Save My Game: Lawful and Chaotic

[FireLance]

Hopefully, this will put an end to a few alignment arguments.

Some good quotes:

"Lawful does not necessarily mean 'adheres to the letter of the law.'"

"Being chaotic, on the other hand, doesn't necessarily mean you are incapable of adhering to the law."

"A paladin is both lawful and good, and she must uphold both aspects of her alignment. Thus, if the laws in a particular realm are corrupt and evil, she is under no obligation to obey them."

"Though a paladin must always strive to bring about a just and righteous outcome, she is not omnipotent. If someone tricks her into acting in a way that harms the innocent, or if an action of hers accidentally brings about a calamity, she may rightly feel that she is at fault. But although she should by all means attempt to redress the wrong, she should not lose her paladinhood for it."

 

[Mouseferatu]

Yep. I think that column was one of the most useful articles I've yet seen on WotC's web site.

 

[Staffan]

When I read "When your character has a decision to make, weigh all the factors carefully", I could not help but think "turquoise bicycle shoe fins actualize radishes greenly!"

 

[WayneLigon]

A very good article indeed. I've always thought that a lot of the problem with 'Lawful' is the name; it should be 'Order' instead of 'Law'.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

A very good article indeed. I've always thought that a lot of the problem with 'Lawful' is the name; it should be 'Order' instead of 'Law'.

A gree that "Lawful" is what throws many people off. I've never had a problem with it, but I've seen players that couldn't grasp the idea that "Lawful does NOT mean you have to follow all the laws"

 

[Patman21967]

I've always felt that Chaotic=proponent of change. That is how I play my chaotic characters. Plus they are usually very, fly by the seat of your pants type.

 

[tigycho]

I've always felt that any component of the rules that results in as much argument and acrimony as alignment does is a broken part of the rules and needs to be either:

1 - Removed entirely from the game
2 - Expanded significantly with explanations and examples
3 - Revised completely, to remove ambiguity

Personally, I use alignment as a guideline for RP, not as any sort of rules mechanic, including for Paladins and other alignment required types.

When a magic item says it affects 'good' characters, if the player has written 'good' on their character sheet, then they are affected. The player may feel free to change the alignment written on their sheet to more accurately reflect the PCs personality at (nearly) any time.

Many will now chime in and say that I am doing it wrong. That's fine. I get nasty emails and phone calls when I can't run a session, so I know our game is enjoyed by all. All I care about is everyone having a good time, using rules everyone agrees upon.

T

 

[Jdvn1]

... will put an end to a few alignment arguments.

Hahahahahahaha!


It's a cool article, I agree, but I haven't seen any article which someone didn't like. My old DM will always rule that Paladins have to be Lawful Stupid, without variation.

 

[shilsen]

Personally, I use alignment as a guideline for RP, not as any sort of rules mechanic, including for Paladins and other alignment required types.

I use RP as a guideline, or more appropriately, indicator for alignment. I track alignment and shift the PCs' alignment shifts to fit their actions. Of course, I make sure to let players know exactly how I view alignment and the various types to make sure that they have a good idea how/why I am making my judgement.

When a magic item says it affects 'good' characters, if the player has written 'good' on their character sheet, then they are affected. The player may feel free to change the alignment written on their sheet to more accurately reflect the PCs personality at (nearly) any time.

Same here, except that I'm the one making the changes, rather than the players.

Many will now chime in and say that I am doing it wrong. That's fine. I get nasty emails and phone calls when I can't run a session, so I know our game is enjoyed by all.

Nasty emails and phone calls? Sounds like my kind of group. I like feedback

All I care about is everyone having a good time, using rules everyone agrees upon.

Then you're definitely doing it right. Game on.

 

[fusangite]

I'm always in favour of new strategies for making the alignment system function. But don't confuse a strategy for getting around the absurdity and inconsistency of the system for one that somehow does away with this basic incoherence. Nothing short of a new set of rules will ultimately fix alignment; however, I think this guy's scheme is a better patch than most I have seen. But I'll continue to stick with my Cold War theory of alignment.