What alignment do you play?

This is a place for G.M.s and GM wannabes to share ideas and their own methods of play. It is not a locked forum so be aware your players may be watching!

Moderators: Immortals, Supreme Beings, Old Ones

What type of alignment do you play on average?

Good
22
42%
Neutral (Selfish)
18
35%
Evil
12
23%
 
Total votes: 52

User avatar
jade von delioch
Dungeon Crawler
Posts: 366
Joined: Fri Feb 25, 2005 3:08 pm
Location: portland, or
Contact:

What alignment do you play?

Unread post by jade von delioch »

most of the time i play good characters. Ive posted this uestion on several forum to see what people say.
member of-Our Lady of the Boundless Ammo
Image
D20 is the pollution of the game industry.. do not buy into the pollutant, buy the cool rich taste of palladium.
User avatar
Overlord Rikonius
Hero
Posts: 1085
Joined: Sat Sep 30, 2000 1:01 am
Comment: I'm basically a sexy Rasputin!
Location: Rikonia
Contact:

Re: What alignment do you play?

Unread post by Overlord Rikonius »

jade von delioch wrote:most of the time i play good characters. Ive posted this uestion on several forum to see what people say.

I usually prefer aberrant.
GP: 16,019.8 / JP: 30 / MZP: 75
Image
"Overlord Rikonius is the Roland Deschain of Bad Puns, he fires them off that fast" - CornholioPrime
"Rik is a deep and abundant reservoir of cool..." - Yisterwald
Party hydrants strive when they have a sorority backed by beige regurgitations.
Image
User avatar
Cybermancer
Hero
Posts: 1473
Joined: Tue Mar 21, 2006 2:50 pm

Re: What alignment do you play?

Unread post by Cybermancer »

I tend to play Unprincipled characters as they give the largest range of freedom while still being more or less good guys. I shy away from good alignments depending on the GM. If they're overly strict in their interpretations of what alignments allow or use alignments as a way to control player character actions, I choose an alignment that allows me the most freedom of action.

If a GM looks at alignments as a way the character acts most of the time, then I'll consider Scrupulous. If a GM says, "If you do that, your alignment will change" rather than, "You can't do that because of your alignment" then I will consider Scrupulous.
I was raised to beleive if you can't say something nice about a person, say nothing at all. This has led to living a very quiet life.

Someone who tells you what to think is trying to control you. Someone who teaches you how to think is trying to free you.

WWVLD?
User avatar
drewkitty ~..~
Monk
Posts: 17782
Joined: Sat Sep 30, 2000 1:01 am
Location: Eastvale, calif
Contact:

Re: What alignment do you play?

Unread post by drewkitty ~..~ »

there is is no Neutral

Usually play Unpincipled chars
May you be blessed with the ability to change course when you are off the mark.
Each question should be give the canon answer 1st, then you can proclaim your house rules.
Reading and writing (literacy) is how people on BBS interact.
User avatar
Nekira Sudacne
Monk
Posts: 15523
Joined: Sun Oct 19, 2003 7:22 pm
Comment: The Munchkin Fairy
Location: 2nd Degree Black Belt of Post Fu
Contact:

Re: What alignment do you play?

Unread post by Nekira Sudacne »

Depends on the character

I've played everything but Diabolic.
Sometimes, you're like a beacon of light in the darkness, giving me some hope for humankind. ~ Killer Cyborg

You can have something done good, fast and cheap. If you want it done good and fast, it's not going to be cheap. If you want it done fast and cheap it won't be good. If you want something done good and cheap it won't be done fast. ~ Dark Brandon
User avatar
Natasha
Champion
Posts: 3161
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2008 7:26 pm
Comment: Doomed to crumble unless we grow, and strengthen our communication.

Re: What alignment do you play?

Unread post by Natasha »

I picked selfish although good is a close second.
User avatar
jade von delioch
Dungeon Crawler
Posts: 366
Joined: Fri Feb 25, 2005 3:08 pm
Location: portland, or
Contact:

Re: What alignment do you play?

