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<blockquote data-quote="Ondath" data-source="post: 8641779" data-attributes="member: 7031770">I think one really helpful way to use Alignment concretely in D&amp;D is to tie it to universal cultural values. There was <a href="http://easydamus.com/alignmentreal.html" target="_blank">an article I found online</a> that tried to match each alignment to Shalom Schwartz's study on the subject, and I think they're really useful in defining what each group stands for while remaining sensitive as humanly possible. The whole point of these values is that they are (as far as the research can tell) universal to every culture on the planet, so there should be smaller risk of cultural insensitivity. The essay also ties each alignment to much more concrete terms (so Chaotic Neutral isn't just lolrandom but Self-Direction and Stimulation, which paints the concrete picture of a person seeking novelty in life and caring a lot about their personal freedoms) without being moralistic about it. You can have believable conflicts about clashing values, make mechanical effects on believing in a specific value over another, but avoid falling into stereotypes and banalities.I actually combined this system with Magic's five colours in my own game, and describing characters by their mana colour which ties into specific values has been met rather positively.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Ondath, post: 8641779, member: 7031770"] I think one really helpful way to use Alignment concretely in D&D is to tie it to universal cultural values. There was [URL='http://easydamus.com/alignmentreal.html']an article I found online[/URL] that tried to match each alignment to Shalom Schwartz's study on the subject, and I think they're really useful in defining what each group stands for while remaining sensitive as humanly possible. The whole point of these values is that they are (as far as the research can tell) universal to every culture on the planet, so there should be smaller risk of cultural insensitivity. The essay also ties each alignment to much more concrete terms (so Chaotic Neutral isn't just lolrandom but Self-Direction and Stimulation, which paints the concrete picture of a person seeking novelty in life and caring a lot about their personal freedoms) without being moralistic about it. You can have believable conflicts about clashing values, make mechanical effects on believing in a specific value over another, but avoid falling into stereotypes and banalities. I actually combined this system with Magic's five colours in my own game, and describing characters by their mana colour which ties into specific values has been met rather positively. [/QUOTE]

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