>the fairy detects as lawful good
>after submitting herself to several dispels on herself and everything she wears, she still detects as lawful good
>not neutral good like most pixies in 3.PF and 5e, but lawful good
Do you trust her?
>>46960444
I find a better game.
Alignment is and always will be shit.
Especially when it involves game mechanics.
>>46960444
Can't trust Lawful Goods either
>>46960444
>she's TOO trustworthy
>do you trust her?
>>46960444
Lawful Good does not equate 'incapable of lying', though. But yeah, the fairy very likely has good intentions.
>>46960444
Alignment is garbage and highly subjective. An evil bastard commiting genocide could be considered "Lawful Good" if he succeeds and the history books paint him as a hero.
>>46960453
Beat me to it.
>>46960444
>fairy
>lawful
That's the last fairy I want to trust. I can't even ffathom what kind of concepts are accepted as norms/laws in the fae realm.
>>46960582
This is not how alignments work. They are complete shit, BUT they are not subjective. Alignments are an objective tag the universe hands out in DnD.
>>46961182
The worst part about alignments has always been that it shows you what other people consider objectively good. Alignment debates shatter my faith in humanity more than any other atrocity.
>>46961226
That's small time. This will shatter your faith in makind so hard you won't have pieces big enough to glue it back together.
>>>/qst/5
>>46960453
>>46960582
>>46961182
>>46961226
>don't understand alignment
>complain about it
It's always people too stupid to function who have an issue with alignment, and who often happily misconstrue what they're actually complaining about to somehow be the fault of a system that works fine if used as intended.
>>46960453
Happily, in 5e it's virtually entirely descriptive and only mechanically interacts with two or three very specific magic items. Chiefly the Books of Vile Darkness/Exalted Deeds, and if there's anything that it makes sense for it's those.
>>46962521
>Happily, in 5e it's virtually entirely descriptive and only mechanically interacts with two or three very specific magic items.
and one spell
>>46961182
>BUT they are not subjective
They are and are described as such in most editions, but they're still not as goofy as >>46960582 says.
>>46960444
Lawful Good people can still screw you over if they feel they have an important reason to do so.
So, like anyone, I trust her to a certain extent but verify anything I can that might lead to my demise and stop trusting her if she does something shady.
Also, alignment is not shit, but Species-based alignment? That's shit.
>>46960444
I don't mind alignment itself, but the detect spells are something I've felt are complete cheese.
>>46962521
Too bad the rest of 5e is bland as fuck
Anyone else think characters in-game being aware of how alignment works and referring to themselves as "lawful good" is stupid? It's like a character saying they leveled up or they took X damage.
>>46960444
>Do you trust her?
Yes and no, but no and yes.
If I trust her, she inevitably betrays me in a twist of fate, even if she never intended to, and uses me in her immoral and possibly nefarious plans, treating me like a pawn.
If I don't trust her, then she never betrays me, and is a genuinely good person, puzzled why I don't trust her, and then she tragically dies trying to protect me.
It's a classic Schroedinger's trap.
Player is always wrong, because the GM can retroactively change whatever the player didn't experience yet.
There is no right choice. Only the different wrong ones.
>>46962605
It used to be a lot more weird and esoteric. In the oldest iterations every intelligent creature knew its own alignment--and knew a special language based on this. For these versions of D&D Alignment was a strange, metaphysical truth that touched every facet of the setting and mythos.
It's also less bothersome than alignment mechanics now, as it was only Law, Neutrality, and Chaos with no regard for good or evil.
>>46962672
>Law, Neutrality and Chaos.
Daily reminder.
>>46962397
Weak ass bait, senpai
>>46960444
She's pretty and a woman. Of course I don't trust her.
No, because outside of some arbitrary mechanic I don't know her.
Is she a qt?
>>46962785
Not according to Gygax, it isn't.
>>46963025
Gygax is dead.
>>46963077
Fuck you for reminding me. I have to go and cry now.
>>46963077
Yeah, but when he was alive he came up with D&D's alignment system, and he didn't do that based on id/ego/superego.
>>46962397
It's people who understand EXACTLY how alignments work who have a problem with it and rampaging retards who DON'T understand it who defend it.
>>46963178
He's dead now, so he isn't here to argue about that.
>>46960444
>ever trusting the fey
>>46960444
>trusting a fey
>ever
This is exactly the reason one of my characters carried around a hunk of cold iron ore.he was too cheap to get it forged and "it must work even better if it hasn't been worked by heat at all"
Several faeries were bludgeoned to death by this rock.
