Five Alignments?

[Charwoman Gene]

Don't assume that G, LG, E, and CE mean exactly the same in 4E than they did in prior editions.

FWIW, I broke this puppy in March!

 

[A'koss]

There's definitely more Moorcockian influence on alignment now (Law associated with "Good", Chaos with "Evil"). On the surface it feels rather odd for D&D though, given the game's history. I'm curious to see where they're going with this because I'm not seeing an obvious improvement to the game here...

 

[frankthedm]

Personally, I'd be more inclined to call the domineering LG and the unthinking CE less extreme than the others, if I had to make a call.

Well, those two are the simpler to explain. I'd hope wotc did not just ditch the other alignments due to the confusion they cause, but 4E does have that "Throwing the baby out with the bathwater" thing going. But since lots of folks have differing opinions on what CG and CN really mean, I guess ditching them for an edition is worth a shot.

And for the new cosmology, it makes some sense since the elemental Chaos is opposed to the Law of the gods. Working against order automatically sends you sliding to evil.

Though I say 9 alignments are fine.

 

[hong]

This will not end well

 

[Charwoman Gene]

This will not end well

What is hongs alignment?

 

[Lurks-no-More]

There's definitely more Moorcockian influence on alignment now (Law associated with "Good", Chaos with "Evil"). On the surface it feels rather odd for D&D though, given the game's history.

It's not very surprising, if you recall that BECMI edition had the alignments as Lawful, Neutral and Chaotic, with strong implications that Chaotic was usually the same as "evil" and Lawful the same as "good".

I'm getting a stronger and stronger BECMI vibe from 4e, really.

 

[ki11erDM]

This will not end well

LOL.

As always you speek the truth

 

[Sojorn]

This will not end well

That assumes that it will end. Going for the hopeful outlook? :/

 

[A'koss]

This will not end well

LOL! When does any "discussion" on alignment end well?

 

[Tuft]

Things don't necessarily mean what they used to, and some things aren't "missing" so much as "no longer differentiated enough to need their own categories" under the new (and broader) definitions.

Now, that really makes it sound like "lawful" simply means nothing more than "double-plus-good" instead its old flavor of "working through major organizations, following unbendable rules"....