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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Zephrin the Lost" data-source="post: 4012108" data-attributes="member: 30760">Reading through the thread has helped me realize how i use alignment in the games I play or DM. Mostly, I use alignment as a first step in determining a PC or NPC's world view. Even when I use NPC generators, I enjoy getting the random alignment because it's the strongest indicator as to how to RP the character. Of course I can still use alignment in this way in 4e with no changes to the system and probably without my players even knowing the NPC has an 'alignment.'  As a player it's a little different. The only non-D&D rpg's I've played are Sidewinder and D20 Future, but in these settings society is strongly represented and much closer to our own, so players understand right away that if they execute all prisoners or treat a verbal insult as a reason to kill someone (always possible in Sidewinder!) they are running the risk of persecution. D&D seems different to me, especially the proposed 'points of light' setting, where what happens in the wilderness between PoL, stays in the wilderness between PoL. Human bandits and gnoll raiders may behave in a similar manner but were often handled differently based on PC alignment. At heart, players are killing both groups and taking their stuff, the banditry was just an excuse to do so, but the lawful or the good PC's may want to try and bring the human bandits back to town for trial  while PC's pf other alignments may have no opinion or might wish to execute and bandits who surrender, etc. So what happens when a party of unaligned PC's storm the bandit's hideout and take several alive? The players have had no reason to think about the character's moral outlook in such a situation, and the most expedient thing - the video game thing- is to kill the bandits and move on. I suppose the 'solution' is to have the DM make societal standards made very clear, so the PC's know how the locals expect situations to be handled, maybe even have the sheriff or whoever hired the PC's to take on the bandits say he expects prisoners or what-not. The the PC's can decide if they want play along with the community standards or go a different route. So after some thought I can see it working and also see ways to bring ethical dilemmas into the game w/o targeting a specific player because he's CG or what have you. Still, I think I'm going to miss that moment in PC creation where you 'choose a side.' -Z</blockquote>

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