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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jefe Bergenstein" data-source="post: 2947839" data-attributes="member: 31506">And what if the character goes around helping people otherwise? What if he's heroic and would give his life to save the town? What if he routeinely gives to the poor and needy?Alignment doesnt promote realistic characters, it promotes charicatures and stereotypes, and its a holdover from a bad era of gaming where everything had to be black and white. Hell, in OD&D, there was only lawful, chaotic and neutral, which is, IMO, a better way to go about alignment, since fewer people have trouble with their character being labeled methodical or disorderly than good or evil. Alignment was only cramemd into D&D because people needed a guilt free way to kill all orcs they met.Pick any remotely complex character, their alignment is hard to define. Thats because they have room for a diverse range of reactions, rather than their straight jacket approach. Whats Mal's alignment in Firefly/Serenety? How about the characters on the Sopranos. Is Carmilla evil because she knows her husband murders people and doesnt go to the police or do anything to stop him?Ditching alignment lets you create a character concept thats free of labels, as well as create individuals from societies whose values dont reflect our own. It lets you have a character who is extremely predjudiced, but still a good guy at heart, or a killer who loves his family.As far as the punishment not fitting the crime... while I hate to use real world history as an example, take a look at crime and punishment throughout the ages. "Fair" isnt a word I'd use to describe it by any stretch, when stealing bread or taking rotten apples off the ground in the lord's forest was punishable by death. Throwing garbage on anyone important is a good way to get killed... I'm frankly surprised the old lady lived that long. Moreover, look at how older socieities view violence. For seduction purposes, Cassanova rented a room overlooking a square where prisoners were being eviscerated and tortured... It was considered romantic. Jeremy Bentham was basically run out of England for daring to propose the ludicrous notion that perhaps orphans SHOULDNT be forced to fight dogs for people's amusement. Was every roman who went to see bloodsport shows evil?Now apply that same kind of notion to a world where death isnt nearly as big a deal (since there is 100% assurance of an afterlife, not to mention raise dead spells), and where violence is much much more easily "repairable" than in our world.</blockquote>

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