Unread post by jade von delioch »

i know there is no Neutral. that is why it says Selfish next to it. This was not designed with only palladium in mind, hense why it says Neutral.
member of-Our Lady of the Boundless Ammo
Image
D20 is the pollution of the game industry.. do not buy into the pollutant, buy the cool rich taste of palladium.
User avatar
demos606
Hero
Posts: 1248
Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2005 8:49 pm
Location: Hell

Re: What alignment do you play?

Unread post by demos606 »

I've played em all. It really depends on the character concept for me.
What a cruel thing is war: to separate and destroy families and friends, and mar the purest joys and happiness God has granted us in this world; to fill our hearts with hatred instead of love for our neighbors, and to devastate the fair face of this beautiful world. - R E Lee
People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf. - G Orwell
User avatar
wildhood
Dungeon Crawler
Posts: 275
Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2009 2:03 am
Comment: Pickup my 1st Palladium RPG Book back in 1990.
Location: East Lansing, MI, Than Turn Left
Contact:

Re: What alignment do you play?

Unread post by wildhood »

Selfish & good alignments mostly. As a GM you play them all because you are god of the game.
I don t beleive I m using my XBOX One to post on here.
Undisiplined Veritech Pilots don t pilot Veritechs they pilot Verideck.
User avatar
Specter
Adventurer
Posts: 460
Joined: Wed Aug 28, 2002 1:01 am
Location: Laurens, SC
Contact:

Re: What alignment do you play?

Unread post by Specter »

I usually play unprincipled in the palladium system. Chaotic Good in D&D.
My dragon juicer died because of magical sock puppets. - ash_wednesday

hell id go on spectors pods- Cherico

keep Specter's ass out of my general area when he fells naked- Rayven

Specter "the poopy pants man"-CyberPaladin85

http://beautifuldiscord.blogspot.com My Poetry/Short Stories I want you to comment!
User avatar
Dog_O_War
Champion
Posts: 2512
Joined: Fri Jan 18, 2008 1:30 pm
Comment: I'ma fight you, Steve!
Location: fending the Demons off from the Calgary Rift

Re: What alignment do you play?

Unread post by Dog_O_War »

In palladium games, I've only ever played selfish characters. Really, I've wanted a lure to turn good or bad, instead of just starting that way. That way, when I react - I can react more naturally.

For instance..... I was playing a Headhunter (my favorite OCC) in a reasonably long-running campaign. During one such instance we intercepted a major business deal by chance and fate, which netted us alot of money. Alot of money. Overnight (well, within a couple of months) we became hunted by an unknown faction; our small-time merc outfit based in the outskirts of the Chi-town 'burbs. We had a nice little set-up too, with only a couple of unfortunate run-ins with the CS. We helped out their patrols in the past, and generally because we weren't harboring any D-Bees or magic-users they left us alone (if only watched closely).

Anyways, on a particular botched job we got ambushed by a dragon (some adult variety I'd never heard of - it couldn't fly, and that's all I cared about). I totalled our "aquired" and heavily customed Mark V APC, and when the chips were down I totally bailed on my buddy (I had a jetpack, he had only hope and my plasma ejector). Instead of going down fighting, he shot me out of the sky (the bastard :x ). But I suppose one good turn deserves another. Then we were to be the dragons' minions, as it decided that we were just the type of resourceful humans it was looking for.....

Later, we'd hired on more staff in a different location for yet another job. Now up until this point in time, we'd never really had a problem with the CS, but this time we'd met up with a particularily sadistic group consisting of some kill-cats. during this altercation, they killed my best friend (an NPC crazy). It was on. I proceeded to work against them in the shadows, using my personal funds to fuel a private war.

