What's going to be the nature of evil in the Patherfinder world? Will it be as black and white as it is in the "generic" D&D world?
Later
Creative Director
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What's going to be the nature of evil in the Patherfinder world? Will it be as black and white as it is in the "generic" D&D world?
Later
Pathfinder will be using the same alignment system as the "generic?" D&D world. That said, there's still a LOT of wiggle room in there for shades of gray when it comes to morality and ethics.
The Pathfinder Adventure Paths, though, will assume good or neutral characters. At least to start. We may or may not do an evil Adventure Path someday...
In the end, though, Dungeon magazine over the past 3 or so years should give you the best prediction for how we'll be handling evil, really.
I don't understand where this "D&D morality is black and white" stuff is coming from.
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I don't understand where this "D&D morality is black and white" stuff is coming from.
From the fact that each alignment has a plane assigned to it, with a very specific outlook.
"Good," "Evil," "Law," "Chaos," and "Neutral" have quantifiable values that can be attached to them, and have direct physical and metaphysical consequences, unlike in the real world.There does remain considerable wiggle room, but at a certain point, you hit those absolutes hardwired into the core rules. So while you can modify their impact on your game, just like saying you play with different classes or levels, past a certain point, you are functionally not playing the core D&D game any more. That doesn't mean you can't, it is just a simple analysis of the system.
RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32
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I don't understand where this "D&D morality is black and white" stuff is coming from.From the fact that each alignment has a plane assigned to it, with a very specific outlook.
"Good," "Evil," "Law," "Chaos," and "Neutral" have quantifiable values that can be attached to them, and have direct physical and metaphysical consequences, unlike in the real world.
There does remain considerable wiggle room, but at a certain point, you hit those absolutes hardwired into the core rules. So while you can modify their impact on your game, just like saying you play with different classes or levels, past a certain point, you are functionally not playing the core D&D game any more. That doesn't mean you can't, it is just a simple analysis of the system.
Also, I think he's referring to how evil (and good) is portrayed. Take, for instance, Forgotten Realms and Eberron. In Forgotten Realms, it's relatively easy to identify someone or something as evil; the Thayans are evil, Manshoon is evil, chromatic dragons are evil, Drow are evil (except those Eilistraee upstarts and the horde of rebel drow that began with Drizzt), and so on and so forth. No real shades of grey, or at least not until recently.
On the other hand, Eberron is, by design, much harder to define. You have political intrigue up the wazoo, the creatures known for evil are not so much known for it now, and black and white is so blurred that you can't tell that there's something that's NOT grey.
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On the other hand, Eberron is, by design, much harder to define. You have political intrigue up the wazoo, the creatures known for evil are not so much known for it now, and black and white is so blurred that you can't tell that there's something that's NOT grey.
As long as detect evil still works, yes you can.
You can set up the campaign so that there isn't overt, mandatory, immediate combat between creatures of different alignments, and you can encourage a theme where paladins don't wander around detecting and smiting evil at will, but that doesn't change the absolute nature of said alignments.
Even Eberron has to acknowledge this, with a special section addressing that conflict in Secrets of Sarlona.
As I said, it is inherent in the game system. You can mask it, but you can't eliminate it without mucking with the system, and if you go too far, you are not working with the core rules any more.
And before anyone starts ranting, I'm not saying that is good or bad, merely that you hit a point where you are really playing a different game system. As long as Paizo is using the OGL, the alignment system is going to be there.
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RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32
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On the other hand, Eberron is, by design, much harder to define. You have political intrigue up the wazoo, the creatures known for evil are not so much known for it now, and black and white is so blurred that you can't tell that there's something that's NOT grey.As long as detect evil still works, yes you can.
You can set up the campaign so that there isn't overt, mandatory, immediate combat between creatures of different alignments, and you can encourage a theme where paladins don't wander around detecting and smiting evil at will, but that doesn't change the absolute nature of said alignments.
Even Eberron has to acknowledge this, with a special section addressing that conflict in Secrets of Sarlona.As I said, it is inherent in the game system. You can mask it, but you can't eliminate it without mucking with the system, and if you go too far, you are not working with the core rules any more.
And before anyone starts ranting, I'm not saying that is good or bad, merely that you hit a point where you are really playing a different game system. As long as Paizo is using the OGL, the alignment system is going to be there.
Point taken. I was just referring to the more overt signs of evil and good. But your point is well taken.
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As long as detect evil still works, yes you can.You can set up the campaign so that there isn't overt, mandatory, immediate combat between creatures of different alignments, and you can encourage a theme where paladins don't wander around detecting and smiting evil at will, but that doesn't change the absolute nature of said alignments.
Even Eberron has to acknowledge this, with a special section addressing that conflict in Secrets of Sarlona.As I said, it is inherent in the game system. You can mask it, but you can't eliminate it without mucking with the system, and if you go too far, you are not working with the core rules any more.
And before anyone starts ranting, I'm not saying that is good or bad, merely that you hit a point where you are really playing a different game system. As long as Paizo is using the OGL, the alignment system is going to be there.
This is why Knight's Code (PHB2) is tenfold more logical than the Paladin's code. Strict examples of what breaks the code and easy to delegate punishments for said breaking.
In the end, though, Dungeon magazine over the past 3 or so years should give you the best prediction for how we'll be handling evil, really.
Good to know. I've liked how Dungeon has done the wiggle room.
Later