BigDumbWeirdo
2010-11-02, 03:48 PM
I've always been a bit disenchanted with the Alignment system in the d20 rules. It always seemed too restrictive to me, only allowing 9 possible mentalities. It also seemed overly vague about what those mentalities were. So, as I was designing an entirely new core system (which I'll post if I ever finish, or if anyone is interested enough to ask to see), I came up with a new Alignment system to go with it.
My main problem with the D20 system was that vastly different characters could have the same alignment. A Bard who manipulates others into doing the right thing, always with a tall tale on his lips and always willing to make false promises to achieve his goals would be Chaotic Good, while a noble outlaw who always makes good on his word, but doesn't respect the lawful authority of the land would, as well. Those two people are almost polar opposites in many senses, yet the game mechanics treat them as if they were the same. Another good example is Lawful Evil. Would a LE character keep his promises, if he made them to an enemy? It varies, yet the answer to that question speaks volumes about his character.
The D20 alignment system has 2 axes and 3 positions on each axis, as we all know. With 9 possible choices, this just didn't seem to reflect enough different mentalities to populate a believable world. I decided to keep that basic structure, but expand on it. So my new system contains 3 axes and has 7 positions on each. 343 possibilities seems more than adequate. I tried to steer clear of simply duplicating the existing system with more nuance, but at the same time, I wanted to pay tribute to the system that inspired me (both positively and negatively) by naming and describing some of the positions after D20 positions. So without further ado, here 'tis.
Integrity
Integrity described a character’s sense of honor and their honesty. This is not a character’s complete sense of morality. The overall morality of a character is based on a combination of Integrity and Empathy. The seven possible values are as follows.
1. Pathological A Pathological character cannot help but lie almost all of the time. Every promise they make will be broken. Oddly, they can be trusted because one always knows that their claims are false and their promises will be broken.
2. Dishonorable A Dishonorable character is one who takes some satisfaction from lying and breaking their promises. Not everything this character says will be a lie, and not every promise will be broken, but the majority will.
3. Untrustworthy An Untrustworthy character sees no value in the concept of honor. He will occasionally tell the truth or keep his promises, but usually only because he knows that doing so is necessary to function in society.
4. Neutral A Neutral character is fairly ambivalent about the concept of honor. He understands that honesty and keeping one’s promises is a necessary and sometimes even desirable thing. This character will usually be honest with others he knows, but would not hesitate to lie to a stranger.
5. Trustworthy A Trustworthy character understands that there is some value in honor, and will make some effort to maintain some. As the label suggests, this character can usually be trusted.
6. Honorable An Honorable character is one for whom honor is an important part of their life. They will make efforts to be honest and keep their promises to everyone they meet. Failing to do so will cause them mental anguish.
7. Paragon A Paragon is one for whom honor and integrity mean everything. This character would sooner die than bring dishonor to themselves or their family/clan/company/group.
Empathy
Empathy is a character’s willingness to put themselves in another’s shoes, to sympathize and understand through relation to one’s own experiences what another character must feel. Together with Integrity, Empathy helps form and codify a character’s morality. The seven possible values are as follows.
1. Evil An Evil character not only has no empathy whatsoever, he or she revels in doing bad things. This is sadism in the extreme, and almost every act will cause harm or pain to someone or something. For those very rare occasions on which this isn’t true, it will be to this character’s chagrin. This is as if one took sadism and added to it some twisted sense of obligation to do harm or cause pain.
2. Sadistic A Sadistic character takes joy in harming or causing pain to others. This character may not feel any anguish at missing an opportunity to do so, but will probably feel some regret.
3. Sociopath A Sociopath is a character who completely lacks the ability to empathize with others. This character feels no particular motivation to harm others or cause pain, but would never hesitate to do so if it were in his best interests.
4. Bad A Bad character is one who has a conscience, but has twisted it to his own ends. This character would not think too much about harming another, but might balk at torture, for instance.
5. Neutral A Neutral character is a fairly normal one. This character has a conscience, but it can be sidestepped at times. He may feel some mental anguish at violating his conscience, which may cause him to try and right his harmful act if it seems a wise course of action.
6. Caring A Caring character is one who feels strongly that his conscience exists for a reason. Violating it is not something done lightly, and only when necessary. This character may be tortured by a harmful act for quite some time, perhaps even the rest of their life.
7. Righteous A Righteous character is one who could not possibly learn of another's pain without feeling it, themselves. Their level of empathy is crippling, at times. This character would sooner die than cause harm to another.
