Morality, a true cornerstone in the VI·VIII·X KUP RPG

During the summer break I wanted to analyse the aspect of the Alignments in D&D in order to understand what has been the rationale in the definition by the D&D authors.

I started finding this very interesting post: in here I got the confirmation that beyond any different definition/label, the concept of morality was aiming to profile a character's sense of ethic. I'd like to outline that this sense is not only focusing towards third parties but even towards ourselves. 

Or, this is at least my interpretation and rationale for the Morality concept and game mechanics.

I was so intrigued by this topic that I started a discussion on the DF boards here: I wanted to enlarge the discussion to old gamers so that they could address me to other interesting readings or topics. I was hopefully right: I just wondered why this feature in an RPG had been always treated in a subtle way... It has never been approached in a "strong" way with clear and crisp game mechanics... 

I got a first feedback: it is a very subjective and delicate topic that it has often been skipped in the main focus of a game development... it is easy to understand also because of the tons of topics written on RPGs boards which brought to arguments, fires, and even worse ending.

Then a very concrete hint came: a fellow on DF addressed me to an article by Gygax himself in the Strategic Review #6: "The Meaning of Law and Chaos In Dungeons & Dragons"... well, it is incredible how I missed it (I own all the SR issues but read only a part of them) and it is even more incredible than that the contents of this article! It is like Gygax himself drew the baseline of my way to manage morality nearly 50 years ago! 

I have to admit that I am very proud and happy to have such a giant of the industry confirming me that I could have found the right direction for such a topic... what I deployed in the game is, however, a bit more interlaced with the other game features like the stats which defines a character. The morality is not only a "definition" a player should keep in mind for any behavior of his character, it is a parameter which generates impacts on the character and the events by means of rules which define the boundaries of the character's ethic. This assessment seems very arrogant, but trust me that I feel close to have found a good solution for such a feature: the traditional RPGs usually consider morality a sub-feature, not worth to be considered as important as strength for instance... No offense intended, but to my eyes, Morality is the most important stat of a character and I tried to translate it in the VI·VIII·X core rules! (I have written a couple of posts where this aspect is stressed out, in particular this one)

Well, I only have to say thanks to bargle (on DF boards) and, useless to say, to E.G.Gygax for the confirmation that his contribution to my fantasy is always well ahead of me and he will always be surprising me!


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