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

[Charlaquin]

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.

Indeed, there is just such a section in the 5e PHB, and it even gets to have a small mechanical effect to reward players for playing to their characters’ personalities.

 

[Lanefan]

It doesn't matter whether the blank gets filled in with an alignment or a loyalty or a trait or whatever unless the player commits - and remains committed as the game goes along - to playing the character to suit whatever's written in said blank.

'Cause that's what this all boils down to: a means of getting the player to up-front commit to something significant about the character and, at the same time, maybe give the DM some sort of hook to use when introducing it to the party if coming into an established group. (also, highly relevant in games where alignment detection is a thing!)

 

[ReshiIRE]

It is interesting how complicated alignment and it's legacy can be.

Pathfinder 2e is a game where alignment is important as it restricts which gods one can follow (which has significant mechanical implications for Clerics and Champions [Paladins in 5e speak], and to a lesser extent some other classes), restricts you from using certain spells without your alignment drifting, and determines whether you can be affected by certain alignment-based damage types, or indeed use weapons or spells that use those damage types (amusingly, true Neutral characters cannot use or be affected by alignment-based damage types - which makes them more effective against some creatures, and much less effective against some others).

It is certainly harder to extract from the game than 5e. There are optional rules to do so, but if / when I run Pathfinder 2e, I may not use them unless my players want me to, and instead be more 'flexible' than how typical 'descriptive' alignment can be.

Overall, I think the biggest problem with a lot of alignment might come on the 'Good' and 'Evil' scale rather than the 'Lawful' and 'Chaos' scale (though that doesn't mean I agree with how Gygax would view it... considering his own awful views). It's much easier to see if a character is a absolute wanker and deal with that outside of an alignment system based game, but that doesn't mean having an understanding of whether a character follows a code or beleives strongly (often to a fault) in a rules-based systems, is towards the middle or neutral on the matter, or is willing to tear up and ignore (often to a fault) a rule-based system cannot be beneficial to running a game, or a system.

It is, however, overall complicated.

 

[d24454_modern]

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.

I’ll need to remember this rule whenever someone argues about skills and ability scores.

 

[Charlaquin]

I’ll need to remember this rule whenever someone argues about skills and ability scores.

I don’t follow

 

[Maxperson]

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.

Alignment should simply be a non-required RP tool. If someone wants to stick it on their alignment line because they like it or it helps them roleplay, so be it. Nothing wrong with that. If someone wants to leave it open and play their vision of their PC's personality, so be it. Nothing wrong with that, either.

 

[Oofta]

I occasionally think of my PC's alignment as one of many aspects of their story. I don't care what my player's PC's alignments are. I primarily use alignment as a quick descriptor for NPCs and monsters that will likely have less than 15 minutes of fame.

Nobody has ever explained a system that would fit the same role of giving a general indicator of moral compass that was as concise or simple to grasp much. I was watching a TV show the other day and they made the off-hand comment of knowing that someone they were dealing with was chaotic evil. It wasn't a show about nor does it have any association with D&D, it's just broadly understood in my experience.

 

[teitan]

No.

I am not sure if your comment is ironic but I do not force a change. If the player is not role-playing according to what is written on their character sheet I don't care, it just means that what they wrote is meaningless, but it's their problem.

But alignment has a mechanical impact so if they’re acting chaotic evil… do you have protection from evil affect them even though their sheet says Lawful Good? Because… you should.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Having alignment actually reflect where your character's interests align as in what side you're on and what you're fighting for? Fits with where this whole thing was meant to work back in the day.

Not having it wrapped up in moralizing baggage? A bold and worthwhile step forward from where things slipped in the intervening editions.

I mean it's basically Allegiances from d20 Modern, which was already 'Alignment if it was good', but it's good to still see it alive and well.

 

[Scribe]

No.

I am not sure if your comment is ironic but I do not force a change. If the player is not role-playing according to what is written on their character sheet I don't care, it just means that what they wrote is meaningless, but it's their problem.

I mean thats certainly in your right to do so, but I'd switch them, after letting them know their actions are shifting them over time of course so they can course correct if they wish, but yeah.

Alignment is a thing to me.