Taint = Criminal Insanity [Archive] - Wizards Community

Taint = Criminal Insanity [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
totoro
06-26-05, 04:07 AM I thought I'd share an idea for alignment that seems pretty cool. It comes from the fact that insanity means that you are unable to distinguish right from wrong, which leads to all kinds of problems with both alignment and law (IRL).

My solution is to make taint turn sentient beings into (insane) puppets of evil. This would add a new type of CE to the mix. So, like N can be because you are unable to understand morality (INT 2 or less) or because you are morally neutral, CE could mean you are either a puppet of evil (tainted) or you are morally CE. Paladins and the like would be free to treat all CE equally. Or, taint could be so bad that you could treat tainted individuals much like you would treat a demon.
rbingham2000
06-27-05, 10:03 PM Are you talking about removing the physical aspects of taint (getting more and more hideous) and having the toll that it takes on somebody be mental and spiritual instead?

I've been toying with this idea myself. Lends a real "Dark Side of the Force" feel to Taint, and if you give paladins and clerics the "Detect Taint" spell instead of the Detect Evil spell, you can set up some pretty interesting situations, such as trying to detect taint on a sick :censored: who's been doing horrible stuff to people only to find that there's no taint in him and that he's just a regular sick :censored:.

And the campaign world's justice system will definitely have to take taint into account as well.
totoro
06-27-05, 10:23 PM The main motivation was so I don't have to worry at all about whether a person can distinguish between right and wrong. If they are a psycho, they are either evil, or tainted. Both may be cured by a paladin with a sword.

This allows me treat the criminally insane as "evil," which is emotionally satisfying in a fantasy world. (Not so in IRL, at least IMO.)

Now that you mention it, though, I had intended to completely eliminate the physical component of taint in most cases. For some, the taint will still manifest physically, but for sociopaths, the taint will not be detectable (except with a spell that detects taint, of course).

I was going to allow taint to be detectable with a detect evil spell (just like CE, but with a twist), but paladins who can only detect taint would be a good way to go, too. It kind of nerfs them so you might want to allow them additional smites (maybe CHA bonus) and maybe something else on top.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
totoro 06-26-05, 04:07 AM	I thought I'd share an idea for alignment that seems pretty cool. It comes from the fact that insanity means that you are unable to distinguish right from wrong, which leads to all kinds of problems with both alignment and law (IRL). My solution is to make taint turn sentient beings into (insane) puppets of evil. This would add a new type of CE to the mix. So, like N can be because you are unable to understand morality (INT 2 or less) or because you are morally neutral, CE could mean you are either a puppet of evil (tainted) or you are morally CE. Paladins and the like would be free to treat all CE equally. Or, taint could be so bad that you could treat tainted individuals much like you would treat a demon.
rbingham2000 06-27-05, 10:03 PM	Are you talking about removing the physical aspects of taint (getting more and more hideous) and having the toll that it takes on somebody be mental and spiritual instead? I've been toying with this idea myself. Lends a real "Dark Side of the Force" feel to Taint, and if you give paladins and clerics the "Detect Taint" spell instead of the Detect Evil spell, you can set up some pretty interesting situations, such as trying to detect taint on a sick :censored: who's been doing horrible stuff to people only to find that there's no taint in him and that he's just a regular sick :censored:. And the campaign world's justice system will definitely have to take taint into account as well.
totoro 06-27-05, 10:23 PM	The main motivation was so I don't have to worry at all about whether a person can distinguish between right and wrong. If they are a psycho, they are either evil, or tainted. Both may be cured by a paladin with a sword. This allows me treat the criminally insane as "evil," which is emotionally satisfying in a fantasy world. (Not so in IRL, at least IMO.) Now that you mention it, though, I had intended to completely eliminate the physical component of taint in most cases. For some, the taint will still manifest physically, but for sociopaths, the taint will not be detectable (except with a spell that detects taint, of course). I was going to allow taint to be detectable with a detect evil spell (just like CE, but with a twist), but paladins who can only detect taint would be a good way to go, too. It kind of nerfs them so you might want to allow them additional smites (maybe CHA bonus) and maybe something else on top.