FV alignments
Lance
been.
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* Choosing an alignment *
With this server we have decided to introduce the idea of alignment into
the world of Norrath. This is an idea used in many roleplaying games to
help the players and the game master to further describe their
characters, to express their social and emotional personality in much
the same way that we take the time to describe a character's physical
appearance.
Because this concept is new to EverQuest, we have written descriptions
of each of the nine possible alignments. Each description is an outline
of the ideals of these alignment types; characters can, of course, move
around within the border of those ideals as they see fit. We encourage
you to choose an alignment that suits the personality of your
character. A character that is in all ways neutral, but refuses to aid
a dark elf or troll because he believes them to be evil, might be
neutral good, not neutral.
These are things that often develop as you play your character. When
you started out with a new character you may have had certain designs in
mind for her. You might have seen her as tolerant of both good and
evil, willing to help anyone that needed it. But as she travels and
meets people she might realize that helping evil people has never been a
pleasant experience, and that indeed she feels obliged to obey the rules
and learns to despise rogues. A character that you thought would be
neutral when you created her may end up being neutral good after the two
of you experience Norrath a bit.
This is why you will not be able to choose the alignment of your
character until you reach 10th level. Instead, your character will be
given an alignment when you choose his class, race and deity. That
alignment will match the ideals of that character's teachers. If your
character starts as an agnostic human warrior, he will have left his
training with all the impressions that his teachers gave him about the
world. Because the character spent so long under the tutelage of people
who insisted that a warrior must follow the middle road and be willing
to fight when and where he was needed, he will enter his career as a
neutral. But adventuring changes people, and after ten levels of such
adventure you will be able to decide your character's alignment, within
restrictions determined by that character's race, class and deity. For
example, high elves must be good, and will be restricted to good
alignment options when they reach tenth level, or at any time
thereafter.
This will be the only time that you will be able to make this decision,
so choose wisely. Get to know your character before choosing.
Below we have included several documents that might be useful for you to
read over before choosing what character to play on this server.
Alignment Descriptions - outlines the general beliefs of characters of
each of the possible alignments.
Racial Alignments - outlines the alignment options for each race.
Deity Alignments - outlines the alignment options for characters that
follow each of the gods that are available to worship.
Class Alignments - outlines the alignment options for each class.
These last three (racial, deity and class) essentially form a matrix
that will determine the alignment options that your character will have,
and also have a hand in determining the alignment that your character
begins with.
* Alignment Descriptions *
Neutral (N) - A person of neutral alignment can be very different from
another person of the same alignment. For example, a druid might
actively defend the center, holding a strong desire that neither good
nor evil, order nor discord gain control in the world, for each of them
is inherently unbalanced and unnatural. But a warrior of neutral
alignment might be unconcerned about such things and simply wish that
all those with such strong opinions keep them to themselves. In either
case, the neutral character is not strongly allied with the ideas of
order or discord, good or evil.
Discordant Neutral (DN) - This is a character of unruly nature; whether
in opposition to the tenets of order or just because they prefer to be
unconstrained, is immaterial. These folk tend to be unmindful of the
rules of society, preferring to do what seems correct to them at the
moment. This isn't a destructive kind of chaos such as would make a
person evil, nor is it a gentle chiding of the rules intended to show
where constraints hinder the ability for one to do what is good. Folks
of this alignment are most often just unable to understand why others
have the right to blanket their lives with rules when those rules can't
be accurate for any of the specific situations that they find themselves
in.
Orderly Neutral (ON) - Characters of this alignment believe foremost
that sentient races must have rules to abide by, or they will become
lost in uncivilized discord. This does not necessarily make them
proselytizers of order. It is just as likely that one of this alignment
would only hold themselves to such restrictions. But even so, their
belief in the ordering of things is strong and they will often find it
challenging to allow discord to work around them. One of this alignment
will follow the rules of any society he finds himself in, and will tend
to avoid the company of those that hold no rules or laws important.
Neutral Good (NG) - Characters of this alignment believe that being good
is more important than being orderly or chaotic. If rules make certain
people happy, then they should have such rules. If rules cause others
to be troubled, then they should be able to go where such rules do not
apply. But neither rules nor a hatred of such rules should be an excuse
for a person to be evil. Above all else, being good is what matters.
This may only be a personal goal, or it might be something that the
character desires for others. In any case, such a person will be unable
to abide evil in any form. How they respond to such evil will vary from
person to person, but they will never encourage evil and will never aid
one that does evil.
