Friday, May 30, 2014

Alignment & Spell Casting


                I use alignment to power SPELL selection
therefore, alignment has real meaning and game application.
...You can cast a spell repeatedly provided you don't exceed level based limits for SPELLS ALLOWED PER DAY if any only if your alignment is congruent with the magic school.

        Lawful creatures are reliable and dependable.  They respect authority and tradition. Lawful characters can be counted on to follow rules and leaders, even when leadership or regulations appear to be inconsistent or erroneous.   Lawful civilizations often have a hereditary monarchy whom are limited by feudalism  and/ or codified law.  The vast majority of property is passed to the oldest son; thereby, insuring the wealth and integrity of familial estates.
            Divine spheres or magical schools that are considered Lawful (L) are abjuration, alchemy, earth, justice, protection, runes, and strength.

 
CHAOTIC individuals avoid details, platitudes and commitment.  Some may view them as reckless and undependable; however, they tend to be tolerant and accepting of others. They place a great value on liberty and choice. Chaotic societies tend to be organized by clans or tribes with property being inherited by the strongest progeny or the bulk of the estate is buried with the decedent.
            Divine spheres or magical schools that are considered Chaotic (C) are air, charm, enchantment, illusion, liberation, luck, trickery and wind/ zephyr.

            NEUTRAL creatures value their families and personal security over cosmic or moral issues.  They will only take a risk if the gains are large or if their family or homes are threatened.  Neutral civilizations tend to be ruled by elected officials or guilds.  Property is inherited thru adherence to a written will.
            There are no ‘neutral’ magical spheres, but Nature has her own adherents (plants, animals, weather). Any caster may use general or unassigned spheres ( - ) of magic such as conjuration, evocation, fire, knowledge, transmutation, travel, war and wish.
                ..

      GOOD creatures revere truth, beauty, charity, chastity, sobriety and the property rights of the weak. Good PCs will pledge their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to defeat tyranny.
          Divine spheres or magical schools that are considered Good (G) or white magic are divination, creation, healing, honor, nobility, sun and water  .

 
EVIL creatures do not respect the life, liberty or the property rights of others. They are motivated by personal gain and a sense of entitlement.  They take, kill or deceive without remorse and follow leaders because of ambition, fear or greed, not adoration. 

            Divine spheres or magical schools that are considered evil or black magic are curses, darkness, death, destruction, disease and necromancy.

 
      Players may choose any alignment they want and need not reveal it to others.  There are some magical items that can only be used by one alignment of characters.       If the Dungeon Master feels that a character has begun to behave in a manner inconsistent with his declared alignment he may rule that he has changed alignment and penalize the character with a loss of one level. 

No cleric, priest, agent or mage can know or learn spells that are of opposite alignment than their own;
lawful mages cannot cast charm or illusions.   And 
 good priests may cast cure wounds multiple  provided they don’t exceed their level based limits or spells allowed per day.


 
             Evil people seldo declare their motivations.    Evil NPCs will attend charity events, political rallies and worship services alongside decent and loyal villagers. Many evil people actually have little insight into their true nature, hiding behind half-truths and excuses, insisting that the problem lies in other people’s misinterpretation of their behavior.  Part of being an effective conman, charlatan, politician, blogger troll or trial lawyer is to actually deceive yourself into believing that the product, cure, cause or argument that you champion is just or righteous.  

Evil people depend upon duplicity and deceit to further their selfish and malicious goals.  The wiser and more powerful the being, the more established and influential their social ties; therefore, even if the truth is openly declared, it will often be ignored, distorted, mocked or violently denounced as slander. Although know alignment spell is personally edifying to the caster, it will seldom convince others that an influential NPC is a crook, liar, undead or worse. 

 
                Real people (your friends, family and neighbors) are often more complex than fantasy characters. Discretion and tact dictates it is best to avoid using fantasy game mechanics to categorize individuals or political parties as good or evil & lawful or chaotic. Real people tend to have diverse motivations and do not readily settle on Table 4.1 that was liberated from the blog of Roger the GS on 29 Sep 2010.

Friday, May 23, 2014

The Kids are NOT Alright

 
 












"I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words... When I was young, we were taught to be discreet andrespectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly disrespectful  and impatient of restraint"
 Hesiod, 8th century BC 

I  will give you THREE reasons why the composition of modern youth have doomed the future of the USA
(maybe Canada , maybe Europe).  
There is an unholy trifecta in our youth that has never before been seen in human history:

First;
 a Thought experiment for those of you over forty;
Close your eyes and think back to high school, who was the fat kid 
Can you  picture him/her? 
What was their name?
That’s right - you can recall the face, probably the name - why?
Because it used to be that obesity was RARE.  Now, more than 1/6th of kids are obese.  I am not talking 10- 15 lbs middle-age overweight. I am talking fat - so heavy that you look overweight in your high school year book photo. (That’s right, twenty years ago,  Americans called excessive accumulation of   adipose tissue , ‘fat.’)
We all understand, that obesity  does NOT imply lack of moral or intellectual capacity but it is a severe detriment when dealing with health and occupational opportunities.
 
 
http://www.macon.com/2009/11/06/906472/most-young-americans-dont-qualify.html
 
SECOND 
They are illegitimate.
About 40% of US children are born without a father in the house. I understand divorce, we are not talking about unsuccessful marriages.  About 40% of children are born without an extended family structure.  Even in West Germany and Japan after world war II, 40% of children were not born out of wedlock. Illegitimacy is a big predictor of poverty, downward social mobility and dropping out of high school.

 . .. .
http://singleparents.about.com/od/legalissues/p/portrait.htm
 . .. 

 . . .
THIRD
They are entitled…
It has been consistent throughout human history that the children of the wealthy and aristocracy felt that they were privileged - the world owes them a living.  Now this defect of the spirit has spread to the middle and lower income quintiles.
(we don’t really have classes in America, ‘class’ is an old world concept -         Kim Kardashian is extremely wealthy, but would anyone honestly label her ‘upper class;’ meanwhile Charles Ramsey is poor, but would any respectable human being call him ‘lower class’). 
Many modern youth narcissistically believe they are entitled to health, employment, housing and protection by virtue of having a pulse – they are required to accomplish nothing, yet the ‘government’ should provide for them forever.


 


Yes, I understand that there are MANY quality young people in this generation; however, the tough question  remains:
 
Can this minority of quality youth carry BOTH
the heavy load created by the failings of my generation
 as well as the burden of their incompetent peers ?

(70% of young people don't  qualify for military service)