How much does your alignment affect the game?

[Chibi]

My friend told me that this game's world and story adapt slightly to your alignment, which is a problem, because I get shoved into Chaotic Evil in every game with the alignment system that I've played. I don't even play like a bad person, it's just that I do benefits me the most in a given situation, no matter what that entails, but every game balances its choices as "be nice/truthful and get less of a reward" vs "lie/manipulate them and get something better." If this game is the same, am I at risk of it adapting things to me being some mindless psycho when that's not the case? Even if I set my alignment to Neutral Evil, which is realistically closer to where I'd fall, is it going to completely derail the game's plot, or would it still let me be competent and have some foresight?

[Blood Flowers]

There are some "Alignment Specific" dialogue choices that occasionally significantly impact the difficulty of certain portions of the game. None of these choices will prevent you from completing the game or screw you over.

Otherwise, you really won't be affected too much by the alignment. I tend to also pick whatever option gives the best rewards, and I haven't seen my alignment actually shift far enough to change to a different one.

[Red]

Originally posted by Blood Flowers:

There are some "Alignment Specific" dialogue choices that occasionally significantly impact the difficulty of certain portions of the game. None of these choices will prevent you from completing the game or screw you over.

Otherwise, you really won't be affected too much by the alignment. I tend to also pick whatever option gives the best rewards, and I haven't seen my alignment actually shift far enough to change to a different one.

it will screw you HARD if you pick the wrong alignment-themed choice during companion quests. The rest, you can do whatever you want. The same bunch of people will be dancing at the center tent for years and years no matter what

pick the wrong choice and your companions will get killed off in a scripted event in the most frustrating part of the game, at the 2nd to last chapter [/spoilers]

[For_Science!]

In this game, the alignment dynamic is the opposite of what you describe: it would be hard to remain Chaotic Evil if you wanted to, unless your character were some kind of psychotic serial killer. (Most of the Chaotic Evil choices are along the lines of "murder this random stranger for no reason.")

Ironically, many of the chaotic evil NPCs are not mindless killers. If they were the main character, they would quickly lose their CE alignment for not being murder hobos. ;-)

Even if I set my alignment to Neutral Evil, is it going to completely derail the game's plot, or would it still let me be competent and have some foresight?

You can almost always make whatever decisions you like. The game might nudge your alignment in some direction as a result, but it won't say "You're such-and-such alignment, so you must do this."

The only exceptions are a small number of points where there is a special option only available to a certain alignment (usually "any Lawful", "any Chaotic", "any Good", "any Evil", or "any Neutral".) There are always plenty of other choices available to people not of that alignment The chaotic ones can be fun. (If you are Chaotic Neutral -- because this involves making a Neutral-only choice, followed later by a Chaotic-only choice -- you can start a new religious cult among the kobolds and mites. They worship your discarded glove as a holy relic.)

[Grifta]

Yea, quite a bit actually. I look at it as partially how you personally act, and partially how the world knows that you react.

There's specifically one person early on who can only be convinced to help you if you are good aligned. If you're not, she doesn't believe that you would actually help her because she's heard about you.

[Chibi]

Originally posted by For_Science!:

You can almost always make whatever decisions you like. The game might nudge your alignment in some direction as a result, but it won't say "You're such-and-such alignment, so you must do this."

Hell yeah, that's where it's at. I think the occasional nod to your alignment here and there is fun, but I'd much rather pick whatever it is I personally want to do or say in a given situation and just end up where I end up.

[Drask]

I try a different alignment every playthrough and I've consistently found new quests on each one. A lot of these come from the kingdom management events. For instance, I've only seen the hell knights event while being lawful evil. You can then build a hellknight castle in your city and you will have hellknights as guards in some places. Also, they have an excellent kingdom buff that will occasionally bring your unrest level up if it's below stable. There are many instances where I never even knew an option was available until I tried a new alignment. But, it will drastically affect the outcome of that quest. And, in some cases, give you a new ending.