>>46962672
Gygax cribbed that from Moorcock's Eternal Champion series of books, and in that light alignments make sense - Law and Chaos are two distinct forces fighting for dominance throughout the multiverse, and if you were picked as a champion of either side you'd notice that real quick.
>>46963233
That's one cute flying fairy right there. I would trust it no matter what happened.
>>46963077
So is Freud.
They are togheter now trying to fill the player sheet.
>>46963424
that's the one thing you don't want to do
>>46963538
Reminds me of that gag from Futurama.
>>46963184
It's the opposite. People have a problem with alignment because they don't regard it as an elemental force of the universe, on a level above (or below, depending on how you want to depict the foundations of the cosmos) even the classical "elemental" forces like fire, water, etc., which is exactly how most D&D cosmologies (chiefly Forgotten Realms) have treated it.
They hate it because it's a system of absolutes defined by a never-defined but still present cosmic Arbiter that spits in the face of all the moral relativity and "shades of grey" nonsense that has become de rigueur in storytelling.
>Waaahh, it's not a good story unless the villains have tragic backstories and are merely misunderstood; it's bad writng to have a character who was evil from birth because everything must be a product of nurturing and past experiences; having his puppy kicked as his child and then watching his wife killed by an uncaring bureaucracy is total justification for genocide; the heroes are just as damaged and morally questionable as the villain because they also use violence to further their ends; truly good characters are gay because they can never be morally challenged since they have complete confidence in the absolute nature of their good deeds, baaaww.Also, because they've been burned by shitty DMs or players who also didn't understand the system and would say things like, "Your character's Good so they really wouldn't do this," and treat alignment as magical handcuffs that prevent you from acting in certain ways. It's not that; it may be "out of character" for a Paladin to stab that farmer, but nothing prevents him from doing so.
>>46963649
Souls exist in this setting, they inform the actions of the being, and they can be tainted any which way. Planar forces (angels and other "Good" beings, devils and other "Evil" ones) are both a source of these energies and draw power from it. There is a battle being waged between Good and Evil on a scale that makes the trifling concerns of a party trying to stop the total explosion of this kingdom look quaint. There are beings that know this, who can speak of it to others, and there are characters (chiefly those with divine contacts) who can learn it, and some who are even expected to further the proliferation of those energies. In the same way that, say, an Istishian is supposed to promote the free flow and superiority of water, or a Kossuthan is meant to scare everyone into respecting fire and extend its dominance across every plane, so too are classical Paladins meant to champion a cause of Good that empowers planar forces, not just their patron deity.
That "greater good" shit doesn't exist in moral relativism; there actually is no good and evil there, it's a RELATIVE system after all. You can only have it in an absolutist setting, and it's still not the old, "doing this evil thing now is the right choice because it does more good in the long run or prevents greater, future evils" most people immediately jump to.
You only get out of alignment systems what you're willing to put into it. If you want to ignore the scope of alignment's involvement in all things as a root cause of happiness and misfortune, as an ACTUAL FUCKING ELEMENT inherent in all beings, and/or have no interest in playing out or even slightly revealing the grander consequences to it, then yes, it's not going to do much for you. But moral absolutism played to its full extent is going to get you a campaign with an even greater richness of moral quandary all that edgy self-doubt (yes, even in the face of DEFINITELY KNOWING AN ACTION IS GOOD) the kids love today.
You should try it.
>>46963424
Wonderful- would you considerthese crystals
>>46963678
Of course. I'll help her with any crystal related thing she needs help with, she seems like a good friend.
>>46963662
>>46963649
I should also be noted that alignment restrictions on classes are fucking retarded 99% of the time, and that's a big reason people hated them.
There is nothing stopping you metaphysically from being a Dwarven Defenbard or a Barbadin.
>>46960453
What is Detect alignment was just a fancy spell to determine intentions?
Like at this very moment the Fairy has Lawful and good intentions?
as in she will help you as best she can and most likely stick by your side?
>>46960444
>implying alignments work on fae
>implying even "lawful good" fae won't pull tricks like murdering you in your sleep
>"its just a prank brah, no homo."
literally retarded OP.
>>46960444
I don't know about trusting her but i roll to seduce and then thrust into her.
>>46963336
Actually, it predates Moorcock.
Poul Anderson's Three Hearts and Three Lions.
>>46963649
You act as though cartoonish cosmological factions are any better that edgy moral ambiguity when in fact they're two sides to the same cancer.
Alignment was a mistake.
>>46966023
>cartoonish
Didn't even get ten posts out before this played out gripe showed up, damn.
