Ironworks Gaming Forum - View Single Post

Winter Wolf · 01-03-2005, 10:42 PM

I like the alignment system I found in the back of the 1st ed. Greyhawk hardback, where it gives a scale of 1-20 for law-chaos and one for good-evil. I'm not omniscient so obviously I'd have to make judgement calls based on my beliefs, but that's about the only way I could pull it off. At least I play with like-minded people so conflicts should be uncommon occurances. This sytem turns 9 alignments into over 400 shades of gray, and unless you're in the 0-5 or 15-20 range you're basically still considered "neutral". The good have to be really good, evil really evil, etc.

I'd only change the scale to 0-20, so 10 would be true neutral, instead of 10.5 being true neutral. ([1+20]/2=10.5; the rules always round to a whole number). I'd use this only because my last DM said that torture is flat out evil and forced automatic alignment change to evil if you engaged in it. At least with this system it might not be automatic, but it would have a heavy influence on the good-evil scale. Same deal for slaughtering innocents/helpless. Adds a new element to a coup de grace attempt, too. "So you're really going to chop off the head of the guy laying helpless at your feet? Okay then...heheheh."

Using this system you should probably *not* tell players their current alignment, but when divine casters lose their spells, barbarians can't rage, bards can't use their special song effects... they should get the hint. If you're a mascicist you could always go with a 0-100 scale. (0-25 and 75-100 being extremes.)

For philip (and everyone else) I find Unearthed Arcana rules for prestige paladins/rangers/bards fun. Makes the classes that much more special, plus they end up with better spell casting, and the PCs have to "prove themselves" if they really want to get into the paladinhood, especially if implementing the 0-20 alignment scale. I'm undecided on the alternate AC based on classes and levels (p136 UA, if you have it), maybe if I used a firearms heavy campaign where armor is socially unacceptable. Anyway, UA and Libris Mortis are my two favorite add-ons to 3e, and Frostburn if you're partial to cold environment campaigns (I am, because I live in cold places and really understand the perils of it).

The post is a bit long, sorry. I'm a DnD super-geek. (Why can I remember reams of charts and stats from the game but not my home phone number?!)

01-03-2005, 10:42 PM	#38
Winter Wolf Manshoon Join Date: November 4, 2004 Location: Shanghai, China Posts: 226	I like the alignment system I found in the back of the 1st ed. Greyhawk hardback, where it gives a scale of 1-20 for law-chaos and one for good-evil. I'm not omniscient so obviously I'd have to make judgement calls based on my beliefs, but that's about the only way I could pull it off. At least I play with like-minded people so conflicts should be uncommon occurances. This sytem turns 9 alignments into over 400 shades of gray, and unless you're in the 0-5 or 15-20 range you're basically still considered "neutral". The good have to be really good, evil really evil, etc. I'd only change the scale to 0-20, so 10 would be true neutral, instead of 10.5 being true neutral. ([1+20]/2=10.5; the rules always round to a whole number). I'd use this only because my last DM said that torture is flat out evil and forced automatic alignment change to evil if you engaged in it. At least with this system it might not be automatic, but it would have a heavy influence on the good-evil scale. Same deal for slaughtering innocents/helpless. Adds a new element to a coup de grace attempt, too. "So you're really going to chop off the head of the guy laying helpless at your feet? Okay then...heheheh." Using this system you should probably not tell players their current alignment, but when divine casters lose their spells, barbarians can't rage, bards can't use their special song effects... they should get the hint. If you're a mascicist you could always go with a 0-100 scale. (0-25 and 75-100 being extremes.) For philip (and everyone else) I find Unearthed Arcana rules for prestige paladins/rangers/bards fun. Makes the classes that much more special, plus they end up with better spell casting, and the PCs have to "prove themselves" if they really want to get into the paladinhood, especially if implementing the 0-20 alignment scale. I'm undecided on the alternate AC based on classes and levels (p136 UA, if you have it), maybe if I used a firearms heavy campaign where armor is socially unacceptable. Anyway, UA and Libris Mortis are my two favorite add-ons to 3e, and Frostburn if you're partial to cold environment campaigns (I am, because I live in cold places and really understand the perils of it). The post is a bit long, sorry. I'm a DnD super-geek. (Why can I remember reams of charts and stats from the game but not my home phone number?!) __________________ Calling a person a dog is just about the worst insult I can think of. Dogs deserve better than that.