If you're going Maran, and I mean hard core Maran where there is an end all be all for service to the light, RP can really shine. When that Noob ****s up and brings some goodie NPC into a fight and gets it killed, you have a ton of RP options.

Me, I say just go bat #### and try to kill the offender, aura be damned. He may have a golden aura, but his actions show his heart, and he must pay the ultimate price for his transgression into darkness. Really, you're doing a favor in slaughtering him before he descends into the darkness further. The Maran judges based on what he sees. Be it duergar, drow, storm or elf, if you are murdering an innocent dwarf, intentional or not, you die. If you are so careless as to accidentally kill the light, you are not worthy to have that mantles.

Playing a character is different for each player, but for some people it really is, what would my character, not what would I do. If I'm an impulsive drunken dwarf warrior of the light who just witnesses an elf invoker accidentally burninate some hapless dwarf child, I am instantly going after him. Cause, as a char once said to me, an irate dwarf is an irate dwarf. And **** that sissy long eared pansy and his magic loving arse.

Unfortunately the "game" aspect of CF often interferes with making it a truly great RP game for everyone involved, because these actions can have crippling consequences. In fantasy lore, a betrayer does not all the sudden forget how to use swords they used their whole life because he kills another elf.

I honestly think betrayer and the like status should not be as rare, but also should not penalize characters in any way other than comes with being of that alignment. (and maybe the added vulns, sure)

But a game has to have rules to make it predictable so players can power game to their hearts content, and become boring in the long run.

What I'm really getting at is CF needs a giant shot of chaotic randomness in it to invigorate what tends to be a stagnant environment. Rules to a large extent hamper the player's ability to truly play a role out.