Mental Structure
Mental structure describes a character’s sense of structure and organization. It also defines his respect for such systems, as in laws and procedures. Note how this is different from his Integrity, although the two are often related. The seven possible values (as well as descriptions which may clarify their uses) are as follows.
1. Chaotic A Chaotic character is one with some debilitating mental defect. Almost no act by this character would make any sense whatsoever, or be in alignment with any rule or law. Remember the player who constantly insists that his 1st level Ranger/3rd level Pastry Chef can dual-wield wet noodles (stats posted elsewhere in this forum)? Yup, that’s Chaotic. This character has no goals and no aspirations other than their own moment-to-moment amusement.
2. Anarchic An Anarchic character is a wild one. They tend to set and pursue goals, but their methods of achieving these goals often make little sense to others. He lacks almost all respect for authority, and is likely to act on almost any whim that strikes him.
3. Disorderly A Disorderly character is one for whom methodology and rules are pretty pointless. His means of pursuing his goals make sense, but he often goes about them in a haphazard way. The guy who’s always late to the party, and has no real plans for his life is likely Disorderly.
4. Neutral A Neutral character is one for whom organization and methodology are useful, but only in certain cases. Most people fall into this category, following the law whenever prudent, keeping careful record of finances, a decent accounting of his time, and basically leaving everything else up to chance or a whim.
5. Orderly An Orderly character is one for whom life is better when it is structured. This type of character usually keeps good records of most things, and excellent records of anything important, and makes an effort to follow the rules whenever possible. He would usually feel some distress at a change of plans or infraction of the rules, but could deal with it.
6. Lawful A Lawful character loves order. This is the type of character that keeps methodical records of anything which lends itself to record keeping, and follows the law almost religiously. He would feel a great deal of distress if someone were to scatter his records, force him to make sudden changes to his plans, or put him in a position which would require him to break the law.
7. Methodical A Methodical character is one for whom order and structure are overwhelming compulsions. A character with debilitating OCD would be considered Methodical. This character might go into paroxysms if anyone were to modify their records, force them to change their plans or force them to break even the most minor law.
It is unavoidable that there would be some numerical correlation between the descriptions, but this should not be considered to be absolute. For instance, a Sociopathic character has no particular desires to harm others, but would never hesitate to do so, while a Bad character often finds desires to harm others, in contradiction to the "more-empathy-as-the-list-goes-on" structure which seems to prevail. I tried to put the positions in order based on how much of the described concept they embody, rather than on a "less-to-more-desirable" order. You can see how this worked out with Empathy, where the Neutral position ends up closer to the high end of the scale. I suppose one could eliminate Sociopathic, and give those features to Neutral, and add in another "more Empathic" level above it, but it just didn't sit well with me to do that.
It's also worth pointing out that the extreme ends of each category are just that: Extreme. They're not good positions to choose for PCs, but might make for some interesting NPCs.
So in use, a traditional Robin Hood type character (the noble outlaw mentioned above) would be Honorable, Caring and Disorderly.
Using this optional system would require a bit of modification to the core rules, of course. Alignment requirements for most aspects of the game (such as restrictions on item use, patron deities and classes) would have to be a bit looser, to account for the vastly increased number of possible alignments. Once the new alignment of a particular feature is defined according to the new rules (this would require a bit of a judgement call in most cases), strict restrictions could be broadened by one category either way, and looser restrictions could add one or two levels of discrepancy for either of the old axes, so long as they don't cross the line of neutrality. So for instance, if a particular intelligent artifact is LE under the old rules and restricts usage to Lawful Evil creatures, we might redefine it as Honorable, Sociopathic and Orderly under the new rules. By broadening the categories, anyone who is Trustworthy-Paragon, Sadistic-Bad and neutral-Lawful could use it. If there is a single axis of compatibility (as when the requirements for using the above artifact are that the user be any Lawful Alignment), anyone who is Neutral-Paragon, Evil-Righteous and Neutral-Methodical could use it. Notice how the last category uses only 1 level of change down, this is because although a Disorderly character would not be the polar opposite of the artifact in terms of Mental Structure, he is still outside the scope.
Notice that there is one apparent glaring lack to this system: True Neutral. There really isn't a combination which obviously leads to a character who strives to maintain a balance between law and chaos, good and evil. However, if you read the descriptions closely, you'll see that Neutral, Sociopathic, Neutral fits this niche rather nicely, with some wiggle room in the middle category
I'm open to comments and criticisms, and of course, this is free for anyone to use or duplicate as they see fit (else I would not have posted it on a public forum).
