Michael Morris
First Post
I'm posting this here instead of house rules in anticipation of the resultant thread meandering onto the merits of alignment systems in general.
I'm going to playtest this some - it may make it's way into the new Dusk: Player's Guide
[h1]Alignment[/h1]
In the cosmology of the Dusk setting five primal forces contend for ascendancy and dominance. From them stir forth both the five types of magic but also five alignments that a character can have in the setting.
A character’s alignment represents their general attitudes towards the world and others, but unlike the standard system the taint of good or evil is not represented in the alignments. All five alignments can become evil or be good as we understand them, and all of them view their opposed alignments as evil or, at the very least, undesireable.
The five alignments, like the five types of magic, are named for colors.
White represents social order, law, community, and so on. Those who value these things are most probably white aligned. White is easily confused with good – after all community and the peace it requires are good things. However, a white aligned person may be willing to employ deplorable ends to enforce their social order and preserve their community, including the active attempt to exterminate “outsiders.” Paladins in the Dusk setting are white aligned perforce, but they act under a code of honor that precludes “evil” behavior, even in the name of goals of their alignment.
Black is white’s inverse insofar as it values the individual over community and survival of the fittest over any type of code that preserves the weak. Black is easily confused with evil and the apathetic attitude of black towards communities and laws do little to change this. However, black isn’t so much evil as it is self-indulgent and selfish to a fault. A person with a black alignment places his or her own welfare before any other concerns. However, black is just as capacle of curtailing this drive and behaving itself as white is curtailing its desire to destroy anything that threatens its community.
Blue represents the drive to learn. It is the required alignment of bards in the Dusk setting. Persons with a blue alignment desire to learn all that is learnable, rarely stopping to consider the consequences of uncovering that knowledge or the ethical concerns of how it should be used. Blue also desires change and is accused by it’s detractors as living in a world of dreams and illusion.
Green is blue’s inverse, wishing to preserve secrets and the natural world. Where blue desires to take the world apart to build it anew, green wants to keep it the way it is. Green is the required alignment of druids and rangers in the Dusk setting.
Red is the color of passion and emotion. Anyone who is ruled by their emotions rather than their thoughts is red aligned. Red doesn’t stop to think about consequence – it acts without hesitation. Of all the colors, red corresponds most closely with what most of us think of as “chaotic,” though red aligned individuals can take great care in accomplishing their tasks when required. Red is the required alignment of barbarians in the Dusk setting.
Be aware that the colors, while opposed, aren’t violently opposed as alignments can sometimes be. A white and a red aligned personality may have harsh words for each other, but they won’t come to blows unless one does something the other views as evil.
Good and evil is subject to interpretation in this system. Even within a color conflict can erupt between these classic enemies. But the five color alignment system allows evil to be more subtle, pervasive, and dangerous than in a world where evil can be detected in a single spell.
[h2]Alignment’s Effects[/h2]
Alignment in Dusk has a more pervasive effect than simply restricting which classes you can belong to. All characters gain a +1 to all saving throws against spells with a color matching their alignment. Spellcasters raise the DC of the spells they cast with a color matching their alignment by +1.
I'm going to playtest this some - it may make it's way into the new Dusk: Player's Guide
[h1]Alignment[/h1]
In the cosmology of the Dusk setting five primal forces contend for ascendancy and dominance. From them stir forth both the five types of magic but also five alignments that a character can have in the setting.
A character’s alignment represents their general attitudes towards the world and others, but unlike the standard system the taint of good or evil is not represented in the alignments. All five alignments can become evil or be good as we understand them, and all of them view their opposed alignments as evil or, at the very least, undesireable.
The five alignments, like the five types of magic, are named for colors.
White represents social order, law, community, and so on. Those who value these things are most probably white aligned. White is easily confused with good – after all community and the peace it requires are good things. However, a white aligned person may be willing to employ deplorable ends to enforce their social order and preserve their community, including the active attempt to exterminate “outsiders.” Paladins in the Dusk setting are white aligned perforce, but they act under a code of honor that precludes “evil” behavior, even in the name of goals of their alignment.
Black is white’s inverse insofar as it values the individual over community and survival of the fittest over any type of code that preserves the weak. Black is easily confused with evil and the apathetic attitude of black towards communities and laws do little to change this. However, black isn’t so much evil as it is self-indulgent and selfish to a fault. A person with a black alignment places his or her own welfare before any other concerns. However, black is just as capacle of curtailing this drive and behaving itself as white is curtailing its desire to destroy anything that threatens its community.
Blue represents the drive to learn. It is the required alignment of bards in the Dusk setting. Persons with a blue alignment desire to learn all that is learnable, rarely stopping to consider the consequences of uncovering that knowledge or the ethical concerns of how it should be used. Blue also desires change and is accused by it’s detractors as living in a world of dreams and illusion.
Green is blue’s inverse, wishing to preserve secrets and the natural world. Where blue desires to take the world apart to build it anew, green wants to keep it the way it is. Green is the required alignment of druids and rangers in the Dusk setting.
Red is the color of passion and emotion. Anyone who is ruled by their emotions rather than their thoughts is red aligned. Red doesn’t stop to think about consequence – it acts without hesitation. Of all the colors, red corresponds most closely with what most of us think of as “chaotic,” though red aligned individuals can take great care in accomplishing their tasks when required. Red is the required alignment of barbarians in the Dusk setting.
Be aware that the colors, while opposed, aren’t violently opposed as alignments can sometimes be. A white and a red aligned personality may have harsh words for each other, but they won’t come to blows unless one does something the other views as evil.
Good and evil is subject to interpretation in this system. Even within a color conflict can erupt between these classic enemies. But the five color alignment system allows evil to be more subtle, pervasive, and dangerous than in a world where evil can be detected in a single spell.
[h2]Alignment’s Effects[/h2]
Alignment in Dusk has a more pervasive effect than simply restricting which classes you can belong to. All characters gain a +1 to all saving throws against spells with a color matching their alignment. Spellcasters raise the DC of the spells they cast with a color matching their alignment by +1.
