Yes, but it becomes so much easier to be more evil. If you are killing evil mobs, then you should become good. If you kill evil mobs, but your spells make you evil, then what's the deal with that?
I remember what you wrote, but it still doesn't cover the basic argument. I also remember a Divebomb that was complaining about how easy it was to manipulate alignment.
HP stacking
How do you figure an evil person killing evil people is somehow better?
If a terrorist bombs other terrorists is the first terrorist now a good person? Does his action of bombing terrorists make him a good person?
Does a good person killing a good person make him better? Obviously not... so for someone who wants consistency, you're suggesting the very opposite.
Alignment should be based on the alignment of the mob with regards to your alignment. This has been discussed in another thread sometime ago. If you're -900 and kill a -800 mob you killed something better than you, so you should become worse. If you are 400 and kill something that's 350 you killed something more evil so you should become more good.
The nature of the spell should be separate from the nature of the target. This is what Souldrake was driving at. The NATURE of energy drain (the concept of stealing a life force) is what makes it an evil spell and inherently changes alignment. The nature of a fireball is to create a ball of fire. The fact that all we in BR use fireball for is to hurt other things doesn't make the casting of the fireball good or bad.
The action of hitting someone is neither good nor bad, it merely is. The act of hitting someone because they are ugly is bad. The action of hitting someone to score a point in boxing is good. The good/badness of the action is separate from the means.
In the case of energy drain, the action is to steal life force, this is bad regardless of whether it's used on a good or evil mob. The same holds true for quivering palm. It's just the nature of the magic.
Death field simply has a component of being evil in order to cast it. It should not affect (and does not affect) your alignment. Just like a compondent of a cheeseburger is to have cheese. WIthout the cheese, there is no cheeseburger, it is something else. Without being evil, the death field spell would not be death field. (That's stretch, but i'm lacking a good example).
So, again, I have no problem of a different set of spells that do the same kind of thing on the good alignment end, but it must fit with the nature of the spell.
The reason you see evil spells like this is temptation is easier to give in to than to avoid. The "power" of the evil spell has the drawback of sucking you into being more evil. If you want to be evil you don't care about avoiding this temptation. If you are good, it is harder to say that way because of the temptation... ie the temptation of using a spell like energy drain that would steal life force. (i'm talking concepts here not actual implementation and use).
If a terrorist bombs other terrorists is the first terrorist now a good person? Does his action of bombing terrorists make him a good person?
Does a good person killing a good person make him better? Obviously not... so for someone who wants consistency, you're suggesting the very opposite.
Alignment should be based on the alignment of the mob with regards to your alignment. This has been discussed in another thread sometime ago. If you're -900 and kill a -800 mob you killed something better than you, so you should become worse. If you are 400 and kill something that's 350 you killed something more evil so you should become more good.
The nature of the spell should be separate from the nature of the target. This is what Souldrake was driving at. The NATURE of energy drain (the concept of stealing a life force) is what makes it an evil spell and inherently changes alignment. The nature of a fireball is to create a ball of fire. The fact that all we in BR use fireball for is to hurt other things doesn't make the casting of the fireball good or bad.
The action of hitting someone is neither good nor bad, it merely is. The act of hitting someone because they are ugly is bad. The action of hitting someone to score a point in boxing is good. The good/badness of the action is separate from the means.
In the case of energy drain, the action is to steal life force, this is bad regardless of whether it's used on a good or evil mob. The same holds true for quivering palm. It's just the nature of the magic.
Death field simply has a component of being evil in order to cast it. It should not affect (and does not affect) your alignment. Just like a compondent of a cheeseburger is to have cheese. WIthout the cheese, there is no cheeseburger, it is something else. Without being evil, the death field spell would not be death field. (That's stretch, but i'm lacking a good example).
So, again, I have no problem of a different set of spells that do the same kind of thing on the good alignment end, but it must fit with the nature of the spell.
The reason you see evil spells like this is temptation is easier to give in to than to avoid. The "power" of the evil spell has the drawback of sucking you into being more evil. If you want to be evil you don't care about avoiding this temptation. If you are good, it is harder to say that way because of the temptation... ie the temptation of using a spell like energy drain that would steal life force. (i'm talking concepts here not actual implementation and use).
Fine art is the only teacher except torture.
- George Bernard Shaw
- George Bernard Shaw
Read what I wrote before telling me I contradict myself, thank you very much.
What I said was that the act of summoning fire itself is not morally wrong. Using it to kill someone is, thus you should lose alignment for the act of killing not for summoning fire.
