Question of the Day

Many role-playing games, since the early days of Dungeons & Dragons, have employed alignment systems to keep a player's decisions for his character consistent with some ethical framework. This way, a player is not free to have a normally moral character commit heinous acts because it would be temporarily convenient and lack any real-world consequences.

Dungeons & Dragons' alignment system is based on two axes of lawfulness and goodness. Palladium games more or less adapt this system to include selfishness. Other, more narrative-driven systems, such as The World of Darkness, round out a character's attitudes more loosely. And some RPGs have no alignment system at all and leave ethical issues to be freely played out.

What is your favorite alignment system?

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