My main problem with the D20 system was that vastly different characters could have the same alignment. A Bard who manipulates others into doing the right thing, always with a tall tale on his lips and always willing to make false promises to achieve his goals would be Chaotic Good, while a noble outlaw who always makes good on his word, but doesn't respect the lawful authority of the land would, as well. Those two people are almost polar opposites in many senses, yet the game mechanics treat them as if they were the same. Another good example is Lawful Evil. Would a LE character keep his promises, if he made them to an enemy? It varies, yet the answer to that question speaks volumes about his character.
The D20 alignment system has 2 axes and 3 positions on each axis, as we all know. With 9 possible choices, this just didn't seem to reflect enough different mentalities to populate a believable world. I decided to keep that basic structure, but expand on it. So my new system contains 3 axes and has 7 positions on each. 343 possibilities seems more than adequate. I tried to steer clear of simply duplicating the existing system with more nuance, but at the same time, I wanted to pay tribute to the system that inspired me (both positively and negatively) by naming and describing some of the positions after D20 positions. So without further ado, here 'tis.
Integrity
Integrity described a character’s sense of honor and their honesty. This is not a character’s complete sense of morality. The overall morality of a character is based on a combination of Integrity and Empathy. The seven possible values are as follows.
1. Pathological A Pathological character cannot help but lie almost all of the time. Every promise they make will be broken. Oddly, they can be trusted because one always knows that their claims are false and their promises will be broken.
2. Dishonorable A Dishonorable character is one who takes some satisfaction from lying and breaking their promises. Not everything this character says will be a lie, and not every promise will be broken, but the majority will.
3. Untrustworthy An Untrustworthy character sees no value in the concept of honor. He will occasionally tell the truth or keep his promises, but usually only because he knows that doing so is necessary to function in society.
4. Neutral A Neutral character is fairly ambivalent about the concept of honor. He understands that honesty and keeping one’s promises is a necessary and sometimes even desirable thing. This character will usually be honest with others he knows, but would not hesitate to lie to a stranger.
5. Trustworthy A Trustworthy character understands that there is some value in honor, and will make some effort to maintain some. As the label suggests, this character can usually be trusted.
6. Honorable An Honorable character is one for whom honor is an important part of their life. They will make efforts to be honest and keep their promises to everyone they meet. Failing to do so will cause them mental anguish.
7. Paragon A Paragon is one for whom honor and integrity mean everything. This character would sooner die than bring dishonor to themselves or their family/clan/company/group.
Empathy
Empathy is a character’s willingness to put themselves in another’s shoes, to sympathize and understand through relation to one’s own experiences what another character must feel. Together with Integrity, Empathy helps form and codify a character’s morality. The seven possible values are as follows.
1. Evil An Evil character not only has no empathy whatsoever, he or she revels in doing bad things. This is sadism in the extreme, and almost every act will cause harm or pain to someone or something. For those very rare occasions on which this isn’t true, it will be to this character’s chagrin. This is as if one took sadism and added to it some twisted sense of obligation to do harm or cause pain.
2. Sadistic A Sadistic character takes joy in harming or causing pain to others. This character may not feel any anguish at missing an opportunity to do so, but will probably feel some regret.
3. Sociopath A Sociopath is a character who completely lacks the ability to empathize with others. This character feels no particular motivation to harm others or cause pain, but would never hesitate to do so if it were in his best interests.
4. Bad A Bad character is one who has a conscience, but has twisted it to his own ends. This character would not think too much about harming another, but might balk at torture, for instance.
5. Neutral A Neutral character is a fairly normal one. This character has a conscience, but it can be sidestepped at times. He may feel some mental anguish at violating his conscience, which may cause him to try and right his harmful act if it seems a wise course of action.
6. Caring A Caring character is one who feels strongly that his conscience exists for a reason. Violating it is not something done lightly, and only when necessary. This character may be tortured by a harmful act for quite some time, perhaps even the rest of their life.
7. Righteous A Righteous character is one who could not possibly learn of another's pain without feeling it, themselves. Their level of empathy is crippling, at times. This character would sooner die than cause harm to another.
Mental Structure
Mental structure describes a character’s sense of structure and organization. It also defines his respect for such systems, as in laws and procedures. Note how this is different from his Integrity, although the two are often related. The seven possible values (as well as descriptions which may clarify their uses) are as follows.
