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Message: <blockquote data-quote="scott2978" data-source="post: 6272571" data-attributes="member: 6667922">Not sure if this is just a bad example but I don't see any problem with the alignment system. The problem in the example has more to do with poor story writing by the GM than with the alignment system. Why does the kings new wife have to be a succubus? Why does it have to be a secret? Who is it a secret from? The real question is "what is the GM trying to accomplish with this story?" Depending on that, pretty much any story can be done in pretty much any edition of pretty much any RPG. Plus, if you embrace alignment as a storytelling tool instead of seeing it as a storytelling obstacle, the possibilities explode. For example maybe the king is fully aware that his new wife is a succubus, and so is his best friend the paladin, and it's only a secret to the PCs. So the paladin, being incapable (or unwilling) to take action against the succubus (who is now the rightful queen of the realm!) because the king is his best friend and also his sworn leige (and/or perhaps his previously sworn oath to fall upon his sword rather than bring the slightest harm to the royal family which now includes a succubus!) "silently" recruits the player characters to deal with the situation. So now the alignment system is not only NOT an impediment to the story, it suddenly becomes the impetous driving the story. What are the PCs alignments? Do they all agree? Or even better... what if the paladin IS a PC?! All that and you didn't change a single stat block on anything, give anyone any magic items, or do any serious thinking about how/why you were going to fit a succubus into the story. Feel free to concoct some reason for your succubus being there in the first place, or not. You can also just let the truth evolve as the players investigate the situation. But to the point, alignment game mechanics don't really get in the way of telling any kind of story.</blockquote>

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