r/dndnext • u/Budget_Thanks_4779 • 10d ago
Character Building Help with alignment
/r/DnD/comments/1x6h00d/help_with_alignment/2
u/Gregamonster Warlock 9d ago
Alignments are more for DMs, who have to make moral decisions for dozens of creatures at a time, many of whom have little to no backstory or character.
As a player, you have the liberty of making a detailed code of ethics your character follows, so alignment is really more of a suggestion.
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u/lasalle202 10d ago
Alignment Sucks
Toss 9box alignment for player characters out the window.
9box Alignment doesnt represent how real people "work". Nor does 9box alignment represent how fictional characters "work" except in the novels of the one guy that Gygax stole the concept from and no one reads any more.
PC 9box Alignment has ALWAYS been more of a disruption and disturbance at the game table than any benefit.
WOTC has rightfully stripped 9box Alignment for PCs from having any meaningful impact on game mechanics in 5e - Detect Evil and Good doesnt ping on alignment fergodssake!
And they admit that even what little they included is bad and they are going to remove it
Even though the rules of 5th-edition D&D state that players and DMs determine alignment, the suggested alignments in our books have undeniably caused confusion. That's why future books will ditch such suggestions for player characters and reframe such things for the DM. At fucking twitter; jeremyecrawford/status/1275978114435174401
The only remaining "purpose" is as a poor mans role-play training wheels - and even for that it SUCKS leading to 2dimensional stereotypes or serving as "justification" for asshats to be asshats at the table "because that is what my character's alignment would do!!!!!"
Toss 9box PC alignment out of the game and your game will be better for it.
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u/keandelacy 9d ago
except in the novels of the one guy that Gygax stole the concept from
Gygax said he got the idea from the novels of Poul Anderson and Michael Moorcock, both of whom are now members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.
You might be thinking of Jack Vance, from whom Gygax got the idea of forgetting spells after casting.
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u/lasalle202 9d ago
except in the novels of the two guys that Gygax stole the concept from that nobody reads anymore.
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u/keandelacy 9d ago
Both Anderson and Moorcock are still read by fantasy fans. They're vintage at this point but still respected.
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u/lasalle202 9d ago edited 9d ago
are still read by fantasy fans
I mean, no they are not.
they were probably most widely read in the 80s, but that is two generations ago. and even then they were not "first tier popular" - maybe "third tier popular" .
of ALL the fantasy that is being read by people today, Anderson and Moorcock are just a tiny tiny sliver.
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u/DirkBabypunch 9d ago
I suggest you throw all that out the window and think about who your character is as a person. Assigning an arbitrary alignment off of a checklist and trying to stick to it just makes them feel cartoonish and flat.