.

lawful good rule-follower, good person, evil jerk, chaotic evil force of destruction, and unaligned and out the spectrum.

 

[billd91]

I put down 3e on the assumption that someone might want to use alignment. I think 3e did it best because it has the best options for making alignment matter in a practical sense. There are spells and magic items devoted to making alignment matter.

But I'm also OK with 5e's nearly complete deprioritization of alignment as well. It's just that 5e isn't really much of an edition for someone who wants alignment to be an active concern in their campaign.

 

[Theory of Games]

1e: it was better when the DM selected a PC's alignment based on how the player ran them. Plus, alignment languages still mattered.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

I voted for BECMI, for the most part I ignore alignment, but if one is going to use it, the Law/Chaos axis is the best.

 

[TerraDave]

Alignment itself: 1e. The stuff (not) attached to it: probably 5e.

 

[Voadam]

4e. It has no mechanics that I remember tied to alignment, it was purely descriptive.

5e is close, I like the nine grid better than 4e’s five spectrum. But it has a few minor mechanical things tied to alignment like some magic item effects.

3e had my favorite alignment mechanics with spells and items and monster types and DR and descriptors. Dragged down by legacy class stuff like paladins.

 

[Mind of tempest]

I think alignment is nonsense so I chose 5e because it makes it optional and pretty much ignores it.

The alignment system is the coccyx of D&D. It maybe served a purpose when people were still trying to wrap their heads around "it's like a war game but you pretend to be the characters," but our understanding of role playing has evolved since then.

Edit: I started out using the analogy of the "appendix" but then remembered that D&D actually has one.

The appendix is a gut microbiome zoo it has a function just not a core one.

the 9 grid just does not work

 

[GrimCo]

5e cause it's reduced to pure aestethics. You can ignore it and game runs smooth without it, no mechanics tied to it. On the other hand, alignment was always one of those things that pissed me off in d&d.

 

[Stormonu]

3E. It was supported in all aspects - class, spells, magic items, and everything else.

Though 5E is worthy of mention by going past alignment to bonds, flaws and ideals.

 

[CreamCloud0]

i think it's a real shame there are so many people saying things to the effect of '5e does it best by not doing anything with it'