D&D General IMO, Alignment should be "Fill in the blank"

[Crimson Longinus]

Because it gives some people a handy starting point and structure. Fill in anything you want is so wishy-washy that it will be meaningless to a lot of people. Alignment and TIBF along with any backstory or setting lore are all meaningless if you choose to ignore them.

Just because it has no mechanical impact doesn't mean that it can't be useful for some people. If it's just "fill in the blank" to me it's pointless. Adding descriptive fluff about my PC is what the description is for. Alignment is a quick shorthand for moral compass.

But if it is "fill in the blank" what's stopping you writing "lawful neutral" etc?

 

[Oofta]

But if it is "fill in the blank" what's stopping you writing "lawful neutral" etc?

LN only has meaning because it's defined by the game. Same way the "E" on a compass only means something if you know what the cardinal directions mean.

If you don't like alignment don't use it.

 

[Charlaquin]

Because it gives some people a handy starting point and structure. Fill in anything you want is so wishy-washy that it will be meaningless to a lot of people.

So is alignment.

Alignment and TIBF along with any backstory or setting lore are all meaningless if you choose to ignore them.

At least Characteristics do something though.

Just because it has no mechanical impact doesn't mean that it can't be useful for some people.

For sure! But it doesn’t need to be a rule to be useful in that way, since it isn’t doing anything rules-wise anyway.

If it's just "fill in the blank" to me it's pointless. Adding descriptive fluff about my PC is what the description is for. Alignment is a quick shorthand for moral compass.

A quick shorthand for moral compass is descriptive fluff though.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

LN only has meaning because it's defined by the game. Same way the "E" on a compass only means something if you know what the cardinal directions mean.

But you do know what it means. I mean I don't think the definition of alignment the game gives is sensible or useful, but you obviously do. And you would retain that knowledge even if it was not printed in the book. Besides, it could still be printed there as an example of the sort of thing you could put on your 'alignment' line, even if an option to write something else there would exist too.

If you don't like alignment don't use it.

I don't. But my point was that with leaving what one puts on alignment line open ended, people who find alignment useful and those who don't can easily play in the same game without it being a problem.

 

[Charlaquin]

Its just a RP aid at this point. People overthink alignment way to much.

No, I agree it’s just an RP aid at this point. I just don’t think RP aids need to be rules.

 

[Li Shenron]

Which implies that alignment is meaningless unless you care to observe it. So, why not just have it be fill-in-the-blank then? If its only purpose is as a roleplaying aid, and ignoring it has no gameplay impact, let the folks who want to use it as such write whatever letter-code they want and let the folks who don’t want to do so write some other note-to-self about their character’s behavior, or nothing at all. If it doesn’t affect anything, it doesn’t need to be a rule.

And where did I not in fact suggested the same? That is exactly how I use alignment.

 

[Charlaquin]

And where did I not in fact suggested the same? That is exactly how I use alignment.

I didn’t mean to suggest you said otherwise,

 

[Oofta]

But you do know what it means. I mean I don't think the definition of alignment the game gives is sensible or useful, but you obviously do. And you would retain that knowledge even if it was not printed in the book. Besides, it could still be printed there as an example of the sort of thing you could put on your 'alignment' line, even if an option to write something else there would exist too.

I do. People I play with do. Newbies, not so much. It's those newbies for whom alignment can be the most useful if it happens to be the way they approach the game.

It's the paradox of choice. Tell people when they buy a car and that they can have it any color conceivable at no extra cost and every option is open an most people find the process frustrating. Give them a handful of meaningful options and not only are the decisions easier but people are more satisfied.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

I do. People I play with do. Newbies, not so much. It's those newbies for whom alignment can be the most useful if it happens to be the way they approach the game.

It's the paradox of choice. Tell people when they buy a car and that they can have it any color conceivable at no extra cost and every option is open an most people find the process frustrating. Give them a handful of meaningful options and not only are the decisions easier but people are more satisfied.

Sure. But let's offer these newbies something better to build their characters personality around than the nonsensical and childish nine-point alignment. If the alignment is removed from the game it doesn't mean there couldn't be some sort of section on personality.

 

[Charlaquin]

I do. People I play with do. Newbies, not so much. It's those newbies for whom alignment can be the most useful if it happens to be the way they approach the game.

And to that I say the same thing I said in June, back on page 2: In my experience, newbies don’t care about alignment.

It's the paradox of choice. Tell people when they buy a car and that they can have it any color conceivable at no extra cost and every option is open an most people find the process frustrating. Give them a handful of meaningful options and not only are the decisions easier but people are more satisfied.

I mean, sure, offer some suggestions. They do so with Characteristics. In fact, the example Ideals even suggest a position on one axis of alignment or the other that a character who holds them might be.