(heh, the first thing I did was hire a bunch of Juicer mercs to find that unit and kill them. Unfortunately I had a very poor choice of words and put a way-high bounty out, so instead of a specific unit of kill-cats, I pretty much put out a hit on all the kill-cats that could be found in the 'Burbs :oops: Lesson learned)

Anyways, I'd gone from a selfish, self-serving bastard (in-game) to a rebel with a cause. Pretty much what ended up happening to Han Solo (though we'd only made that connection afterwards).


This is what I find to be more fullfilling in the end; to rise up and meet your destiny. To be allowed to choose your path by the actions you take, and the actions of others around you. This path led me down the road of the righteous, and without these events taking place, I'd have probably ended up as a major crime-lord or something (or likely just a failed mercenary).

So I guess that when I say I've only ever played selfish characters, what I meant to say is that I tend to start selfish and see where that takes me.
Thread Bandit
I didn't say "rooster"
My masters were full of cheesecake
The answer to all your "not realistic!" questions. FIREBALL!
I am a King.
I am a Renegade.
I am a Barbarian.
I cry the howl of chaos.
I am the dogs of war.
User avatar
Ziggurat the Eternal
Hero
Posts: 1558
Joined: Thu Sep 07, 2006 7:50 pm
Location: Gah, never give it away!

Re: What alignment do you play?

Unread post by Ziggurat the Eternal »

Overlord Rikonius wrote:
jade von delioch wrote:most of the time i play good characters. Ive posted this uestion on several forum to see what people say.

I usually prefer aberrant.

Seconded, but I usually play an aberrant good guy, in a group of good guys. I actually play the counterpart to the one guy who always plays Principled, and we usually agree on a lot of things. Interesting how that works out. The main difference is in the motivations that drive our similar actions. That and my lack of regard for the laws of consistant force.
Balabanto wrote:Well, something called The Devastator should Devastate things. 1d6x10 couldn't devastate your mother in Rifts.

amodernheathen wrote:If, in one posting, I can increase the hellish chaos of even a single planet seven-fold, then I believe that I have done my duty as a Game Master to the widows and orphans of that world. By increasing their number. Drastically.
BillionSix
Dungeon Crawler
Posts: 347
Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2005 7:40 pm
Comment: All I need is a warm bed, a kind word, and unlimited power.
Location: Raleigh, North Carolina
Contact:

Re: What alignment do you play?

Unread post by BillionSix »

I suppose I would either be Good or Selfish, but it would depend on the setting. Selfish would be good for a ruthless setting like Rifts, but Heroes Unlimited would probably inspire me to more noble leanings.

I think many people shy away from the Good alignments because of something I heard someone say on a forums somewhere. It basically came down to "Good is a job, Evil is a hobby."
If you are good, you can't turn away from suffering. You have to help. But if you are evil, you don't have to be evil 24/7. Darth Vader doesn't have to Force Choke everyone he passes. He can do it when he wants to show off, and can even show mercy, just to keep people guessing.
A person might want to play a really nice guy, but when it comes down to it, they don't want to write Principled on their character sheet, since it is So Darned Restrictive!

Brian
All I need is a warm bed, a kind word and unlimited power.
User avatar
Vrykolas2k
Champion
Posts: 3175
Joined: Mon May 03, 2004 8:58 pm
Location: A snow-covered forest, littered with the bones of my slain enemies...
Contact:

Re: What alignment do you play?

Unread post by Vrykolas2k »

Aberrant usually, sometimes unprincipled.
Eyes without life, maggot-ridden corpses, mountains of skulls... these are a few of my favourite things.

I am the first angel, loved once above all others...

Light a man a fire, and he's warm for a day; light a man on fire, and he's warm for the rest of his life.

Turning the other cheek just gets you slapped harder.

The Smiling Bandit (Strikes Again!! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!)
User avatar
J. Lionheart
Rifter® Contributer
Posts: 1616
Joined: Fri Jan 10, 2003 2:01 am
Location: Arlington, VA

Re: What alignment do you play?