Stealing someone's soul, however, is morally wrong so you should lose alignment for that act PLUS killing someone.
I do not see a contradiction here. -_^
What I said was that the act of summoning fire itself is not morally wrong. Using it to kill someone is, thus you should lose alignment for the act of killing not for summoning fire.
Stealing someone's soul, however, is morally wrong so you should lose alignment for that act PLUS killing someone.
I do not see a contradiction here. -_^
"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
and I-- I took the road less travelled by
and it has made all the difference."
--Robert Frost, "The Road Not Taken."
and I-- I took the road less travelled by
and it has made all the difference."
--Robert Frost, "The Road Not Taken."
Oh, for goodness sake. 
Let's pretend that Energy Drain is evil in nature. Let's pretend that this makes sense. If a spell is evil, then the person who casts it is already evil. The spell shouldn't CHANGE the person. The person is already bad. In game terms, you NEED to be evil in order to use it.
I was referring to the obvious fact that killing evil creatures already raises one's alignment.Divebomb wrote:How do you figure an evil person killing evil people is somehow better?
If a terrorist bombs other terrorists is the first terrorist now a good person? Does his action of bombing terrorists make him a good person?
Does a good person killing a good person make him better? Obviously not... so for someone who wants consistency, you're suggesting the very opposite.
Ok, that makes sense.Divebomb wrote:Alignment should be based on the alignment of the mob with regards to your alignment. This has been discussed in another thread sometime ago. If you're -900 and kill a -800 mob you killed something better than you, so you should become worse. If you are 400 and kill something that's 350 you killed something more evil so you should become more good.
The nature of energy drain and fireball are exactly the same, to hurt something. We cannot cast fireball unless we are to use it in a fight to harm someone. It is a battle damage causing spell, and it has no other use. Why is this so difficult to understand? Fireball cannot be used directly (note the emphasis on this word) to help someone. Fireball can only do direct harm. Fireball steals hp from a target, but those hps are lost and go to no good purpose. Energy drain steals hp from a target, but those hp get used again. Why is this any more evil than fireball?Divebomb wrote:The nature of the spell should be separate from the nature of the target. This is what Souldrake was driving at. The NATURE of energy drain (the concept of stealing a life force) is what makes it an evil spell and inherently changes alignment. The nature of a fireball is to create a ball of fire. The fact that all we in BR use fireball for is to hurt other things doesn't make the casting of the fireball good or bad.
Let's pretend that Energy Drain is evil in nature. Let's pretend that this makes sense. If a spell is evil, then the person who casts it is already evil. The spell shouldn't CHANGE the person. The person is already bad. In game terms, you NEED to be evil in order to use it.
I could not have said it better. From this argument, Divebomb, Energy Drain should not change alignment. The victim should be the determining factor. The USE and INTENT are the things that should matter. It already works this way. If you destroy a good mob, you lose alignment. Simple, but it makes the most sense.Divebomb wrote:The action of hitting someone is neither good nor bad, it merely is. The act of hitting someone because they are ugly is bad. The action of hitting someone to score a point in boxing is good. The good/badness of the action is separate from the means.
SoulDrake wrote:Read what I wrote before telling me I contradict myself, thank you very much.
I think you need to read what you write.SoulDrake wrote:I do not see a contradiction here. -_^
Who ever said that hp was the sum of a person's soul? It is just a number that represents the amount of damage that our bodies can take before we die. It is purely physical, not spiritual.SoulDrake wrote:Stealing someone's soul, however, is morally wrong so you should lose alignment for that act PLUS killing someone.
The stars brightly shine upon our world, a constant reminder of our origin. We are stars.
You're arguing at cross-purposes here. Stars is arguing the purely technical side: in BR, as a game, both energy drain and fireball can only be used to harm people. On the other side, they regard the spells as they interact in a fantasy world created (on a user interface level) by BR. In that world, fireball summons a ball of flame, which happens to do damage as the caster targets it at things. Energy drain taps into... some energy to draw hit points from the target and give them to the caster. In a D&D sense, this energy would be the Negative Plane (Negative Energy Plane?) which happens to be pure evil. (Yes, in D&D, there is a Positive Energy Plane, as well.) Now, using energy that is pure evil corrupts and influences minds towards evil, whether they were before or not. Should this necessarily be an effect in BR? Heck if I know. Should we probably have spells that positively affect alignment, or require the caster to be good to cast? Yes, and I hope someone thinks up some good ones.
