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How does alignment work in encounter reactions?
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<blockquote data-quote="howandwhy99" data-source="post: 6608968" data-attributes="member: 3192"><p>Yes.</p><p></p><p>Remember, Alignment is a language. Having/Performing an Alignment is the act of communicating. It covers both verbal and nonverbal. It is the ideas and behaviors expressed which differentiate the Alignment languages. And in D&D there is no unaligned.</p><p></p><p>Alignment is always a consideration - well, maybe there are exceptions when we get metagamey. But definitely whenever Monsters are involved. And the PCs are monsters.</p><p></p><p>Hiding is part of the game. Most everything can potentially hide or be hidden. People can try and hide their true thoughts and feelings by behaving differently on the outside. Assassins are trained to such a degree as to eventually gain this as a class ability. Also, the very act of engaging in deception is part of Alignment. </p><p></p><p>NPCs can attempt to deceive other NPCs. This means their Reaction Roll is the same (say the result is Hostile), but their tactic is to act Friendly until they attack. Their friendly behavior might modify the probability of other NPC reaction rolls when the two meet. This makes deceivers more dangerous in the short run, but NPCs without the Assassin's ability do slip up now and again. </p><p></p><p>Players whose PCs don't have magic to Detect Alignment can study behavior and have their PCs act in response to discern more about a person's nature. (This is so much of the game already, but Alignment is more in the Cleric's sphere). By not having the PCs roll reaction checks the Players get to play this out as a game. One that can go back and forth and lead to many different ends. </p><p></p><p>Players can also play at deceiving NPCs too by having their PCs act take actions contrary to their current Alignment. However, just like any behavior this can lead to Alignment change depending.</p><p></p><p>Players can also lie to other players, but that's handled as Player-to-Player interaction. It could still affect their PCs alignment (as well as other game elements), but neither refer to NPC rules (like Loyalty).</p><p></p><p>I don't use the Alignment system exactly as suggested in AD&D. If that is your goal though, I would guess the modifiers are are not cumulative if the creatures are coordinating as one. If not, if everyone is acting separately, then each person has their own accounting to compare to. But I'd still only roll one reaction per Person/Team to treat the Encounter singly.</p><p></p><p>And no, it doesn't make sense to me why a person or a group would react more or less positively/negatively because they met a person rather than a group, or vice versa. I'd be interesting in hearing some alternate view on this though. </p><p></p><p>Don't forget: Both parties/individuals are reacting to each other. Only the Player Characters are having their reactions determined by them. Just like Morale, PCs never roll Reaction rolls for themselves. When NPCs encounter other NPCs, all sides roll.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="howandwhy99, post: 6608968, member: 3192"] Yes. Remember, Alignment is a language. Having/Performing an Alignment is the act of communicating. It covers both verbal and nonverbal. It is the ideas and behaviors expressed which differentiate the Alignment languages. And in D&D there is no unaligned. Alignment is always a consideration - well, maybe there are exceptions when we get metagamey. But definitely whenever Monsters are involved. And the PCs are monsters. Hiding is part of the game. Most everything can potentially hide or be hidden. People can try and hide their true thoughts and feelings by behaving differently on the outside. Assassins are trained to such a degree as to eventually gain this as a class ability. Also, the very act of engaging in deception is part of Alignment. NPCs can attempt to deceive other NPCs. This means their Reaction Roll is the same (say the result is Hostile), but their tactic is to act Friendly until they attack. Their friendly behavior might modify the probability of other NPC reaction rolls when the two meet. This makes deceivers more dangerous in the short run, but NPCs without the Assassin's ability do slip up now and again. Players whose PCs don't have magic to Detect Alignment can study behavior and have their PCs act in response to discern more about a person's nature. (This is so much of the game already, but Alignment is more in the Cleric's sphere). By not having the PCs roll reaction checks the Players get to play this out as a game. One that can go back and forth and lead to many different ends. Players can also play at deceiving NPCs too by having their PCs act take actions contrary to their current Alignment. However, just like any behavior this can lead to Alignment change depending. Players can also lie to other players, but that's handled as Player-to-Player interaction. It could still affect their PCs alignment (as well as other game elements), but neither refer to NPC rules (like Loyalty). I don't use the Alignment system exactly as suggested in AD&D. If that is your goal though, I would guess the modifiers are are not cumulative if the creatures are coordinating as one. If not, if everyone is acting separately, then each person has their own accounting to compare to. But I'd still only roll one reaction per Person/Team to treat the Encounter singly. And no, it doesn't make sense to me why a person or a group would react more or less positively/negatively because they met a person rather than a group, or vice versa. I'd be interesting in hearing some alternate view on this though. Don't forget: Both parties/individuals are reacting to each other. Only the Player Characters are having their reactions determined by them. Just like Morale, PCs never roll Reaction rolls for themselves. When NPCs encounter other NPCs, all sides roll. [/QUOTE]
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