Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="tomBitonti" data-source="post: 7074821" data-attributes="member: 13107">Some of the alignment assumptions may reflect the default setting assumptions, for example, that PCs are from &quot;civilized&quot; towns, and vikings are from the uncivilized and barbaric regions, and any notion that said vikings have a code or any sense of honor is displaced by the predominant view that they are ravaging brutes who gleefully pillage and plunder.&nbsp; Then, correctly, a viking's alignment is CE.From a modern sensibility, the townsfolk would be looked on at best as LE, but that is a very modern view.&nbsp; In the setting, the townsfolk would consider themselves LG.There is a very large historical context at play here, one which really doesn't fit well with most games.&nbsp; I don't think that pushing hard at the definitions helps very much.Notionally, what seems to work are:0) There is no alignment, just factions and philosophies.1) Alignment is present as a description, but is not a mechanical factor (for the most part; spell descriptors are a problem).&nbsp; A person can claim to be LG or NE or whatever, but that doesn't have a mechanical impact.2) Arbitrary rules made by gods style.&nbsp; Then, you are LG if you follow rules made by a god which is labelled as LG.&nbsp; There is a presumption that a LG will mostly fit a modern sense of what that should mean, but only to a degree.&nbsp; The rules are fundamentally arbitrary.Thx!TomB</blockquote>

[QUOTE="tomBitonti, post: 7074821, member: 13107"] Some of the alignment assumptions may reflect the default setting assumptions, for example, that PCs are from "civilized" towns, and vikings are from the uncivilized and barbaric regions, and any notion that said vikings have a code or any sense of honor is displaced by the predominant view that they are ravaging brutes who gleefully pillage and plunder. Then, correctly, a viking's alignment is CE. From a modern sensibility, the townsfolk would be looked on at best as LE, but that is a very modern view. In the setting, the townsfolk would consider themselves LG. There is a very large historical context at play here, one which really doesn't fit well with most games. I don't think that pushing hard at the definitions helps very much. Notionally, what seems to work are: 0) There is no alignment, just factions and philosophies. 1) Alignment is present as a description, but is not a mechanical factor (for the most part; spell descriptors are a problem). A person can claim to be LG or NE or whatever, but that doesn't have a mechanical impact. 2) Arbitrary rules made by gods style. Then, you are LG if you follow rules made by a god which is labelled as LG. There is a presumption that a LG will mostly fit a modern sense of what that should mean, but only to a degree. The rules are fundamentally arbitrary. Thx! TomB [/QUOTE]

Verification