-EB
Your local know-it-all.
Your local know-it-all.
I am TOTALLY against the idea of spells changing alignment if cast. BUT, if this must exist...
Healing only helps, which we all basically agree on. All forms of direct healing spells, by the standard set by Energy Drain, should raise alignment. The caster is sacrificing energy in order to heal a person. Quite the opposite of ED, which takes hp away from someone. If healing is cast on the caster, then they are still tapping into that Good Magic. Don't use the argument that healing a bad person is evil. We've already been down that road. Most people here say that energy drain, even if it kills the bad to give life to the good, is still bad.
The only reason I see why anyone would be against healing spells being good is because they wouldn't be able to use healing effectively as an evil character. If that is the case, then play a good character. We are already forced to play an evil character if we want to use some cool spells. The argument for healing being good is far better than the one for energy drain being bad (both arguments are poor, but poor or not, the idea is popular).
We do not need to create new spells. Energy Drain, which is our example, is not a new spell. Making this change on only one or two spells is what bothers me the most. Change everything, or nothing. On the other hand, if spells are changed, then we will apply this new rule on a new spells.
Healing only helps, which we all basically agree on. All forms of direct healing spells, by the standard set by Energy Drain, should raise alignment. The caster is sacrificing energy in order to heal a person. Quite the opposite of ED, which takes hp away from someone. If healing is cast on the caster, then they are still tapping into that Good Magic. Don't use the argument that healing a bad person is evil. We've already been down that road. Most people here say that energy drain, even if it kills the bad to give life to the good, is still bad.
The only reason I see why anyone would be against healing spells being good is because they wouldn't be able to use healing effectively as an evil character. If that is the case, then play a good character. We are already forced to play an evil character if we want to use some cool spells. The argument for healing being good is far better than the one for energy drain being bad (both arguments are poor, but poor or not, the idea is popular).
We do not need to create new spells. Energy Drain, which is our example, is not a new spell. Making this change on only one or two spells is what bothers me the most. Change everything, or nothing. On the other hand, if spells are changed, then we will apply this new rule on a new spells.
The stars brightly shine upon our world, a constant reminder of our origin. We are stars.
Appearantly we have very different ways of thinking, so let me stop making certain assumptions...
You say that summoning fire is something evil because it HAS to kill people. Perhaps the example of fireball is bad since it is an attack spell, but let me explain this with a blatantly obvious spell: Create Water.
Why Create Water? How could create water possibly kill anything? Well, its really quite simple. If we look outside of the boundaries of BR's code to the world of pen and paper, I could, in theory, create a massive amount of water. Enough to flood an entire villiage and kill all of its inhabitants, right? Granted, I cannot do this in BR, but let's pretend for a moment that I can.
Should I lose alignment for creating a glass of water to drink? No, I don't think so.
Should I lose alignment for creating a massive amount of water to fill a dried up lake for the neighboring villages? Again, no, I don't think so.
Should I lose alignment for killing an entire villiage with a flood? Yes, most definately.
So, should I lose alignment for summoning water, in any amount? I say no. Feel free to disagree with me, if you wish.
Now, let me further this by returning to fireball. From what I envision of fireball being cast, I see 2 steps:
Step 1: Create a ball of fire (neutral)
Step 2: Throw it (see below)
Should the act of actually throwing it be considered evil? Perhaps, but if that were the case shouldn't every physical attack someone does lower their alignment? I see the loss of alignment on death as the sum of all the attacks done whether physical or magical.
Now, let's break down how I envison Energy Drain:
Step 1: Create channel between user and victim (neutral)
Step 2: Suck out hit points (evil)
Step 3: Absorb them (neutral or evil, take your pick.)
Here we have something a little different. The act of sucking out someone's life energy, to me, sounds pretty evil, thus I should lose alignment for every time this act is committed and since it causes physical pain to the victim (loss of blood, or whatever you would like to call it) I should lose alignment for hurting someone as well. The way I see the code employing this is: you lose 20 alignment for sucking the blood, then you lose the alignment for harming the victim upon death.
I hope I made my logic and thoughts clear this time.
You say that summoning fire is something evil because it HAS to kill people. Perhaps the example of fireball is bad since it is an attack spell, but let me explain this with a blatantly obvious spell: Create Water.
