User blog:UniWitchDoctor/Musings on MGE Pathfinder - Alignment in the MGE Universe

Sorry for the inactivity as of late. This is less of an "I'm not dead" post and more of a "I'm bored, so let's talk" sort of post.

The Big Picture
This is less of a definitive "these are the rules we are using" post, and more of a conundrum I've encountered whilst GM'ing / modifying game mechanics to fit this setting. While every attempt can be made to get around this particular issue, it cannot be ignored wholly, as it is a core game mechanic in Pathfinder and D&D 3.5 that affects everything from roleplaying to combat rolls to story-telling. If handled correctly, it can be a good rule of thumb to make sure that players stay in character, and can present interesting character moments and drama. If it isn't managed well, however, it can cause an entire campaign to devolve into philosophical debate, shouting matches, and can cause parties to split both on and off the table. So, let's see what all this build-up is leading to:

That's right, Alignment.

In Pathfinder, good and evil are assumed to be definitive things, as there are good or evil monster subtypes, spells that can detect good and evil, and spells that have the good or evil descriptor. As a description of a creature, it can define the subject's general moral and personal attitudes, and can determine the effects of some spells and magic items. As a character trait, it can be used to construct and indentify a player character's overall outlook on the world, and yet each alignment is so general that even two characters of the same alignment can be completely different from each other. The possible alignments that any in-game entity can take are represented in the diagram above: Lawful Good, Neutral Good, Chaotic Good, Lawful Neutral, Neutral, Chaotic Neutral, Lawful Evil, Neutral Evil, Chaotic Evil.

Bear in mind that for alignment to apply, the entity in question must be intelligent enough to make moral decisions. Dogs and cats, for example, are given the neutral alignment by default, no matter how good-natured or ill-tempered they actually are, as they do not have the capacity to truly good, evil, lawful, or chaotic.

Now for an explanation of the axes of the above diagram. Unless explicitly cited, all material below is based on the information availible at the following webpage:

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/alignment-description/additional-rules

The above is also a recommended resource for those unfamiliar with alignment. It gives an in-depth explanation of the different alignments in the Pathfinder system. In the interests of remaining on topic, I'll give a brief overview before addressing my main topic.

Good Versus Evil
"Good" implies altruism, respect for life, and a concern for the dignity and well-being of other sentients. A good character will make personal sacrifices to aid another being without expecting anything in return.

"Evil" implies hurting, oppressing, and killing others. Some evil creatures simply have no compassion and value personal interests over the lives and well-being of others. Others actively pursue evil, and revel in the mistery of others.

"Neutral" implies that just that: neutrality with respect to good or evil. They may have compunctions against killing the innocent, but they may lack the commitment to make sacrifices to help others.

Law Versus Chaos
"Lawful" implies honor, trustworthiness, obedience to authority, and reliability. As a negative, it can also include close-mindedness, reactionary adherence to tradition, and a lack of adaptability. Those who consciously promote lawfulness say that only lawful behavior creates a society in which people can depend on each other and make the right decision in full confidence that others will act as they should.

"Chaos" implies freedom, adaptability, and flexibility. On the downside, it can also include recklessness, resentment towards legitimate authority, arbitrary actions, and irresponsibility. Those who promote chaotic behavior say that only unfettered personal freedom allows people to express themselves fully and lets society benefit from the potential that its individuals have within them.

"Neutral," as before, implies a middle ground between lawful and chaotic. Those of a neutral alignment has some respect for authority and feels neither a compulsion to obey nor a compulsion to rebel. They are generally honest, but can be tempted into lying and deceiving others.

Brief Summary of Alignments
While there are many different interpretations of alignments, here is a very brief overview of each one, with a one-line quote that describes something that would be expected for that alignment to say.

Lawful Good: "I do the best I can do within the limits of the law, given that law is good and just."

Neutral Good: "I do the best I can do for others. Laws get in the way sometimes."

Chaotic Good: "I'll do the best I can do for others, the rules be damned!"

Lawful Neutral: "I follow the rules as best I can."

Neutral: "I have no strong feelings one way or the other."

Chaotic Neutral: "Screw the rules! I'll do as I please!"

Lawful Evil: "Follow the rules! To hell with your 'freedoms!'"

Neutral Evil: "It's only a crime if you get caught!"

Chaotic Evil: "The more innocent and pure something is, the more satisfying it is to corrupt it~♥"

Alignment in MGE
As one might expect with the Monstergirl Encyclopedia setting, the normal alignment axes seen in Pathfinder do not really apply in most cases, at least with the various races ruled over by the Demon Lord. Before the current Demon Lord took power, the alignment rules would apply as written, as the monsters of the previous age spread death and misery wherever they went.

In the current age (in setting, of course), the nature of monster-kind was altered owing to the Demon Lord's partially-failed enchantment. The result is that most monsters will only kill if there is absolutely no choice (if their life, or the lives of their children and darling husband, are in mortal danger), and will not eat human flesh, even if it is the only source of nourishment availible. As such, the alignment system as written does not apply to the setting.

A naive solution is to refer to the Pathfinder Monster Manual (or d20pfsrd, if you're really reaching), look for a specific monster entry, and just copy the stats of the monster over with some minor alterations to fit it in with the setting. This is a good idea in most cases, but there are some pitfalls that prevent this from being a good general rule: In addition, this does not resolve the issue with player character alignment in this setting. .
 * 1) Most monsters in the Pathfinder monster manuals are so vastly different to how they are described in the MGE source material.
 * 2) Some monsters in MGE do not have any equivalent in Pathfinder, requiring the GM to make a homebrew character template of dubious quality.
 * 3) It is difficult in determining CR (challenge rating) for the modified monsters without extensive playtesting, and since this is a homebrew modification of an existing system, often the only playtesting it gets is when it hits the table (or when I can test it against a statted NPC in Fantasy Grounds). This can result in monsters that are either hilariously underpowered or hilariously overpowered.

To complicate matters, the setting has a scant few deities compared to the deities of the Pathfinder setting, and the ones that exist are poorly defined in existing source material. In the base game, there is at least one known deity for each alignment, and even some that are specific to a particular player race. By contrast, the MGE setting has the current Chief God, the original Chief God (whose wherebouts are unknown), Eros, Ares, Bacchus, Poseidon, Bastet, the Demons of Chaos (basically Cthulhu-like beings if they downed several truckloads of aphrodisiacs), and the Fallen God. Since the allegience of the gods towards each other in setting is explicity stated as "never fixed and unchanging", assigning a definite alignment to each one is extremely difficult. This becomes extremely problematic for some player classes, like paladins and clerics, who must be within one step of their deity in terms of alignment, or else lose their class-related abilities.

So yeah, alignment in this setting is not so cut-and-dry as it would seem to be.