Neutral Evil (NE) - Characters of this alignment are uninterested in
order or discord. Such disinterest might stem from a lack of concern,
or it might spring from disdain. For the most part, a person of this
alignment strives primarily to achieve evil ends. Their goals might be
personal, or they may wish to impress evil upon others. But evil is in
them, and they can not tolerate goodness. They will never aid a person
of goodly demeanor, and depending on their personal desires will either
hinder them or shun them.
Orderly Evil (OE) - Characters of this alignment form the heart of many
evil societies. Their rules may be cruel, perhaps even frightening, but
they are the devices that keep society in line. Evil to the core, these
characters understand the power of organization and order, and they know
that the way of discord is the way of self-destruction. If you want
your dreams to come true, either as a person or as a society, then you
must have the strength of order to build on. Structure is what makes
evil terrible and mighty. Ambitious orderly evils desire the
destruction of all that is good, and often have a plan for making that
happen.
Chaotic Evil (CE) - Characters of this alignment eschew rules as
restrictive to the purpose of evil. They believe that confusion and
mayhem are the most effective tools available. They find those of order
to be far too constrained by their own rules to be effective. Only
those willing to throw off the shackles of order can ever truly be
great. Seething chaos is the soil that nourishes true evil. Honor is
for fools and paladins, both of which make fine mulch for the garden.
Orderly Good (OG) - Characters of this alignment believe that good is
enhanced by order. True peace can only be achieved through the
foundation of just rules and true goodness. Discord breeds evil, for
those who are unwilling to follow rules most often do so because those
rules enforce what is good. Certainly some rules are unjust and should
be defied. But such rules are only created by those who are evil at
heart. Societies, families, and individuals alike should be willing to
do what is right, and to set what is right down as law. Some might be
asked to make sacrifices for the good of others. Those unwilling to do
so, those who say that rules are too constraining and are unwilling to
abide by them because it discomforts them to do so, are selfish.
Selfishness often leads to evil. Evil is intolerable.
Discordant Good (CG) - Characters of this alignment believe that being
good is an internal measure, not a societal one. Many of the rules that
societies create have nothing to do with being good, but are designed to
restrict people so that they can't be evil. A fine distinction, to be
sure. But how can a rule, written onto a piece of paper or carved into
stone by someone days, months or even years prior have any pertinence to
an action taking place right now? Stealing is against the rules in many
places, but it is not by its very nature evil. It is only the intent of
the person doing the stealing that determines the goodness of the act.
Stealing money from an evil man and using that money to feed those who
have little is a good act, not an evil one. Rules hinder many acts that
are indeed good.
* Racial Alignments *
Each of the races of Norrath has a society, and that is where they learn
how to behave themselves (or, for some, how to misbehave). Below are
very brief descriptions of the alignment tendencies of each race. The
alignments available to characters of each race are listed in
parentheses after the description. The most common alignments will
appear first, with those after each successive dash being less common
than those previous.
Barbarians - These isolationists tend toward neutrality and slightly
toward goodness. They also tend to be orderly, primarily because the
most commonly worshipped deity in Halas is the Tribunal. However, they
are a wild people in a wild land, and not a few of them feel constrained
by rules and follow the ways of discord. For the most part their
society honors bravery and skill over trickery and greed, and desires of
power or other evil thoughts are channeled and controlled by the
overwhelming need to prove themselves to their people. (N/NG/ON -
OG/DG/DN)
Dark Elves - Driven primarily by the hatred that created them, dark
elves are strongly evil. Their society is orderly (as order is the only
thing that keeps their society stable). But in some the urge for evil
is unrestrained by the rules of their society, and there are discordant
elements among the dark elves, primarily among those of the necromantic
arts. Upward movement in the society of Neriak requires great cunning
and self-control, however, and it is rare that those who do not posses
orderly minds gain power in those circles. But dark elves are driven by
all kinds of hatred- wild, flaring, dangerous hatred as well as cold,
seething, dangerous hatred. (OE/NE - DE)
Dwarves - As sturdy of mind as they are of body, dwarves tend strongly
toward order. Moved more by the smooth strength of steel and the beauty
of precious stones, they are rarely motivated by the temptations of good
or evil. However, through long, if strained, relationship with the high
and wood elves and from continuous battle with the evil of the goblins,
they will stray toward goodness rather than evil, if indeed they stray
at all. The dwarven society prides itself on its honor, steadfastness
in times of trouble, and its loyalty to its kin. (ON - N/NG)
Erudites - A people of two societies. The first was founded by Erud
himself and still hold his strong beliefs at the core. Meticulous might
be a good way to describe these folk. Their lives are ever bent toward
discoveries of the mind. Their society reflects this. They are
generally peaceful and orderly, and have become even more dedicated to
the ideals of peace and order since their civil war gave a face to those
among them who were dedicated to evil. It isn't unreasonable to
envision those Erudites and the heretics as distillations of the two
faces of order...