Why Create Water? How could create water possibly kill anything? Well, its really quite simple. If we look outside of the boundaries of BR's code to the world of pen and paper, I could, in theory, create a massive amount of water. Enough to flood an entire villiage and kill all of its inhabitants, right? Granted, I cannot do this in BR, but let's pretend for a moment that I can.
Should I lose alignment for creating a glass of water to drink? No, I don't think so.
Should I lose alignment for creating a massive amount of water to fill a dried up lake for the neighboring villages? Again, no, I don't think so.
Should I lose alignment for killing an entire villiage with a flood? Yes, most definately.
So, should I lose alignment for summoning water, in any amount? I say no. Feel free to disagree with me, if you wish.
Now, let me further this by returning to fireball. From what I envision of fireball being cast, I see 2 steps:
Step 1: Create a ball of fire (neutral)
Step 2: Throw it (see below)
Should the act of actually throwing it be considered evil? Perhaps, but if that were the case shouldn't every physical attack someone does lower their alignment? I see the loss of alignment on death as the sum of all the attacks done whether physical or magical.
Now, let's break down how I envison Energy Drain:
Step 1: Create channel between user and victim (neutral)
Step 2: Suck out hit points (evil)
Step 3: Absorb them (neutral or evil, take your pick.)
Here we have something a little different. The act of sucking out someone's life energy, to me, sounds pretty evil, thus I should lose alignment for every time this act is committed and since it causes physical pain to the victim (loss of blood, or whatever you would like to call it) I should lose alignment for hurting someone as well. The way I see the code employing this is: you lose 20 alignment for sucking the blood, then you lose the alignment for harming the victim upon death.
I hope I made my logic and thoughts clear this time.
"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
and I-- I took the road less travelled by
and it has made all the difference."
--Robert Frost, "The Road Not Taken."
and I-- I took the road less travelled by
and it has made all the difference."
--Robert Frost, "The Road Not Taken."
EB explained it well, and you're still missing it Souldrake.
Stars is looking at it entirely from the mechanical functioning of BR. How it works. IN BR you cannot create a flood, IN BR you cannot create a fire to warm yourself by casting fireball.
On the other hand, we were looking at it from a fantasy viewpoint - a larger-than-the-game viewpoint. It's my opinion that you if get people to adopt the rules of a world, then you can customize the rules of the game to fit that world. Think of how you have a world created by Tolkein, but there are now games that fit into Tolkein's world. Hobbits can't suddenly make lightning bolts fly from their ears because it's cool.... they have to fit into the rules of the world.
Moving along...
Stars is looking at it entirely from the mechanical functioning of BR. How it works. IN BR you cannot create a flood, IN BR you cannot create a fire to warm yourself by casting fireball.
On the other hand, we were looking at it from a fantasy viewpoint - a larger-than-the-game viewpoint. It's my opinion that you if get people to adopt the rules of a world, then you can customize the rules of the game to fit that world. Think of how you have a world created by Tolkein, but there are now games that fit into Tolkein's world. Hobbits can't suddenly make lightning bolts fly from their ears because it's cool.... they have to fit into the rules of the world.
Moving along...
You're still not getting it either. It is the nature of the spell to make the wielder more evil - it was the nature of the one ring like Slart brought up (was that this thread?)... an aspect of using the object is to make you more evil than you already are, regardless of how you use it. An aspect of using the spell is to become more evil, that's (again) the nature of the magic.Let's pretend that Energy Drain is evil in nature. Let's pretend that this makes sense. If a spell is evil, then the person who casts it is already evil. The spell shouldn't CHANGE the person. The person is already bad. In game terms, you NEED to be evil in order to use it.
The use and intent cannot be solely responsible, they can and should have partial responsibility. The nature of the action AS WELL AS the use of the action are what should compose the morality of the action. Bombing people is bad, bombing terrorists is probably less bad. The morality of the action is not as good as not bombing, but it's better than bombing innocents. (just an example, don't get all uptight about it)The USE and INTENT are the things that should matter.
He was better off when he said life force instead of soul. Stealing life force is considered in all fantasy worlds i'm familiar with to be an evil manuever.Who ever said that hp was the sum of a person's soul?
You're not quite apples and apples here, but i'm not going to disagree with you either. A spell that transfers my hitpoints to you should make me more good. THAT is the opposite of energy drain. Both require a small amount of mana in order to transfer hp from a target to a source. It is the direction that causes it. If energy drain took a specified target and a source than the nature of the spell in the world we are creating could lose it's requirement of being evil, because the nature of the spell loses its alignment, and the use of the spell is what determines its evilness or goodness.Healing only helps, which we all basically agree on. All forms of direct healing spells, by the standard set by Energy Drain, should raise alignment. The caster is sacrificing energy in order to heal a person.
