Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="FreeTheSlaves" data-source="post: 5916920" data-attributes="member: 9952">The problems you'll have here is that D&D is laden with story plus all the casual gamers who expect at least enough world-building built in so they can get on with gaming.Still, with a stripped down basic game with attachable modules, I think it must be possible to satisfy both wants without saddling people with the bits they don't want.I'm kind of expecting your initial framework will be there with bits of options already added on. From this point you could remove components to get to the starting point you want, whereas the 1E gamer could add on the restriction modules to get a modern version of their game.Coming back to the paladin, it needs to be able to visibly survive having the alignment module removed. Therefore it can't be hard-coded to LG. But at the same time whatever its code of conduct is and however it operates, it needs to be able to work with alignments plugged back in.Then when it is operating under alignment, there needs to be a way that the primacy of the LG trope is maintained while simultaneously being open to more alignments. Not impossible.Already there is the non-LG alignment space where the paladin falls from grace. Ironically this space actually reinforces the primacy of LG through the description of "fall from grace". Then you have 'Fallen' with a no way back capital "F". Again, these non-LG options support LG. Give them mechanical differences but parity in power and we've supported the LG trope while providing options, and at the same time solved the riddle of what to do with 'power-less' fallen Paladins - which were usually solved in the past by rolling up a new character (an unsatisfactory resolution story-wise at least).Then we have the Avengers and Guardians - still within the alignment module but not LG. Well Wizards have said a flat no to the CG Avenger, whether that survives the playtest I'll watch with interest.My thoughts here is that the Essentials Paladin is the direction to take where there is an alignment hierarchy of the chivalric virtues, building up from unaligned to the most exclusive - if they make that LG then voila, open aligned and LG coexisting without the class losing identity. If the virtues are done properly the alignment can then also be stripped away and it should still stand.</blockquote>

Verification