I finally got around to reading Q's blog entry again and followed up with reading the Robertson blog. First off, this description of alignments from Robertson Games captures my take on the Red Box alignment system perfectly. This is how I want alignment to work in my game.
Lawful – Heroes
These characters believe in the value of civilization, orderly life, and the welfare of others. They are the decent, law-abiding peoples and heroes of the world. In literature and film this would include most protagonists. Luke Skywalker, Spiderman, and Frodo Baggins would all be Lawful characters.
Neutral – Rogues
Individuals that are Neutral are the selfish, indifferent, rogues, or anti-heroes of the world. While not villainous, they may be more concerned with their own well-being than that of the group. Sometimes they are a good person who simply believes in following their own rules. Han Solo, The Punisher, and Conan the Cimmerian would be examples of Neutral characters.
Chaotic – Villains
Knaves and villains, the chaotic characters are the antagonists of the game world. They may work as individuals, or with an organization – but their goals are always nefarious. They take a step beyond simply being a criminal and are actively ‘evil’ characters. Darth Vader, Venom, and Voldemort are a few examples of Chaotic characters.
This means that guys like Gamgar are probably Neutral, not Chaotic, but I'm not about to force anyone to change up their alignments. We don't know what these characters were up to before they came to the Black Peaks, and not even the Wise can see all ends… ;)
About languages, Q's take on it is great. It's flexible, it allows for a very rich setting with multiple human cultures, history, and yet the mechanical expression of it is simple and easy to use. The only thing stopping me from using it is that despite my intention, my Black Peaks game is nearly devoid of any culture, there's no need to engage with the history (which is fairly anorexic anyway)… basically it's vanilla. One thing I'm excited about is how Jason and Johnstone have started introducing elements to the setting with religion and character histories.
For that reason, the Robertson Games approach is probably a better fit, but I'd like to hear what you guys think about it.