This is a ridiculous concept to have and no project works in such a fashion. [/u]Change everything, or nothing.
Fine art is the only teacher except torture.
- George Bernard Shaw
- George Bernard Shaw
Just to muddy the waters a little more...
Your evil and kill something more evil. In doing this 'good' deed your alignment improves. Sounds reasonable.
Your good and kill something more good than yourself. Bad thing to do and so your alignment goes down.
But say if your a local hero of sorts, you go about ridding the land of evil things and so have a very good align. You come across a humble village of peasant farmers. The inhabitants are all good in their own way, but not as good and virtuous as yourself as they merely look after each other and tend to their families and friends rather than hunting down evil creatures. Maybe they fail to recycle as well. As you set about slaughtering this band of innocent farmers your alignment should go up?!? Kinda seems a little screwy.
Ok, if your evil and kill something less evil then i would agree that it should make you more evil.Divebomb wrote:Alignment should be based on the alignment of the mob with regards to your alignment. This has been discussed in another thread sometime ago. If you're -900 and kill a -800 mob you killed something better than you, so you should become worse. If you are 400 and kill something that's 350 you killed something more evil so you should become more good.
Your evil and kill something more evil. In doing this 'good' deed your alignment improves. Sounds reasonable.
Your good and kill something more good than yourself. Bad thing to do and so your alignment goes down.
But say if your a local hero of sorts, you go about ridding the land of evil things and so have a very good align. You come across a humble village of peasant farmers. The inhabitants are all good in their own way, but not as good and virtuous as yourself as they merely look after each other and tend to their families and friends rather than hunting down evil creatures. Maybe they fail to recycle as well. As you set about slaughtering this band of innocent farmers your alignment should go up?!? Kinda seems a little screwy.
Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble and Grubb
It could be a range, it doesn't have to be cut and dry. Then the fault for something like this falls on the builder. As a builder if i make the peasants 350 that means they're just baaaaaaaaarely good. If you're angelic then killing them would you make more good and you can blame the builder.But say if your a local hero of sorts, you go about ridding the land of evil things and so have a very good align. You come across a humble village of peasant farmers. The inhabitants are all good in their own way, but not as good and virtuous as yourself as they merely look after each other and tend to their families and friends rather than hunting down evil creatures. Maybe they fail to recycle as well. As you set about slaughtering this band of innocent farmers your alignment should go up?!? Kinda seems a little screwy.
If the peasants are good people all in all, then the builder has to answer "Why weren't they set to an align of 800"? Maybe your alignment has a +-150 range or something. So if you are 700 and kill anything between 550 and 850 your alignment does not change.
Fine art is the only teacher except torture.
- George Bernard Shaw
- George Bernard Shaw
I cant help but feel that killing something that is good should lower your align whatever your align is at the time. It would make it easier to become evil than good, but that seems fine to me as it is always easier to be a sinner than a saint.
Also noticed that if the scheme you suggest were to be enforced it would mean that you would tend to gravitate to one extreme or the other. The further your align moves from zero the more mobs will positively enforce your current alignment. It would reach the point where if your align was 1000 then everything is either the same align as you or more evil and so you could kill whatever you liked with no effect to your align. The same would be true if your align was -1000, all kills now try to make you more evil. It would seem more plausible if your align naturally drifted towards neutrality than to either extreme
Also noticed that if the scheme you suggest were to be enforced it would mean that you would tend to gravitate to one extreme or the other. The further your align moves from zero the more mobs will positively enforce your current alignment. It would reach the point where if your align was 1000 then everything is either the same align as you or more evil and so you could kill whatever you liked with no effect to your align. The same would be true if your align was -1000, all kills now try to make you more evil. It would seem more plausible if your align naturally drifted towards neutrality than to either extreme
Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble and Grubb
I've already addressed the One Ring, even though it isn't relevent to our game. The evil of the One Ring was connected to the spirit of Sauron. There was a conscious will that drove the Ring to corrupt it's user. To compare this to our game, it is like a mob that has the ability to change your alignment. The only comparison between the One Ring and our game is to suggest that maybe some spells around here are linked to some divine will. Perhaps there is an evil god of magic out there?Divebomb wrote:Stars wrote:Let's pretend that Energy Drain is evil in nature. Let's pretend that this makes sense. If a spell is evil, then the person who casts it is already evil. The spell shouldn't CHANGE the person. The person is already bad. In game terms, you NEED to be evil in order to use it.
