FAQ

Alignment in Troimoira's Fane

The question of alignments in the campaign has come up on the message boards in the past. Every DM seems to have a slightly different attitude to alignments, so it seemed only reasonable to give you all some idea of the way I run them.

I don't like alignments. They can be a useful starting point for the concept of a character, but ultimately they always seem to be too restrictive and can come to be more of an impediment to role-playing than an aid. As a DM, I am more interested in seeing a character behaving in a personally consistent and understandable manner, than with him necessarily sticking to every detail of a predetermined code in the PHB, some of which I may not agree with anyway.

From the evidence of past games, a PC in the hands of even a moderately experienced role-player in an ongoing campaign does start to develop a personality of his own. It doesn't take long for everyone involved in the campaign to get a feel for that personality, to the extent that they will quickly spot when the character does something "wrong" (behaves out of character). I've found that this growing familiarity with the character is usually enough to ensure that he is played consistently. If a player insists on having his character do something that I find questionable then I will query the action; but if the player can then give me an acceptable explanation for it, I will usually let it stand without penalty, unless it breaks a class alignment restriction (see below).

Dictating alignment along racial lines seems to be particularly inappropriate. Again, it can be convenient to characterise a society, but just because an individual is a member of a lawful society does not mean that he has to be lawful - if that were the case there would be few thieves' guilds for a start. The standard PC races may all tend towards a particular moral outlook, but I accept that there will always be exceptions; you can have a chaotic dwarf or a good drow (although the latter will probably have to work hard just to stay alive).

The Troimoira's Fane setting deliberately twists around the moral character of some of the standard D&D cultures. I have listed the alignments of the various TF races below, to give you a basic grasp of the "moral landscape"; but again, remember that this is only the prevailing character of the society - it does not restrict the possible beliefs of any individual. (These alignment labels are based on definitions of Power Centre alignments in the DMG).

The Elanii operate under the presumption that they are a superior race, and that it is their right to order everything to their liking. In the Fane region their culture is fundamentally Lawful Evil, although their waning power has robbed them of the ability to impose their will as strongly as they might wish. They no longer have everything their own way, so their society is sliding towards Lawful Neutral.

The Orcs (and Half-orcs) were bred as the warrior slaves of the Elanii. They have had discipline and order drummed into them from the beginning. However, they have adopted the belief in equality that characterises the native races of the Fane, therefore they tend towards Lawful Neutral and Lawful Good behaviour.

It is difficult to characterise Halfling society. They tend to live alongside other races, and have only a very informal power centre of their own. Depending upon the character of the more influential Halflings in a given settlement, their society is likely to be either Neutral (as in Angleston) or Neutral Good.

The Ythaldin have adopted the ideals of freedom and self expression suggested by gnomish philosophy, but they have also wholeheartedly rejected the binding order insisted upon by their Elanii cousins. Consequently, Ythaldin settlements tend to operate on a Chaotic Good standard.

The dwarves had a stable ideal of government and personal morality before the arrival of the Elanii, and they have maintained it throughout the trials since. Their domains, and their great underground kingdoms in particular, act as Lawful Good societies.

The gnomes love of freedom of thought and expression is tempered by their belief in a stable, nurturing social framework. Their leaders promote a relaxed, Neutral Good society, although they may become more proactive and sway towards Law in times of need.

The humans are the most varied of the races with regard to belief systems and behaviour pattern. The character of any particular human settlement depends on the nature of the most influential individuals. In Angleston, the human population is essentially Neutral. Exebridge, which considers itself to sit on the frontier, maintains a necessary discipline, and is currently Lawful Neutral (a harsh Baron could easily slide the place into a Lawful Evil stance). Many of the smaller, more isolated villagers probably operate on a more Chaotic principle.

I do prefer to allow players to run their characters as they wish, and try to be reasonable with regard to any restraints that I consider to be necessary. However, there is one set of alignment conditions that I do adhere to; alignment restrictions by class. As detailed in the PHB; Barbarians and Bards must be non-lawful, Clerics must adhere to a set of behaviours detailed by their church, Druids must maintain at least some neutrality, Monks must be lawful, and Paladins must be Lawful Good. Most of these are fairly obvious to keep to, but with regards to clergy maintaining faith with their god or order, allowable behaviour can vary considerably, even between two orders that profess to follow the same deity. In these cases, any religious or moral order within the setting will have its most basic codes of behaviour detailed before the game starts (there is an example of this, detailing the Church of Troimoira, on the web site).

However, it is still possible that during game-play you find yourself in a situation where you are not sure if a certain course of action would break the code of your character's order. Under these circumstances I always try to allow time for you to consider your actions, and to discuss your options with other players, and me. If you then decide to go ahead and do something that you know could get you in trouble, you deserve all the punishment you get J

When NWN finally appears, I'm sure that we'll find that there is a compulsory Alignment space on every character sheet. Simply be aware when you select your alignment during character creation I consider them to be constantly under negotiation. This is particularly true early in the character's life, when you are still getting into the character. I tend to give new characters at least a few sessions grace before I start making any kind of comment on their behaviour not fitting their professed alignment. In that time you will be at liberty to change your character's listed alignment with no penalty (assuming that the change does not violate a class restriction). This does NOT mean that your actions do not have consequences, simply that I won't be expecting you to have fully settled on your PCs character yet; so going around killing people is still going to get you branded a murder.

If you'd like to make any comments, or have any further questions regarding alignment, then feel free to e-mail me, or leave a comment on the message boards.