Questions tagged [alignment]
For questions primarily centered around ethical and moral alignments in game systems. Please note that questions about "what alignment is [person/act/society X]?" are off-topic due to subjectivity; see this FAQ for more details: https://rpg.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/5357/are-questions-about-alignment-on-topic
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Can I have a Lawful Evil Paladin with his justification being its the word of his god? [closed]
I'm thinking of having a lawful evil Paladin whose reason for being evil is it is the word of his god.
Would this work?
Is this a good idea?
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Can a cleric cast spells from his domain if his allignment does not match the spell?
Can a cleric with say lawful neutral allignment cast a spell from one of his domains that has a good / evil / chaos disignator?
As the anwer below points out.
chaos vs law is a no go.
But in this case ...
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Are the powers of a Divine Soul sorcerer at the mercy of their deity's will?
The Divine Soul sorcerous origin in Xanathar's Guide to Everything description states:
Sometimes the spark of magic that fuels a sorcerer comes from a divine source that glimmers within the soul. ...
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Effects of Beyond Morality Mythic Universal Path Ability?
If an Erinyes (Devil) Wizard 12 (Banisher) / Archmage 4 (Mythic) with the 3rd Tier Universal Path Ability of "Beyond Morality" uses the spell "Magic Weapon, Greater (Mythic)" (...
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How can I convince evil characters to save the world?
I made a homebrew campaign with some friends and gave them a more or less summary of what was to be expected of it. When they turned in their characters, all of them were either neutral or evil.
If ...
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Is an angel's spellcasting alignment-dependent?
This question was prompted from a line towards the end of this answer:
Arcane spells, and the ability to use them, are not alignment dependent. The Planetar's spells, as they are innate to that ...
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Ilithid-like player character - best practices, inspirations?
Background:
I am starting to play a certainly chaotic, not necessarily evil (depending on your viewpoint) character, which is looking for a reason to go adventuring with a group of magic-using, but ...
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How does one play a Chaotic Evil character without disrupting the play group?
A follow-up question to How to deal with a PC trying to kill another?
As I understand the answer to that question, PCs killing one another is generally not the intended outcome of campaigns, and the ...
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What would Detect Evil show on a villain who is self righteous and truly believes they are in the right [closed]
A good example of this would be Thanos. His goal was to murder half of sentient life in the universe but he honest to god believed he was doing it to solve the problem of limited resources.
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How can Githzerai and Githyanki both be Chaotic Aligned and Psionicists? [closed]
How can Githzerai and Githyanki both be Chaotic Aligned and Psionicists?
Furthermore, there's a handful of Psionic races with powers, typically equal to their level, with no apparent restriction, but ...
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What aligned damage does a diabolic sorcerer cause?
Although the Demonic and Diabolic bloodlines in Pathfinder 2e grant access to the divine spell list, I don't see any character alignment requirements, as there are for a cleric. If a diabolic ...
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Are there any instances of discussing the ethics (in Golarion) of finding alignment via alignment damage?
Not really sure how to word this, but I was wondering if there were any situations in an Adventure Path/Module/PFS Scenario/Source Book (PF 1e or 2e) that discusses using alignment damage to determine ...
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What do neutral alignments really mean compared to their lawful/chaotic counterparts? [closed]
I have read many different explanations on the 9 alignments and the 6 extremes all click, but call me stupid I just cannot get my head around the 3 neutral variations (Neutral Good, Neutral, Neutral ...
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Do paladins follow evil laws? [closed]
Lets say a paladin is in a town and the town has slavery or a racist law or something like that they know is evil. If they follow the law or let it continue that's evil but if they fight it that's ...
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How should I enforce my players to play the alignment they get? [duplicate]
So I started a new campaign, where my players may go to other planes, which are described in the DMG. There are several planes, which has a nice side effect, which will change the PCs alignment.
My ...
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What spell permits the caster to take on the alignment of a nearby person or object?
A Good character wants to infiltrate the headquarters of an Evil organization using a disguise. Said organization will cast Detect Good on all newcomers once upon entry. The character wants to pass ...
