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<blockquote data-quote="Dausuul" data-source="post: 8572017" data-attributes="member: 58197">There are two related concepts of alignment at work in D&amp;D, which one could call &quot;moral alignment&quot; and &quot;cosmic alignment.&quot; Moral alignment is based on evaluating the moral value of a PC's actions--whether they do things which we ourselves would consider good or bad, right or wrong. Cosmic alignment is based on an association of certain acts and objects with the powers of the upper or lower planes. If a warlock with the Fiend patron uses their powers to save an innocent person, the &quot;moral alignment&quot; of that action is good--the warlock is doing the right thing--but the &quot;cosmic alignment&quot; is evil, since the warlock's power comes from a devil or demon.D&amp;D tends to muddle up these concepts. But that's no excuse for us doing the same. This here:That's &quot;cosmic alignment&quot; evil, not moral. You are not describing a morally wrong consequence of creating an undead creature; instead, you are describing an outside force that the PC has exposed themselves to.But this:That's &quot;moral alignment&quot; evil. And it is quite different.Any table which allows a Fiend patron warlock is just fine with PCs using powers of cosmic evil. But many such tables would have a real problem with the same PCs engaging in moral evil.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Dausuul, post: 8572017, member: 58197"] There are two related concepts of alignment at work in D&D, which one could call "moral alignment" and "cosmic alignment." Moral alignment is based on evaluating the moral value of a PC's actions--whether they do things which we ourselves would consider good or bad, right or wrong. Cosmic alignment is based on an association of certain acts and objects with the powers of the upper or lower planes. If a warlock with the Fiend patron uses their powers to save an innocent person, the "moral alignment" of that action is good--the warlock is doing the right thing--but the "cosmic alignment" is evil, since the warlock's power comes from a devil or demon. D&D tends to muddle up these concepts. But that's no excuse for us doing the same. This here: That's "cosmic alignment" evil, not moral. You are not describing a morally wrong consequence of creating an undead creature; instead, you are describing an outside force that the PC has exposed themselves to. But this: That's "moral alignment" evil. And it is quite different. Any table which allows a Fiend patron warlock is just fine with PCs using powers of cosmic evil. But many such tables would have a real problem with the same PCs engaging in moral evil. [/QUOTE]

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