Problems with Alignment & Mystic Destiny
There’s no way to be in fantasy roleplaying and avoid discussions of alignment. Some fans are fascinated by matching popular characters from fiction up with the nine alignments that first showed up in the first edition of Dungeons & Dragons but others (me included) quickly tire of it. Many gaming groups will stop play to show their disapproval of a player who doesn’t obey the dictates of their alignment. While some gaming groups throw it out completely there are many more that ignore it during play. It’s interesting to note that when new roleplaying games joined the hobby made by companies other than TSR alignment was usually left out.
The endless debates and scolding annoy me because most gamers don’t understand alignment. It was never meant to be a personality test. It was never meant to be a stick to beat players with. It wasn’t even meant to be a quaint custom that people write on their character sheet and then ignore. Alignment should add something useful to your game or it should be jettisoned.
First off, the argument for dropping alignment. Since most gaming groups don’t bother with it during play in any meaningful way it can be cut out entirely. Give tradition a rest and just take it out. Your games will work just fine without it (honest!). Some would argue that the Outer Planes of D&D cosmology lose something but it wouldn’t be anything that most people would notice. If you like that set of planes keep using them. Some gamemasters worry that if alignment is gone they have no way of enforcing decent behavior for rowdy players. If you have rowdy players that need control than you have bigger issues than game mechanics. There are much better ways of dealing with troublesome players. I’ll sum them up quickly so this post doesn’t get derailed:
- Give your players freedom to make their own decisions so they don’t get bored
- Give the good players permission to show their disapproval of the problem players
- Give the problem players consequences for their actions
So what was alignment meant to be? The Appendix N reading list is our guide when looking under D&D’s hood. Original D&D had the one axis alignment inspired by Three Hearts and Three Lions by Poul Anderson: law vs. chaos. The authors assumed their audience understood that meant human civilization vs. a hostile world full of the fey, demons, monsters, etc. Alignment made this conflict explicit so everyone would understand the magic items and spells that help players act it out.
First edition D&D came out a few years later and expanded the conflict. Gary Gygax was reading the stories of Elric of Melnibone by Michael Moorcock. In these stories law battles chaos again but the fight is separated from human society and made more obvious. The cosmic forces are tied to the destiny of individuals who are fated to fight in their cause. Gygax liked the idea of mystic destiny for each player but wanted more factions. The result was the two axis system of law vs. chaos and good vs. evil. The nine alignments were connected to planes of existence and the beings that dwelled there.
For a really great and eye-opening explanation of alignment and how it has broken down, read Cirsova Magazine’s three posts here:
D&D Alignment part 1
D&D Alignment part 2
D&D Alignment part 3
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