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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Baron Opal" data-source="post: 5547719" data-attributes="member: 10433">A FoundationI’ve been thinking a lot about magic recently. In particular, how I would like it expressed in my home game.Like many, I imagine, my D&D campaign is a pseudo- feudal milieu that is remarkably tolerant of other races, creeds and sexes. Everyone mostly gets along with each other, unless you’re one of the “bad guys” then all of the “good guys” agree to stomp all over you. I’ve mentioned before that I tend to view alignment as “the color of your hat” or the side you’ve picked rather than a definitive descriptor of beliefs and morals. Even so, there are some consequences to this decision. One descriptor of alignment I liked was the concept of imagining Thor, Apollo, Shiva and others on one side (Law) and Cthulhu, Demogorgon and Tiamat on the other (Chaos). Your alignment is determined by which side you want to fight with at Ragnarok, neutral if you just want to hide and wait it out.One of things that complicates it for me is that I do want players to be able to choose Chaos without breaking the game. I want Galahad and Elric to be in the same party if that’s what the players want. I, and they, should expect some friction if that’s the case, but it should all be in good fun and not game breaking. An inspiration for my game is the Amber series of novels by Roger Zelazny. I like the concept of Pattern and Chaos being antagonistic due to power source and attitudes, but not mutually annihilating. They can work together at need.In my game there are three fundamental forces, the Empyrians. These are Law, Chaos, and Insight. They are described in myth and legend as the Radiant Obelisk, Dark Maelstrom, and Sublime Pattern. It was pretty important to me that the Pattern be a “real” choice, not just an indecisive mid-point between the other two. That’s been difficult, actually. Eventually I remembered my alchemy and the development of the 3-axis method of quicksilver, sulfur, and salt. That gave me the basis for what I have now. It’s still a bit of “white, black, grey” between the three forces, but I can articulate three different goals for them.I adopted the Magic: the Gathering color wheel for alignment and changed it a bit. The alignments are now:Law (Obelisk)- Fostering a strong Society gives the individual the best advantage.Chaos (Maelstrom)- Fostering a strong Self gives the individual the best advantage.Insight (Pattern)- Fostering an Harmonious Evolution gives the everyone the best advantage.Neutrality (n/a)- Making your own way, keeping your head down, not getting involved.Evil (Void)- The “bad guys”; mind flayers, demons, EHP, and those of your faction who have Gone Too Far.If the color of your hat determines who the fighters are going to poke in the belly with pointy, sharp metal bits, I think it should influence magic, too.More musings to follow.</blockquote>

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