d20 Emerald Press The Book of Alignment.pdf

The Book of d20 Philosophy

Designers: Todd Crapper and Ronald King

Cover Artist: George Mitchell

and Todd Crapper

Layout: Todd Crapper

with George Mitchell

Thanks goes out to these guys (and a gal) who listened my

constant ravings about alignment over the past two years: Kurt

Wimmer, John Dwyer, Ray and Beckie Moulton (TC)

Published by Emerald Press, 2007

This book uses Canadian English and entries from

Random House Webster’s Concise Dictionary.

Permission is given to the buyer by Emerald Press PDF Publishing of

this copy to print for personal use only. To print without the background

image, select Layers panel and turn off the Background layer.

A Note From the Authors

If you’re reading this right now, then a miracle has happened. The Book of Alignment is finally

finished.

Well, maybe not finished per se, but actually gone to production, finalized, and place on the market

to buy. It’s been over three years since the original words were put to the screen and the Book has seen

plenty of rewrites in its day, beginning as a concept on expanding the extremely vague alignment system

for d20 and growing into a universal theory on the role of Good, Evil, Neutral, Law, and Chaos on the

actual worlds we play in. If anything, the greatest difficulty in a book like this is applicability: just how

useful is a book like this to your campaign.

Therein lies the problem: every campaign is different. Each GM runs their own universe according to

the rules that make sense to them and each player has their own role-playing style they are comfortable

with. Some just prefer to engage in tactical combat, outwitting monsters without limitations set down

by most video games; others turn to role-playing as use the game as an outlet for their creative energies,

creating detailed characters with distinct voices, personalities, and inner turmoil. While the Book

of Alignment is designed for the latter group, there is still some practical use for the former who do

consider alignment in their actions.

For me, I’m definitely the role-player. RPGs are a means of expression, a route to act out a character

and express yourself in ways I may find limiting in the real world. I like having my concepts tested and

tried, my honour weighed and measured in ways that I might not be able to confront in my own life. I

use role-playing as a way to tell a story, whether as the GM or as a player. To me, it’s an art form through

and through. But I’ve played in a number of group where the exact wording in the core rulebook is

taken to heart and the minor explanation on each alignment is put to the test every game. It seemed

that every publisher out there was dealing with every other rule in d20 except alignment... so I decided

to step up.

We tried not to incorporate too much of our own viewpoint on the subjects covered here, but it’s

inevitable that personal opinion will occur. Still, we tried to consider each topic from the perspective of

the standard role-playing adventurer and the context under which we defined each aspect of alignment,

whether through the traditional opinion or via translations that made sense given the definitions as

we understood them. However, there is nothing in this book that is solid. It is all interpretation and

there will probably be a lot of disagreement on what we write. In all honesty, I’m expecting this book

to be a complete and total flop. I’d like nothing more than for it to be THE reference to alignment and

discussions on just how far a paladin can go will be concluded with “Let’s check the Book of Alignment

and find out!” but I doubt that’ll happen. It’ll be read, judged, and tucked away, never to be seen again.

I’ll lost money on this project and re-consider all the time I invested into it, but then realize that I did

something no one else tried to do - provide a discussion for alignment and offer options for increasing

the role of an abstract concept into a defined impact on the everyday world of the RPG character.

If it wasn’t for my co-author, Ron, this book would never have finished or would never have become

the pride that it is. His passion for the material was as deep as mine and his dedication to getting it right

was as rewarding. If none of this ever takes off, I can take comfort in the fact that at least person read

my words and felt inspired by them, then it’ll all be worth it.

Regardless of how this Book is taken, there will be more. This addiction is far from over. There were

so many ideas left behind and more that have yet to be thought up, so there will be updates. Even if

they’re only for one person.

Thank you for the taking the time to read my work and I hope it offers you something that can

change your game and enhance the world you play in.

Todd Crapper

July 22, 2007

It was just another end-of-winter day when I loaded EN World and began surfing the boards. As

opposed to my usual meanderings amongst the Story Hours, Rules, and House Rules forums, I delved

into the section labeled Open Call. Within those yellow-on-black titles, I found a request for additional

writers on the topic of The Book of Alignment . I greedily devoured the handful of messages posted in

the thread and decided to apply. Hastily, I typed off a one-page submission and fired it to Todd.

