Mortuum's Alignment Thread

[Mortuum]

Because you can never have enough alignment threads!

This is an expansion on the standard pathfinder/D&D alignment system. It replaces the morality axis with two new ones representing ends and means, tightens the definitions for lawful, chaotic and neutral and adds a new element called Polarity, which doesn't describe a characters personality, but changes their effective alignment.

It's designed to create a slightly deeper, more useful and internally consistent measure of who's a good guy and who's a bad guy, but without messing up the rules of the game or leaving the paladin unable to smite the right things.

The System

There are 3 axes of alignment and all creatures with an intelligence of 3 or above have one alignment element from each. Creatures with an intelligence of 2 or below have no alignment at all. They aren't even neutral.

Alignment is all about what you do and why you do it. If you are generally inclined to commit villainous acts and not to commit heroic acts, you are a considered a villain. Being neutral on any particular axis means different things depending on the axis, but it's always down to your actions and intentions.

In case it needs saying: if it isn't intentional, it doesn't count as an aligned act. This doesn't mean that your barbarian isn't being a jerk when he stomps on little girls' pets if he thinks it's acceptable behaviour, only that he's not being a jerk if he steps on them by accident.

The Lawful/Chaotic Axis:

Lawful characters are those who most commonly act to uphold the principles of law and order, not just because doing so benefits them or other people, but for its own sake.
They tend to put rules, stability and the will of rightful authorities before personal freedom, including their own.

Chaotic characters are those who act in defiance of the rule of law. Again, not because they benefit from it, or because it makes the world a happier place, but because they think it's right.
They tend to put personal freedom before security, certainty, rules and authority. Some are actively opposed to rules in general and question whether any authority can be considered rightful, but not all chaotic characters are so extreme in their views.

Characters who are neutral on the Lawful/Chaotic axis don't commit either lawful or chaotic acts significantly more than the other. They fall into two broad camps: Those who's beliefs fall somewhere between the above worldviews and those who are largely disinterested in the whole issue.

Ordinary commoners are neutral on this axis. Only particularly wilful, motivated or unusual individuals are Chaotic or Lawful.

The Noble/Grim Axis:

This axis has nothing to do with what motives a character to change the world and everything to do with what they are willing to do to achieve their ends.

Noble characters are those who to stick their principles even when it impairs their chance of success. They often have a personal code of conduct and tend to considerate and ethical. Don't let that fool you though, as many are villains as heroes, albeit with standards.
Giving mercy to your enemies, forgiving those who have wronged you and refusing to stoop to their level in order to defeat them are all examples of noble acts.

Grim characters are those who are willing to do terrible things to get the job done. They may have strong principles, but those principles aren't the kind that stop them doing what they believe needs to be done.
Grim characters are perfectly capable of sticking rigidly to codes of conduct, but they tend to have rules in them like "Never compromise, even in the face of Armageddon", or "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live".
A grim hero might find himself less welcome in a settlement than a noble villain, and for good reason: Torture, killing helpless creatures, betrayal, hurtful lies, raising undead and bringing an axe to a fist fight are all examples of grim acts, albeit fairly extreme ones.

Characters who are neutral on the Noble/Grim axis are simply those who follow a middle path.

Ordinary commoners are most commonly neutral on this axis, but ass-holes are grim and particularly nice people are noble.

The Heroic/Villainous Axis:

Heroic characters are those who strive to protect and improve other people's quality of life, even if that means their own lives get much harder. Dropping a few coins in a collection box is not a heroic act, unless perhaps they're you're last few. There has to be a significant cost or risk involved.

Villainous characters are those who try to make their own lives better, even if that means life gets much worse for people in general. Stealing a few coins out of a collection box is not a villainous act, unless perhaps you believe they would someone from starvation. Again, there has to be a significant cost or risk, but this time it's to your victim, not your self. If you can't find a victim to assess their potential harm, it's probably not a villainous act.

Characters who are neutral on this axis might be insufficiently motivated to try and change the world to their liking (such as a retired hero or villain), focused entirely on a goal that neither helps nor harms others (such as a character who equates Lawful with Right), or be given to both heroic and villainous conduct depending on the circumstances (such as a Ranger who normally conducts himself as a hero, but is villainous where his favoured enemies are concerned)

The average commoner is very definitely neutral on this axis.

Polarity:

Polarity is a measure of how you and magic interact. As a general rule, shiny nice good people have positive polarity and spooky nasty bad people have negative polarity. It's not quite good and evil, however. It's more like light and darkness, or positive energy and negative energy.

Polarity defaults to 0, but the following factors adjust it up or down.

+1 for each of the following: Being Heroic, Noble, a Paladin, a Cleric of a positively aligned deity or a creature with the Good subtype.

-1 for each of the following: Being Villainous, Grim, Undead, an Anti-Paladin, a Cleric of a negatively aligned deity or a creature with the Evil subtype.

Unless otherwise noted, treat creatures with negative polarities as evil aligned and creatures with positive polarity as good aligned for the purposes of the game's mechanics. For example, circle of protection (evil) will protect against negative creatures, regardless of their alignment.

Spell Descriptors:

Spells which used to have the Evil descriptor now have the Black Magic descriptor. Casting them is a grim act.

Spells which used to have the Good descriptor now have the White Magic descriptor. Casting them is not necessarily a noble act. In the right circumstances, it can even be grim.

If your class says you cannot cast spells opposed to your own alignment or your deity's, then you cannot cast Black Magic spells if you or your deity are positively aligned and you cannot cast White Magic spells if you or your deity are negatively aligned.

Class Requirements:

Paladins must be Lawful and Heroic. They can be as Noble or Grim as they like. They're still bound by the code, but it explicitly forbids them from associating with villains and committing villainous acts, rather than evil people and evil acts.

Anti-Paladins must be Chaotic and Villainous. The vast majority are Grim too. Those who aren't yet Grim are on a gradual descent towards Grimness.

Assassins must be Grim, not evil. Most are villains, but some are neutral or heroic.

A cleric must be within 2 steps of his deity's alignment and cannot be opposed to his deity on any axis.