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<blockquote data-quote="Sword of Spirit" data-source="post: 6312959" data-attributes="member: 6677017">Interestingly, this thread has got me wondering why I want alignment in my D&amp;D games. I don't use it in any of my other role-playing. I don't miss it in any of my other role-playing. So why D&amp;D?A part of it is simply cosmology. The conflict of the various moral and ethical forces is part of a cosmology that is D&amp;D to me. That still makes it easy to accommodate alignment having no mechanical effect on normal races. Sure, you might have a little bit of it flowing through you, but it's just enough to tug your soul towards the right place after you die. Only creatures completely saturated by it (such as celestials and fiends) register to alignment-affecting magic.So why do I want to write an alignment on a PC's character record as a DM, even if the player doesn't know what it is? Why don't I just analyze what happens after they die based upon the way they lived their life after that life?Part of it is a short-hand for telling player what kinds of characters are acceptable in a campaign. It's easier to say &quot;no evil alignments&quot; that it is to go into more details. However, even with that I think I'm going to try to avoid it and instead give more relevant guidance. In my next big campaign I want heroes who will be willing to stick together, want to save the world, and aren't causing mayhem and evil. I can say, &quot;no evil alignments, and neutral characters need a reason to be heroic.&quot; Or I can just describe it how I did.I guess there is a stick to hit characters with based on alignment. It's the &quot;your character isn't appropriate for this campaign,&quot; stick. Other ideas?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Sword of Spirit, post: 6312959, member: 6677017"] Interestingly, this thread has got me wondering [I]why[/I] I want alignment in my D&D games. I don't use it in any of my other role-playing. I don't miss it in any of my other role-playing. So why D&D? A part of it is simply cosmology. The conflict of the various moral and ethical forces is part of a cosmology that [I]is[/I] D&D to me. That still makes it easy to accommodate alignment having no mechanical effect on normal races. Sure, you might have a little bit of it flowing through you, but it's just enough to tug your soul towards the right place after you die. Only creatures completely saturated by it (such as celestials and fiends) register to alignment-affecting magic. So why do I want to write an alignment on a PC's character record as a DM, even if the player doesn't know what it is? Why don't I just analyze what happens after they die based upon the way they lived their life [I]after[/I] that life? Part of it is a short-hand for telling player what kinds of characters are acceptable in a campaign. It's easier to say "no evil alignments" that it is to go into more details. However, even with that I think I'm going to try to avoid it and instead give more relevant guidance. In my next big campaign I want heroes who will be willing to stick together, want to save the world, and aren't causing mayhem and evil. I can say, "no evil alignments, and neutral characters need a reason to be heroic." Or I can just describe it how I did. I guess there is a stick to hit characters with based on alignment. It's the "your character isn't appropriate for this campaign," stick. Other ideas? [/QUOTE]

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