eing a DM is fun and hard.  Not a euphemism for the DM, settle down.

When Dorian first showed up, I was personally choked; in attempting to operate a serious campaign and having everyone start on such a strong foot, soon enough the shenanigans that befall my Friday group took hold once again.  I wasn't terribly pleased.

Inter party conflict leads to PvP leads to bruised egos and ultimately 'revenge characters.'
The saving grace here is that the character brought forth is not committing meta-assault, or is even a 'revenge' character, that is, the character didn't come in carrying a players chip.  A troll character, yes, but Dorian was never brought about as a violent revenge towards Ivor.  Much to my surprise.

Ultimately, because the character was never aimed at Ivor in a malicious manner, Paul succeeded in presenting a comedic, over the top performance, winning Mitch, Mike and I, but surprisingly (or maybe not) the viewers as well.

Some other players, not so much.

Joe & Curtis, while they don't roleplay per se, they do represent their characters accurately and consistently and perform their actions within that evolving framework (characters grow, after all).

Curtis' complaint of the character, as I understand it, is that the character of Dorian is an offensive, and misplaced square peg being rubbed against a round hole.  Granted.  This echoes my concern.

While Joe would also share in Curtis' complaints, Joe also has the unfortunate circumstance of another character generated to get at him, and this time around, oddly enough, it has worked more successfully then any other revenge character ever brought about.

The thing that disappoints me most in this whole circumstance, going back to my original reason for being choked, is the goofy character in the middle of my war drama.

It'd be like Jar Jar Binks showing up in the middle of Rogue One.

Don't look away.  You know you're curious.

The penalizing of Ivor is because I truly believe his actions reflect Neutral Evil as an alignment and I'm flogging the concept of alignment as an important facet for this campaign.
I think it's an important facet of the games mechanics given that this is a roleplaying game and the alignment in this campaign serves as part of the challenge.

Players were not allowed to generate an evil character for this campaign and despite Ivor's family being Addams Family meets Darksiders, the House of Ketterrog, like any other great house of the Cloud Spires, has an honour and code, tenets that drive the motivation of those who make up its ranks.  They are not nice people, but they're not necessarily of evil alignment.  Chaotic Neutral, Neutral, and Lawful Neutral can be scary alignments depending on who's driving them.

Ivor has been raised by that house and his alignment reflects the nature of one who should hold those tenets close.  If the ends are to justify the means then we need context but without context to justify the behaviour wrought as one that fits within that alignment, we have wanton player chaos, and not roleplay.

Atonement to stay as Lawful Neutral, in my opinion, can be achieved by doing one of two things:

Hire him (sic: press gang him) into the family, and have him shipped away to be taught, thus fulfilling Dorian's dream of being a soldier, and following the tenets that his house would put forth.

Commit to killing him in some fashion and pay the gold to have his body cleaned up, let the chips fall where they may.  Honestly, I've never understood the hesitation, as anything more then a courtesy.

Comeuppance

Some viewers have expressed their interest in seeing Ivor punished for his actions, and in due course, perhaps he will face retribution of a fashion.  Fate (and the dice involved) have an odd way of making things happen but I am not about to hamfist punishment upon a player.

Sometimes bad people lead great, fulfilling lives while good people get the short end of the stick.

Will Orion's house continue to seek revenge despite the first failed attempt?  Will Ivor's house suffer an investigative eye?

Time will tell.

What is Alignment

Special Thanks to Johnny_Speed for firing me a copy of this in the middle of play.  Special mention to Paul who remembered the guidelines as written herein.

A general term describing the view and morale fiber of an individual?

A strait jacket used to rail road the behaviour of a player based on the perception of an individual, that individual being the DM?

A good way to rack (or lose) karma on reddit posting debates about alignment?

I would say it's a gameplay element and a philosophy but the debate will rage as it has since 1978.

More importantly, and hamfistedly, it is the guiding line by which I am governing and ensuring a non-evil campaign.

According to the blurb on the right, alignment is everything about a person, including how an individual carries themselves.  It's described as if it's a known concept in the world, akin to gender, race or creed.

It says that changing your alignment will result in the shifting of your entire paradigm of behaviour in the world and resultantly everyone you know.  You will alienate your closest friends and ultimately get along with a new crowd.

Alignment, however you want to define it, is kind of a big deal.

So I want it to be a big deal.  I will make it a big deal.

What is Story

Remember that despite everything, I was not digging the Dorian character being a part of the campaign.
While Paul's previous priest and boy combination was tongue in cheek, it was a legitamitely cool concept that I enjoyed and was sorry to see ended on a die roll.

Dorian, doesn't fit the mold, and although I've grown accustomed to the antics and comedy, it's disruptive of a narrative and promotes the ruination of a drama by inciting tom foolery.

I don't bear limits upon character generation, because when players bring their characters to the table, one of the first things I aim to do is establish their place in the world up front in some fashion.

Give the players an objective, a role, a round hole as a round peg should fit (presuming the player wants to be a round peg).

I can only do so much.

Interaction

I try to get to everyone.  I know, I kinda suck, especially when I get too drunken and less dungeon, master.

Johnny's been suggesting (for some time now) that I really should build a proper and simple method of making requests.  I'm going to work on getting that done this week :D

I have an idea of how it will work (based again on Johnny's suggestion) so it's a matter of seeing if there's an existing solution and if not, build it.

Costs

Just to address the concern about higher then average XP costs.

I'm not fleecing because people have them; prices were jacked at the beginning and stay that way while players are low level.

While characters are starting out, or inexperienced players are at the table, prices will go up, and require multiple viewers in some cases to satisfy me.  Remember: It's about everyone having fun and the table comes first.

Aside from that, prices have come down since they've gained levels; not to mention, you can affect the game again :D

When the players are all level 10 or over, XP will be back to 1:1.

Insofar as my menu on my website goes, I've printed them off so when folks ask, I will have it at hand.  My apologies for confusion or inconsistency there.  That's sort of what I count on Varonasquee for :D