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1st Edition Lawful Good woes
I have a few questions I’m hoping more experienced players can help me with. I’ve been playing in a 1st edition D&D game for about 1.5 years now as a lawful good human Paladin. I’m not super ...
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Can an evil character cover their alignment? [closed]
Is there any way for an evil NPC to cover up their alignment if a player attempts to detect evil?
I am working on a Silver Dragon antagonist. This NPC will appear to the players as a number of human ...
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Are there any examples in D&D lore (all editions) of metallic or chromatic dragons switching alignment?
In a previous question I asked about a dragon antagonist I am planning. I originally intended this to be a chromatic dragon because I believed they are always evil, but an answer to that question got ...
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What suitable deities could a drow paladin from the Underdark worship?
I want to make a drow paladin in D&D 3.5 edition from the Forgotten Realms; however, I am having some trouble picking a deity.
My DM has already told me that I cannot make a paladin of Eilistraee ...
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Mechanically Speaking, What is the Best Alignment for a Cleric?
So I for a while now I've thought that from a purely mechanical standpoint true neutral is the best alignment as a cleric; you can worship any deity because they will always be within 1 step; ...
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Lawful good oathbreaker paladin
One of my players has come up with a really interesting backstory. Basically, he was brought up in a cult worshiping an evil god as a paladin of that god. Due to an event that happened, he realised ...
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When were Orcs changed from lawful evil (as in AD&D 2e) to chaotic evil (as in D&D 5e)?
When I played AD&D 1e and 2e Orcs were listed as lawful evil in the Monster Manual. Lawful Evil as their alignment was consistent with other similar races like Goblins, Hobgoblins, and Bugbears. ...
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Why are skeletons lawful evil while zombies are neutral evil?
I've been creating homebrew undead monsters for my campaign and in order to do so well I've been dissecting existing monsters that fall within similar veins, including the low-level skeletons and ...
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How do "alignment" subtypes interact with magic item alignment requirements?
Let's say we have a LG succubus (who therefore has the chaotic and evil subtypes). A nine lives stealer would be a bad weapon for her, since it bestows negative levels to good wielders, and her ...
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What god(s) best embody my philosophy? [closed]
I know that 'unaligned' is not a thing in 5th edition, but I am making a character who believes in the cycle of life and death, that no actions really change things and eventually all things succumb ...
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Does the Axis matter for the consideration of "Sharing an alignment component"?
Specifically in regards to the Insinuator archetype for the Antipaladin, my question is really about their variant Smite Impudence feature.
It states:
Smite Impudence (Su):
Once per day, an ...
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Does an attack from a chaotic-aligned character break regeneration/chaotic?
I am DMing an adventure where the players can fight an arbiter inevitable. The inevitable is listed as having regeneration 2/chaotic. The book says that the type after the slash is the damage type ...
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What is the best way for an evil NPC to avoid the effects of a Talisman of Pure Good?
I'm a first time DM and perhaps foolishly gave one of my PCs (whose backstory is that his family was killed by a demon) a talisman of pure good after completing a quest. Now I am regretting it, ...
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What ways are there to protect yourself from alignment-based effects?
Following along with this related question, I'm looking for ways that one can protect ones self from things that adversely affect them based on their alignment, such as taking extra damage from a Holy ...
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How exactly does a creature with an alignment subtype suffer alignment-based effects?
For example, say you "redeem" a demon (an outsider with the chaotic subtype), so its alignment is now true neutral. Let's cast order's wrath at caster level 10th on our demon. The spell deals 10d6 ...
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Is there a way to make a creature be treated as a different alignment temporarily?
I'm looking for a way (preferably by spell) to temporarily make an unwilling creature be treated as a different alignment, without actually permanently altering it. I'm looking for a way to have ...
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What power I actually get as a Cleric with Fire domain?
Turn or destroy water creatures as a good cleric turns undead. Rebuke, command, or bolster fire creatures as an evil cleric rebukes undead. Use these abilities a total number of times per day equal to ...
