Sean Merwin

defining who you are and capturing that concept well.

Yeah. And the one place I go to also try to answer this question are adventures. And the published adventures, did they highlight or promote or bring to the forefront this inter-party tension, and they really didn't. It was more just go into the dungeon, fight the bad guys, get the treasure, and then leave.

Yeah. And the one place I go to also try to answer this question are adventures. And the published adventures, did they highlight or promote or bring to the forefront this inter-party tension, and they really didn't. It was more just go into the dungeon, fight the bad guys, get the treasure, and then leave.

They might reward the paladin with a holy sword, or the rogue with a chest to deal with, but that's more about letting your role shine.

They might reward the paladin with a holy sword, or the rogue with a chest to deal with, but that's more about letting your role shine.

And what I would also say is that if you look at what happened at the table, like when, you know, when I talk about those problems with the rogue or the whatever, you know, like I got a magic sword, my half work got one. And then somehow the rogue convinced the DM that they could pickpockets it out of me. Right. And I lost my sword, but I didn't know it was who had taken it.

And what I would also say is that if you look at what happened at the table, like when, you know, when I talk about those problems with the rogue or the whatever, you know, like I got a magic sword, my half work got one. And then somehow the rogue convinced the DM that they could pickpockets it out of me. Right. And I lost my sword, but I didn't know it was who had taken it.

That kind of tension destroyed our game and led to us starting a new campaign. If you deliberately wanted this, you would have allowed for a wait for this to work. And there was nothing there. Nothing adjudicated this or encouraged it or rewarded it or corrected it or spoke to it. It was just, you know, in fact, it destroyed the game when you did these things.

That kind of tension destroyed our game and led to us starting a new campaign. If you deliberately wanted this, you would have allowed for a wait for this to work. And there was nothing there. Nothing adjudicated this or encouraged it or rewarded it or corrected it or spoke to it. It was just, you know, in fact, it destroyed the game when you did these things.

Yeah, it often did. There may have been intent, but if there was intent, it wasn't clear through the rules that were in front of us or the adventures that were in front of us. Continuing on with Will's question, the classic alignment system offered ways for characters to naturally oppose each other in the same group.

Yeah, it often did. There may have been intent, but if there was intent, it wasn't clear through the rules that were in front of us or the adventures that were in front of us. Continuing on with Will's question, the classic alignment system offered ways for characters to naturally oppose each other in the same group.

Indeed, the system even offered secret languages so conspirators who shared the same alignment could converse in private at the table. I'm sure the rules never specified this as their intent, and over time these oddities were mostly ironed out. Modern games are certainly geared around strong party cohesion, but it's something I always thought was present back when I first started playing.

Indeed, the system even offered secret languages so conspirators who shared the same alignment could converse in private at the table. I'm sure the rules never specified this as their intent, and over time these oddities were mostly ironed out. Modern games are certainly geared around strong party cohesion, but it's something I always thought was present back when I first started playing.

And I agree that that there was because, as Tao said, people who've played since, you know, 80 and the days or even earlier talk all the time about the rogue slash thief character doing these things or the paladin refusing to do what the rest of the party wanted because it wasn't the quote right thing to do and all of that.

And I agree that that there was because, as Tao said, people who've played since, you know, 80 and the days or even earlier talk all the time about the rogue slash thief character doing these things or the paladin refusing to do what the rest of the party wanted because it wasn't the quote right thing to do and all of that.

But I often talk about that tension between a tabletop role-playing game as a game system versus an engine for creating stories. And this is just another one of those threads on ludonarrative dissonance. Stories love conflict, even when that conflict is between antagonists. And cooperative games do not handle that well in the rules. Think about a football team.

But I often talk about that tension between a tabletop role-playing game as a game system versus an engine for creating stories. And this is just another one of those threads on ludonarrative dissonance. Stories love conflict, even when that conflict is between antagonists. And cooperative games do not handle that well in the rules. Think about a football team.

If one of the players decides, well, I'm actually going to go play for the other team now. And, you know, the the offensive lineman turns around to tackle the quarterback. That doesn't do much for the game as a game. Right. And and we do see. I'm going to talk about that later. I don't want to introduce a trader mechanic in American football.

If one of the players decides, well, I'm actually going to go play for the other team now. And, you know, the the offensive lineman turns around to tackle the quarterback. That doesn't do much for the game as a game. Right. And and we do see. I'm going to talk about that later. I don't want to introduce a trader mechanic in American football.

Depending on the team, I think there might already be some. But anyway, this sporting moment brought to you by Mike Shea. Did you have any thoughts on for me? The alignment question is the same thing as the the. class question. It was there.