Alignment in Role-Playing Games

a response to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ7ROXoO5ck

TL;DW: I am in favour of alignment in D&D.

Some questions addressed here:


What about Moral Ambiguity? Doesn't alignment kill any sense of ambiguity?

Does alignment lead to a purely black and white world?

What about the Paladin who detects evil all the time and insists on killing anyone who detects as Evil-aligned?

If they removed alignment from the game of D&D, would you miss it?

Do NPCs know what alignment they are?

Should you get XP for changing your alignment? Should you lose XP?

Why can't you have a Lawful Good cleric who worships a Chaotic Evil deity?

Isn't alignment all just subjective anyways?

Correction: when I say "Arminianism" what I meant to say was "Arianism".

Category:

Gaming

Tags:

• pencil and paper
• role-playing games
• Alignment (role-playing Games)
• philosophy
• morality
• cooperative storytelling
• Dungeons & Dragons

[Zozim57]

In 3.5 e, definitions of good, chaos, law, evil and neutral (both axis) are not solidly based on any ethical branch (deontology, consequentialism, virtue ethics, etc.). Now intuitively speaking, the definition of those extremes (good, chaos, law, chaos, neutral (both axis) ) seem to be big picture driven and meant to be subjective to the DM. Yet, you mentioned in this video that Alignment (3.5 e) is based on the sum of all deeds done. Would you be able to prove that affirmation?

[Joshbuckler]

@Zozim57 I make no claim that my position is directly supported by any close reading of the rules as written. I take the position because it suits my purposes as a DM, a player, and as a student of the game.

That said, I can make a bit of a case based on the fact that the game tells the Dungeon Master to monitor the deeds of the player characters, and that it is within the DM's rights to declare that the character's actions warrant a shift in alignment.

[ReidBaerPoetry]

Good to see you again!

:)

Reid

[Joshbuckler]

@ReidBaerPoetry Hi Reid, likewise good to see you on youtube again too!

[Webhead123]

...that players can establish accomplish all of the things you describe with their characters without making Alignment anything more than a few notes on the back of their character sheet. I'm just saying, you don't need "Alignment" as a game system...you just need "Alignment" as an optional form of "character inspiration". That's all! :-)

[Webhead123]

Just found your video! Thank you for your thoughts!

Though I personally don't like "Alignment" as it functions in D&D, I do agree on its value to some players as a "descriptive footnote" to help them imagine and role play their PC.

The problem is that D&D makes it a game mechanic with the purpose of "restricting". It's not just a "role playing descriptor". It specifically permits/denies a character access to specific classes, items, spell effects and even planes of existence.

I feel...

[thespiritcoyote]

**Applause** thanks for puting yourself out there on this... rough subject but gotta talk about it... don;t nesecarily have to agree... but cant play if a "social contract" isn't settled on... and every discussion helps put perspective on the issues people have.

[boltorange]

Even if I didn't totally agree with you, I'd still think this is an awesome video.

[thespiritcoyote]

@thespiritcoyote

A point of clarification, I am not saying that "mortal concerns" have weight in "final judgment" but the NOW has weight over the EVENTUAL in the mind of the "mortal coil" ... also the "Divine Powers" are capable of (and often depicted as exercising) judgments beyond the "current alignment" of a petitioner, and can "absolve karmic taint and cleanse the sinful" AFTER death just as easy as during life (possibly easier) disregarding "alignment value at death" for "service record".

[thespiritcoyote]

A story of High-Fantasy Moral Ambiguity - A "romanticly-jaded" Paladin and his "rescued" masochistic Temple-Prostitute companion fall in love, "balancing" thier "infernal desires", while maintaining devotion to the faith, and uncovering an underground slave-trade fronted by the city-state's corrupt aristocracy.

A public assault on the gentry-houses would be sure to spin a tense political arena into open civil-war, as The Hordes gather on the borderlands, waiting like vultures for the prey.