1. Chaotic A Chaotic character is one with some debilitating mental defect. Almost no act by this character would make any sense whatsoever, or be in alignment with any rule or law. Remember the player who constantly insists that his 1st level Ranger/3rd level Pastry Chef can dual-wield wet noodles (stats posted elsewhere in this forum)? Yup, that’s Chaotic. This character has no goals and no aspirations other than their own moment-to-moment amusement.
2. Anarchic An Anarchic character is a wild one. They tend to set and pursue goals, but their methods of achieving these goals often make little sense to others. He lacks almost all respect for authority, and is likely to act on almost any whim that strikes him.
3. Disorderly A Disorderly character is one for whom methodology and rules are pretty pointless. His means of pursuing his goals make sense, but he often goes about them in a haphazard way. The guy who’s always late to the party, and has no real plans for his life is likely Disorderly.
4. Neutral A Neutral character is one for whom organization and methodology are useful, but only in certain cases. Most people fall into this category, following the law whenever prudent, keeping careful record of finances, a decent accounting of his time, and basically leaving everything else up to chance or a whim.
5. Orderly An Orderly character is one for whom life is better when it is structured. This type of character usually keeps good records of most things, and excellent records of anything important, and makes an effort to follow the rules whenever possible. He would usually feel some distress at a change of plans or infraction of the rules, but could deal with it.
6. Lawful A Lawful character loves order. This is the type of character that keeps methodical records of anything which lends itself to record keeping, and follows the law almost religiously. He would feel a great deal of distress if someone were to scatter his records, force him to make sudden changes to his plans, or put him in a position which would require him to break the law.
7. Methodical A Methodical character is one for whom order and structure are overwhelming compulsions. A character with debilitating OCD would be considered Methodical. This character might go into paroxysms if anyone were to modify their records, force them to change their plans or force them to break even the most minor law.
It is unavoidable that there would be some numerical correlation between the descriptions, but this should not be considered to be absolute. For instance, a Sociopathic character has no particular desires to harm others, but would never hesitate to do so, while a Bad character often finds desires to harm others, in contradiction to the "more-empathy-as-the-list-goes-on" structure which seems to prevail. I tried to put the positions in order based on how much of the described concept they embody, rather than on a "less-to-more-desirable" order. You can see how this worked out with Empathy, where the Neutral position ends up closer to the high end of the scale. I suppose one could eliminate Sociopathic, and give those features to Neutral, and add in another "more Empathic" level above it, but it just didn't sit well with me to do that.
It's also worth pointing out that the extreme ends of each category are just that: Extreme. They're not good positions to choose for PCs, but might make for some interesting NPCs.
So in use, a traditional Robin Hood type character (the noble outlaw mentioned above) would be Honorable, Caring and Disorderly.
Using this optional system would require a bit of modification to the core rules, of course. Alignment requirements for most aspects of the game (such as restrictions on item use, patron deities and classes) would have to be a bit looser, to account for the vastly increased number of possible alignments. Once the new alignment of a particular feature is defined according to the new rules (this would require a bit of a judgement call in most cases), strict restrictions could be broadened by one category either way, and looser restrictions could add one or two levels of discrepancy for either of the old axes, so long as they don't cross the line of neutrality. So for instance, if a particular intelligent artifact is LE under the old rules and restricts usage to Lawful Evil creatures, we might redefine it as Honorable, Sociopathic and Orderly under the new rules. By broadening the categories, anyone who is Trustworthy-Paragon, Sadistic-Bad and neutral-Lawful could use it. If there is a single axis of compatibility (as when the requirements for using the above artifact are that the user be any Lawful Alignment), anyone who is Neutral-Paragon, Evil-Righteous and Neutral-Methodical could use it. Notice how the last category uses only 1 level of change down, this is because although a Disorderly character would not be the polar opposite of the artifact in terms of Mental Structure, he is still outside the scope.
Notice that there is one apparent glaring lack to this system: True Neutral. There really isn't a combination which obviously leads to a character who strives to maintain a balance between law and chaos, good and evil. However, if you read the descriptions closely, you'll see that Neutral, Sociopathic, Neutral fits this niche rather nicely, with some wiggle room in the middle category
I'm open to comments and criticisms, and of course, this is free for anyone to use or duplicate as they see fit (else I would not have posted it on a public forum).