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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Flying Toaster" data-source="post: 9737449" data-attributes="member: 7052563">Slightly off topic, but I can almost see some players in classic Ravenloft deciding to do a deliberate heel turn, for any number of reasons.  Maybe their character knows the power of the “Dark Side” and craves it.  Maybe they figure that if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.  Is it better to burn out than fade away?  A player who is getting bored with the campaign might want to wind it up once and for all, in spectacular fashion.  Conversely, a player who loved the campaign might consider having their character turned into an NPC villain to be a crowning achievement akin to a 100% platinum trophy:“Dude... in the Ravenloft campaign, my necromancer got turned into a “Dark Lord” for being too edgy!  It was metal.” <img class="smilie smilie--emoji" alt="👻" src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f47b.png" title="Ghost    :ghost:" data-shortname=":ghost:" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" />The general idea of using the rules to enforce any particular play style or approach to morality has become controversial because it obviously flies in the face of player agency.  Some OSR fans scorn modern play styles, but ironically they actually share a focus on player agency which was probably not present at many tables back in the day, when DM power was king.  EGG used the AD&D class and race rules to enforce his ideal fantasy archetypes, and the alignment system to keep player characters (and arguably the players themselves) in line.  If people think alignment is too restrictive, 1E Oriental Adventures had an honor mechanic loosely based on the bushido warrior code and East Asian social class systems.  Your honor score went up and down in accordance with your actions, and if it fell to zero the character was permanently removed from play.  Note that honor was distinct from alignment, so you could play an evil character while maintaining a decent honor score.This sort of thing is unfashionable today, and maybe for good reason.  I do not expect the Coastal Wizards to put behavior mechanics in 5E Dark Sun, but it would be interesting if they did.</blockquote>

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