Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="rounser" data-source="post: 2659454" data-attributes="member: 1106">Perhaps then you should state that alignment is more useful for NPCs than for PCs, then, because the alignment gives the DM an indicator of how to play the 50th NPC they're playing that day.Similarly to how the character creation rules suit PCs more than they do NPCs (way too time consuming), alignment suits NPCs more than it does PCs.&nbsp; This is a flaw in implementation, then - I'm sure with enough imagination you could redesign alignment rules to cater for PCs, just as you could redesign character creation to cater for NPCs.&nbsp; The symmetry of approach for NPCs and PCs falls down in these areas, I think.&quot;Evil wizard&quot; is obviously part of the script the DM sees for playing that character, not what the PCs see when they meet the wizard.&nbsp; Duh... <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=":)" />As opposed to reading it in the stat block in under a second.&nbsp; It's an advantage of D&amp;D that you can do this, not a disadvantage.&nbsp; Likewise, &quot;lawful evil 15th level fighter&quot; conveys a lot of information about that character which I doubt GURPs can match, and is one of the unsung features of D&amp;D that no-one seems to recognise and therefore takes for granted, or downplays, or considers unsophisticated and beneath them...all the while reaping the benefits of it.No, it's a counterexample to Merric's contention that it has no mechanical use.&nbsp; It does.&nbsp; Wards against - and divinations of - evil and good are fantasy conventions, and the alignment system facilitates them.&nbsp; I consider the &quot;here's a moral snapshot of this character&quot; shorthand more useful than any mechanical advantages, though.Um...ever heard of neutral alignment? <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; Militant, active neutrality doesn't seem to get much exposure, which is an unfortunate byproduct of D&amp;D's alignment system...black and white are seen as more dynamic than grey, but it doesn't have to be played that way, it's just a D&amp;D cultural thing I think.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="rounser, post: 2659454, member: 1106"] Perhaps then you should state that alignment is more useful for NPCs than for PCs, then, because the alignment gives the DM an indicator of how to play the 50th NPC they're playing that day. Similarly to how the character creation rules suit PCs more than they do NPCs (way too time consuming), alignment suits NPCs more than it does PCs. This is a flaw in implementation, then - I'm sure with enough imagination you could redesign alignment rules to cater for PCs, just as you could redesign character creation to cater for NPCs. The symmetry of approach for NPCs and PCs falls down in these areas, I think. "Evil wizard" is obviously part of the script the DM sees for playing that character, not what the PCs see when they meet the wizard. Duh... :) As opposed to reading it in the stat block in under a second. It's an advantage of D&D that you can do this, not a disadvantage. Likewise, "lawful evil 15th level fighter" conveys a lot of information about that character which I doubt GURPs can match, and is one of the unsung features of D&D that no-one seems to recognise and therefore takes for granted, or downplays, or considers unsophisticated and beneath them...all the while reaping the benefits of it. No, it's a counterexample to Merric's contention that it has no mechanical use. It does. Wards against - and divinations of - evil and good are fantasy conventions, and the alignment system facilitates them. I consider the "here's a moral snapshot of this character" shorthand more useful than any mechanical advantages, though. Um...ever heard of neutral alignment? :) Militant, active neutrality doesn't seem to get much exposure, which is an unfortunate byproduct of D&D's alignment system...black and white are seen as more dynamic than grey, but it doesn't have to be played that way, it's just a D&D cultural thing I think. [/QUOTE]

Verification