Alignment at Knight Realms
Many years ago, we endeavored to make more aspects of the game publicly playable, namely dark or evil-type characters. The principle was that every aspect of the lower list rulebook should be playable in standard gameplay. At first, the tone of this matched what we had hoped for. Evil characters were allowed but mistrusted. They were accepted but regarded with great concern. As time went on, this has since swung too far in the opposite direction of the tone of the game, which is intended to be focused on the triumph of good and heroes. We allow evil to be playable but the intention is not for evil to feel normal or feel like a game world societal norm.
Knight Realms at its core is a game intended for the epic tale of good’s triumph over evil, and heroes battling monsters to save the day. Currently, aspects of the game do not match this intention and we have started to bring it back to that dynamic with the update to the alignment chart that was made a year ago. On top of this, we are adding additional directions for exalted-level divine characters and other directions for good and evil characters. Our goal is to reign the tone of the game back to the intent it was meant to be.
Our intended tone is that the “balance” of good and evil is more akin to a 75/25 split, where evil should aim to be cautious of not damaging their ability to operate in the public sphere. Laws should be enforced with a bias against evil, nobility should err on the side of supporting good action over evil, and other such interactions. The forces and armies of light/good/Fiona are extremely socially accepted. The forces and armies of dark/evil/Miranda are feared, distrusted, and not desired to be within a normal society. To say otherwise is akin to welcoming murderers to be your neighbors. While Travance is an exception to normal society, it does not throw that logic completely out the window, it is just a bit more tolerant out of a need for strength.
Much of this is realistically only affecting Exalted level roleplay, and so characters who are just devoted or use lower-list dark powers will not be held to the higher standard of expectations. A regular priest of Glomm, for example, will not be expected to uphold the ideals of Glomm as strictly as a Divine Chosen. A Divine Chosen of Glomm however should be made by Glomm to serve evil to a far less socially acceptable degree. At best, a good society should struggle with allowing the existence of these characters within their society.
To recap in the plainest terms, lower list evil 50% socially not OK (but still at 50% that allows one to coast with some caution under a good society's threshold of taking action against them) … higher list evil, 80% not OK. (Yes they can exist, but they are at odds with most of the society they live with most of the time and probably get into major fights with the forces of good that eventually become exasperated to action against them)
This is the pendulum swinging back and forth. It has swung back and forth several times in the decades of Knight Realms history. This might affect your character a little, a lot, or not at all. If your character is currently exalted list evil and playing in this tone of CvC is not something that appeals to you then we can work with you to help you find a way out of the situation and back into something more comfortable for you.
These exalted list role-play edits will be released shortly and if anyone who has any of these lists does not want to play the RP requirements we will be supportive in helping them make a shift into something else with no hassle. Taking advantage of this offer will likely come as a form to fill out and someone who will contact you to help work out the solution.
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