Dunno, I am currently playing Azata and I didn´t feel that, my char was a neutral good hunter and I did not experience any issues about my alignment. Maybe some Paths like Lich or Aeon are more restrictive? Plenty of people asked for "The good lich" trope and it seems you can do it , but I didn't get that far.
Originally Posted by spacehamster95
Originally Posted by Black_Elk
Just cause "Evil" was brought up... hehe
I don't know about the writing, (maybe it sounds cooler in Russian?) but one thing I did enjoy going back to 3.5 is that Alignment actually still exists there. I felt immediately at home seeing the dual Axis thing again, even if its represented by the wheel there now, since it's honestly been a while.
I think getting rid of the alignment system is a little misguided, like truly ditching a core component of what differentiated D&D from other similar games.
Perhaps its overly simplistic, sure, but it was nevertheless a D&D innovation and pretty novel. To ask players to actually think about ethics when creating a character, and to do so in a slightly more nuanced way than just "Good vs Bad, Hero or Villain?" that was a gift real from D&D, and probably my first exposure to entry level ethics as a kid.
Encouraging players to consider the idea that one might be Lawful but also Evil at the same time, or that one could be Chaotic but also essentially Good, or to be Neutral with regard to either idea, Law vs Chaos or Good vs Evil. That's rather more sophisticated than what we typically get in real life, or what happens in-game when the scheme is eliminated with nothing to replace it.
When it's gone things just sort of revert back into a simple Good vs Bad situation, pancaking everything down onto 1 Axis again. Removing Alignment removes some of the key internal/external conflict drivers that might inform the characterization or plot/paths too. Even the cosmology scheme gets upended in its absence.
Choosing an alignment starting point (even if its a fluid system, and not fixed forever) was one of the ways to get players thinking about their character as a Character, instead of just being totally impulsive or capricious in their choices. It provided a pause and a little separation between the character's motivations and the player's motivations.
Anyhow, I miss it, and I think its absence in BG3 is notable.
I know many people say 'good riddance' or that it was too meta or too inconsistent anyway, but I think its ultimately going to hurt the D&D experience in the long term, not having Alignment anymore. Eventually they're probably just going to have to reintroduce the idea again in subsequent editions, or they'll wind up with something that can't really escape the Good/Bad binary, which is kind of boring by comparison.
It is quite interesting if you look at the history of alignment system in D&D. Evil and Good wasn't even the basis for it, it was mainly Law and Chaos, whether you are a "civilizing force" or a "savage monster".
I do think it is a helpful tool when it comes to character creation, just to flash out the moral skeleton of a pc or npc. Though some people are weird with it, like they treat alignment as it were the end and not just a mean of role-playing.
Opinions about alignments are like noses, everybody has one (besides Voldemort). It was a staple in D&D and other games based on it for years. I have mixed feelings about it, because of the varied opinions about it, what @Spacehamster said and because alignment could be used as an excuse for some pernicious behaviours ( the chaotic stupid, the lawful stupid, the chaotic murder hobo evil), but that said, as a mechanic is useful because it adds some axis for abilities, spells, creature templates, planes, etc .
In a videogame, it becomes more interesting because it adds replayability. A character of different alignment could have options that a lawful good character would not have, so you have reasons to play another run and have a different experience. Also if you have the option to switch alignments while playing you could experience that your character is evolving and reacts to the world, that your decisions are making changes. I do not say Kingmaker, NWN2, Wotr and other games did it perfectly, but it´s a fun thing (at least for me) to add to a videogame.
I understand in D&D5e alignment is not a central mechanic and it´s not encouraged but I miss an alignment system in BG3 too, for tradition and because of how could enrich your experience.
And to have endless debates in the forums about alignment. It´s been a classic since bg2 and before!
