Alignments need to Die
This article is to outline the reason why alignment should die a horrible death, and what we should do about it.
Why kill Alignment?
In the past alignment would set a character apart, it would constrain his choices. I don't see much of that in gaming anymore. Most people use 21st-century moralities and rationalizations to reach the choice they want. This is not Role-Playing.
When role-playing you need to throw all that away. Peasants were happy under a good lord that protected them and their land. The lords took care of the roads and chased off bandits. The good people could then live their lives. They were thankful for all the lords did. They did not treat them like shit.
The people were not complaining about voting rights. They have never heard of such a thing. They worried about their own lot, their family, and their neighbors. Right from wrong was taught by your messed up uneducated parents so how do you get any more than that? The local church, maybe. What if you grew up and it was a hanging offense for kicking a dog? Your character would feel that is normal. To think otherwise would mean your character had some reason to think otherwise, if they did, Why?
Finally, I find that we all have morality or values that might not all fit in one alignment and alignment ignores this. But this is where most characters and villains shine.
Role-playing is wrestling with decisions of right or wrong, justice or mercy, and many of the other beliefs we hold true, and use every day to make hard decisions. It is what we value and what we desire. Can you have a lustful priest or a greedy paladin? Why yes you can.
One alignment can’t truly encompass all of these beliefs and choices. So, we let alignments die.
The Change
We need to change our approach to this. First, we should have some basic values laid out. This would come from your upbringing. This is a framework for most of who you are. At least at the start. Your character will change, and we need to note those events and incorporate them into our characters, so they change and grow.
These values and beliefs (your core personality) should be the basis of 80% of your character's decision-making, social interaction, and role-playing.
Role-playing is more than playing your Archetype. It is playing your race, and family; and all the baggage that comes with them. It should reflect your character's beliefs, prejudices, likes, dislikes, hopes, and fears.
Social Interaction with NPCs is a good portion of role-playing. This is a good place to showcase some of your beliefs.
Your Beliefs are not Static
Many of us have had moral dilemmas and had to work our way through them. These things change who we are. The Character Builder - Personality Profile sheet will help you weigh your choices more according to what the character finds necessary at the time. Have you ever had someone tell you, in explaining something they did in their past, that, "I was a different person then?" It is because their belief system changed. Why? Life!
We all have things that make us good and bad. We all have our demons, and skeletons in our closet. So we put together a list of fluid numbers to better define our beliefs. These change as our experiences influence us.
So, we need something more comprehensive, why because your character is more than their next battle.
The Character Builder - Personality Profile
I call it a Personality Profile. It is broken down into three sections. Each section defines an area of your personality. These numbers represent what you value and believe in contrast to the other things you value and believe.
After creating your sheet, look it over, see what numbers might come into conflict, and see how it will create high drama and stories for you. Your GM will certainly do this.
As a character, these are your beliefs not what someone put on you. So, they should feel natural to the character, not the player. We should play the character as the character we created, not how we want to play the character. There is a difference once you give that character their personality.
You and your game master should have a copy. The GM will use it to bring drama to your character; making extreme numbers come into conflict. The player can use it to help him make decisions that the character would make, not the player. For good or ill
Example of its Use
Let us say your Morality "Revenge/Mercy" is -3 (Meaning you lean toward revenge). (Negative numbers are not negative they are "absolute" so their Revenge is a 3. It is shown this way to help you see what side of the line you are on). Next your "Value Others (Family)" is a +2 and your "Values (Justice)" is also +2. Now your family member has just killed your best friend. Should you take things into your own hands and kill her, turn her in, or help her get away. If you follow your numbers, Revenge is higher, and you should kill her. If you don’t follow your numbers, you need to rationalize to yourself why, and then you and the GM should agree to change a number when you make such a decision, over time this changes your character. This way of doing personality is more genuine character development.
Does that make sense? Comment below:
More
Most people just play themselves as a character, and they think that is "role-playing". They think using their abilities in combat and how they choose to use them is role-playing and they are right. But that is only a fraction of what role-playing is.
When in combat, you and every other character is trying to do the best that their abilities allow them to do. No matter the player, those choices will always, when optimized, be the same. Is that what you want? There is a best build out there!
Am I Lawful Good?
I was playing in an old Greyhawk game a decade or so ago, and I was playing an Egyptian based Paladin. The unusual thing about him is he owns slaves. My stance to my DM was that they were enemies we captured in battle. It was our way, and those captured expected that we would treat them well; and we did so, knowing if we were ever captive, we would receive the same treatment. My other point was they were not taken for any economic gain but as captives, who knew the alternative of being a defeated enemy was death. There was no dishonor in this cycle, and since we all treated everyone well, it was good. He agreed that I could be Lawful Good and play the character. Go ahead and discuss this subject with those around you.
The party members were aghast when they found out and could not believe it. My paladin was a stalwart warrior, good to his word and doing all those things a paladin should. But how do I account for this schism and still hold onto my Paladin status? Am I good?
Alignments need to Die
World of Aviron
GenIsys Games
Social
Contributing to any artilce with advice, additions, helpful hints, new features are all welcome.
I love this discussion regarding alignments. You should create a discussion board and drop it in the article. I have played D&D from the beginning where you had 5 alignments (choose, law, good, evil, neutral) and Paladium (Principled, Scrupulous, Unprincipled, Anarchist, Miscreant, Aberrant, Diabolic - absolutely no true neutral). I have played narrative games like WOD, COD, Exalted, Storypath, Dune which define values and traits usually giving you rewards like Willpower return.
I agree you need a good framework to start from, it has to be something the GM and Player's can get behind. But all said, all done, all in it the GM which will challenge the players, be it physical or morally. They can start with the loses and trauma of background, flashbacks, challenging the assets, and npcs that circle the players. Great article to start a discussion on alignment.
Yah, I have used an altered Paladium system alignment for years, as kind of a backstop. It is good for most NPCs. It is the hard decisions that make a character the most fun and interesting. I will create that discussion board.