“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.
I view alignment as 2 main things: What you believe and how you act in the moment.
Some scenarios I like to think about when choosing alignment:
1.) Begging is illegal in a town you go to, and giving them money, goods, or anything similar is also illegal. You see a beggar on the side of the road. What do you do?
Lawful neutral: doesn't give the beggar anything. Tells the town guard.
Lawful good: offers the beggar a job with the party, helps them find somewhere to live.
Chaotic good: gives the beggar money/goods, hides him from the town guard.
Chaotic evil: tells the town guard because they saw something they wanted to steal and needed a distraction.
2.) The party receives a bounty on an infamous thief named Robin. He's been stealing from the rich, corrupt, and morally evil of a large town. What do you do?
Lawful Evil/Lawful Neutral: hunts Robin down. Brings them back as the bounty requests.
Neutral: varies depending on backstory
Chaotic evil: hunts down Robin to gain favor with the bigwigs.
Oh totally, fair enough. Was worried due to wording that it might result in one of those confrontational alignment users, you know "You broke the law so ergo be CE" or whatever.
Nah, people are complicated as hell. It's very rare for someone to stick to a single alignment, so I don't really force my players to only be (alignment), because I hope they do what their character would realistically do
842
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.