Grim & Perilous Alignment in Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play

A New/Old Approach to Looking at the World.

My journey of rediscovery continues. One of the joys of rereading favorite tomes a few years later is that we/I have changed - become a slightly different person with additional experiences and perhaps a fresh perspective. This obviously affects my interpretation of the material, but also makes certain things more salient than I recall them ever being.

In 1986 my experience with gaming was more limited, more influenced by The World's First Role-Playing Game and its assumptions - including alignment. I am fairly certain that I noted Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play included alignment along with a number of other familiar FRP tropes - PC elves, dwarfs and halflings, monster orcs, goblins and giants, etc. I probably gave these elements little thought at the time, but today, alignment carries more weight as a concept as The World's Most Popular Role-Playing game seems to be pushing it aside.

Alignment is not ubiquitous among FRPs and many games written today make no mention of it at all, but I still prefer to use it in the games I referee. I find the classic law - neutrality - chaos ordering of the fictional world setting to my liking and I incorporate ways to make it meaningful in my games. As a source of conflict, alignment has few equals. It suggests the power struggles of humanity and other sentient creatures is part of a greater struggle for dominance having cosmic and divine roots. Alignment implies that our actions matter - that there are consequences from success or failure beyond personal power and satisfaction. Alignment makes sense to me.

So as I am recently reading the following words on skill tests as found in WFRP 1st edition, I am struck by a fresh angle on this familiar topic. Continuum!

For the purposes of these tests, it is most convenient to consider the five alignments as a straight line, running as follows:

        Cbaos - Evil - Neutral - Good - Law

You should apply a -10% modifier for each level of difference. For example, Good is 1 alignment away from Neutral - so if a Good character must make a Gossip test during a conversation with a Neutral character, it will be modified by -10%. Evil and Law are 3 alignments away from each other, and a -30% modifier would be imposed for Fellowship-based tests between characters of these alignments.

An example is given in the rules involving the PC's effort to bribe an NPC.

Alignments are an important consideration:

Chaotic characters would be likely to accept a bribe ( + 20% chance).

Evil characters would be quite likely to ( + 10 % ).

Good characters would be unlikely to (-10% ).

Lawful characters would be very unlikely to (-20%).

Alignment can (and should) affect both one's behavior choices and reactions to others based upon your assessment of their loyalties. Lawful characters should likely be more trusting of those whom they perceive as being of lawful alignment and this should have a mechanical effect in the game.

There is a lot to unpack here and I am just beginning to explore how I could use these concepts in other FRP systems, but here are my initial thoughts. 

Would it be readily apparent to others what one's alignment is? Obviously the outward display of certain emblems and religious symbols might provide a strong indicator, as would the use of the certain detection magics and the much discussed "alignment languages" as found in the earliest editions of The World's Most Popular Role-Playing Game. 

Given knowledge of "just who we are dealing with", would it be appropriate to provide a modifier to reaction rolls and even combat morale? Would beings with a strong alignment adherence be more likely to stand their ground against perceived agents of an opposing alignment? 

I have long adhered to the belief that many/most magic items should have an alignment as it presents players with decisions to make and generally makes play more interesting.

In a fictional milieu having friends one can count on and enemies who can be opposed without hesitation or moral dilemma can be appealing. The real world is often not so simple, but I am talking about a fantasy game played for fun! I suppose we can create our fantasies in any way that suits us.