A three-alignment system for D&D

[roseembolism]

For my upcoming Western themed D&D game, I'm tempted to simplify the alignment system to somethng both easier to understand, and more genre appropriate:  I'd reduce everything down to three alignments:

GOOD: You get to wear the white hat: Helpin widders' across the street, tipping your hat, drinkin' sasparilla, etc.  You know what this means: Honest (mostly), loyal, thinking of the better good, clean, reverent, etc..

BAD: The wearer of the black hat.  More than mean, you make your plans to hurt people.  Killin.' stealin' and cheatin' the innocent is a true pleasure.  If there's someone who's going to tie the school marm to the track just to hear her scream, it'll be you.

UGLY: The mean SOB in the grey hat.  Ornery, angry, or just plumb crude and selfish, the Ugly may be a nasty piece of work, he's not malicious, and can be very loyal.  He never hurts anyone who wasn't trying to kill him.  Or looks like he might kill him.  Or if there's a woman involved.  Or for money.  Or if he has a firewater hangover.

Any comments?

Comments

[racerxmachina.livejournal.com]

*ahem*
*points to humor tag on the post*

[mithriltabby]

It wasn’t clear from context whether this was metagaming humor or discussion of putting together a humorous game.

[roseembolism.livejournal.com]

Actually, at this point I'm not sure which it is either. I'm pretty sure the game is going to be somewhat tongue in cheek, given the subject, but I'll rely on the players to supply most of the humor.

But now I'm thinking that the hats definition could be an excellent attribute for some indy game in the vein of Dogs in the Vineyard. Which hat you choose would give you different advantages at various stages of the game.