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<blockquote data-quote="Coik" data-source="post: 976382" data-attributes="member: 38">Cool.&nbsp; <a href="mailto:coik@yahoo.com">coik@yahoo.com</a>Aye, that I can agree to.&nbsp; D&amp;D attempts to posit an absolute moralistic universe, but stops short of any real definition or explanation.&nbsp; The result is, as you mention, vague defintions of good and evil that can be applied to just about anyone equally.Again, nothing I disagree with.&nbsp; I'll freely admit that, should some sort of definition be applied to D&amp;D metaphysics instead of just having the quasi-generic system we have now, my position loses quite a bit of strength. I admit that my example was simplistic, but I believed it served to illustrate the point that you and I seem to agree on: alignment lacks clear definition, and this is a Bad Thing (tm) when the magic system attempts to divide things ethically and morally.&nbsp; And it really is a bit odd for D&amp;D, which at times seems proud of its ability to micromange everything (I'm fond of referencing the list of English language adjectives and the game mechanics that go along with them in the DMG at this point&nbsp; <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile&nbsp; &nbsp; :)"&nbsp; data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />&nbsp; ).Of course, if they had included a strong definition for alignment, these arguments would probably be about a million times worse.&nbsp; Heh.&nbsp; <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile&nbsp; &nbsp; :)"&nbsp; data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />I admit I haven't been keeping up with the new Ravenloft books...mostly due to lack of funds.&nbsp; However, the difference between Generic D&amp;D(tm) and Ravenloft is that in the latter there are intelligent...eh...forces is the best word, really, setting rules of morality.&nbsp; The Dark Powers have absolute control over the demiplane, and if they want to say digging up Aunt Gertie, filling her with negative energy, and putting her to work down at the docks is evil...well, that's within their rights.&nbsp; No such force exists in Generic D&amp;D(tm).&nbsp; (One could probably claim the gods, but they have no clear mandate to rule the multiverse the way the Dark Powers have over Ravenloft)</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Coik, post: 976382, member: 38"] Cool. [email]coik@yahoo.com[/email] Aye, that I can agree to. D&D attempts to posit an absolute moralistic universe, but stops short of any real definition or explanation. The result is, as you mention, vague defintions of good and evil that can be applied to just about anyone equally. Again, nothing I disagree with. I'll freely admit that, should some sort of definition be applied to D&D metaphysics instead of just having the quasi-generic system we have now, my position loses quite a bit of strength. I admit that my example was simplistic, but I believed it served to illustrate the point that you and I seem to agree on: alignment lacks clear definition, and this is a Bad Thing (tm) when the magic system attempts to divide things ethically and morally. And it really is a bit odd for D&D, which at times seems proud of its ability to micromange everything (I'm fond of referencing the list of English language adjectives and the game mechanics that go along with them in the DMG at this point :) ). Of course, if they had included a strong definition for alignment, these arguments would probably be about a million times worse. Heh. :) I admit I haven't been keeping up with the new Ravenloft books...mostly due to lack of funds. However, the difference between Generic D&D(tm) and Ravenloft is that in the latter there are intelligent...eh...forces is the best word, really, setting rules of morality. The Dark Powers have absolute control over the demiplane, and if they want to say digging up Aunt Gertie, filling her with negative energy, and putting her to work down at the docks is evil...well, that's within their rights. No such force exists in Generic D&D(tm). (One could probably claim the gods, but they have no clear mandate to rule the multiverse the way the Dark Powers have over Ravenloft) [/QUOTE]

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