Podcast #19: Realigning Alignment

Do you help the innocent . . . as long as their paperwork is in order? Do you walk around local hamlets laughing maniacally and then burning them to the ground? Do you kiss the prince or princess, swipe the key, loot the vault, and then book it out of town? Do you say, “Screw it, not my business, not my problem?”

In Corax & Coffeecast Season 2 Episode 9, Pete and Rick discuss alignment in role-playing games. Not only do they discuss classic interactions of alignment but also how alignment systems are moving towards a less rigid system. They advocate for developing alignment systems that more closely . . . well, align with actual human experiences and motivations involving goals, values, and temperaments, rather than adhering to a rigid framework. Humans are not nearly as stable as alignment frameworks would make us seem.

Grab your beverage of choice, press play, and think about, really think about what you would do if you saw a house containing a family of four explode in a conflagration from poorly managed natural gas lines running under the place. Not in real life. That would be messy. We mean in a modern RPG setting where you are building a new character. Yeah. That’s . . . that’s cleaner. Who will you choose? What will you do? Who will you become?