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<blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 1508526" data-attributes="member: 177">Alignment isn't even necessary if characters have weak personality.&nbsp; But that's not saying much.&nbsp; Hit Points aren't necessary.&nbsp; Fighters are not necessary.&nbsp; Six stats aren't necessary.&nbsp; Heck, truth be told, the GM isn't necessary.&nbsp; The only thing one absolutely needs in an RPG is people playing roles.&nbsp; Nothing else is truly necessary.&nbsp; That's something to keep in mind.&nbsp; The question isn't whether a thing is necessary.&nbsp; The question is whether it is useful.Correct.&nbsp; But then, alignment was never meant to define personality.&nbsp; It is the other way around - personality defines alignment.&nbsp; Alignment is a generalization about the character's actions and motivations.&nbsp; Yes.&nbsp; But alignment isn't intended to be a perfect and complete representation of an entire personality.&nbsp; It isn't fair to decry alignment for failing to be that which it was never intended to be.In the real world, if you say, &quot;He's a nice guy,&quot; it doesn't shoehorn him into anything.&nbsp; He still can occasionally act like a jerk, but generally be a nice guy.&nbsp; And it isn't an attempt to perfectly define him.&nbsp; It is an attempt to convey some general, vague information, and as such it works fairly well.The alignment system is not rigid.&nbsp; It is vague and amorphous.&nbsp; When a great many different behaviors can all be classified as &quot;good&quot;, that's not rigid or constraining.Alignment is a tool designed for use in a game where Good, Evil, Law, and Chaos are palpable forces in the universe, much like electromagnetism and gravity are in ours.&nbsp; When I tell you a person's mass, I don't give you a detailed description of his internal structure, but I do give you what you need to know to determine how he interacts with gravity in most cases.&nbsp; The details of speckles are not particularly important to the forces of alignment in D&amp;D.&nbsp; To a good approximation, these forces work upon the overall average state of the character, not upon the detailed structure.&nbsp; If you want to run a game where these forces don't exist, then sure, you can ditch alignment.&nbsp; Alignment has a secondary function of acting as an inspiration and guideline for role-playing.&nbsp; When properly used, it still works well for this, too.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Umbran, post: 1508526, member: 177"] Alignment isn't even necessary if characters have weak personality. But that's not saying much. Hit Points aren't [i]necessary[/i]. Fighters are not [i]necessary[/i]. Six stats aren't [i]necessary[/i]. Heck, truth be told, the GM isn't [i]necessary[/i]. The only thing one absolutely needs in an RPG is people playing roles. Nothing else is truly necessary. That's something to keep in mind. The question isn't whether a thing is necessary. The question is whether it is useful. Correct. But then, alignment was never meant to define personality. It is the other way around - personality defines alignment. Alignment is a generalization about the character's actions and motivations. Yes. But alignment isn't intended to be a perfect and complete representation of an entire personality. It isn't fair to decry alignment for failing to be that which it was never intended to be. In the real world, if you say, "He's a nice guy," it doesn't shoehorn him into anything. He still can occasionally act like a jerk, but generally be a nice guy. And it isn't an attempt to [i]perfectly[/i] define him. It is an attempt to convey some general, vague information, and as such it works fairly well. The alignment system is not rigid. It is vague and amorphous. When a great many different behaviors can all be classified as "good", that's not rigid or constraining. Alignment is a tool designed for use in a game where Good, Evil, Law, and Chaos are palpable forces in the universe, much like electromagnetism and gravity are in ours. When I tell you a person's mass, I don't give you a detailed description of his internal structure, but I do give you what you need to know to determine how he interacts with gravity in most cases. The details of speckles are not particularly important to the forces of alignment in D&D. To a good approximation, these forces work upon the overall average state of the character, not upon the detailed structure. If you want to run a game where these forces don't exist, then sure, you can ditch alignment. Alignment has a secondary function of acting as an inspiration and guideline for role-playing. When properly used, it still works well for this, too. [/QUOTE]

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