[d20] Carthage

[Caldis]

One question for you Mason, do you use alignment at all?  I realise it's not much but it is the only element in d20 that deals with morality.   I know it's often dropped and if you've done so what do you have left that systematically represents a characters morality?   

[Mason]

The d20 we're using is called True 20, and its somewhere between D20 Modern and M&M in terms of design.  There's no alignment written into the system, which is a bit of a dodge to your question.  My group plays variant d20 games like Arcana Evolved that is likewise minus the Alignment mechanic, and when we play straight D&D, alignment is usually only brought up as a class consideration.  (No barbarian paladins or barbarian monks, for instance.)  My feeling has always been that the Alignment System is better for enforcing morality than exploring it, and I've always been more interested in games with moral grey areas.  When I do run D&D, I use a modified Alignment that keeps the mechanical workigns but loses the morality but when we get into that we're going far afield of the topic.  I'd be happy to discuss it in PM or email, tho.

As for this game, True 20 uses a Virtue/Vice thing where you pick one good and bad quality and then get a Conviction point when you do something that highlights one of those traits.  I found it too vague to be useful, so for this game I'm using the BW Belief system as a way to enhance the thematic character design.