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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Steampunkette" data-source="post: 8443031" data-attributes="member: 6796468">So...the question is really three parts.1) Does alignment matter?2) Is alignment Descriptive, Proscriptive, or otherwise?3) Will it be fun to my players to explore these questions?The first question must be answered as a conditional: It should matter as much as you want it to matter.Are you intending to make Alignment "Count" within the narrative? Will there be situations where a character's alignment, independent of other aspects, is a deciding factor? Does Alignment act as a roleplaying tool to help center your players on their character's identities rather than their own?If the answer to these questions are "No" or "Maybe" then alignment is irrelevant and you shouldn't bother going forward. However as you seem to intend to make it at least somewhat relevant (Paladins/Clerics) we should move on to number two.The second question really determines the weight of alignment.If Alignment is proscriptive then a character cannot act outside of their alignment without some sort of cosmic backlash, if they can act outside of their alignment at all. But if alignment is descriptive then a character whose actions don't fall within a given alignment just represents an alignment shift from who they were, before, to who they are, now. Changing a character's alignment, therefore, is simply an act of keeping track of their changing identity, and is no more a "Punishment" than a "Reward".The third question is the big one, though.If your players aren't interested in playing to specific moral structures then there's really no point in making a story about those moral structures. But if they're interested in exploring the topic of characters falling from grace or rising to it, or whatever other specific direction the characters might go, then leap in with both feet!If you're going to make alignment matter, though, consider expanding it. Make magical effects that key off alignment more important or functional than they currently are. Add in twists and turns and magic to confuse things. I once had a game where a weapon could only be wielded by the pure of heart, and a NG Player was able to wield it because he was "Pure Good" rather than leaning toward law or chaos... And then the BBEG took the sword and wielded it because he was Pure Evil, NE. Play with people's ideas of who is or isn't "Worthy". Stuff like that.</blockquote>

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