Right Versus Honorable

Of all the mechanics in the Storyteller System, Morality is arguably the most important and most problematic.  Every template (included Lloegyr's heroic template) changes the morality system, as characters are judged by different ethic criteria than your typical human being.

Importantly, Honor sets the Fated hero of Lloegyr apart from mere mortals.  The Heroes of Lloegyr aren't held to a standard of right or wrong, but rather how well an individual adheres to his or her culture's moral code.  While they might seem similar, and often are, there is an important difference - in Lloegyr, your Honor depends on what everyone else expects of you, as opposed to what your heart or conscience tell you.

It's best to think of Honor as an overarching sense of integrity: above all else, you must keep your word... even if you didn't have a say in your original promise.  Just being born into a particular culture comes with responsibilities: you have particular gods to worship, kings to obey, and parents to honor, and you don't necessary get a say in the matter.  Add on top of that obligations one actually takes upon him or herself, and you a hero will have a number of actions they must undertake and avoid.

It is one thing to kill a person, or to take his or her things, but it is another to rob them, or ambush them, for in doing so, one attacks the social order that keeps the cultures of North functioning.  This is why it is such a bad thing to be known as craven... it means you have a disregard for the social order that supports every one's way of life.  There are times when a person must do an evil act... but that evil act is a stain upon the hero's own conscience.  There are others when a person must do a dishonorable act, and that act is a crime against a hero's own people.

This sense of "wrong" versus "dishonorable" is at the heart of the setting, and exploring it is very important to the themes of the story.  To a modern American, raised on rugged individualism, we might admire the craven who follows his or her own principles while suffering the condemnation of an entire culture.  However, as a storyteller, I have to demonstrate the consequences of these decisions, and make clear that being an individualist and following one's heart can be a dishonorable act.  And if it is a dishonorable act, I have to make sure there are negative repercussions.

One recurring theme of Ubi Sunt is "nothing in this world is free."  Players will hear it over and over, and Honor is part of what enforces theme.  In Lloegyr, everything has a price, even (perhaps especially) doing the right thing.