Character Creation: Difference between revisions
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As a rule of thumb, for simple 'kill the monsters and sell the treasure' scenarios, alignment is not often a critical factor. Less experienced GM's may wish to leave the heavy 'dilemmas and consequences' role-playing elements out of their game, in which case, declaring by fiat that all adventurers have the 'Detached' alignment is the simple and effective course of action. If you have a character who needs fantastical religious and alignment mechanics for Deific powers, refer to the character class for details of how those mechanics will work. | As a rule of thumb, for simple 'kill the monsters and sell the treasure' scenarios, alignment is not often a critical factor. Less experienced GM's may wish to leave the heavy 'dilemmas and consequences' role-playing elements out of their game, in which case, declaring by fiat that all adventurers have the 'Detached' alignment is the simple and effective course of action. If you have a character who needs fantastical religious and alignment mechanics for Deific powers, refer to the character class for details of how those mechanics will work. | ||
There are ten possible alignments. Each one is defined by various types of behavior. While the behavior of a sentient person is complex | There are ten possible alignments. Each one is defined by various types of behavior. While the behavior of a sentient person is complex, in game terms this is defined by how closely your character strives to adhere to various moral and ethical tenets. | ||
The first Tenet is whether you character is: | The first Tenet is whether you character is: | ||
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'''A note about Evil.''' "Evil" is a widely misunderstood state of being. It is common to believe that 'Evil' merely means 'selfish', and truth be told, there's a lot of truth to that. Taking what you want without regard to others IS a state of Evil. But that's not all there is to it. Evil can be, and often is, a philosophy. Some 'Evil' people and beings are considered 'Evil' because they genuinely believe that the tenets of Goodness are wrong-headed and foolish. Improving the lives of everyone, or even yourself, is not how the universe really works. Living a life of happiness and comfort does not lead to striving and reaching to be your strongest, greatest self. Real, genuine, EVIL means that happiness, comfort, heck, even wealth and power, are essentially just props. Doing real Evil means being almost Stoic in your outlook, only applying that mindset to yourself, and everyone else, to boot. Cruelty is better than kindness, enemies are more valuable than friends, suffering and loss and heartbreak are part of life and should be embraced and promoted, not shunned. | '''A note about Evil.''' "Evil" is a widely misunderstood state of being. It is common to believe that 'Evil' merely means 'selfish', and truth be told, there's a lot of truth to that. Taking what you want without regard to others IS a state of Evil. But that's not all there is to it. Evil can be, and often is, a philosophy. Some 'Evil' people and beings are considered 'Evil' because they genuinely believe that the tenets of Goodness are wrong-headed and foolish. Improving the lives of everyone, or even yourself, is not how the universe really works. Living a life of happiness and comfort does not lead to striving and reaching to be your strongest, greatest self. Real, genuine, EVIL means that happiness, comfort, heck, even wealth and power, are essentially just props. Doing real Evil means being almost Stoic in your outlook, only applying that mindset to yourself, and everyone else, to boot. Cruelty is better than kindness, enemies are more valuable than friends, suffering and loss and heartbreak are part of life and should be embraced and promoted, not shunned. | ||
Now, this mindset is radical, and much better suited to Bad Guys and Monsters than player characters. Firstly, real-life players who dabble in Evil often find it creepy and disturbing, and rightly so! Secondly, playing an Evil campaign means that keeping the players working together can be difficult | Now, this mindset is radical, and much better suited to Bad Guys and Monsters than player characters. Firstly, real-life players who dabble in Evil often find it creepy and disturbing, and rightly so! Secondly, playing an Evil campaign means that keeping the players working together can be difficult. We present the Evil alignments partially as a role-playing opportunity for those who are interested in such explorations, and partly as guidelines for GM's on how to properly make monsters and bad guys behave in appropriately wretched ways. Approach with caution! | ||