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Metagame role of PoL compared to alignment
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<blockquote data-quote="KarinsDad" data-source="post: 4003233" data-attributes="member: 2011"><p>I think you are looking at differences based on abilities and then saying "Well, they are different".</p><p></p><p>Of course they are different if their capabilities are different.</p><p></p><p>It is not how they approach problem solving that makes them all CE, it's how they treat those around them. More personality than capabilities. The dumb Ogre solves problems with his fists, but is still likely to fly into a rage and attack because he is denied something as much as the Bugbear is.</p><p></p><p>The issue with Alignment is that there are hundreds of different types of personalities and behavioral characteristics and any given creature can display different ones in different situations, but the game system tried to distill that down to 9 types of generic behavior.</p><p></p><p>As a simplification tool, it works well. As a tool for explaining why a given spell works for or against certain creatures in an area, it works well. As an explanation of what a given creature will do in a given situation, it does not work well. That's the job of a DM and that's probably why some people have problems with it.</p><p></p><p></p><p>I think that Alignment for spells worked a LOT better than the "allies and enemies" Auras of 4E (and some 3E spells like Bless). </p><p></p><p>In 4E, Elves give a perception bonus to their allies (but not other Elves) within 30 feet. How does this ability distinquish between allies and enemies? We do not know at this point. I suspect that in 4E, it will not even be explained.</p><p></p><p>It just works that way.</p><p></p><p>Personally, I think alignment is a better tool than this type of solely nebulous and non-explained game mechanic. I think we will see a lot of WoW-like "Auras" in 4E that work for allies or against enemies. Why do they work that way? Because the book says so. Don't look for a plausible rationale.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="KarinsDad, post: 4003233, member: 2011"] I think you are looking at differences based on abilities and then saying "Well, they are different". Of course they are different if their capabilities are different. It is not how they approach problem solving that makes them all CE, it's how they treat those around them. More personality than capabilities. The dumb Ogre solves problems with his fists, but is still likely to fly into a rage and attack because he is denied something as much as the Bugbear is. The issue with Alignment is that there are hundreds of different types of personalities and behavioral characteristics and any given creature can display different ones in different situations, but the game system tried to distill that down to 9 types of generic behavior. As a simplification tool, it works well. As a tool for explaining why a given spell works for or against certain creatures in an area, it works well. As an explanation of what a given creature will do in a given situation, it does not work well. That's the job of a DM and that's probably why some people have problems with it. I think that Alignment for spells worked a LOT better than the "allies and enemies" Auras of 4E (and some 3E spells like Bless). In 4E, Elves give a perception bonus to their allies (but not other Elves) within 30 feet. How does this ability distinquish between allies and enemies? We do not know at this point. I suspect that in 4E, it will not even be explained. It just works that way. Personally, I think alignment is a better tool than this type of solely nebulous and non-explained game mechanic. I think we will see a lot of WoW-like "Auras" in 4E that work for allies or against enemies. Why do they work that way? Because the book says so. Don't look for a plausible rationale. [/QUOTE]
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