You're still not getting it either. It is the nature of the spell to make the wielder more evil - it was the nature of the one ring like Slart brought up (was that this thread?)... an aspect of using the object is to make you more evil than you already are, regardless of how you use it. An aspect of using the spell is to become more evil, that's (again) the nature of the magic.
I think you misunderstand me. I tend to make grand statements for dramatic effect. By suggesting that we change "everything", I am merely stating that we should balance things out with the spells that make sense. Saying that Create Water might affect alignment is...ridiculous. Healing, on the other hand, well, even Divebomb agrees that healing might be a "good" spell.Divebomb wrote:This is a ridiculous concept to have and no project works in such a fashion.Stars wrote:Change everything, or nothing.
The stars brightly shine upon our world, a constant reminder of our origin. We are stars.
Rather than picking apart the details of my example, maybe you could try to see the analogy I was trying to draw? I'll put it another way. It's a common theme in fantasy that there are powers with which good wizards simply do not meddle, because they are corrupting and *inherently* evil, often for reasons as vague as those behind energy drain. It would not be impossible to conceive of a situation in which one of these powers could be used for good -- indeed all powers can be used for good or for evil, if you believe in such things -- but in the act the user would be tainted. The good guys usually win anyway, but they win despite their unwillingness to use the tools of evil. The bad guys get more toys...at the cost of being the bad guys. On the other hand, I've read a lot of books and I've never heard of a power that made anyone who used it more Good regardless of what it was used for. You made the comment that only having spells that make people evil makes it easier to be evil. Of COURSE it's easier to be evil. That is a statement that approaches universal truth.Stars wrote:I've already addressed the One Ring, even though it isn't relevent to our game. The evil of the One Ring was connected to the spirit of Sauron. There was a conscious will that drove the Ring to corrupt it's user. To compare this to our game, it is like a mob that has the ability to change your alignment. The only comparison between the One Ring and our game is to suggest that maybe some spells around here are linked to some divine will. Perhaps there is an evil god of magic out there?
In game terms, energy drain is INSANELY POWERFUL for high level characters, and if part of the cost of its ridiculous use is for people to have their equipment fall off and to have to go fix their alignment from time to time, I can't say I consider that level of inconvenience unfair or inappropriate. Since we don't role play, alignment serves one purpose in the game -- player inconvenience. Associating alignment effects with death field, energy drain, and quivering palm services to balance their awesome power, and in a way that is unique and different to the player. While it may be "inconsistent," you'd be hard-pressed to convince me that that additional gameplay element is a bad thing.
The point of your analogy is obvious. I was not "picking apart" your words just to discredit you. I was merely making another point of my own. It takes a will to be evil. Lifeless energy does not have a will.Slart wrote:Rather than picking apart the details of my example, maybe you could try to see the analogy I was trying to draw?
Good wizards avoid evil spells out of choice. The evil magic does not make the wizard evil for using it. Only an evil wizard would use it in the first place. A good wizard would avoid evil, not because it would make them evil to use the spell, but because it is the nature of the wizard to use good spells. If applied to Barren Realms, a "good" player would need to adjust their alignment (change their inclination) prior to using an evil spell. Am I making this clear now?Slart wrote:It's a common theme in fantasy that there are powers with which good wizards simply do not meddle, because they are corrupting and *inherently* evil, often for reasons as vague as those behind energy drain.
So, you see, I am making two seperate points. One is based on the fact that only a sentient being can be evil or good. The other is based on the assumption that if there is a qualitative lifeless evil energy, then it does not corrupt, rather, those who use it are already corrupt.
This is no inhibition from using it to its full potential. My arguments are based on reason, not selfishness. If changing my alignment were the foundation for my concern, then I would have shut up long ago.Slart wrote:...and if part of the cost of its ridiculous use is for people to have their equipment fall off and to have to go fix their alignment from time to time, I can't say I consider that level of inconvenience unfair or inappropriate. Since we don't role play, alignment serves one purpose in the game -- player inconvenience.
Consistency is vital to appeal. We live in a universe that worships symmetry. Little inconsistencies add up, and can detract from the overall appeal of a game.Slart wrote:While it may be "inconsistent," you'd be hard-pressed to convince me that that additional gameplay element is a bad thing.
The stars brightly shine upon our world, a constant reminder of our origin. We are stars.