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General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
An Ontology of D&D Alignment
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<blockquote data-quote="Big J Money" data-source="post: 7866200" data-attributes="member: 70533"><p><span style="font-size: 18px"><strong>IX. Transparency</strong></span></p><p>This is a two-parter:</p><p></p><p>Firstly, are the overall features of an Alignment (that we’ve discussed here) known by the players or kept secret? </p><p></p><p>Secondly, are the Alignment ramifications of individual actions, as carried out by the PCs, known by the players or kept secret?</p><p></p><p>In a fully transparent alignment, players would be told how alignment works in the setting; and every time one of their characters takes an action, they would be aware of which alignment that action corresponds to. A wholly opaque system is left completely mysterious to the players at all times. Note that we are referring to out of character DM to player communication. An opaque system precludes neither in-fiction consequences of PC action from arising, nor players drawing conclusions from said consequences.</p><p></p><p>This feature can be binary or scalar. A partially transparent system may reveal the overall rules of alignment, but not the results of individual actions, or some actions but not all. Or it may always reveal the results of any given action but keep the overall underlying system a mystery. </p><p></p><p>N.B.: If you are to have any opaque aspects to your alignment, I recommend communicating to the players specifically which pieces you are revealing openly and which pieces they do not know for sure, and what the implications will be in your campaign. Even in a wholly opaque system I recommend the nature and procedure of alignment consequence to be transparent.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Big J Money, post: 7866200, member: 70533"] [SIZE=5][B]IX. Transparency[/B][/SIZE] This is a two-parter: Firstly, are the overall features of an Alignment (that we’ve discussed here) known by the players or kept secret? Secondly, are the Alignment ramifications of individual actions, as carried out by the PCs, known by the players or kept secret? In a fully transparent alignment, players would be told how alignment works in the setting; and every time one of their characters takes an action, they would be aware of which alignment that action corresponds to. A wholly opaque system is left completely mysterious to the players at all times. Note that we are referring to out of character DM to player communication. An opaque system precludes neither in-fiction consequences of PC action from arising, nor players drawing conclusions from said consequences. This feature can be binary or scalar. A partially transparent system may reveal the overall rules of alignment, but not the results of individual actions, or some actions but not all. Or it may always reveal the results of any given action but keep the overall underlying system a mystery. N.B.: If you are to have any opaque aspects to your alignment, I recommend communicating to the players specifically which pieces you are revealing openly and which pieces they do not know for sure, and what the implications will be in your campaign. Even in a wholly opaque system I recommend the nature and procedure of alignment consequence to be transparent. [/QUOTE]
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