2

So I started a new campaign, where my players may go to other planes, which are described in the DMG. There are several planes, which has a nice side effect, which will change the PCs alignment.

My question is: how to enforce a player to act like that alignment, which he/she become from that plane?

Thomas Markov
  • 148,772
  • 29
  • 842
  • 1,137
Camorri
  • 1,351
  • 7
  • 19
  • 2
    Ive closed this as a dupe, even though the dupe target is a pathfinder tagged question. It seems the problem here and the problem there are more or less the same. Others have commented further issues with the question as posed, adding some more detail to the question would give us a better idea of what you're after here, and we can reopen. – Thomas Markov Jan 21 '21 at 14:32
  • I've move a chain of comment to chat not because they were getting too long, but were tangenting on around alignment, agency, and description vs prescriptions which are better covered as full answers or as chat discussions. There may be some points relevant for clarification in there so should still be worth perusal for that end. – Someone_Evil Jan 21 '21 at 17:09

1 Answers1

16

You shouldn't enforce it at all without prior out of game consent.

Players want to build the characters they want to build. When I make a character, I make it mine. I get in touch with my perception of the character. I design their ethics based on who they are.

In general, players don't like it when you tell them their character is now someone else. Players don't like it when you take away their agency.

If your players are into this kind of thing, you won't have to enforce it.

If you are interested in implementing alignment changing mechanics, this is something you should talk about with your players. You can do this without spoiling things in the campaign.

Hey guys, I am thinking about implementing some mechanics that have the possibility of changing your characters' alignments. If this is something you are interested in or would be okay with, let's talk about how your characters are expressing their current alignment, and what changes might look like. I'm not going to spoil the campaign, but I don't want to take away your agency; so I want you to be on board with this before we get there.

This puts the power and agency into the hands of the players, even if they alignment change comes as a surprise later. If your players are on board with it, they will view it as character development that they have participated in, and you won't have to enforce anything - your players will do the work for you.

Thomas Markov
  • 148,772
  • 29
  • 842
  • 1,137
  • The DMG has optional rules about that when entering planes that don't match the character's alignment (Check DMG from page 58 onwards) which do enforce changes in alignment while they are there. I do however concur with your advice, there should be communication outside AND inside the game of the risks these travels entail if such Optional Rules are in effect and if the players' are not comfortable with these ideas, maybe not use them would be wiser. – Diego Queiroz Jan 21 '21 at 13:58
  • 3
    @DiegoQueiroz I'm aware. Optional should mean everyone affected should have the choice to opt in, not just the DM. – Thomas Markov Jan 21 '21 at 14:00
  • I agree with you, my rationale was more on this end: maybe talk more explicitly about how to deal with Optional rules in the books, you have my upvote regardless. – Diego Queiroz Jan 21 '21 at 14:05
  • 2
    I disagree about your assessment of what an optional rule is; it's the GM's game, and they have the final say about which rules are in effect... but the players should absolutely know about which ones are before the rules are used (really before the game starts) and have the opportunity to convince the GM that the game would be better off without them. – Ifusaso Jan 21 '21 at 14:07
  • 6
    @Ifusaso Sure, and that was a very brief comment. A detailed exposition on my perspective of optional rules would be far more nuanced. In this case, We're talking about optional rules that tamper with player agency, which should be handled much more sensitively that other optional rules that don't. – Thomas Markov Jan 21 '21 at 14:09
  • 2
    That (and this answer) I completely agree with – Ifusaso Jan 21 '21 at 14:10
  • Personally as a DM I don’t enforce alignment changes when visiting planes that require them and it can make for a more interesting adventure. A lawful good player traversing the 9 hells having to accept they must turn a blind eye to certain actions because, this is how things are down here, can make for some great roleplaying, the thing that makes the player feel they have to do something can be so mundane and the effects then great. Freeing a trapped soul who is then ungrateful because there owner was actually not that bad for instance. – Richard C Jan 24 '21 at 11:27