Alignment

In Dungeons & Dragons, all beings from the Prime Material plane — where most of the Baldur's Gate series takes place — have an alignment that represents and simplifies their morality and inner stance with regard to rules. Their morality is simplified down to being good, neutral or evil, while their stance toward rules boils down to being lawful, neutral or chaotic. Alignment is somewhat helpful for a person playing the tabletop RPG to stay "in character", but it also has a tangible reality that fictional characters themselves can leverage to gain information about others, using spells like Know Alignment or Detect Evil.
Beyond the Prime Material plane, however, beings exist that represent the spiritual embodiment of an alignment, and planes that bend people and even physics to fit one alignment. For example in the plane that embodies chaos of the purest kind, Limbo, even beings that embody pure law may become corrupted over time, and the laws of physics themselves are abolished. In the planes, alignment shapes reality, not the other way around — entire cities may shift and change plane if the alignments of its inhabitants start to collectively lean too strongly toward it. Things are not so drastic in the Prime Material plane, where the mind has a much smaller impact on hard rock.
Concretely, alignment represents all combinations of these two axes of three values, meaning a total of nine possible alignments. The law-chaos axis is always expressed before the good-evil axis. A "Neutral good" character has a neutral stance as far as rules are concerned, but seeks to do good. In the Baldur's Gate series, alignment is used in gameplay to disallow equipping certain items, open or close certain dialogue paths, affect companion reaction to the party's reputation, adapt the effects of a few spells, and other minor things.
==Lawful Good==
Lawful Good is known as the "Saintly" or "Crusader" alignment. A Lawful Good character typically acts with compassion, and always with honor and a sense of duty. A Lawful Good nation would consist of a well-organized government that works for the benefit of its citizens. Lawful Good characters include righteous knights, paladins, and most dwarves. Lawful Good creatures include the noble golden dragons. Lawful Good outsiders are known as Archons.
Lawful Good characters, especially paladins, may sometimes find themselves faced with the dilemma of whether to obey the law or good when the two conflict—for example, upholding a sworn oath when it would lead innocents to come to harm—or conflicts between two orders, such as between their religious law and the law of the local ruler.
Examples from the Complete Scoundrel: Batman, Dick Tracy and Indiana Jones are cited as being lawful good characters.
==Neutral Good==
Neutral Good is known as the "Benefactor" alignment. A Neutral Good character is guided by his or her conscience and typically acts altruistically, without regard for or against Lawful precepts such as rules or tradition. A Neutral Good character has no problems with co-operating with lawful officials, but does not feel beholden to them. In the event that doing the right thing requires the bending or breaking of rules, they do not suffer the same inner conflict that a Lawful Good character would.
Examples of Neutral Good characters include Zorro and Spider-Man. The Neutral Good outsiders are known as Guardinals.
==Chaotic Good==
Chaotic Good is known as the "Beatific," "Rebel," or "Cynic" alignment. A Chaotic Good character favors change for a greater good, disdains bureaucratic organizations that get in the way of social improvement, and places a high value on personal freedom, not only for oneself, but for others as well. They always intend to do the right thing, but their methods are generally disorganized and often out of alignment with the rest of society. They may create conflict in a team if they feel they are being pushed around, and often view extensive organization and planning as pointless, preferring to improvise.
Robin Hood and Malcolm Reynolds from Firefly are examples of Chaotic Good individuals. Eladrin are the outsider race representing Chaotic Good.
==Lawful Neutral==
The game manual takes this text from the Player's Handbook of AD&D 2, but adds one sentence and changes one of the two examples given. The differences with the original text are outlined below:
James Bond, Odysseus, and Sanjuro from Yojimbo are considered as Lawful Neutral. Three exemplars of Lawful Neutral outsiders exist: the Formians, the Inevitables and the Modrons.
==True Neutral==
The game manual takes this text from the Player's Handbook of AD&D 2, but removes a few sentences and shortens others. See the relevant parts from the original text below:
Animals and constructs such as golems are all true neutral, but only as a way to express an absence of choice regarding concepts such as good and evil or law and chaos.
