Party Reputation and Alignment (More of a suggestion really)
Deefje
Member Posts: 110
I know this definitely won't make in in BG:EE, probably won't make it in BGII:EE. But might be a good idea for BGIII if it comes to that. So I just thought I'd put my idea here in feature requests since it seemed to be the best sub forum.
Right now, even though characters have their pick from 9 alignemnts, parties only get rated with reputation. But what if this was different?
Introducing: Party alignment
Like reputation, this will be based on the actions of your party but will only affect the party itself and not the outside world.
Reputation is how the world sees you, (non-party)NPC reactions and things like shop prices react correspondingly. (This would govern the lawful, neutral, chaotic part mostly)
Party alignment is your parties true nature and the truth of your actions and how your party characters respond. (Good, neutral, evil)
For example:
A high ranking merchant has a price on his head and is hunted by assassins, including you. In this case, the merchant is a nice guy, considered 'good' and well respected. Killing him would be 'evil'. With the current reputation only setup, there'd be two possible scenarios for this quest.
#1 -You kill the merchant and get a reputation decrease,
#2- You save the merchant from the other assassins and get reputation increase.
Now if we'd include the possible effects of Party Alignment, you could for example:
#3- Save the merchant from the other assassins and get a reputation increase. Wait a day for the news to spread, then secretly kill the merchant.
Now your party alignment will shift some points to evil.
# Pretend to kill the merchant and throw the other assassins off course while the merchant starts a new living elsewhere.
In this case you would get a negative reputation but your party alignment will shift to evil.
Of course without Party Alignment the actual quest outcome would have been possible, but there would be no, to little long term effects and the more complicated outcomes of the quests would just be a hassle.
Effects Party Alignment could have:
Party NPC's reaction
Let's take Edwin, who is mostly concerned about his reputation and appearance. In his case, even if the Party alignment was good, he wouldn't care as long as people don't know and his reputation doesn't get sullied.
On the other hand, Ajantis being a zealot Paladin, would definitely require the party to be both good and lawful. Which will make this alignment a lot harder and complicated to play if the law would require you to do unjust things.
Evil Mastermind
In almost every RPG I played, being evil means kicking kittens and taking candy from little children. And being good means saving every little mouse from the cats and force the cats to be vegetarians.
With this extra system, you could play an evil party. That extorts merchants, sells slaves and steals +5 walking sticks from old men. But saves the occasional kitten and still get a hero's welcome and be despised in lathanders church.
Reactions from Factions and Powerful NPC's
Whereas a cities guard would react more to your reputation an organization like the Thieves Guild would know all your dirty secrets (or what a goody two-shoes your Orc berserker actually is).
Furthermore it adds to the possible complexity, outcomes and long-term effects of the party leader's choices.
Anyhow, long read I hope it was worth it.
As an extra I would like to add, I have little D&D experience besides Baldur's Gate. So if this suggestions is actually some gruesome mutilation of some core rules, I hope the hardcore fans will forgive me.
So what do you guys think?
Right now, even though characters have their pick from 9 alignemnts, parties only get rated with reputation. But what if this was different?
Introducing: Party alignment
Like reputation, this will be based on the actions of your party but will only affect the party itself and not the outside world.
Reputation is how the world sees you, (non-party)NPC reactions and things like shop prices react correspondingly. (This would govern the lawful, neutral, chaotic part mostly)
Party alignment is your parties true nature and the truth of your actions and how your party characters respond. (Good, neutral, evil)
For example:
A high ranking merchant has a price on his head and is hunted by assassins, including you. In this case, the merchant is a nice guy, considered 'good' and well respected. Killing him would be 'evil'. With the current reputation only setup, there'd be two possible scenarios for this quest.
#1 -You kill the merchant and get a reputation decrease,
#2- You save the merchant from the other assassins and get reputation increase.
Now if we'd include the possible effects of Party Alignment, you could for example:
#3- Save the merchant from the other assassins and get a reputation increase. Wait a day for the news to spread, then secretly kill the merchant.
Now your party alignment will shift some points to evil.
# Pretend to kill the merchant and throw the other assassins off course while the merchant starts a new living elsewhere.
In this case you would get a negative reputation but your party alignment will shift to evil.
Of course without Party Alignment the actual quest outcome would have been possible, but there would be no, to little long term effects and the more complicated outcomes of the quests would just be a hassle.
Effects Party Alignment could have:
Party NPC's reaction
Let's take Edwin, who is mostly concerned about his reputation and appearance. In his case, even if the Party alignment was good, he wouldn't care as long as people don't know and his reputation doesn't get sullied.
On the other hand, Ajantis being a zealot Paladin, would definitely require the party to be both good and lawful. Which will make this alignment a lot harder and complicated to play if the law would require you to do unjust things.
Evil Mastermind
In almost every RPG I played, being evil means kicking kittens and taking candy from little children. And being good means saving every little mouse from the cats and force the cats to be vegetarians.
With this extra system, you could play an evil party. That extorts merchants, sells slaves and steals +5 walking sticks from old men. But saves the occasional kitten and still get a hero's welcome and be despised in lathanders church.
Reactions from Factions and Powerful NPC's
Whereas a cities guard would react more to your reputation an organization like the Thieves Guild would know all your dirty secrets (or what a goody two-shoes your Orc berserker actually is).
Furthermore it adds to the possible complexity, outcomes and long-term effects of the party leader's choices.
Anyhow, long read I hope it was worth it.
As an extra I would like to add, I have little D&D experience besides Baldur's Gate. So if this suggestions is actually some gruesome mutilation of some core rules, I hope the hardcore fans will forgive me.
So what do you guys think?
3
Comments
That said, I'll second the feature request because it's something I've always been interested in, even if it's never going to happen (at least part of any official mod).
Maybe someday, some game will allow me to play a secretly evil but outwardly charming, masses-adored but mass-murdering Dark Lady but I won't hold my breath.
The thing is, you can only implement so much after a game is already completed.
Though perhaps it would be easier if in the development of a new campaign, this mechanism was introduced from the start. The story/quests/dialogue can be made to match it from the start.
But I guess still a lot of work.
As Neleo said, one can always hope.