Alignment system modification idea

[TubaMortim]

(I wasn't sure where to put this thread, I think the general RPG board fits best since its not about a specific d&d game)

Last night I read the newest strip before going to sleep and started thinking about the paladin & goblin communities in OOTS, especially from an alignment perspective. The former being seen automatically Good and the latter Evil. And what of Redcloak? The paladins for sure condemn him as Evil, however he's dedicated his whole life into the goal of helping his fellow goblinoids which doesn't fit the Evil label.

The idea that popped into my head is to divide the alighment system in half - to give each character two values. These two being first the inner circle of your social group, for example goblins for RC, and second the outer circle or everyone else. This way you can have more accurate descriptions even with just the labels, for example you could call RC Good within his inner circle (genuinely trying to help his race) and Evil towards others (killing those in the way of his people).

It wouldn't be a perfect version, but I think it could have potential to be better than the simple (current) one.

[Yora]

This is already implied by the default evil alignment. Being nice to people you care for doesn't make you any less evil if you are still hurting others who you don't care for.

[TubaMortim]

And by that logic the goblin-killing paladins should be evil, for example

[Yora]

I didn't say it makes sense.
I think the assumption is, that the paladins are killing the goblins in self-defense or to prevent the goblins from killing innocents.

The games I run always don't use alignment at all.

[hamishspence]

This is already implied by the default evil alignment. Being nice to people you care for doesn't make you any less evil if you are still hurting others who you don't care for.

Indeed, a case could be made that some Evil characters are "nice to strangers" - with it being only those they perceive as enemies- that they treat so badly it goes beyond what's acceptable for a Neutral character.

[Kitten Champion]

If you accept the D&D alignment system you've entered a realm of objective morality, where the concentration camp guard is still evil even when he's playing with his children and paying his taxes. By making it situational to that creature's society you undermine it, Drizzt is history's greatest monster.

If you want to scrap the morality system entirely and work around a perception/reputation meter, it's the start of something workable.