Examples: Lara Croft, Lucy Westenra from Dracula and Han Solo in his early Star Wars appearances are neutral. The true neutral outsiders are known as the Rilmani.
==Chaotic Neutral==
The AD&D 2 Player's Handbook uses this exact description, but extends it with the following:
Captain Jack Sparrow, Al Swearengen from the TV series Deadwood and Snake Plissken from Escape from New York are Chaotic Neutral characters, according to the Complete Scoundrel. The chaotic outsiders are known as the Slaadi (other than the Death Slaadi).
==Lawful Evil==
The game manual takes this text from the Player's Handbook of AD&D 2, but removes a few sentences, shortens others, and adds a bit about pride of power. See the relevant parts from the original text below:
Boba Fett of Star Wars and X-Men's Magneto are cited examples of Lawful Evil characters. The Lawful Evil outsiders are known as Baatezu (devils).
==Neutral Evil==
The AD&D 2 Player's Handbook uses this exact description, but contains some additional sentences:
Complete Scoundrel cites X-Men's Mystique and Sawyer of the early seasons of Lost as Neutral Evil characters. Yugoloths (daemons) are the outsiders of Neutral Evil.
==Chaotic Evil==
The AD&D 2 Player's Handbook uses this exact description, but contains some additional sentences:
Chaotic evil outsiders are known as the Tanar'ri (demons), a race of beings constantly at war with the baatezu. 
==Alignment and class==
Alignment is chosen at character generation and restricted by class kit. For humans, this makes it a consideration towards dual-class possibilities. In addition to the ability score requirements, the character must have a compatible alignment to be able to dual into a particular class.
*Bards' alignment must be neutral on at least one axis.
*Druids can only be true neutral.
*Two fighter kits have alignment restrictions, unlike the base class and other kits:
**Berserkers cannot be lawful.
**Kensai cannot be chaotic.
*Monks must be lawful.
**Sun Soul Monks can only be lawful good.
**Dark Moon Monks can only be lawful evil.
*Rangers must be good.
*Shamans must have a neutral ethical alignment (neutral good, true neutral, neutral evil).
*Thieves can be any alignment except lawful good.
**Assassins are restricted to chaotic neutral and the evil alignments in the original Baldur's Gate II. The Enhanced Editions loosen this to the same selection as the other thief kits, except:
**Shadowdancers cannot be lawful.
No wizard kit has any alignment restrictions, though alignment does have a minor effect on their High-level class ability selection. Summon Planetar is for good wizards, while Summon Dark Planetar is for evil wizards. Those of neutral morality can choose one or the other, but not both.
===Alignment for clerics and paladins===
All paladins must be lawful good, with the exception of blackguards, who can have any evil alignment. The base cleric class has no alignment restrictions, but all of its kits do:
*Priest of Helm has differing alignment restrictions based on game version:
**In the original Baldur's Gate II, this kit may be any neutral moral alignment (lawful/true/chaotic neutral).
**In the Enhanced Editions, its alignments are changed to true neutral and any lawful.
*Priest of Lathander may be any good alignment, plus true neutral in the Enhanced Editions.
*Priest of Talos may be any evil alignment in the original version. The Enhanced Editions trade lawful evil for chaotic neutral.
*Priest of Tempus, an Enhanced Edition kit, may be true neutral or any chaotic alignment.
*Priest of Tyr, another Enhanced Edition kit, may be lawful good, neutral good, or lawful neutral.
For kitless clerics, alignment will determine which holy symbol will be obtained upon reaching level 25. For Gorion's Ward, it also determines the Cleric Stronghold.
The moral alignment of a cleric or paladin will determine the effects of Turn Undead. Evil ones can start taking control of undead monsters with this ability as they level, while those of other alignments will instantly destroy them. Moral alignment will also affect their spell selection: Holy Smite, Holy Word and Summon Deva cannot be cast by evil clerics or blackguards, while Unholy Blight, Unholy Word and Summon Fallen Deva are barred from good clerics and paladins. Neutral clerics can cast all the spells.
==Alignment for Gorion's Ward==
In Throne of Bhaal, the alignment of Gorion's Ward will affect the first two Pocket Plane challenges. The following table displays the starting Reputation when beginning a new game in any campaign and after exporting the character file to Baldur's Gate II. It also shows which creature will appear if the protagonist casts Find Familiar.
