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In my party, I have a half-celestial cat folk that has behaving badly. Prioritizing loot over rescuing people, forgetting he can heal (or refusing to heal), and going off to do his own thing all the time are just a few of the examples. I must stress that this is not causing game-play interruptions or issues, only role-playing ones. As a DM I give plenty of warning before making people shift alignment (2-3 levels worth). Last session was his worst role playing moment, robbing an escort's house after the party failed to protect them from being assassinated. I quote him here, "The guy is dead, so who the hell cares if I rob his house?"

Which of these two options should I pursue?

A) Make him a "fallen angel", saving the agony of removing templates by removing/changing abilities.

B) Make him remove his half celestial template altogether.

I am open to alternate suggestions.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Answerers: Let me be very clear that "is this congruent with a given alignment" and "how should I adjudicate alignment" are off topic per meta.rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/5357/…. This question is remaining open only for the scope of "I have a half-celestial turning non-good, how do I mechanically do that?" Yes, we know this isn't necessarily a good idea, but that discussion is opinion-based and off topic. \$\endgroup\$
    – mxyzplk
    Jul 27, 2015 at 15:57
  • \$\begingroup\$ I'd be more interested to know why this guy is a half-celestial if he shows no interest at all in playing one. \$\endgroup\$
    – Erik
    Jul 30, 2015 at 5:20
  • \$\begingroup\$ I have no idea why he picked half-celestial. I knew when he picked the template he'd eventually lose it to immoral behavior. All his characters have an entertaining tendency to go psychotic or kleptomaniac. \$\endgroup\$
    – Julia
    Aug 5, 2015 at 13:58

1 Answer 1

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Half-celestial does not make any requirements on your alignment, and you cannot fall as a half-celestial the way a paladin can; there is no such thing as an “ex-half-celestial,” no way to lose the template or its powers. They list “Always Good” as an alignment, but always does not actually mean always with alignment; you can have non-Good half-celestials. Half-celestials have an innate, almost biological pressure to be Good—that is what the Always designation means—but they still have free will and can choose to behave otherwise.

So there is nothing wrong. This is the player’s character, and they are roleplaying a person who would be a disappointment to their celestial parent, but nothing more. Note that this has nothing to do with whether or not the quality of roleplaying is high or low: that’s a purely subjective assessment, largely in the eye of the beholder, and such a character could easily be roleplayed “well” or “poorly” for any given subjective definition of those terms.

Now, if the character runs into said celestial parent, that parent might take offense at their actions, and of course society as a whole is going to treat them according to their actions, but they do not “fall,” per se.

Also note that “fallen” angels, themselves, aren’t really any different on this score, and don’t lose their powers. A fallen angel can be Evil while retaining things like the Good subtype, and their celestially-empowered supernatural abilities. Those with cleric spellcasting may lose that spellcasting; it’s a bit unclear just how those angels are specifically powered. But even if so the fallen angel may change his or her faith to regain cleric spellcasting, now powered by a dark patron.

In much the same way that the half-celestial may disappoint his or her parent, the celestial may anger their former peers who are still Good, who may see this fall as an act of betrayal. Again, the consequences for the alignment change are purely social, not mechanical.

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    \$\begingroup\$ In summary, change the character's alignment, but no mechanical effect? \$\endgroup\$
    – Bobson
    Jul 27, 2015 at 17:55
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Bobson yeah, probably. When alignment changes is pretty much entirely up to the DM. \$\endgroup\$
    – KRyan
    Jul 27, 2015 at 17:56

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