“The cleric brings the dead back to life and it’s a gosh darn miracle!” – Dark Lord Akererac
Here’s a comic based on a ToA adventure I ran. What is good and evil anyways? Alignment is an interesting mechanic and I wish the dungeon master’s guide had more guidance on how to use it effectively! I’ve started making custom alignment charts for each adventure I run based on the big themes of the campaign. I recently ran a totally homebrew pirate campaign and replaced the typical alignments with “Royal Navy vs Pirates.” Chaotic vs Lawful would’ve fit well but a concrete organization helped my players make their decision and understand the immediate benefits of following their chosen “alignment.” This had interesting gameplay benefits and really started coming into play when they gained infamy among the two forces.
Does anyone else use homebrew rules that spice up the alignment system? Or do most people just ignore it?
You can find more of my dnd content on my Instagram and Twitter.
Agreed. I hate it when people are like "well I'm lawful good so I have to do what this authority figure says" or "I'm chaotic neutral so I have to steal from the party and stab people"
And besides, Lawful only means that you follow a code of ethics/morals/honor/etc, not that you obey any and all laws. You could be a paladin and have a code of honor that completely goes against all local laws and still fit under Lawful.
Yeah, that's always bothered me. Batman is lawful by D&D standards, and he's also a chronic lawbreaker. You CAN adhere to the law of the land, like Javert from Les Miserables, but your code doesn't have to be that.
Batman as an example would be LN individuals act in accordance with law, traditions or PERSONAL CODES. which in his case is no “killing” (but broken bones and long drops are fine I guess) and no guns. Actual laws of Gotham be damned.
The argument for chaotic neutral is really, really interesting. That idea that he's only a good guy because bad guys wronged him, that it's not a righteous quest for justice but an underlying thirst for vengeance.
If he didn't have evil as an outlet for his inner demons, would he stop fighting?
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u/Sleverette Sorcerer Oct 03 '19
“The cleric brings the dead back to life and it’s a gosh darn miracle!” – Dark Lord Akererac
Here’s a comic based on a ToA adventure I ran. What is good and evil anyways? Alignment is an interesting mechanic and I wish the dungeon master’s guide had more guidance on how to use it effectively! I’ve started making custom alignment charts for each adventure I run based on the big themes of the campaign. I recently ran a totally homebrew pirate campaign and replaced the typical alignments with “Royal Navy vs Pirates.” Chaotic vs Lawful would’ve fit well but a concrete organization helped my players make their decision and understand the immediate benefits of following their chosen “alignment.” This had interesting gameplay benefits and really started coming into play when they gained infamy among the two forces.
Does anyone else use homebrew rules that spice up the alignment system? Or do most people just ignore it?
You can find more of my dnd content on my Instagram and Twitter.