Unread post by J. Lionheart »

Scrupulous, generally.
Jeremiah Lionheart (Evan Cooney)
Image
Only person ever to kill another player in KS's "Secret Enemy" game.
"Julius is convinced Evan Cooney was born to play Weasel Man." -Kevin
User avatar
Cybermancer
Hero
Posts: 1473
Joined: Tue Mar 21, 2006 2:50 pm

Re: What alignment do you play?

Unread post by Cybermancer »

Since this discussion also apprarently includes D&D, I'll add in that I usually play Lawful Neutral in that game. Although lately I've been playing Lawful Good.

My buddies are somewhat awed/impressed/scared at how cunning and even manipulative I can be while still being both good and lawful. Mostly it's been about proving a point about the difference between Lawfull Good and Lawful Stupid.

Kind of related to the difference between Chaotic Evil and Chaotic Stupid.
I was raised to beleive if you can't say something nice about a person, say nothing at all. This has led to living a very quiet life.

Someone who tells you what to think is trying to control you. Someone who teaches you how to think is trying to free you.

WWVLD?
User avatar
Syndicate
Adventurer
Posts: 466
Joined: Thu Aug 29, 2002 1:01 am
Location: Seattle, WA (kinda)

Re: What alignment do you play?

Unread post by Syndicate »

All about the unprincipled baby... 8-)
"What began as a gathering, ended as an organization."
BillionSix
Dungeon Crawler
Posts: 347
Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2005 7:40 pm
Comment: All I need is a warm bed, a kind word, and unlimited power.
Location: Raleigh, North Carolina
Contact:

Re: What alignment do you play?

Unread post by BillionSix »

Unprincipled seems to be a bit of a copout to me. It's the default, I can do whatever I want, but I am a nice guy.

Unprincipled and Anarchist are the Chaotic Good and Chaotic Neutral of Palladium.

Brian
All I need is a warm bed, a kind word and unlimited power.
User avatar
Natasha
Champion
Posts: 3161
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2008 7:26 pm
Comment: Doomed to crumble unless we grow, and strengthen our communication.

Re: What alignment do you play?

Unread post by Natasha »

Rifter6 wrote:
BillionSix wrote:Unprincipled seems to be a bit of a copout to me. It's the default, I can do whatever I want, but I am a nice guy.

Unprincipled and Anarchist are the Chaotic Good and Chaotic Neutral of Palladium.

Brian


Pretty much agreed... I "in general" see less creativity with RPing a character from players who choose unprincipled.

That's a problem with the player, not the alignment.
User avatar
Natasha
Champion
Posts: 3161
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2008 7:26 pm
Comment: Doomed to crumble unless we grow, and strengthen our communication.

Re: What alignment do you play?

Unread post by Natasha »

BillionSix wrote:Unprincipled seems to be a bit of a copout to me. It's the default, I can do whatever I want, but I am a nice guy.

Unprincipled and Anarchist are the Chaotic Good and Chaotic Neutral of Palladium.

Brian

I'm not totally familiar with these alignments from D&D, but Unprincipled and Anarchist are selfish; they're not neutral.
User avatar
Spinachcat
Megaversal® Ambassador
Posts: 1465
Joined: Mon May 15, 2006 5:01 pm

Re: What alignment do you play?

Unread post by Spinachcat »

Evil, evil and more evil!!!

But that's because I mostly GM.

As a player, it totally depends on the character concept but I always choose something that works WITH the group and HELPS the GM tell the story of his campaign.
User avatar
Ice Dragon
Hero
Posts: 1003
Joined: Thu Nov 16, 2000 2:01 am
Location: Vienna,Austria

Re: What alignment do you play?

Unread post by Ice Dragon »

I prefere the good alignments - esp. scrupulous. But for some characters I go with unprincipled and see where it would lead to good or evil.
It is always a bad thing when political matters are allowed to affect the planning of operations (Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, 1943)

Nelly ~ He's one romantic smooth operator and a true old school gentleman. Heck he's an Austrian officer, it's in his blood.

