In working on other games, as well as Cresthaven RPG, I was confronted recently with a comment from one of the visitors to the blog. They suggested that alignments aren’t even really used as a player. This got me thinking.
Typically alignments are used to position the player characters and the non-player characters within the moral world of the game. In D&D alignment system from the original 1974 boxed set initially featured only Law, Neutrality and Chaos. Law generally equated to good and heroism, and Chaos implied anarchy and evil; however, the good and evil parallels were not strongly defined. Dwarves were Lawful and elves Chaotic, while humans could be any of the three alignments
Alignment was designed to help define role-playing, a character’s alignment being seen as its outlook on life. A player decides how a character should behave in assigning an alignment, and should then play the character in accordance with that alignment.
I understand adding to to non-players and monsters, it will help to place them and how they interact with the world. But does it add to the gaming experience for the player’s characters?
What do you think, does your alignment change the way you play a character? Post a comment and let me know!
