Post by Harbinger on Dec 8, 2011 16:39:14 GMT -6
I've been meaning to post this info for a while. I was reading White Dwarf #5 and in an excellent series on how to run a campaign called D&D Campaigns, Lewis Pulsipher has the following suggestion:
Alignment
Referees who run all alignments virtually the same way are shortchanging their players. Different rules for division of treasure, experience, and general conduct help vary the course of play. Each referee has a different idea of what alignment means, but the important thing is to make each alignment significantly different from the others. Otherwise alignment, a unique and fascinating aspect of the game, may as well be abandoned.
... snip ...
Lawfuls split experience equally among party members; they should by nature work as a team, and this method encourages teamwork rather than bickering. Chaotics, on the other hand, are uncooperative individualists. Experience is award to them individually, based on whatever they've done during an adventure. The braver and stronger ones get more points; teamwork is no encouraged. Which system Neutrals use depends on how they're acting and whether they accompany characters of another alignment.
This blew my mind when I read it. This is the first time I've ever seen a mechanical game effect that captures the nature of the Chaos/Law divide.
Of course, in actual play it probably doesn't work as chaotic players would end up trying to kill their party members. It's still an interesting idea.
Alignment
Referees who run all alignments virtually the same way are shortchanging their players. Different rules for division of treasure, experience, and general conduct help vary the course of play. Each referee has a different idea of what alignment means, but the important thing is to make each alignment significantly different from the others. Otherwise alignment, a unique and fascinating aspect of the game, may as well be abandoned.
... snip ...
Lawfuls split experience equally among party members; they should by nature work as a team, and this method encourages teamwork rather than bickering. Chaotics, on the other hand, are uncooperative individualists. Experience is award to them individually, based on whatever they've done during an adventure. The braver and stronger ones get more points; teamwork is no encouraged. Which system Neutrals use depends on how they're acting and whether they accompany characters of another alignment.
This blew my mind when I read it. This is the first time I've ever seen a mechanical game effect that captures the nature of the Chaos/Law divide.
Of course, in actual play it probably doesn't work as chaotic players would end up trying to kill their party members. It's still an interesting idea.