Co-Holder with Jefffar of the "Lando Calrissian" award for Smooth. - Novastar

10 + 100 Geek Points (Danger + Shawn Merrow)
User avatar
jedi078
Champion
Posts: 2360
Joined: Wed May 04, 2005 8:21 pm
Comment: The next group of player characters to surrender in one of my games are going to play Russian roulette.
Location: Salem, Oregon

Re: What alignment do you play?

Unread post by jedi078 »

I usually go with aberrant.
Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem".
Ronald Reagan, President of the United States; 1985
User avatar
Aaryq
Adventurer
Posts: 619
Joined: Thu Apr 13, 2006 9:23 pm
Location: Yelm, WA

Re: What alignment do you play?

Unread post by Aaryq »

I selected Selfish. I almost always play aberrant or unprincipled. Also, as a house rule, we switched anarchist to evil and aberrant to selfish...*flame suit on*

In my earlier gaming days I would always play diabolic. It lost its fun being the bad guy though. I prefer to just be the guy. I do as I wish, whatever is best for me.
There should be a specific sub-forum of the Rifts forum dedicated to the only hope for salvation of the human race, the Coalition States.
User avatar
jedi078
Champion
Posts: 2360
Joined: Wed May 04, 2005 8:21 pm
Comment: The next group of player characters to surrender in one of my games are going to play Russian roulette.
Location: Salem, Oregon

Re: What alignment do you play?

Unread post by jedi078 »

Aaryq wrote:I selected Selfish. I almost always play aberrant or unprincipled. Also, as a house rule, we switched anarchist to evil and aberrant to selfish...*flame suit on*

To be honest I see things the same way.
Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem".
Ronald Reagan, President of the United States; 1985
User avatar
Silveressa
Explorer
Posts: 176
Joined: Wed Oct 14, 2009 6:36 pm
Location: The frozen north
Contact:

Re: What alignment do you play?

Unread post by Silveressa »

It depends ont he setting really, but for most games I choose Aberrant evil, (Which I would consider more "selfish" given they define their own code of honor and such) since generally fits most of my chars pretty well since they usually won't hesitate to deal with evil/villains in which ever way seems seems expedient/just in their view. (Especially in a world like System Failure or After The Bomb where "obeying the law" is kind of a moot point beyond one's own belief of what is "the law".) In Shadowrun the rpg I play most often, Aberrant Evil would be considered the "norm" for most runners, so I'm more used to having my chars think/act in such a manner. (not that Shadowrun actually bothers with clear cut "alignments.")

It actually once sparked a interesting debate around the gaming table during the start of a HU campaign if it was truly "evil" to administer justice ala Judge Dredd/Casey Jones style on guilty villains (those caught in the act of committing the crime so there can be no doubt of guilt) or more evil to trust a corrupted and flawed judicial system likely to let the villain off with a mere slap on the wrist or a legal technicality.

In the end the GM ruled the justice system in her HU world was far less corrupt then in the real world and parole was only available for non violent/non felony crimes; which settled the issue of the morality being widely acceptable.

In other settings like PF or HU if I'm playing a more noble char, (Like a paladin or upstanding super heroine) I usually choose Scrupulous to help keep compatibility with the rest of the group/fit the theme of the campaign/o.c.c.
"Lesbian Gamers, sometimes we use our hands for other things."
User avatar
Natasha
Champion
Posts: 3161
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2008 7:26 pm
Comment: Doomed to crumble unless we grow, and strengthen our communication.

Re: What alignment do you play?

Unread post by Natasha »

jedi078 wrote:
Aaryq wrote:I selected Selfish. I almost always play aberrant or unprincipled. Also, as a house rule, we switched anarchist to evil and aberrant to selfish...*flame suit on*

To be honest I see things the same way.

I could see bumping Anarchist into evil, although I wouldn't.

Aberrant is evil, not selfish, however. Keeping your word is something a selfish character chooses to do, not something a selfish character must do.
Locked

Return to “G.M.s Forum”