tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353391426294254427.post746205193366310515..comments2024-03-25T22:48:31.750-04:00Comments on Dreams in the Lich House: Managing Your AlignmentsJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18031181424520125213noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353391426294254427.post-37253190214375780942020-07-15T09:50:55.964-04:002020-07-15T09:50:55.964-04:00I like alignments as morality. I don’t think you ...I like alignments as morality. I don’t think you should judge them too strictly, but it gives a shorthand way of describing a character’s moral attitudes. I think it’s one of the reasons D&D has been so popular for so long. It gives players a hook for getting into their characters. It does not come up that often in play, we don’t spend a ton of time discussing it. The Paladin code of conduct is much more restrictive, and much more likely to come up in play. Frequently when this subject comes up people mention the Paladins behavior, and how they don’t like how artificial it is etc. I think this is due to the code of conduct, not the Lawful Good alignment, which by the way I don’t think over the long term, is much more restrictive than the others.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11656554193044378009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353391426294254427.post-5245692223039806402020-07-12T15:56:42.532-04:002020-07-12T15:56:42.532-04:00Your "How do I do it" could be a copy an...Your "How do I do it" could be a copy and paste of my own "How do I do it".Deptfordxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12075948711015675524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353391426294254427.post-43286853132109844262020-07-12T15:07:30.403-04:002020-07-12T15:07:30.403-04:00I let the players engage with alignment if they ch...I let the players engage with alignment if they choose (and mostly they don't). <br /><br />For my own cosmology, I use the original Law-Chaos dichotomy but I conceptualize it as a spectrum between the twin evils of Tyranny and Anarchy. Any "good" has to be some kind of balance.Deadtreenoshelterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18109223559705593102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353391426294254427.post-32072853247971819682020-07-10T13:17:36.156-04:002020-07-10T13:17:36.156-04:00Using AL as a short-hand for personality traits fo...Using AL as a short-hand for personality traits for NPC's is a good use!Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18031181424520125213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353391426294254427.post-63192077754407204222020-07-10T13:15:20.153-04:002020-07-10T13:15:20.153-04:00I'll go back and make sure I didn't mischa...I'll go back and make sure I didn't mischaracterize Alex's essay. Your comment highlights the challenge with tying morality to alignment. I can see how one player could view a compassionless, rules-based approach to utilitarian decisions as "lawful neutral" whereas a different player takes a more absolute view that rules are rules (lawful is the 10 commandments approach to judging actions). In his philosophical take he put the consequentialist philosophies in Chaos (sometimes murder is bad, sometimes murder is good). My 18 year old is a philosophy nerd and also disagrees with Alex's take!Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18031181424520125213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353391426294254427.post-25984426588236101582020-07-10T03:42:30.071-04:002020-07-10T03:42:30.071-04:00utilitarianism chaos?
bwah ha ha
hedonistic calcul...utilitarianism chaos?<br />bwah ha ha<br />hedonistic calculus and calculating units of pleasure and division of said pleasure sounds pretty lawful. Alex Ideas and personality make me run a million miles awayKonsumterrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18170560484656800416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353391426294254427.post-24567435592885065922020-07-09T16:46:59.650-04:002020-07-09T16:46:59.650-04:00Thanks for another interesting post. I updated my ...Thanks for another interesting post. I updated my own discussion of the genesis of D&D alignment to include a link to this entry, too.<br /><br />About your second paragraph, I couldn't agree more. Most players are not able to use alignment constructively and probably are not interested in discussions of morality when they'd rather be imagining escapist adventures.<br /><br />Your way of doing it sounds great. Make alignment something cosmic. It's actually very much like the Warhammer Fantasy RPG (at least in the first edition, the one I know). There, the default for humans was "Neutral," not because they aren't good, but because they aren't aligned with cosmic forces. I think that is the last game in which I used alignment for any real purpose, a long time ago.<br /><br />In a way, you have rejected character alignment but accepted the D&D multiverse. In my view, that has to be just about the only way to make it work. I'm going to recommend it to my 5e-playing son.Tom Van Winklehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00498476328377801884noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353391426294254427.post-85720002640399893542020-07-09T15:48:22.917-04:002020-07-09T15:48:22.917-04:00We never tracked alignment back in the day when we...We never tracked alignment back in the day when we played 1e. That being said, I still refer to the 9 alignments as a reference for how characters and NPC will tend to react. LE, unquestioning follower invested in making their way up the social hierarchy. CE, only respects power and will undercut the organization for personal gain. NE will will weigh the cost benefit of their actions on a longer time scale than CE, for some examples. Rod Thompsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12824146866756155345noreply@blogger.com