>>46963233
>implyingShe wasn't the real hero and her older sister isn't a bigger bitch
>>46960603
This.
They are going to be a stickler about totally confounding laws and rules written by fey FOR fey.
I'd rather deal with infernal contracts than fey law. At least with devils, you know what they want and they they are going to try like hell to dick you over. But with fey law, literally anything goes and they can end up erasing your entire childhood with the best of intentions and never believe they did anything wrong.
>>46960444
You know that it is possible for creatures to change their alignment with a trivial amount of effort after they're generated, right?
Why does everyone seem to think that alignments are static?
>>46963424
Following her is actually the right thing to do even if you know the problem.
>>46969275
Pixies are Always NG in 3.5.
>>46960444
I know full well that it's impossible for magic to uncover the deceptions of demons. This fairy is a succubus until she demonstrates otherwise.
>>46969275
Only for mortals endowed with free will.
>>46973396
What sort of evidence would you accept from her as a demonstration of non-demonhood?
>>46973461
She'd have to submit to some kind of holy sacrament. I'd demand that she marry me on the instant. If she refuses, well, there you go.
>>46960444
It's probably trying to lead me back to wonderland, I smack it with the biggest iron object I have handy.
>>46960444
>trusting a woman
>>46973359
>>46973405
>nobody reads the damn book
>>46973816
>such individuals are unique or rare exceptions
>>46973857
>rare exceptions means no exceptons
>>46963649
>>46963662
Literally retarded, no matter how many big words you use to try to appear intellectual.
Alignments are trash.
>>46973816
I just don't give a shit about your book.
>>46973715
He already said it was a fairy, not a woman.
>>46966577
Nah, man. Demons are literally trying to screw you because it's their job. So all you have to do is slip up once and they screw you. Fae run on grammar, so they are literally powered by audacity and romance. Plus, in the old stories they always tell you exactly what the catch is or the rules are, and then use everything you never expected to get you to willingly break the rules. That's not cheating, it's just thinking outside the box. If you manage to beat a fae at this type of game they will be impressed. Or you can instead just tell the truth and ask specific questions and try to spin what's going on so that you and the fae in question are on the same side of the story.
>>46974624
>Fae run on grammar
Glamour. I'm not even on my phone. I'm just that tired.
>>46974253
> rulelawyering about D&D alignments
> I just don't give a shit about the rules
why do I have a feeling I shouldn't actually be surprised at this combination?
>>46962804
You mean this whole thread, starting from the second post? Yes. Yes it is.
>>46960444
Alignment isn't an indicator of comportement, it's an indicator of alignment in the grand scheme of things. If the fairy is LG that means she is a traitor to the other small folks.
>>46960444
I know this bitch is probably literally Airy, but as long as we don't have to awaken the crystals or some shit, cool by me.Also try to hide my boner. Flirty fairies are my fetish, especially if they can change size and into a humanoid shape.
>>46962572
I'll take "bland" over poorly balanced and written thank you very much.
>>46962557
>Also, alignment is not shit, but Species-based alignment? That's shit.
Nah, there's a reason why most games lack anything resembling alignments. Even when they do have something resembling alignments, they're usually roleplay bullshit that's tucked in the background, rather than omnipotent forces that will literally determine how your character can progress through the game.
>>46960444
>Do you trust her?
Obviously no, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered detecting her alignment to begin with.
>>46980662
No, I mean it's shit because it's basically to keep bad roleplayers and bad DMs from having to do any work.
You see an NPC of x race and know it's good or evil based on race rather than behavior. That's the shitty part. Not with Player characters. Like Dragons in 3.x D&D being color coded for your convenience.
>>46960444
>>46963649
All of this is what makes it bad. It makes the world this predictable cookie cutter place where you can basically do the equivalent of a blood test on people to find out they're evil.
It's shit shit shit shit shit.
>>46974679
>A small, beautiful fairy with tiny glasses appears and waves her tiny hand
>"Woah, ain't cha da cutest lil' bae!"
>The fairy screeches awfully as her body quickly dissolves into nothingness.
Not possible as I don't think there is an actual spell or effect that detects actual alignment in 5e. So i';d detect a fey creature, not an alignment.
>>46963649
So you don't understand alignment then?
Alignment is subjective. What is good in some places is not good in others. The planar entities of the outer planes that represent these concepts manifest from the connotations associated with these alignments. If suddenly bunnies were totally associated with pure evil, you're going to find fiendish bunnies in the lower planes.
>>46960444
Does she want me to awaken the crystals?
