[DF] Dragonlance

[Polydamas]

Originally Posted by Johnny1A.2

Alignment in RPG settings serves as a way to make moral choices something other than personal preferences and 'my side' (and to justify the intense violence). If morality is purely the creation of the people and societies it applies to, it really doesn't mean anything, and you end up fairly quickly with 'power/winning is what really matters'. If morality is going to matter at all, it can't be 100% relative and subjective, because if it is Enlightenment logic will dissolve it away, leaving untrammeled self-interest.

Two points: you are assuming that alignment = morality or righteousness, but in many of the inspirations of D&D the cosmic forces were amoral and a wise person kept as far away from them as possible. This is where the idea of Neutrals seeking balance comes from.

And what systems other than D&D have an alignment mechanic?