If you’re walking in on the middle of this series, there’s an index here.

As discussed in the Player’s Handbook Read-through, alignment is problematic in its word choices and not particularly useful as a guide for decision-making or role-playing. It’s at once too specific and too general, but second edition comes with a separate system of beliefs – ethos – that is not well fleshed out, but that is actually structured into a lot of other systems. I’m going to pull a little from the Planeswalker’s Handbook as well, as for fleshing out beliefs, Planescape is the obvious place to look.

The PHB in the Priest entry calls ethos “tenets and beliefs that guide behaviour” or in the Paladin’s Handbook “principles that structure life and regulate behaviour”. This is very roughly sketched out, but examples are given in the Druid entry, the Complete Druid’s Handbook and the Complete Priest’s Handbook:

• Protecting the wilderness
• Maintain natural cycles
• Maintain balance between good and evil
• Keep the deeds of ancestors alive
• Regard the undead as a mockery of true and noble death
• Most individuals actions will not prove significant
• Gods manipulate mortals for their own ends, and these games must be put to an end

The Complete Paladin’s Handbook provides a more concrete framework, consisting of edicts provided by the paladin’s patron that must be strictly followed. Edicts can be either:

• Expressions of Faith (prayer, rituals, proselytising, symbols/clothing, pilgrimage)
• Services (Healing the sick, deliberating children, caring for the sick, eliminating enemies of the faith)
• Behaviour (Courtesy, honour, valour, generosity, fasting, cannot touch the dead, may not fight on holy days)

Returning to the Complete Book of Humanoids from the heritage post, superstitions are either irrational fears or specific omens. I like the specific omen approach:

• Magic is suspicious and expected to have negative consequences
• Lightning and violent weather changes signify the god’s displeasure
• Nights when the stars are hidden precede days of ill fortune
• Assign personalities and divine interventions to the phases of the moon
• If a weapon breaks in battle, it is a bad omen
• Stagnant water is an ill omen

The PHB also calls law, chaos and neutrality ethos, as distinct from good and evil, but these are stated as philosophies not descriptors. Some examples:

• The relationships between people and governments exists naturally.
• Laws should be made and followed.
• Strength comes through unity of action.
• There is no preordained order.
• Individual actions account for the progression of history.

In the DMG, following ethos decreases your experience, gains priests, rangers and paladins experience, magical items are tied to ethos, and ethos affect attitudes and reactions, which while poorly implemented provides most of the support for mechanical incorporation of ethos rather than alignment (for which there is no support) into the broader system reimagining.

The Planeswalker’s Handbook provides clearer beliefs and also a system to “score” adherence and earn belief points (1 for adhered/ 2 if at a cost/ 3 if at great cost) which allow an automatic success or an intuitive leap (free information). This is similar to inspiration in fifth edition, but tied to a more concrete trigger. There is no punishment for disregarding your belief, only reward for adhering to it. The examples of beliefs are more concrete, too:

• All individuals have freedom of choice and right to do what they want
• Those in power are always in the right
• The strong should always help the weak
• Intentionally inflicting pain is wrong
• Ignore the past; only the present is important
• Knowledge is free and should never be withheld
• Taking risks is foolish and wrong
• Every individual should improve the lives of others at every available opportunity
• Comforts and pleasures serve only to weaken
• All individuals are responsible for their own well-being; reliance on others is wrong
• Lying is always wrong
• Mercy should be given to all beings
• Gods are evil and priests should not be tolerated

So, ethos need to be flexible: all characters will gain one, and some classes and most heritages who’ll have additional ones, for three or more ethos. They can be either beliefs or strictures, with beliefs consisting folkways, philosophies and superstitions, and structures consisting rituals, acts of service, and behaviours. There will have to be lists of these things, but that’s why I listed them above.

I love the idea of inspiration coming from adhering to ethos, but it’s a challenge to have ethos both be reflected in inspiration and experience, despite both being supported readings of the wider line. Can we combine them, balancing XP so that it can be spent on inspiration, that belief-fuelled characters earn experience more quickly if they adhere to their ethos, but also burn it as a class resource? Thats interesting.

Either way, we’ll hold experience and inspiration in our hand as potential rewards for adhering to ethos, abnegate mechanical punishments for not adhering to ethos (heavens forbid a fellow paladin or stellinari elf catch you though), and move onwards, having cut alignment from the rules in favour of the other belief system in second edition. When we get to magical items, attitudes and reactions, and experience, we’ll have to come back to this.

This has been a part of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeon Series! Let me know your thoughts on alignment and ethos, if there are glaring questions left unanswered, whether I’ve overlooked anything glaring, or anything of the sort!

Idle Cartulary

12th April 2022