Promethean
2020-06-21, 10:34 PM
I'm going to be building a custom setting for a campaign, so I've decided to play with some of the mechanics of base D&D to try and make them fit the setting better. I'm probably going to be asking for opinions/help on a few unrelated topics to make sure I'm not about to break something in some unforeseen way.
First up Alignments:
Normal D&D alignments are kinda arbitrary and caught between wanting a classic good vs evil story or trying to have some philosophical grey area where some kind of "balance" is necessary. That's kinda a massive problem because, as written, classes are supposed to stop working the moment a character steps out of their designated alignment zone. So to not punish my players for legitimate character-growth I want to A. separate alignment from character to prevent the system from favoring the creation of one-dimensional characters, B. Define how alignments are different and why each one is necessary, and C. Prevent alignment changes from punishing characters.
A) To address the first point, I'm going to make alignment based on the arbitrary whims of higher comic forces rather than character traits. A person being "lawful" doesn't mean they compulsively clean their room every morning, instead it means some entity of "law" favors them for their own inscrutable reasons. Alignment based spells, class abilities, or planar traits work based on the favor or dis-favor a character has earned from said higher powers. This also means a character can work to temporarily appease or gain favor of entities of the opposed alignment to avoid harmful planar forces or become temporarily shielded from alignment based spells. This also means character classes are also no longer based on a character's alignment, instead classes gain some free alignment "Favor" of a certain type. The only exceptions to this are "Devout" classes(clerics, paladins, etc.) and Planar entities(like devils, demons, angels, etc) who always count as a specific alignment do to the fact a Patron that controls said alignment who owns their souls(regardless of their own thoughts on the matter). To keep the setting in line with these changes, mindless creatures are no longer "Neutral" by default, they'll be given an alignment appropriate to their behavior.
In essence, Alignments have nothing to do with a character's personality, save maybe one specific trait said alignment likes. A person popping up on detect evil isn't a bad person by default and a person popping up on detect good doesn't prevent them from being a lunatic. It means something out their likes them.
B)Alignments are now given roles within the universe as clearly defined cosmic forces with specific jobs:
"Good's" job is to nurture things and help them grow, any act that heals or benefits something else earns "Good's" favor while Destroying things Doesn't(regardless the destroyed's of alignment).
"Evil's" job is to challenge and destroy things too weak to survive on their own. It favors the strong and the destructive in any form.
"<h@os"s" job is to continuously create new things and change existing system's to prevent stagnation. It's favors the creative, but is whimsical with it's blessing and curses to the point of being unreliable.
"Law's" job is to analyze, categorize, and organize basic framework of the universe so that it may be continuously improved upon, often saving parts of it from "Chaos" to prevent important structural pieces from being changed drastically. It favors any ancient, complex, or scholarly collectives, but it's blessings are only given to collectives rather than individuals.
"Neutrality" is given the job of ensuring no force overcomes the others and unbalances the universe, as such it will act in tandem with whatever alignment is in decline to readjust the scales of power.
C) Classes never lose their class abilities do to alignment change. "Devout" classes that are abandoned by their patron only loose domain specific abilities and count as "Neutral" until they find another patron.
Any thought?
First up Alignments:
Normal D&D alignments are kinda arbitrary and caught between wanting a classic good vs evil story or trying to have some philosophical grey area where some kind of "balance" is necessary. That's kinda a massive problem because, as written, classes are supposed to stop working the moment a character steps out of their designated alignment zone. So to not punish my players for legitimate character-growth I want to A. separate alignment from character to prevent the system from favoring the creation of one-dimensional characters, B. Define how alignments are different and why each one is necessary, and C. Prevent alignment changes from punishing characters.
A) To address the first point, I'm going to make alignment based on the arbitrary whims of higher comic forces rather than character traits. A person being "lawful" doesn't mean they compulsively clean their room every morning, instead it means some entity of "law" favors them for their own inscrutable reasons. Alignment based spells, class abilities, or planar traits work based on the favor or dis-favor a character has earned from said higher powers. This also means a character can work to temporarily appease or gain favor of entities of the opposed alignment to avoid harmful planar forces or become temporarily shielded from alignment based spells. This also means character classes are also no longer based on a character's alignment, instead classes gain some free alignment "Favor" of a certain type. The only exceptions to this are "Devout" classes(clerics, paladins, etc.) and Planar entities(like devils, demons, angels, etc) who always count as a specific alignment do to the fact a Patron that controls said alignment who owns their souls(regardless of their own thoughts on the matter). To keep the setting in line with these changes, mindless creatures are no longer "Neutral" by default, they'll be given an alignment appropriate to their behavior.
In essence, Alignments have nothing to do with a character's personality, save maybe one specific trait said alignment likes. A person popping up on detect evil isn't a bad person by default and a person popping up on detect good doesn't prevent them from being a lunatic. It means something out their likes them.
B)Alignments are now given roles within the universe as clearly defined cosmic forces with specific jobs:
"Good's" job is to nurture things and help them grow, any act that heals or benefits something else earns "Good's" favor while Destroying things Doesn't(regardless the destroyed's of alignment).
"Evil's" job is to challenge and destroy things too weak to survive on their own. It favors the strong and the destructive in any form.
"<h@os"s" job is to continuously create new things and change existing system's to prevent stagnation. It's favors the creative, but is whimsical with it's blessing and curses to the point of being unreliable.
"Law's" job is to analyze, categorize, and organize basic framework of the universe so that it may be continuously improved upon, often saving parts of it from "Chaos" to prevent important structural pieces from being changed drastically. It favors any ancient, complex, or scholarly collectives, but it's blessings are only given to collectives rather than individuals.
"Neutrality" is given the job of ensuring no force overcomes the others and unbalances the universe, as such it will act in tandem with whatever alignment is in decline to readjust the scales of power.
C) Classes never lose their class abilities do to alignment change. "Devout" classes that are abandoned by their patron only loose domain specific abilities and count as "Neutral" until they find another patron.
Any thought?