Alignment
For the most part, players will be free to choose whatever
alignment will work best for their character and will be the
most entertaining for the player. I often have options and
adventures prepared for all alignment types. Indeed, it may be
helpful to have some players who wish to play evil characters
in order to help the DM out in a limited co-DM capacity. I
would though encourage all players to consider avoiding evil
alignments or even neutral ones if possible. One of the major
themes in most RP'ing games is good vs. evil. At times, this
gets pretty old hat, but this will again crop up in this
campaign world. Needless to say, it is customary that the players
play heroes, good guys willing to face down evil in all it's
forms. I don't want people to go overboard on this theme but I
would say it is a safe and generally fun (and easy for the
DM!!!) approach.
Bear in mind, that I may very well use alignments in
scripting routines. That means, while you should not
feel like alignments are a straight-jacket, you should try to
play your character's alignment to the best of your ability; a
NWScript has no way of knowing how closely you are playing
your chosen alignment.
While the NWN manual is woefully inadequate in explaining
the basic D&D alignment system, it would require at least
a doctoral thesis to make it as clear. I have no
intention of doing that so, here's a brief explanation of the
system. I will be relying heavily on material from the
"First Edition" and the "Third Edition"
Players Handbooks.(1)
Law/Chaos Axis
Law and chaos are a little more difficult to describe and
play out. This is the moral axis. It is the axis
which describes how your character reacts to codes of behavior
and societal laws. Lawful characters "tell the truth, keep
their word, respect authority, honor tradition" but are
often judgmental, close-minded, ridged and reflexively
conservative. Chaotic characters "follow their own
consciences, resent being told what to do, favor new ideas
over tradition" but may be irresponsible, reckless,
resentful toward legitimate authority and follow through on
promises only when it suites them. Lawful characters are
honorable, trustworthy, obedient to authority and reliable.
Chaotic characters are free-spirited, creative,
adaptable. Characters who are morally neutral tend to
have a normal respect for authority, feeling neither the
compulsion to rebel or obey. They are generally
"honest, but can be tempted into lying or deceiving
others" as the situation demands. Animals are
incapable of moral action; "Dogs may be obedient and cats
free-spirited, but they do not have the moral capacity to be
truly lawful or chaotic."
Good/Evil Axis
Good and evil
represent the ethical. While good characters seek
to protect innocent life, evil characters seek to debase or
destroy it. Good characters are altruistic, respectful
of the dignity in all life, and will make personal sacrifices
on behalf of others. Evil characters are compassionless
and will hurt, oppress and kill others, whether for fun,
profit or behalf of some unhealthy loyalty to a warped
philosophy or god. Characters who are neutral on this
plane (i.e. lawful neutral, chaotic neutral) may dislike
killing the innocent but won't make many sacrifices for
others. Animals are incapable of ethical
decision-making.
Again, I will not be too strict about playing alignments. The
alignment you choose for your character is only a rough guide
for behavior. It should not be a straightjacket. On the other
hand, I don't want to see Lawful Good Paladins slaying 10-year-old, unarmed choir girls just because they were
"annoying". (Well you CAN do that, but your
character certainly won't be LG *or* a Paladin anymore.)
Alignment Links
Footnotes
1. Gygax,
Gary, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Players Handbook,
TSR Hobbies, Inc., WI, 1979, pp. 33-34; Cook,
Monty, Jonathan Tweet & Skip Williams, Dungeons &
Dragons, Player's Handbook, Core Rulebook I, Wizards
of the Coast, WA, 2000, pp. 87-90. Yeah, I'm a
geek . . . I still have my original copies of the
"first edition" rule books.
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