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Yes, and that's why alignment works for me as fuzzy guidelines that everyone has room to interpret for themselves but not as a top-down DM-controlled god or force imposing their own interpretations on the players. For paladins, I prefer for their restrictions to be based more on their oath --...

Sorry if I've given offence, that definitely wasn't my intention. I didn't see it as derogatory because I don't think you can really compare a game system to a real world religion. There are many religions around the world that disagree quite a bit on what defines a good person. That's actually...

As a nebulous, general guiding principle for PCs and NPCs, I find alignment useful. Broad enough for a range of interpretation but explicit enough to give some guidance. I like how it forces players to think a bit about basic questions like whether they plan to play a heroic character or a more...

Because I don't think it's fair to the other players and DM to derail the entire campaign with a conflict building between just two characters. That said, I can't say I'm not tempted to do just that in the future.

I'm definitely in the camp that characters with strong personalities and personal motivations that don't always mesh combined with clear effort on the part of all players to maintain some level of party cohesion and inter-player respect is the most fun way to play. Some tension and conflict...

The word "savage" has extremely racist connotations. That is not window dressing, it is a very clear connotation of the word. So why does it matter to you at all? If it doesn't affect you, if it seems trivial to you, then why do you care if some words are changed? It seems like you're...

It is not censorship for an editorial team to determine that some words no longer convey the meaning that they intended. If I use a word to insult you over and over again and you ask me to stop, and I choose to stop using that word, you are not censoring me.

Absolutely, there is nothing wrong with wanting escapism. But a big part of this debate is about who is allowed to get escapist fantasy and who has to put up with elements that prevent it from being escapist for them. It's not just that "society" in general has changed its mind on what's...

I'm curious about what the goal is with this mechanic. Is it a way to add more randomization to the caster classes?

I think that's a totally fair complaint. For me personally, I've been playing a lot of video games that use non-western mythology, such as Okami and Raji, and both use demons as their villains (albeit demons with very specific cultural designs and origins). Detaching demons from any specific...

Honestly I do dig the idea, and I appreciate all the suggestions in this thread on how to reskin other creatures to simply make them fiendish. I don't think every enemy needs to be mindlessly evil, but I think it actually adds more creative opportunity to think about how and why the fiends got...

I think it's actually more that CRPG players aren't playing with each other. Even in multiplayer games like MMOs, there is no circumstance in which one player wants to mow down enemies while another player wants to try talking it out. The game mechanics don't allow for those kinds of competing...

Also, I have never gotten the impression that this was a requirement of D&D clerics. It's not like there are perks for recruiting the most followers listed in the player's handbook (thank goodness). I played a cleric from level 1 all the way to 20 and her relationship with her goddess was such...

I think that's exactly why it's important for both players and DM to beware of making this all a little too real in the game. Because this cuts both ways: there are many people who are religious minorities who are the victims of bigotry as well. Just as it would be potentially an awful...

This whole atheism debate comes down to context, honestly. I don't think a single sweeping rule one way or another about what atheism means and whether it's an acceptable position for a character can really work. There are settings where the gods are actively involved in daily life and there...

I think maybe what I'm asking is less about how evil gods can exist and more what makes an evil god any different from a fiend? Why must we have fiends at all rather than extraplanar beings of a variety of alignments?

This is a fantastic resource and I think it actually does offer a solid argument for what the point of clerics is. If religious rituals are a necessary, tangible practice to appease a god (who may otherwise revoke their favor or bring down wrath) or to ask a favor of a god, then clerics are...

I think the part I'm struggling with when it comes to creating my own pantheon is the existence of "celestial" as a measurable power. If a god's divinity is instantly detectable by a first-level spell, that does seem to suggest that gods are easily defined, fixed beings, inherently distinct from...

Worst case scenario is that half the players have enough shame to limit themselves and the other half have no shame at all, resulting in a ton of unfairness at the table. I've seen that exact situation play out with other systems where players are given complete freedom to build whatever...

I'm finding this thread fascinating, because until today I was definitely under the impression that rolling was the most popular choice. As a player, I've struggled with this because when I go standard array, I find my stats are middling compared to all the rollers who always get at least one...