SO I'm ever so sloooowly trying to flesh out an idea I have....or perhaps it's better to say it's part of the whole that needs flesh...currently it can't even be described as bone or a stud. I hope some of you have ideas of how to add depth to the idea. So as the thread name states the basic idea is 'morals as stats' I have chosen four principle morals and those are the ones the ancient greeks had way before the roman catholic church made them even more popular! Prudence (Sagacity) the ability to discern the appropriate course of action to be taken in a given situation at the appropriate time. Courage (Valour) also termed fortitude, forbearance, strength, endurance, and the ability to confront fear, uncertainty, and intimidation Temperance (Austerity) also known as restraint, the practice of self-control, abstention, discretion, and moderation tempering the appetition. Sōphrosynē can also be translated as sound-mindedness. I've also associated this with the idea of 'gravitias' or grave courtesy, noble courtesy etc Justice also considered as fairness, the most extensive and most important virtue;[1] the Greek word also having the meaning righteousness The characters are students if that matters, and it's a 'magic (and magical) school'. (if you want more information just ask) I was thinking of having "mind/body/spirit" stats/skills in addition. I've toyed around with having 'sub-morals' that could be related to the main four but that quickly gets complicated (I found a list with 200 of them so it's not impossible). I have no idea where to start so I would really appreciate any feedback. I've stagnated and could use the input! psp (post script paul) I put this here to get feedback from readers as well as writers. all things litrpg is 'ideas central' right? =0)
Nice idea! From my initial impression I feel like in modern times we might look at these things a bit differently now. For example, Prudence right now wouldn't really be considered so much in the realm of 'morality' as it is in the realm of, well, 'sensible judgment' (which is more 'think-y', if you know what I mean). Also, I think there's one huge aspect of modern morals that's not addressed yet. As a global society, we're starting to move from "absolute right and wrong" to the idea that morality is based on the feeling of us vs them, so the modern trend is that we include as many as possible in the "us" (and this is extending to animal life, plant life, 'bad people's lives'), which has to do with compassion/empathy -- so even 'righteousness' isn't a 'good' thing any more. One other thing is that I don't think it should be too complicated, especially if you're having other stats. And my impression is that the moral stats would be included in Spirit somehow? Sorry -- I'm kinda low on caffeine at the moment so my brain isn't working. Hope that makes sense?
I like the idea of making morals a society concept as opposed to religious. It's one of the reasons I'm using alternate names for some of the morals so that people won't automatically assume the four cardinal virtues and then think it's associated with a specific religion. After I posted this last night I realized I could do a sliding scale type, except the thought that struck me was along the lines of the game 'infamous'/'infamous2'/'second son'. Except less "good/evil" because each moral would have it's own scale or compass as it were. It's one way to do it anyway. That would also separate it from the regular mind/body/spirit stats/skills which would, I think, add more interest. The 'morals' would be harder to 'level' as it were.
The 'morals' would be separate from mind/body/spirit. Kinda..super stats? no thats not right..but they are separate. I wrote earlier that I could see them being on a scale. As I flesh that out some it would require "acts of...." to move up (or down) the scale. And each moral, since there are only four, would need to encompass other ideas. So justice, I think, would also include things like equality and inclusion. Valour would include integrity. Those are just a couple of examples. I appreciate the input though. I really do. The whole reason I'm posting here is because I'm having trouble putting it into a quantifiable form. The closest so far is to try to model it after the game 'infamous' and it's sequels. But less good and evil and more...exemplify and flaw? (finding the appropriate antonym there was rather difficult lol). If I went that route I'd have to figure out how many 'points' it takes to get to a certain level and how many levels there are.
This reminds me very much of the morality system from Ultima 4. The player is trying to become the Avatar, but to do so he has to master a number of different virtues. The game kept track of the player's actions, adjusting the morality stats accordingly. Like, if you gave gold to beggars, your compassion would go up, or if you attacked a citizen your honor would go down. I think this could work well as a LitRPG. I would certainly be interested in reading it.
I had a breakthrough thanks to D&D and an old Duke of Burgundy. Valour: Exhibit integrity in word and deed Defend the weak and innocent Exhibit honor Never abandon friend, ally or noble cause Justice Exhibit honor in all things Be fair and righteous Persevere in the face of adversity Gravitas Exhibit dignified self control restrained or moderate indulgence Discretion Exhibit courtesy in all things Honor tradition, family and respected authority figures Sagacity Circumspect in action Exhibit perceptive, astute, or insightful judgement Where as honor and courtesy are defined as follows: honor always keep one's word always maintain ones principles never betray a confidence or comrade respect life Courtesy exhibit manners be polite and attentive be respectful of host, authority and women Now that being said remember that the setting is a school so valour can't actually be battles...least not for first years! The idea came from d&d and having a "code" for each moral. I'd appreciate any feedback or even additions or corrections of what I've posted. The code as you see here is taken from medieval code of chivalry (I chose one that wasn't religious) and the definitions of the virtue in question. I changed Temperance to Gravitas. I'm still not sure if I'll keep the name change. now that I've had a successful research session I'm going to read!
I like it. It's a really interesting concept and I'm liking the way you're going with it. It's not something I had ever thought of and I love that because I get super intrigued watching it develop.
I agree that it sounds super cool! I especially like the "act of..." thing you mentioned. It would give it a very interesting flavor.
ahh thank y0u =0) Sharing is helping. Being a part of this forum helps =0) Thank you for the compliment
Yeah I thought that could be interesting too. With those sort of things it'll be how the mechanics defines it. Originally I thought I might have the "Virtues" just be handed out by staff, but I think that would do them a disservice. It would be teaching the students to only behave a certain way when authority figures are watching...not on their own. Which would defeat the whole purpose of having them in the first place. I still have room to grow though. I don't think the virtues are fleshed out enough. I like the idea that honor and courtesy are things shared...oooohhh wait you guys don't know what i'm talking about lol. Well I'm not sure how much to share as much of it is still rather nebulous no matter how much research I've done! That's what I'm doing today of course...research. Thank you for the compliment btw
