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<blockquote data-quote="Moorcrys" data-source="post: 6459837" data-attributes="member: 7814">I like the alignment system for monsters - and I like alignment as an overall universal/planar framework. Then I like players to decide how they want to fit into the framework - whether they want to choose and stick to an alignment or chuck it and not think about it. Either way alignment helps define the world the characters are in and keeps things less morally ambiguous when they encounter creatures with strong alignment leanings. As a DM it's a lens that helps me decide how a monster is going to behave (in general) at a glance. I tend to lean heavily on alignment when characters encounter other-planar creatures, dragons, mythic creatures (medusas, minotaurs, etc), and fey - it's as though they're created from (or cursed by) the primordial stuff of the universe that is fundamentally aligned and have no ability to deviate from it... any more than we can decide not to use our bones or anymore or stop breathing. Very much a 'scorpion and frog' scenario. That, to me, keeps the alignment spells relevant and has them make sense in the game world.Deities are locked into this framework fundamentally. To players who love paladins or clerics, for instance, having a strong sense of their god's alignment is often important to them or gives them something simple and strong to adhere to. To some other character classes, not as much. In other words, I like them as a DM and I like players to know it's there. Some players make good use of it but if they don't care about playing alignment I don't hold their feet over the fire about it.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Moorcrys, post: 6459837, member: 7814"] I like the alignment system for monsters - and I like alignment as an overall universal/planar framework. Then I like players to decide how they want to fit into the framework - whether they want to choose and stick to an alignment or chuck it and not think about it. Either way alignment helps define the world the characters are in and keeps things less morally ambiguous when they encounter creatures with strong alignment leanings. As a DM it's a lens that helps me decide how a monster is going to behave (in general) at a glance. I tend to lean heavily on alignment when characters encounter other-planar creatures, dragons, mythic creatures (medusas, minotaurs, etc), and fey - it's as though they're created from (or cursed by) the primordial stuff of the universe that is fundamentally aligned and have no ability to deviate from it... any more than we can decide not to use our bones or anymore or stop breathing. Very much a 'scorpion and frog' scenario. That, to me, keeps the alignment spells relevant and has them make sense in the game world. Deities are locked into this framework fundamentally. To players who love paladins or clerics, for instance, having a strong sense of their god's alignment is often important to them or gives them something simple and strong to adhere to. To some other character classes, not as much. In other words, I like them as a DM and I like players to know it's there. Some players make good use of it but if they don't care about playing alignment I don't hold their feet over the fire about it. [/QUOTE]

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