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Let us assume for the moment that they are the clearly superior choice. OK. So why SHOULD the attack cantrip be superior? The answer may not be to remove it from the game, but to modify it and/or other choices to make them comparable in effectiveness. You seem to suggest that it is, if not...

So who should make the decision on how character resources are to be allocated? Should the game require that every character have some combat skills, some social skills and some exploration skills, and absolutely prohibit a character trading one below a certain level, or raising another beyond...

In that paragraph, I suggest two mutually exclusive choices as being equally valid. These were the two that the player was considering, and that Manbearcat was suggesting had to be judged. I do not believe we need to split this down to the fine algorithm Manbearcat suggests. Rather, I find it...

So what are we really saying here? That a good player, who builds a PC to concept, should get a result which means his character is largely ineffectual when compared to a character optimized for pure mechanical effectiveness? To me, the system should reward concept building, not min/maxing...

What I see from the above, particularly the emphasized aspects, is that your review of the issues finds that there is no "right" answer, in that the situation requires prioritization of various aspects of Law and Good. Now, if his choice were "I backstab the King and declare myself rightful...

The ones introduced in the Greyhawk supplement, along with Thieves (and its own combat system, rather than the Chainmail system, and variable weapon damage). Thank you for another fine example of poor use of the alignment rules passed off as the way alignment is expected to work in play. The...

I'm pretty sure OD&D Paladins had to be Lawful, too.

The term "guide" and "straightjacket" are not synonyms. I would expect any player's decisions to be guided by alignment where it exists, and any other personality traits, aspects, beliefs, or whatever description the game, or the player, uses. That does not mean there is commonly only one right...

Everything need not be specifically “good” or specifically “evil” for the system to function. Tying one’s shoes and brushing one’s teeth are neither good nor evil. Injuring a man to prevent him beating a child includes elements of evil (intentionally inflicting harm on another person) and...

Another Pathfinder option, but the Boon Companion feat adds 4 to effective Druid levels for animal companions, limited to the character's total level. A reasonable 3.5 port could double level, as Rangers count as Ranger level -3 for animal companions in Pathfinder, IIRC.

Yes, it is about bad GMing. IT DEFINITELY IS. Any GM that can look at the scenario Herschel presented and conclude that it is categorically "right" or "wrong" to help one of those groups is a bad GM. The scenario is painted, quite deliberately, with a great deal of moral ambiguity. With no...

The SRD I'm looking at says "often Lawful Good", with Deep "usually Lawful Neutral or Neutral" and Duergar "often Lawful Evil". Goblins are "usually Neutral Evil". So, because people may use it differently, alignment should have no mechanical effect? People use the magical item rules...

That same "logic" would mean all dwarven PC's must be LG, and all Elves CG. Again, not the alignment rules but specific table rules. Like pretty much every objection to alignment on this thread, the objection seems either one of "specific and extreme interpretation of alignment", "bad...

So what? Good implies respect for life and law includes respect for order. Does that mean a Paladin can't exist in a nation which has capital punishment? Really, there should be no Good creatures anywhere they respect life, so clearly they can't eat! Let's add That would make them...

Quoted for truth. Ignoring PvP, are there no NPC Paladins and Clerics? What strictures are they guided by? Or does the GM also get to define NPC morality by whim? BTW, one example of "great gaming that would be impossible if we used alignments" was a PC sacrificing another PC to a Dark God...

The author does not create characters from vacuum. He has a vision of the character, with history and upcoming events which fit within his story for the character. The gamer lacks that. He has a vague knowledge, if any, of the broad aspects of the campaign the character is about to enter...

To the SG-1 cite, I think this can also be taken as saying "We are more technologically advanced than you are. That does not mean we are more intelligent than you are."

When the character writes himself, his "descriptors" which have been "pre-given" by the author's vision, including but not limited to the manner in which the character has already been written to date, and the experiences he has had (in backstory and in play), are driving him such that the...

All valid issues. As a variant on the theme, what about an opposed INT check. Sure, the Dragon has a 30 INT (+10 INT roll), but that 20 INT wizard has +5, and his teammates can roll to Aid Another, so the Dragon gets an advantage due to his INT, but not a guaranteed nerf of the player plans...

It seems just as reasonable to assert that, if players and GM's are in tune with their archetypes, significant alignment issues do not arise. Again, however, that does not mean alignment will necessarily improve the game, only that they will not detract from it.