The heretics of Paineel are just as orderly and meticulous as their
estranged cousins in Erudin. Where the Erudites see order as a device
that allows people the freedom to be good, the heretics see it as a tool
that gives strength to their evil. They are no less organized in their
daily lives than the people of Erudin are, but the goals of their
society involve powers of dark necromancy and evil, rather than the
enlightenment of good and kindness.
Both societies have a tendency to be harsh in their adherence to order,
as they have very real evidence of what can happen when one strays from
the path of good/evil. Erudites (ON/OG/NG), Heretics (OE - NE)
Gnomes - Gnomes run the gamut, being as likely to follow one path as any
other. They are, however, unlikely to follow the strict life of order.
They tend to be an unstructured people, and their amazing skill with
detailed work seems to come from an inherent understanding of things,
rather than any strict organizational skills. The rising influence of
Bertoxxulous in Ak'Anon is considered by some among other races as
evidence of the disorganization of the gnomes. There exists an odd
truce between the worshippers of the gods of the gnomes, almost as if
they are too busy or absentminded to take notice of the potential
conflict that exists within the cavern walls of their clockwork city.
(N/DN/NG/NE/DG/DE)
Half Elves - Being born of humans and wood elves, and having a tendency
to be independent of either society in any case, half elves can be of
any alignment. They tend to fall into professions and worship that suit
their dispositions rather than conforming to the needs of any society.
It is possible to find half elves as members of almost any religion. In
this fashion they take after their human parents. (ANY)
Halflings - These little folk tend to be kindly and warm, outgoing and
inquisitive. Some are less friendly and some are less disorderly, but
for the most part they are a pleasant people. While some will take up
duties and keep at them tenaciously, this is stubbornness rather than
orderliness. Unfettered and gregarious, these folk tend to chafe at
rules they don't understand. Sure, it's wrong to hurt people, but
everyone knows that, so why do you have to make a rule that says you
can't? Despite what is often seen as rashness by some of the more stoic
races of Norrath, halflings are never swayed to evil. (DG/NG/DN/N)
High Elf - These children of Tunare embody her sense of order and
goodness. They are a people of high values and great light. While some
might be slightly less lawful or marginally less good than others, high
elves are incapable of evil and chaos. This does not make them immune
to errors in judgement, and it is not uncommon for them to appear
haughty and even rude due to their strong sense of self-worth. As a
society, they value actions over words, though even so they do not take
words lightly. They value the good hearts of their cousins, the wood
elves, but find their flightiness disconcerting. (OG - ON/NG)
Humans - Diversity is their strength as well as their weakness. Humans
can be of any alignment, and much like their half elven kin, they tend
to take up professions that suit their desires. Those who feel a need
for structure in their lives will often settle in the cities they have
built on Antonica. But it is just as likely that you will meet a
lawless human brigand on the road as a pleasant human cleric. With a
human you can never know what to expect until you get to know the
individual. (ANY)
Iksar - Even though their empire has fallen, the Iksar are still an
orderly society. Evil to the core, there is very little variance from
the path of order and evil among the Iksar of Cabilis. Those who are
too disorderly are exiled into the wilderness of Kunark, where most find
only death. Those who are too weak are often killed trying to prove
their strength. Their single-minded acceptance of Fear has given their
society its strength, and has given them the reputation as a terrible
and dangerous people. (OE - NE)
Ogres - Perhaps at the height of their society (if you believe such
rumors), ogres were the epitome of order and the strength of evil. But
these days they are just too stupid to have much need for laws.
