Gaming Without Alignment

[Cymex666]

I'm sure that this subject has come up before, but I would like to know if there are any of you that game without the alignment rules. If you game without alignment, how do you go about it? Is the game better or worse for lack of alignment restrictions?

I imagine it would be a little difficult to run a game without the alignment rules because it seems (at least to my way of thinking) to me that the D20 rules are greatly influenced by alignment and its effects.

I read somewhere that the Unearthed Arcana (which I do not own) features rules for gaming without alignment, is this true?

 

[Methos of Aundair]

I typically don’t stress alignment in my games though I do ask for the player to choose an alignment at character creation. This is mainly for the player to get an idea of the morality of their character.

Once the campaign is in progress I don’t care if the players begin acting differently than their alignment after all my beliefs and moral code has definitely changed since I was a teenager, or even in my 20’s! It’s typical during life experiences that your beliefs will be changed, adjusted, or modified due to those experiences. I see no reason to penalize the players for this. As in the changing alignment rules.

When instances come up when an alignment is required (as in a fiendish creature attempting a smite good on a player) I just make a decision on their alignment based off of their actions. If the player disagrees with my decision we discuss his/her past actions as well as get the input from the rest of the players. (Honestly, this can be quite an interesting conversation and sometimes leads to small breaks).

On a class that specifies a certain alignment (exp. Paladin) I still do not stress alignment. Instead, in the instance of the paladin, I pay attention on whether the player is follow his code or moral beliefs, kind of his own code. So long as he stays consistent or follows his preferred code I have no problem with it. If he strays I either mention it to him or require him to make some sort of appropriate check to use that ability. This is my way of stating you are beginning to stray. Great for roleplaying too.

Simply put, I only use alignment during specific circumstances and even then lightly.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

I modified the alignment system for my campaign in the following ways:

1. No PCs have alignments
2. Most other characters do not either, except for supernatural creatures. Outsiders are always aligned, as are true dragons. Major forces for good/evil/law/chaos like lammasus or mind flayers are likely to be aligned.
3. Clerics count as aligned for the purposes of all spells and effects that can affect something with alignment. They have the alignment of their god for this purpose. Note that this has nothing to do with their actual morality and actions, but is a mystical effect of being a cleric.
4. Anyone that casts a spell with an alignment descriptor takes on that descriptor themselves for a short while. They function as aligned for the purposes of being affected by spells and effects for a number of minutes equal to the level of the spell cast. They show up on detect [alignment] spells as though they had the aura of a cleric of a level equal to the number of minutes they still have left on this alignment effect (round up for partial minutes).
5. Spells that affect creatures with specific alignments treat non-aligned creatures as neutral.

 

[Vaxalon]

So under that system, a man that had just finished eating a baby after roasting it over an open fire would be affected by a Blasphemy spell?

 

[Voadam]

I'm sure that this subject has come up before, but I would like to know if there are any of you that game without the alignment rules. If you game without alignment, how do you go about it? Is the game better or worse for lack of alignment restrictions?

I imagine it would be a little difficult to run a game without the alignment rules because it seems (at least to my way of thinking) to me that the D20 rules are greatly influenced by alignment and its effects.

I read somewhere that the Unearthed Arcana (which I do not own) features rules for gaming without alignment, is this true?

No alignment whatsoever, some problems with paladins since detect evil and smite evil class powers work based on alignment but can only lose powers then based on gross violation of paladin code.

Other consequences, no ex-classes for alignment reasons or restrictions, some class combos become viable, raging barbarian paladin for example.

Some spells either must be eliminated or modified to be alignment neutral, detect, protection from, chaos hammer, unholy blight, etc.

All clerics can now cast all alignment descriptor spells that still exist, for example animate dead.

Some items work based on alignment, either modify or remove from the game, i.e. helm of alignment change, holy/unholy weapons, etc.

Anybody can be a cleric of any god.

Villain clerics can choose to channel positive energy.

SO a few spells and paladins must be eliminated or redone and not much else.

 

[Voadam]

Alignment Lite:

Alignment is restricted to descriptors so remove the alignment line from character sheets and monster entries.

Consequences:

Detect evil detects undead and fiends but not orcs and mean bullies.

Paladins then keep their powers but the smite evil is much less applicable.

Clerics and paladins with auras should probably count as aligned as the descriptor.

Some spells and item effects will then not affect most pcs they would otherwise (forbiddence for example).

 

[was]

We often just stick to Good, Neutral or Evil without the attention to the law and chaos parts.

 

[Dinkeldog]

This is less of a rules question, so I'm going to slide it over to the General forum.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Currently I am playing in a campaign where the characters have their own set of moral values. The GM has us write up a short history for our characters and has us define what the character stands for and believes in, that is good enough for him. Basically we can either play a hero, a villain, or someone caught in the middle, trying to figure out which way to go. It has been fun so far.

 

[Particle_Man]

There is Arthurian Adventures: Legends of Excalibur by RPGObjects.

They get rid of alignment and replace it with a 1-100 Nobility Score. They get rid of a lot of classes (and put in new ones) and spells too. Nobility goes up or down according to a specific list of good deeds and bad deeds. And in some cases your relative nobility score is relevant (extra damage to those with less nobility than you) and in some cases absolute nobility score is relevant (you must have nobilty X+ to gain levels in this class/sit in this magic chair, etc.).

It seems to work. I just set demons nobility to permanent 0, coz they are demons. I find that some characters try to "max out" their nobility (to be as "good" as possible) and others go for a "preferred level" (if Nobility goes down, they do good deeds for a while to bring it back up). In theory, a character could let their nobility slide to 1 of course. Anyhow, my players seem to like the system. But it does require a lot of changes (replacing certain classes, spells, magic items, etc.).

Mind you, in this game starting nobility is tied to social class AND is a partial determinant of starting wealth. But you don't need to use that aspect of it.