Alignment 	Rep	Familiar
Lawful Good 	12 	Pseudo Dragon
Neutral Good 	11 	Pseudo Dragon
Chaotic Good 	11 	Fairy Dragon
Lawful Neutral 	10 	Ferret
True Neutral 	10 	Rabbit
Chaotic Neutral	10 	Cat
Lawful Evil 	9 	Imp
Neutral Evil 	9 	Dust Mephit
Chaotic Evil 	8 	Quasit
==Companions' alignment==
See also: Companions by alignment.
In the first game, the paladin Ajantis may eventually start fights against any evil companions in the party with him. Across the series, companions' reputation tolerance ranges are determined by their moral alignment.
==Equipment==
Some items restrict the alignment of the user by excluding certain alignment combinations. This can result in multiple alignment combinations being restricted as follows:
Term used 	Alignments restricted
Lawful any 	Lawful Good, Lawful Neutral, Lawful Evil
Neutral any	Neutral Good, True Neutral, Neutral Evil
Chaotic any	Chaotic Good, Chaotic Neutral, Chaotic Evil
Any good 	Lawful Good, Neutral Good, Chaotic Good
Any neutral	Lawful Neutral, True Neutral, Chaotic Neutral
Any evil 	Lawful Evil, Neutral Evil, Chaotic Evil
Rogues with the High-level class ability Use Any Item can ignore these restrictions.
Alignment-restricted items
Name 	Type 	Alignment
Astral Crossbow 	Light crossbow 	Non-evil
Azuredge 	Returning throwing axe 	Good
Blessed Bracers 	Paladin-exclusive bracers 	Non-evil
Carsomyr 	Paladin-exclusive two-handed sword	Non-evil
Dark Elven Chain 	Elven chain mail 	Evil
Dread Hammer 	War hammer 	Non-good
Handmaiden's Mace 	Cleric-exclusive mace 	EvilThe Handmaiden's Mace has additional restrictions to class and alignment. The cleric must be kitless or a Priest of Talos, and only elves and half-elves, plus half-orcs in the original Baldur's Gate II, can use it.
Holy Long Sword of Tyr 	Long sword 	Lawful good
Holy Symbols 	Cleric-exclusive rings 	See class page
Human Flesh 	Leather armor 	Evil
Ir'revrykal 	Paladin-exclusive two-handed sword	Evil
Locket of Embracing 	Necklace 	Non-evil
Malla's Soul Stone 	Headgear 	Non-good
Modron Heart 	Necklace 	Non-chaotic
Neb's Nasty Cutter 	Dagger 	Evil
Paladin's Bracers 	Paladin-exclusive bracers 	Non-evil
Purifier 	Paladin-exclusive bastard sword 	Non-evilPurifier requires a lawful good character in the party to even be obtainable.
Rancor 	Two-handed sword 	Non-good
Ring of Purity 	Ring 	Good
Robe of Goodman Hayes 	Wizard robe 	Neutral (moral)
Robe of the Evil Archmagi 	Wizard robe 	Evil
Robe of the Good Archmagi 	Wizard robe 	Good
Robe of the Neutral Archmagi	Wizard robe 	Neutral (moral)
Silver Dragon Scale 	Full plate armor 	Non-good
Soul Reaver 	Two-handed sword 	Non-good
The Guardian Devil 	Helmet 	Non-good
The Visage 	Helmet 	Non-good
Twinkle 	Scimitar 	Good
==Alignment changes==
In the first game, equipping the Helm of Opposite Alignment is the only way to change anybody's alignment. In Baldur's Gate II, certain characters can have alignment changes based on choices made.
*Gorion's Ward, if not originally evil, can become so from the Tear of Bhaal tests.
*Anomen Delryn starts as lawful neutral, and can become either lawful good or chaotic neutral from his knighthood test.
*Viconia DeVir starts as neutral evil, and can become true neutral through her romance.
*Sarevok Anchev starts as chaotic evil, and can become chaotic good from conversations throughout Throne of Bhaal.
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Category:Game mechanics