Fuzzy Alignment [PEACH]

[Amechra]

Foreword: This entry has math - basically, I'm basing alignment off of a simplified version of Łukasiewicz logic (or, at least, a 7-value generalization). Familiarity with his work on 3-valued logic is unnecessary, mainly because I think a lot of you wouldn't find it very interesting.

But anyway...

FUZZY ALIGNMENT:

Alignment is calculated by generating fuzzy values on two different progressions, which can then be used to derive a variety of subcategories.

The two progressions (Ethical and Moral) are as follows:

Ethics



Term

Lawfulness

Anarchism



Very Lawful
+5

-1



Lawful

+4

+0



Sorta Lawful
+3

+1



Neutral
+2

+2



Sorta Anarchic
+1

+3



Anarchic
+0

+4



Very Anarchic
-1

+5




Morals



Term

Goodness

Vileness



Very Good

+5

-1



Good
+4

+0



Sorta Good
+3

+1



Neutral
+2

+2



Sorta Vile

+1

+3



Vile

+0

+4



Very Vile

-1

+5




Generating The Alignment Matrix

First, determine your placement on the Moral and Ethical progressions, then record your Anarchism, Goodness, Lawfulness, and Vileness modifiers. Double-check that the sum of all the modifiers is +8.

Then, go through the eight alignment subcategories; you will most probably belong to several. For each category, add the two listed modifiers and subtract 5; if the value is less than -1, set it to -1. Then, remove any category where your resultant modifier is lower than +3. If you remove all categories, you are True Neutral.

Lawful Good: Goodness and Lawfulness
Neutral Good: Goodness and Goodness
Chaotic Good: Goodness and Anarchism
Lawful Neutral: Lawfulness and Lawfulness
Chaotic Neutral: Anarchism and Anarchism
Lawful Evil: Lawfulness and Vileness
Neutral Evil: Vileness and Vileness
Chaotic Evil: Anarchism and Vileness

Then, interpret your results in a way that makes sense to you.

Qualifying for Prerequisites

A character is considered to be any alignment whose category they fall within on the Alignment Matrix for the purposes of effects that depend on Alignment. However, they may qualify for anything that requires an alignment if their appropriate modifier is +3 or greater (So a character who is Sorta Good and Sorta Lawful would not be protected from a Holy Word spell and wouldn't be subject to Smite Good, though they would qualify to become a Paladin.)

Example

Steve Irkel is building a character, and has to decide on an alignment. His mental concept is a scumbag who plays by his own rules, and so decides (after some consideration) to go with Anarchic and Sorta Evil. He then records his modifiers (A: +4, G: +1, L: +0, V: +3), and calculates the different categories:

LG: 0 + 1 - 5 = -4
NG: 1 + 1 - 5 = -3
CG: 1 + 4 - 5 = +0
LN: 0 + 0 - 5 = -5
CN: 4 + 4 - 5 = +3
LE: 0 + 3 - 5 = -2
NE: 3 + 3 - 5 = +1
CE: 3 + 4 - 5 = +2

Removing the extraneous categories, he's CN for the purposes of effects, but is both Chaotic and Evil for the purposes of prerequisites. If he had decided to go with Anarchic and Evil, he would be simultaneously Chaotic Neutral, Chaotic Evil, and Neutral Evil.

[ImNotTrevor]

You have Chaotic Good where you mean Chaotic Neutral.


It's an interesting idea overall, but I'm not sure I'd ever use it. It seems to try to fix something arbitrary and kind of confusing by adding math to the arbitrary system in an attempt to make it more confusing.

What seems to have been accomplished is a 5x5 alignment system supported by doing math, and that changes stuff you qualify for. I'm assuming that this is for d&d, and in that case I'm hesitant to solve one of the few non-math problems that already causes lots of debate by adding complex math.

In another system it might work really well, though. The concept is interesting and pretty cool, but I'm not sure it's something most players would call an improvement. Just another option. (Kind of like a catapult that launches tanks.)

[Amechra]

Ooh, good catch! I fixed that.

Eh, it was mostly an experiment.

Basically, normal alignment works like a classical set; you're Good, or you aren't. You are only Lawful Good if you fall in the Lawful and Good sets, etc.

This pops it into a fuzzy set, where you are part of a set to a degree. You can be sorta Good, or very Good; you are Lawful Good if you are lawful and good enough, etc. It's also a generalization of the standard alignment system, in that it works exactly the same if everyone picks the non-"very" and non-"sorta" options.

[SirKazum]

I think it's pretty cool as a concept... but I don't see it being very practical, outside of being used in a group where all players (and DM) are mathematicians familiar with fuzzy logic :smalltongue: Otherwise it would be just too confusing and convoluted to be usable in a regular basis, even if the players manage to understand the system.

[Amechra]

There's no actual fuzzy logic once you hit play; you run it through a pretty simple function and are done.

(It also wasn't really intended to be used, exactly; it's an experiment.)