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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Aelryinth" data-source="post: 7979425" data-attributes="member: 10515">I have a novel on Royal Road called Power of Ten: Sama Rantha. Part of the world is the idea that the Alignments are Real Things, and that they stand independent of what little mortals believe.That is VERY different from how a game has to proceed, because players tend to define Good as what THEY believe is good for them.[URL unfurl="true"]https://v1.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/tabletop/checkfortraps/8386-All-About-Alignment[/URL]The above article is a wonderful show of what 'good' for a mortal is (LE, CE!) vs what is 'Good.' Trying to enforce Good when your players are doing 'good' is a good way to trash a game. In short, trying to actually play the ALignments is extremely difficult, because the players believe they define the Alignments, and not the other way around!So, in that context, grey gets introduced into the world.Happily, when I'm writing the story, I don't have to cater to players. In any reality where Alignments exist, they transcend the players, and even the gods themselves.Good is where you choose and have chosen to stand relative to Good. Good exists independently of what you or the billions of ants like you consider 'good'. Good is Itself. To be Good, you must stand with what the Good Alignment is.The Alignments are martial. They have all sorts of spells to attack and defend themselves against other Alignments! The Alignments are not weak, and they are not passive. They are meant to go out there and attack and defend against other Alignments!Thus, Good people going out and attacking Evil monsters is a thing, and always will be.An Evil monster isn't Evil because 'oh, he's Evil and minding his own business.' No, it is Evil because it believes the same things as the Evil Alignment, and it has done things in accordance with that belief. Just because you caught him at home doesn't mean he didn't eat a baby last week, murder travelers for pocket change, or something similar. If he's got a deeply EVil aura, he most assuredly did things to deserve that aura, it's not just paint thrown on a wall!Likewise, Lawful doesn't mean 'obeys all laws'. No, Lawful means it obeys a personal code probably formed by another party, and does so even when it does not have to. Lawful people can have tremendous differences.... kingdoms vs tyrannies vs democracies vs socialism is all Lawful philosophies conflicting with one another, and no, they don't have to respect the laws of the others that are in conflict with their own philosophies.It is perfectly reasonable for Lawful Good people to disobey the laws of an LE kingdom that conflict with their own beliefs. Indeed, such perversion of laws meant to support and raise the world out of darkness and ignorance may be one of the most corrupting, damning things they witness in their lives. CE are just animals to be put down, but twisting the bedrock of civilization towards Evil is something truly wicked!Likewise, Good is unique among all the Alignments in that being Good transcends Law and Chaos, because Good includes tolerance and open-mindedness, and realizes that not everyone can be like them, and everyone has a place. So, it is the OTHER ALignments who divide among Law vs Chaos, not Good.Thus, the idea of War in Heaven is laughable. The only way that can happen is if one of the parties falls from Good. There are too many other ways for conflict resolution, from great debates to honorable contests of arms to athletic contests to bragging competitions to drinking games to ever resolve to death among the Good.People have always moaned an complained about the Paladin (and Ranger) getting Good stuff because they are Good, ignoring the fact that being Evil means you get to do whatever you want and can get away with, which gives you MUCH more flexibility in any situation.Good, and especially LAwful Good, is by far the most restricted of the ALignments in the actions you can undertake. A CE person can act freely like any of the Alignments, he doesn't HAVE to act like a rabid dog all the time. He can pet puppies, give candies to kids, dance with maidens, help an old lady with the groceries, and all that.However, he's CE. He can break out of his nice guy actions that are covering for his real self at any time, and then he's going to do some BAD naughty word. He's not doing those things because he's CE.... he's CE because he does that stuff, something players just don't want to see.So, when Sama looks out over a troop of mercs, and they're showing Evil, it means they did bad naughty word in the past, they got away with it, and they're perfectly willing to do so in the future.They chose where they stood, and it shows on their ALignments. If she discriminates against them because of that, it's perfectly reasonable and to be expected... and of course they are going to complain about being caught.She doesn't have to know exactly what they did, it's not a court of law. The color of their souls shows what they did in the past, what they are perfectly happy now to do in the future, and she doesn't have to treat them like trusty LG people because she knows the details.The same goes true of monsters. Again, it doesn't act x way because it's CE. No, it's CE because it acted like that in the past, and it's willing to do so in the future. Taking it out if you are Good, and even Neutral, is doing the world a service... especially from the view of the ALignments themselves.Start thinking of the Alignments as living things that are greater then the Gods, and your view of your world will rapidly shift.</blockquote>

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