DND alignment homebrews?

[Ruxpin_exe]

Hey,

I found a thread a long time ago somewhere else where someone had talked about a homebrew for alignment that really resonated with me. Instead of having good/evil/chaotic neutral etc there was a list of traits like compassion, greed, bravery, etc and you would assign point values to it.. so it made for a more dynamic range of character. You could have a good cowardly character, etc etc.. just seemed to make more sense.
I had the feeling it was a very popular system, but now that I've gone looking for it I can't find it? Anyone seen anything similar before? Really just looking for any reasonable alternatives to the normal rule set because it seems more restrictive than anything.

Thanks in advance.

 

[GMMichael]

Try this system:

Characters follow a primary god. Whatever that god says is Right or Wrong is how the god judges the character. Different gods can agree or disagree on right or wrong.

The system can get more complex by assigning faith points to the character. The more the character follows his primary god, the more faith points he gets. Get enough faith points, and you can start doing paladin/blackguard type stuff. Too few faith points, and no deity wants to watch your back for you.

 

[Ruxpin_exe]

That sounds somewhat along the same lines of something I do already. Instead of giving players RP bonus experience I give them points into a score that I keep track of hidden in the background. If/when they try and do something crazy (Can I do a backflip off that wall, catch that tree limb, all while holding my breath? etc) I make them roll a corresponding skill check, but add the points from the hidden score to their roll (and then reset the score to zero).. Gives the RPers some bonus but doesnt throw the XP balance of the party off by being like "well YOU get 300 bonus roleplay experience but sorry Jim, you were boring and don't get any" or something.

I don't dislike your suggestion at all but doesn't really get what I'm looking for, which is an alignment system that right from level 1 before play starts gives you a good concept about what sort of person a character is/what sort of values they have.

 

[GMMichael]

I don't dislike your suggestion at all but doesn't really get what I'm looking for, which is an alignment system that right from level 1 before play starts gives you a good concept about what sort of person a character is/what sort of values they have.

Fair enough. But outside of a simple construct like "I follow X god" or "I'm lawful good," you're going to have a big sloppy mess like:

Jose Pose, level 1 Mayan
Alignment: like dogs, hates cats, believes in saving lives, but doesn't want to put his neck on the line. Gives to the poor, doesn't pay taxes, donates to AARP, thinks adoption is wrong. Steals, but only things worth less than 30 cents. Doesn't break traffic laws. See page 2.
Class: Rogue.
Armor Class: 11...

 

[Dethklok]

Fair enough. But outside of a simple construct like "I follow X god" or "I'm lawful good," you're going to have a big sloppy mess

Oh, not necessarily. A game in a typical medieval setting could have three stats like Piety, Honor, and Mercantilism, which detailed one's attitudes towards the temple priests (with attendant values on tithing and self denial), towards the nobles (with values such as bravery and punitiveness) and towards townsfolk (with values such as investment and scientific investigation). On a 1-5 scale, is Piety 1, Honor 2, Mercantilism 4 hard to identify as the profile of a godless arms trader who sells his wares to the highest bidder?

Good luck finding what you're after, Ruxpin.

 

[was]

many times we just use Good, Neutral and Evil