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<blockquote data-quote="Man in the Funny Hat" data-source="post: 5776190" data-attributes="member: 32740">Alignment has been an issue since... well, for a LARGE chunk of D&amp;D's existence.&nbsp; I don't think it's so much an issue of how many alignments you have, but of the REPEATED failure to clearly, unambiguously explain what the purpose of having alignments is and how they are to be used to further that purpose.&nbsp;As far back as 2E my own conclusion was that its purpose was primarily as a players tool for roleplaying.&nbsp; By providing a shorthand for a general set of philosophical/religious beliefs it would save a player from having to make up a lot of extensive details along those lines and give them a reference point to use as justification for why their character might act in certain ways... at least when the player was unable or unwilling to come up with a better reason.&nbsp; The more deeply a player knows how and why his character will do what he does because he has a better, more detailed grasp of what the character believes (thus REPLACING the alignment shorthand) then the less he wants or needs alignment as a roleplaying tool to refer to.&nbsp;At the same time, prior to 3E, the DM was given some power to use it as an enforcement tool to keep players from running characters who disrupted games because their actions were illogical and unjustifiable.&nbsp; Without something like a &quot;mission statement&quot; to give alignment proper purpose and direction, edition after edition gave us alignment with ambiguous and confused interpretations, aimlessness, and even interference.&nbsp;I don't have a lot of problems with alignment personally because I firstly make it clear to my players what I think alignment is actually for, how I think they are supposed to use it, and how I intend to use it as DM.&nbsp; Obviously a lot of people do have issues with it because DM's and players all seem to have differing ideas on what it's for and how anybody should be using it - but mostly because they don't communicate between each other about those differences until it becomes an issue in the game.&nbsp;I think alignment is useful and has a place in the game but the rules need a much better writing of how and why to use it - and how and why NOT to use it.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Man in the Funny Hat, post: 5776190, member: 32740"] Alignment has been an issue since... well, for a LARGE chunk of D&D's existence. I don't think it's so much an issue of how many alignments you have, but of the REPEATED failure to clearly, unambiguously explain what the purpose of having alignments is and how they are to be used to further that purpose. As far back as 2E my own conclusion was that its purpose was primarily as a players tool for roleplaying. By providing a shorthand for a general set of philosophical/religious beliefs it would save a player from having to make up a lot of extensive details along those lines and give them a reference point to use as justification for why their character might act in certain ways... at least when the player was unable or unwilling to come up with a better reason. The more deeply a player knows how and why his character will do what he does because he has a better, more detailed grasp of what the character believes (thus REPLACING the alignment shorthand) then the less he wants or needs alignment as a roleplaying tool to refer to. At the same time, prior to 3E, the DM was given some power to use it as an enforcement tool to keep players from running characters who disrupted games because their actions were illogical and unjustifiable. Without something like a "mission statement" to give alignment proper purpose and direction, edition after edition gave us alignment with ambiguous and confused interpretations, aimlessness, and even interference. I don't have a lot of problems with alignment personally because I firstly make it clear to my players what I think alignment is actually for, how I think they are supposed to use it, and how I intend to use it as DM. Obviously a lot of people do have issues with it because DM's and players all seem to have differing ideas on what it's for and how anybody should be using it - but mostly because they don't communicate between each other about those differences until it becomes an issue in the game. I think alignment is useful and has a place in the game but the rules need a much better writing of how and why to use it - and how and why NOT to use it. [/QUOTE]

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