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Why are the beholder deities chaotic evil?
In 2e Planescape material and the Monster Mythology accessory, the beholder gods are listed as chaotic evil. The Great Mother has a realm in the Abyss, and Monster Mythology specifically notes her ...
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Are there any anti-slavery war deities who also have the Lust domain?
I'm looking for any deities accepted in 3.5 for my character to follow. The character is also CN if that helps any. The domains I'm looking for would be lust and battle/war but also hates oppressors ...
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Evil characters and magic in Pathfinder Society organized play
If a Pathfinder Society player brings a 'typically evil' character to a Pathfinder Society game, what should the GM and other players do? This also can extend to characters casting magic with the evil ...
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The Bard wants to convert a Goblin to the good side. Are there any rules against this?
Upfront: I DMed a lot from 1990 to 2005, but not D&D. So I'm decent quality and experienced, but rusty and a total novice with the 5e rules. I do believe that fun trumps rules, and that alignment ...
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What happens to a devil who draws the balance card from a deck of many things? [duplicate]
I recently read the accepted answer to this question, and this part brings a good question:
A devil does not choose to be lawful evil, and it doesn't tend toward lawful evil, but rather it is ...
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Can good-aligned damage hurt good creatures
Recently I've been trying to make my dream characters into tangible concepts which is why I've asked so many different class-related questions. I was skimming through templates and found the soulfire ...
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How and when should a lawful good character punish evil behavior? [closed]
I'm new to dungeons & dragons and social gaming in general, and I need some guidance on things that are making it not fun for me to play.
I joined a campaign with the guidance that it was a good ...
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House-ruling spells about evil and good to give them back their flavor from old editions
As an ex D&D 3.5 and D&D 2 player, I feel bad that 5e don't make spells that about evil and good (like "Protection from Evil and Good" and "Detect Evil and Good") don't actually interact with ...
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Can a neutral or even a good-aligned character realistically have a nightmare as a mount?
So I've got a player in my campaign whose character, of chaotic neutral alignment and level 16, has been in search of a magical mount. After much research ingame, the character has grown an obsession ...
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What happens when an outsider changes alignment?
In the SRD's bestiary, most outsiders have an alignment listed. In D&D 5e celestials and devils are locked into their alignment - if they change they become something else. That made me curious ...
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Does Golarion's Shadow Plane have any Good creatures?
Paizo bends over backwards to express that being next to the Positive Energy Plane doesn't make you good, nor does being near the Negative Energy Plane make you bad. Heck, they even list the Shadow ...
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Undoing the alignment change of the Book of Vile Darkness
So I'm the DM in a campaign (which I know gives me a lot of leeway) but I try to stick as close to the books as I can. One of the NPCs attuned to the Book of Vile Darkness, and failed the associated ...
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How can I meet the needs of players in a party whose characters have opposite alignments?
I am currently DMing a Star Wars D&D campaign.
One character has a backstory that includes 'setting orphans on fire'. Needless to say, he is a murder hobo and a Sith. One of my other characters ...
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If a celestial gets corrupted and turns evil, does it get converted to a fiend?
We know of multiple celestials (Malkizid, Thah Rahalar) that served evil deities. After their fall, do they necessarily become fiends or devils?
Inspired by this question.
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According to Book of Exalted Deeds, how to choose between two evils?
The Book of Exalted Deeds says that evil means used to prevent greater evil cannot be used by good characters, and says:
Some good characters might view a situation where an evil act is required to ...
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Is being evil aligned, in and of itself, an evil act?
As asked in the title.
Is being an evil aligned creature, in and of itself, considered an evil act?
I was playing a Paladin at one point, and my more chaotically aligned party members wanted me to ...
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Can celestials serve evil deities?
From what I’ve read, evil-aligned celestials are an extreme rarity, but evil-aligned deities exist. I’ve even heard that if a celestial turns evil, they stop being a celestial. Celestials supposedly ...
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