I was not hopeful about hearing a positive response. I entered the world of Dungeons and Dragons late.

Everyone else—I assumed—had years and years of experience ranging from the original game all the way

to the current 3.5 incarnation while, at that point, I had only been submersed in this particular gaming

genre for less than a year. Also, I had never had any writing published before.

I had wandered into gaming through a character-oriented d10 system. With my original gaming

groups, I had been used to creating ten pages of typed history for each of my characters. We demanded

personality reign supreme in this alternate system. When I began my journey into the dungeon, I thought

personality and alignment heavily glossed over.

Surprisingly, Todd responded enthusiastically to my submission. My experiences elsewhere would aid

in redefining the alignment system. A heavy personal background in philosophy and psychology assisted

in my assimilation into the project. The original Book of Alignment file was sent out and we were given

the task of reading and brainstorming.

Later, I gathered with Todd, Clay the editor, and a couple other prospective writers for the very first

Book of Alignment meeting. We were to discuss our takes on the original work. A fountain of ideas

erupted during that meeting. It seems the The Book of Alignment project, which had faltered and

stalled suddenly found new life. Todd was excited, we were excited; we all went our separate ways to

work on the project.

Much time passed between those early days of research and this publication. In the end, only Todd

and I have contributed to this publication; the other writers dwindled into non-existence. We gained

and misplaced or lost several artists. Still we persevered (despite the damned ‘curse’) in our battle to

have this published.

This book is only the beginning though. A philosophical idea such as alignment can never be completely

defined. This is just a first stepping stone for your characters. You can take the game as far as you want,

probing all the depths of Good, Evil, Law, Chaos and Neutrality. With alignment, there is no solid end.

Maybe, just maybe, you’ll learn something about yourselves during your character’s travels. Maybe, your

inner courage will surface and you’ll find your own strength. Maybe, you’ll realize everyone has a dark

side and it doesn’t need to be repressed (so much as watched carefully and poked with a stick from time

to time). Or maybe you come away knowing nothing new, just reaffirmed with what you already knew.

This book has been a daunting task. It has floundered once, because of the immense scope of The

Book of Alignment ; the infinite broad and minute details that could be delved into. I’ve told Todd

several times about The Book of Alignment , “It’s a good start.” Yet, here we are, and we’ve finished it.

Somehow, we’ve done it. Hopefully, you’ll all enjoy. I know I’ve loved working on it.

Without further ado, turn the page and continue your journey down the rabbit hole that is The Book

of Alignment .

Ronald King

July 24, 2007

Table of Contents

A Note From the Authors 3

Good Characters and Discrimination 24

Symbols of Good 25

Role-Playing a Good Character 26

Can Evil Characters Cast Healing Spells? 27

Do Good Gods Cast Healing on

Evil Characters? 28

Good-Aligned Villains 29

Beyond Expectations: Evil

Creatures Turned Good 30

The Mechanics of Good:The Use

of Combat, Feats, and Spells 31

True Good: The Absolution of Others 32

Good Archetypes 33

INTRODUCTION 6

The Nine Alignments

What Is Alignment? 7

Why Expand Alignments? 8

Alignments Between Mortals and Planars 8

Races and the Alignments 10

Alignment Spells: Sensing Rather

Than Detecting 10

The Perception of Planar Creatures

Cultural Differences: An Elven

Roleplaying Game? 12

Personal and Social Alignments 12

Character Archetypes

CHAPTER TWO: EVIL

Triple Alignments 13

True Alignments 15

What is...The Balance? 16

The Truth of True Neutral 16

Classifying Alignments: The

Differences Between Attitudes And

Cosmic Forces 17

An Important Note... 18

The Alignment of This Book... 18

Glossary 18

To Be Evil Or To Appear Evil... 36

The Role Of Evil In The Campaign 37

The Basis Of Evil 37

Is Evil A Defect? 39

The Sins Of Evil 39

Sins That Are Not Evil 40

Society’s Influence On Evil 41

Symbols Of Evil 44

Can Non-evil Creatures Still Use

Poison And Not Be Evil? 45

Nature Vs. Nurture:

Evil Borne Or Evil Bred 45

The Use Of Terrorism 47

A View From The Inside: How

Evil Sees Itself

CHAPTER One: GOOD

The Role of Good in the Campaign

The Basis of Good 21

Society’s Influence on Good 22

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