changing alignment

[mooby]

Are there any rules on changing alignment in 3e?

I remember playing 2e, and there would be EXP penalties for a few levels if you ever switched your alignment.



Also: If a Paladin changes from LG (lets say to NG), does he lose his paladin powers? Or can he just no longer advance as a Paladin?

 

[AGGEMAM]

Are there any rules on changing alignment in 3e?

Yes, classes that have an alignment restriction have an 'ex-[class]' entry which details what happens if you change your alignment.

Other than that there are no restrictions.

 

[AuraSeer]

There is no XP penalty for changing alignment in 3E.

A paladin who changes alignment loses all paladin special abilities, including spells, immunities, save bonuses, the service of the warhorse, and everything else. He effectively becomes a fighter of equivalent level, minus the fighter bonus feats. If he switches back to LG and atones for his misdeeds (DM's call), he regains his abilities.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Of course, you as DM can penalize a charakter for alignment change, if you had to forcefully change his because of bad roleplaying.

If the alignment change was due to something the character experienced (maybe someone he held dear was executed for something he hasn't done and he loses faith in law and becomes chaotic rather than lawful, or a good charakter who is possessed by an evil entity), he should not get a penalty.

But, on the other hand, he said he played a char of one alignment and plays as if he rather had another, change his alignment for him, and give him that penalty. This is especially true if the character in question chose his alignment because of his class' alignment restrictions, or because the alignment he now displays was banned by the DM (so he wanted to play an evil, selfish bastard but evil was ruled out, and he then plays CN and kills people for his own ends and so on, or he wanted to play a monk and behaves as if the word law is just a three-letter-word starting with l)

 

[Leopold]

i use alignment loosely. I change the alignment of my players after a few sessions if they have been playing a different alignment than on their own PC sheets. No XP hit is done, but some classes I make lose abilities and such if they sway too far.

Good example for me is a cleric. If his god only allows NG,LG, and LN followers and the PC becomes CG then he looses acess to higher ranked spells as he has fallen from grace from his god and needs attonement for not acting according to the gods teachings and scriptures.

This isn't in any book, I use this as a house rule.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Right, the alignment change should not be made after the first transgression (except said transgression is so far out that there is no choice. But it has to be nearly realm-shaking for that!), but after he clearly is off limits for an extended time period (several levels), then the change comes. And that may or may not be with a penalty, depending on the whole thing (as I said, doing evil deeds in a game where only good and neutral characters are allowed will likely result in punishment).