Alignment is a device for defining a character's attitude to the world and other characters. It is used to determine the creatures' reactions when they are encountered and will sometimes dictate a character's own actions. Generally speaking, only characters of the same alignment are going to get on well. There will always be some degree of antipathy between characters of different alignments.
Starting alignment for characters is dictated in its Racial Abilities - Good for Elves and Neutral for everyone else. This is easier for players who are less experienced, since it gives them one less thing to worry about, but as players become more experienced the gamesmaster may permit characters to take any of the alignments permitted for their race, according to the following chart:
|
|
Alignment | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Race |
|||||
|
Human |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Elf |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
|
Dwarf |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Halfling |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
|
Gnome |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
As well as race, the character's career should be taken into account when deciding alignment. For example, a Watchman is quite likely to be Lawful, while an Outlaw will probably hate law and its minions, and a Jailer or Torturer is not likely to be Good - although they may be Lawful. Even so, the GM should never be dictatorial if a player particularly wants a character to have an alignment even if it does not seem compatible with their basic career; after all, there will be characters who have decided to turn to adventuring because they were temperamentally unsuited to their original profession.
You should always encourage your players to make their characters behave according to their alignment, reducing experience point awards to those who do not. More experience points should be given to the players who behave in a way especially appropriate to their alignment.
The basic tenets of the five alignments are summarised on their own pages. They are only guidelines and are always subject to interpretation by the GM.
Changing Alignment[]
Characters can change alignment as a result of mental trauma as reflected by Insanity Points.
It is also possible for characters to change alignment voluntarily. To do this, players must convince the GM that their characters have genuinely and sincerely changed their philosophy and outlook on life. The player must be able to tell the GM why the character has changed and must then play the new alignment - possibly losing experience points as a result - until the GM is satisfied that the alignment change is genuine and the character means to stick to it.
Characters can only change their alignment by 1 step at a time - Neutral to Good, Good to Law, and so on. Characters may never change to an alignment which is not open to their race.
Characters' alignment can also be changed by the GM. If you feel a character is persistently playing to a different alignment, you must tell the player you intend enforcing a change. The player has no say in the matter when this happens, apart from changing the way in which the character is played to try to get back to the original alignment.