Alignment Descriptors [Archive] - Wizards Community

Alignment Descriptors [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Kurama Youko
02-14-04, 03:47 PM Okay, I know clerics are restricted by alignment descriptors on their spells but as far as I know Wizards and Sorcerers are under no such compulsions. So does this mean as a wizard or sorcerer I could take spells from the book of vile darkness and exhalted deeds just so long as they arent Race Specific Descriptors and or Corrupt or Sanctified?
Sproik
02-14-04, 03:54 PM Yes it does, assuming the spells exist in your campaign.
Kurama Youko
02-14-04, 04:14 PM Awesome.
Nom
02-14-04, 06:42 PM Note, however, that using, preparing or even learning spells with an alignment descriptor that opposes your own should cause your character alignment problems. LG characters do not use evil spells. CG characters need an overwhelmingly powerful argument to use evil spells (achieve a particular good only by corrupting themselves).

The Evil alignments tend to be less picky, and may consider turning Good spells for evil purposes. Again, LE is likely to be more restrained than CE.

Note however that most Good aligned spells specifically and deliberately target Evil aligned creatures. For example, dropping a Protection from Evil on yourself is a dumb idea if you're evil; it is consistent with (though not required by) the spell description that it would ward against you, from inside out. Similarly, if I were a DM and an Evil character tried to manipulate Good power without taking a variety of special precautions, I'd be inclined to have the spell affect them also, even if they weren't in the target area.
Eldren
02-14-04, 07:03 PM If you've read the Book of Vile Darkness, you've read their discussion on the nature of evil, and on the fact that the Dungeons & Dragons game defaults to an "objective evil" perspective, i.e., that something is "evil" irregardless of intent. Evil is a nature, not a learned behavior, in other words. Can that nature be changed? The Book of Exalted Deeds seems to think it can be, although by looking at their mechanic for the redemption of evil, it's a long, involved and tough process, and certain entities (evil dragons, demons, devils, yugoloths) are so thoroughly evil that they simply can't be redeemed.

With this in mind, casting spells with the [Evil] descriptor is an evil act. Multiple evil acts, over time, will change your alignment to evil. So if you have a Chaotic Good Wizard who goes around casting Animate Dead all the time, that's quickly going to change first to Chaotic Neutral, and then into Chaotic Evil. Even reading a divine spell off a scroll that has the [Evil] descriptor in the Player's Handbook would cause a Paladin to immediately be divested of their favored status, because they're willfully committing an evil act.

If you use the concept of "subjective evil", however, things get a bit dicier. You can get away with more, because the subjective evil approach believes that the ends justify the means, but at the same time, certain abilities, such a the Paladin's "Detect Evil" ability, and spells designed to repel evil (Protection From Evil) simply won't work unless the target is, at the time of the casting/usage, "evil". It throws the whole alignment system out of whack, because you're never going to change alignment; you're simply going to wait for the moment where doing something blatantly evil is going to ultimately result in a greater good being done, and you have at it. The Dungeons & Dragons game doesn't work very well on this level; games that don't have alignments (such as Star Wars, although that has Dark Side Points) do.

So be careful if you want your Wizard or Sorceror to start using [Evil] spells. They can, and don't suffer the more immediate repurcussions that Clerics would, simply because they don't answer to a Power for their abilities. But should you do something just because you can? That's a bit harder to answer. The long and short of it is that the casting of a spell with the [Evil] descriptor is an evil act, and enough evil acts performed consistently over time result in an alignment change. While 3rd Edition doesn't levy XP penalties for shifting alignment like 1st Edition and 2nd Edition did, it can still cause some problems in your party if there are good-aligned members of the party, and it can definitely cause problems with good-aligned Clerics or Paladins. Tread carefully. You can only stare into the Abyss for so long before it begins to stare back into you.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Kurama Youko 02-14-04, 03:47 PM	Okay, I know clerics are restricted by alignment descriptors on their spells but as far as I know Wizards and Sorcerers are under no such compulsions. So does this mean as a wizard or sorcerer I could take spells from the book of vile darkness and exhalted deeds just so long as they arent Race Specific Descriptors and or Corrupt or Sanctified?
Sproik 02-14-04, 03:54 PM	Yes it does, assuming the spells exist in your campaign.
Kurama Youko 02-14-04, 04:14 PM	Awesome.
Nom 02-14-04, 06:42 PM	Note, however, that using, preparing or even learning spells with an alignment descriptor that opposes your own should cause your character alignment problems. LG characters do not use evil spells. CG characters need an overwhelmingly powerful argument to use evil spells (achieve a particular good only by corrupting themselves). The Evil alignments tend to be less picky, and may consider turning Good spells for evil purposes. Again, LE is likely to be more restrained than CE. Note however that most Good aligned spells specifically and deliberately target Evil aligned creatures. For example, dropping a Protection from Evil on yourself is a dumb idea if you're evil; it is consistent with (though not required by) the spell description that it would ward against you, from inside out. Similarly, if I were a DM and an Evil character tried to manipulate Good power without taking a variety of special precautions, I'd be inclined to have the spell affect them also, even if they weren't in the target area.
Eldren 02-14-04, 07:03 PM	If you've read the Book of Vile Darkness, you've read their discussion on the nature of evil, and on the fact that the Dungeons & Dragons game defaults to an "objective evil" perspective, i.e., that something is "evil" irregardless of intent. Evil is a nature, not a learned behavior, in other words. Can that nature be changed? The Book of Exalted Deeds seems to think it can be, although by looking at their mechanic for the redemption of evil, it's a long, involved and tough process, and certain entities (evil dragons, demons, devils, yugoloths) are so thoroughly evil that they simply can't be redeemed. With this in mind, casting spells with the [Evil] descriptor is an evil act. Multiple evil acts, over time, will change your alignment to evil. So if you have a Chaotic Good Wizard who goes around casting Animate Dead all the time, that's quickly going to change first to Chaotic Neutral, and then into Chaotic Evil. Even reading a divine spell off a scroll that has the [Evil] descriptor in the Player's Handbook would cause a Paladin to immediately be divested of their favored status, because they're willfully committing an evil act. If you use the concept of "subjective evil", however, things get a bit dicier. You can get away with more, because the subjective evil approach believes that the ends justify the means, but at the same time, certain abilities, such a the Paladin's "Detect Evil" ability, and spells designed to repel evil (Protection From Evil) simply won't work unless the target is, at the time of the casting/usage, "evil". It throws the whole alignment system out of whack, because you're never going to change alignment; you're simply going to wait for the moment where doing something blatantly evil is going to ultimately result in a greater good being done, and you have at it. The Dungeons & Dragons game doesn't work very well on this level; games that don't have alignments (such as Star Wars, although that has Dark Side Points) do. So be careful if you want your Wizard or Sorceror to start using [Evil] spells. They can, and don't suffer the more immediate repurcussions that Clerics would, simply because they don't answer to a Power for their abilities. But should you do something just because you can? That's a bit harder to answer. The long and short of it is that the casting of a spell with the [Evil] descriptor is an evil act, and enough evil acts performed consistently over time result in an alignment change. While 3rd Edition doesn't levy XP penalties for shifting alignment like 1st Edition and 2nd Edition did, it can still cause some problems in your party if there are good-aligned members of the party, and it can definitely cause problems with good-aligned Clerics or Paladins. Tread carefully. You can only stare into the Abyss for so long before it begins to stare back into you.