Somewhat mellower than their green-skinned neighbors, ogres tend to be
just evil, as chaos and law require more work. Their society decays as
their attentiveness to their old ways slowly fades. They can't be
anything other than evil, but they can be motivated to be orderly or
discordant, depending on how frequently they were dropped as children
and on what part of their body they landed. (NE - DE/OE)
Trolls - Trolls are more motivated to destruction than ogres. They are,
in fact, a people bent on destruction and tend to be both discordant and
evil. There is no reason to believe that trolls as a people ever had a
society to speak of. They are ruled by the strongest among them and
their society shifts with the latest battle, rarely fixating on a
long-term goal. Their ferocity is their strength, serving them well
enough in the place of rules. They are never other than evil, though
some are less disorderly than the rest. (DE - NE)
Wood Elves - As the high elves are an orderly folk, the wood elves are
wild. They tend to be chaotic and willful. They represent all that is
untamed in the forest and in their beloved Mother of All. They are at
heart a loving people though they do stray, some becoming more wild than
good. They are never evil, however, no matter the consternation they
may cause their high elven cousins. Their society is built on respect
more than on a sense of order. It is only reasonable to take the advice
of one's betters, but that does not mean that one is constrained to obey
that advice as if it were the only path. (DG/DN - N/NG)
* Class Alignments *
Bard - Travelers, arbiters, tale-spinners, lore masters and often
heroes, bards have many personalities. While it is not uncommon for any
given bard to have several personalities all his own, as a group they
are as diverse as the gods they follow. (ANY)
Cleric - A cleric is often the pinnacle of his society. Spiritual
leader, often lore master for the tales of a society or of the god that
they worship. Only those whose souls are most closely bound to their
deity will become clerics, and so they have alignments restricted by
that of their deity and of their race. (ANY)
Druid - A druid fights for the balance. Not content to be a bystander
in the battles that often occur between factions both religious and
racial, a druid might actively defend a forest from the ravages of good
or evil alike. (N)
Enchanter - Enchanters are often known for their ability to disguise
themselves and to cloud the minds of others. There is a tendency,
therefore, for such a person to understand other races and to at least
study them somewhat. (ANY)
Magician - Elemental mastery and the power over the servants of the
elements is not preclusive to any attitude. The only true requirement
for this profession is a strong will and perhaps an equally strong ego.
(ANY)
Monk - In order to be able to control one's body to the degree that a
monk is capable, one must first control the mind. Monks must be orderly
to follow the path that leads only along the razor's edge. (ON/OG/OE)
Necromancer - The desire to raise and manipulate the corpses of the dead
is an unpleasant one at best. Most societies make rules against such
activities, as disturbing the dead can have accursed consequences.
Necromancers, therefore, are always evil and they rarely concern
themselves with order. (DE - NE/OE)
Paladin - Paladins are the heroic knights of legend. They are the
epitome of their people and their gods. This means that they must be
goodly, and are most often orderly, but can be neutral good. (OG - NG)
Ranger - Rangers are the warriors of nature. They shy away from no duty
that calls them to the service of their god. They share many of the
beliefs of the druids, though their methods may vary. A ranger can not
be evil and tend indeed to be neutral as do druids. But they are closer
to paladins in this regard, they are more closely tied to the desires of
their deity than to the balance of things. (N/DN - DG/NG - OG/ON)
Rogue - Rogues are just that, rogues. They find rules amusing things;
obstacles at worst, toys at their best. A rogue may not be orderly.
They, in fact, tend to be discordant. (DN/N - DG/DE/NG/NE)
Shadowknight - Often seen as the counterpoint to the paladin, and
justifiably so. They, too, are knights of legend, though of the dark
sort. A shadowknight must be evil, and tends to be orderly or
discordant in resonance with their deity and society. (LE/CE)
Shaman - Much like clerics, shamans are the spiritual leaders of their
people. Those who are most like unto their deity will be called to be
shamans. (ANY)
Warrior - The warrior is as varied in personality as the battles he
fights. They tend to be less extreme, for those of highly religious
nature tend to become paladins and shadowknights, but this does not mean
that a warrior can't be just as righteous as any paladin. (ANY)
Wizard - Theirs is only the desire for knowledge and power. Their
intent for that knowledge and power is dependent only on their
character. (ANY)
Jim Monk
>
> Haven't seen this posted to the group before... so apoligies if it has
> been.
> ===============================================
> * Choosing an alignment *
As an update on this I am trying to produce a definative list of who can
be what etc.
I have posted some stuff to the thread about a good duo for FV.
I'm still having some trouble ironing out all of the kinks.
Still here is what I think I have worked out about the xp bonus.
Note that this is 100% guess work based on Brad's comments :
OG NG DG ON NN DN OE NE DE
OG ++ + == + == - NO NO NO
NG + + + == == == NO NO NO
DG == + ++ - == + NO NO NO
ON + == - + == - + == -
NN == == == == == == == == ==
DN - == + - == + - == +
OE NO NO NO + == - ++ + ==
NE NO NO NO == == == + + +
DE NO NO NO - == + == + ++
In the table each +/- is about -/+ 2%
NO means can't group and == means no bonus/penalty.
Based on the fact that the max bonus would be equivelent to a full group
bonus.
i.e. all are OG = ++ * 5 = about 20%
Thus a group of OG,OG,NG,DG,NN,DN gives
OG = ++,+,=,=,- or +4%
NG = +,+,+,=,= or +6%
DG = =,=,+,=,+ or +4%
NN = =,=,=,=,= or 0%
DN = -,-,=,+,= or -2%
HTH,
More to follow,
Jim