The newer editions of 5E are becoming increasingly difficult to like. Level Up A5E, Tales of the Valiant, and a game I won't play, D&D 2024, all remove alignment. Level Up A5E does the most creative thing, adding a destiny system, but it feels too narrow of a tool instead of alignment, which says so much while using so few words. ToV and D&D 2024 eradicate alignment.
What is the point of these games again?
Alignment held together the world models, the fight between good and evil, the maps of the worlds, the beliefs of the peoples, the behaviors of the monsters, and the entire story of the game. Why adventure? Why does the world work in the way it does? Why do demons exist? Are the undead not evil? Are angels not good?
Every campaign setting we love is built off the alignment system. You can't just pull that all out and expect people to be able to tell the same stories there. These worlds don't exist to mirror the current day, and every classic adventure breaks if the concept of good and evil do not exist. The Temple of Elemental Evil becomes "The Temple of the Elemental Perspective." The Keep on the Borderlands is populated by humanoid monsters, and those are no longer monsters listed in the Monster Manual.
Now, I play a few games without an alignment system and love them, such as GURPS. What is the difference? In GURPS, you are defined by your actions, and your disadvantages drive behavior. Why shouldn't D&D be any different?
D&D should be different. This is why we love this game in particular. It reflects a broader conflict in the universe between the forces of good and the forces of evil. This conflict is built into our DNA, and to deny it is to worship nihilism and death. D&D is the story of the battle between good and evil.
Remove alignment, and the game is nothing.
Well, what about GURPS? Is that nothing? In a way, GURPS always piggybacked on the concept of alignment from D&D and inherited those concepts. GURPS Dungeon Fantasy goes this far in its glossary:
"Devil, The: Godlike boss of all Evil. Wants your soul." - GURPS, Dungeon Fantasy, Adventurers, page 4.
That is a remarkably bold statement, and it draws upon a wealth of biblical lore that underlies much of fantasy. This is the core of the fight between good and evil, and it boils everything down into something anyone can understand. Remove evil, and your game becomes far less understandable and relatable.
Dungeon Fantasy goes even further:
"Elder Thing: Any entity that exists outside time, space, and standard concepts of Good and Evil. Causes madness."
"squid: Euphemism for Elder Things. Squid cults (foolishly) worship such entities."
"monster: Any being that tries to slaughter adventurers right back."
- GURPS, Dungeon Fantasy, Adventurers, page 4.
There is worldbuilding going on here that mirrors the old AD&D setup, and it is clear what constitutes a monster. There is no lack of clarity here, either. Evil is evil, and the creatures beyond space and time exist in a realm of madness nobody with a human mind can understand or even comprehend. I love the theory that Elder Things are outside the realm of evil, and are just wickedly cruel and heartless beings, which does make them evil in a sense, but it gives them something more than just an alignment tacked on there.
This modern design theory of putting "feelings and emotions" on everything, even Elder Chthonic Gods sitting around talking like people in a coffee shop, is just lame, stupid, and childish writing. It isn't relatable; it's just dumb, and it shows what a waste college has been for these writers, who have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars learning nothing. The funny quip and the writing for a Tweet have surpassed deep thought, lasting emotion, and reflection. I'm not angry; I just feel sad that a generation grew up this way.
Educate yourselves. The classics already solved all the problems we have today. Read poetry if you need to find the meaning of life. All the secrets of life were discovered long ago, and they are in books hundreds of years old.
You will find no mental nutrition in the works financed by Wall Street corporatists.
It is a vapid, soulless, empty and meaningless life designed to keep you consuming the escapist opiate.
GURPS simulates and inherits so much from other games that if you were using GURPS to simulate a D&D world, you would just "bring in alignment" and have it in your game, either the 3-axis Original D&D or the 9-axis AD&D, whatever you want. Just because GURPS does not have alignment does not mean it is not a part of the game, and this is a key concept to understanding how GURPS works.
And Tales of the Valiant, you are in this camp, too. I want Open 5E to succeed, but why did you have to listen to them? I can port in alignment here, too, but I would have liked to see that theme of the battle between good and evil upheld in one of the modern Open 5E games. Even the title of your game assumes heroism and valiance. Why couldn't we have something more than a nebulous "default hero assumption?"
I have another game on my most-played shelves that sits there and screams fun at me. The concept of good versus evil is built into this game's DNA, woven directly into its spell system, highlighted in its classes, and reflected in the elder beings you deal with. This is Dungeon Crawl Classics. There is no "ripping out the battle of good and evil" here, since the entire game was written to put that battle at the center of everything - from those you deal with, to the magic you cast, to the heroes you are destined to be (or die as).
I love the OSR types who criticize this game for the company trying to market DCC to a modern audience. How else will the contemporary audience learn about fantasy gaming, and how it reflects the battle between good and evil? They sure aren't getting it in college. Let them find it through gaming.
Welcome to what we already knew; we are happy to have you finally join the fight.
The Bible tells us souls can be redeemed and saved. All of them, not just the few that play the games we like. In this eternal battle between good and evil, we must reflect on our values and continually invite people into the light. Pride is a sin that many in the OSR succumb to, and we should strive to be better people and more inviting. Without the Bible and, by extension, the classic fantasy stories that retold these tales, roleplaying games would not exist.
This is not a fight about worldviews, gaming purism, modern language, or sides; it is a battle for control of human truths. Some of those are muddled by gaming fads and wrapped up in this battle, but only one "rulebook" stands as the core truth of life. My Bible sits on my gaming bookshelves. It is a core book. It will also dispel any argument made against it. It is the single best magic item I have in my home.
D&D's loss of the battle between good and evil will be the inscription on its headstone.
I love Tales of the Valiant, and while it can coexist with DCC, the fact is that DCC is the better game, with a stronger heart and rock-solid core ethos. ToV gave up the moral fight to be with the cool kids crowd, but that will not last since there is nothing brave about a fleeting fad. You can deal with evil in DCC to gain power, but you will deeply regret it. This is a choice the game presents to you, and it serves as a valuable lesson. Where else will new gamers learn this?
Not in D&D. Not in ToV. Not in any of these new games that cowardly pander to social media.
DCC and the OSR will kill Open 5E for me if this trend continues.
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