Alignment

Alignment is a common staple of fantasy tabletop RPGs. An alignment system attempts to group all creatures into nine categories based on two axes: their “goodness/evilness” and “lawfulness/chaoticness”. While this is an incredibly simplistic view of morality, for the purpose of gameplay it is often useful to have distinct, shorthand markers for who agrees with, or opposes, your worldview. It may be useful to think of alignment not as a rigid code of ethics, but as a way that people see you and your actions.

For most characters, choosing an alignment is not an entirely necessary step. Simply acting however they feel is appropriate can inform their actions well enough. Some classes, such as paladins or clerics, are required to maintain a certain alignment in order to gain benefits from their deity. The definitions of alignments given here are absolutely not the only way to interpret these concepts. Some people prefer to imagine and enact them differently, and that’s perfectly okay. These are the definitions that are used to create the basic ideas behind the content in these books, but you should always follow rule #2 to see how this concept exists, or doesn’t, in your game.

Let’s look at some very simplified alignment examples:

These characters want to maintain order and structure in society and the world at large.
These characters value a balance between order and freedom or consider them of secondary importance.
 Good:
These characters are altruistic and want to improve the situation of others, while not necessarily being obsessively selfless.
Upstanding Citizen
Extreme:
Noble Knight Stereotype
A generally nice person
Extreme:
Absolute altruist, philanthropist
Going the extra mile for a customer against company policy
These characters understand the merits of goodness and are self-serving without doing undue harm to others.
People who work at the DMV
Extreme:
“I AM THE LAW.”
Most people
Extreme:
Willing to do anything to maintain balance
Libertarians
Extreme:
 Evil: These characters are selfish and have little regard for the wellness of others.
A bad elementary school teacher
Extreme:
Iron-Fisted Despot
Slightly selfish people
Extreme:
80’s movie bully
The guy who drives on the shoulder
Extreme:
Violent Criminals

**What Lawful is not**:

**Boring people** - Valuing structure and society is in no way uninteresting, especially in a world where these are not guaranteed.

**A completely inflexible ethical code**- While this type of rigid moral structure is more frequent in lawful individuals, chaotic people can also have rigid codes.

**People who like the current government/laws** - Siding with the government doesn't necessitate lawfulness, and lawful people can hate the current government, especially if they think the governing body needs to be more involved. It’s even possible for a lawful person to find their current government to be too lawful.

**Being a cog in the system** - Despite the DMV joke, lawful people do not need to be a submissive part of a monotonous organization.

**Good** - Many players new to this system of morality conflate Law and Good, and subsequently mistake Lawful Good Characters to be the most Good, and Chaotic Evil characters to be the most Evil. It is best to try to separate these concepts, and for those who value both law and good, determine why you value each aspect individually. Which side will you choose when they clash?

**What Chaotic is not**:

**Mental disorders of any kind** - Many people make the mistake of making a “crazy”  chaotic character. We generally suggest avoiding this trope altogether as it is often poorly handled and misrepresentative of those who have experienced mental or emotional distress. If you do feel qualified to represent mental illnesses in your game, it is a misstep to assume that mental disorders affect an individual's moral values.

**Random acts of violence** - Another mistake is to make characters that act erratically and violently, but use a chaotic alignment as justification. This once again often falls into the “crazy” trope, falsely equates violence and cruelty with the chaotic alignment, and depending on your game should likely be avoided.

**Disliking the current government/laws -** Just as a lawful person may dislike their government, a chaotic person may like their government if they feel that it is representing their values well. It’s even possible that a character finds their government too chaotic and wants slightly more order.

**The “cool” alignment** - An inverse to the “lawful is boring” stereotype, many think their character needs to be chaotic to be cool. Very boring chaotic people can and do exist.

**“Quirky” or “weird”** - A character can be an odd duck with a strange appearance and various eccentricities, and still believe in the value of a more strict and structured society.

**What Good is not:**

**Murdering everything that isn’t good** - A decent portion of the population qualifies as at least slightly evil. Murdering everybody below the median of morality is not good.

**Unable to take any self-serving actions -** Some people think they can’t play good characters because they want to be adventuring for the pursuit of riches, cool magic items, etc. Self-interest is not inherently evil, as long as you don’t commit acts that massively harm others in the pursuit of these goals.

**A completely inflexible ethical code -** Having a personal moral code does not necessitate goodness. Someone’s personal code may require actions that are not morally acceptable.

**Grasping at straws to justify your actions as somehow not blatantly evil -**  This one should be self-explanatory. If you're constantly trying to prove that you’re not evil, you’re probably evil.

**Indifferent to the harm and suffering of others -** A character may be in pursuit of some goal that they believe is right, but a good character will consider how their actions to achieve that goal affect others directly and indirectly.

**What Evil is not**:

**Random acts of violence -** While the act of randomly hurting others is certainly evil, evil people do not need to act in sporadically violent ways. Many people in our society are selfish in ways that are detrimental to others without stabbing people just for kicks.

**Diabolically evil behavior at every turn -** Just as a good character need not be a selfless saint, an evil character does not need to, and probably shouldn't, constantly try to maximize the misery they inflict on the world. With a few exceptions, evil characters do not seek to further the cause of evil, and merely act in their own interest.

**Self-destructive -** One of the most common traits shared by many evil individuals is selfish behavior, not self-destructive behavior. Most evil characters would not go out of their way to prove their evilness by stabbing the mayor of the town they just entered; that's just not a smart, or self-serving, thing to do.

**Unkind and uncooperative -** This trait often breaks the required rules, as some players believe their evil character has to try to betray their allies every chance they get. Evil characters can have allies, friends, people who share their values, and loved ones. Evil people can be kind to those close to them and may often depend on these people to defend their actions. This can lead to interesting choices, as an evil character saves their own loved one, rather than acting for the greater good.

**Being a bad player -** Evil characters can be essential to your party and fun to be around. Being a jerk to other people at the game table and saying “but that’s what my character would do, he’s evil” breaks the required rules and is a flimsy excuse.

**What Neutral is not**:

**Uncaring and indifferent** - In the conflict between good and evil or law and chaos, neutral people are often very heavily invested in finding which pursuit to follow. They usually have many opinions on these matters and have thoughts on both sides of many issues, but land somewhere in the middle. In many ways, characters like this can be more interesting.

**Less aggressive evil -** Acting only in self-serving ways that are not outright insane, or constantly violent is a perfectly acceptable way to play an evil character, but this character is not neutral.

**Boring -** Neutral people comprise most of society and are all unique and interesting in their own ways.

**Perpetual Inaction -** If a kid is drowning 3 feet from you and you have a rope, taking a nap isn’t neutral just because you did not affect the situation.

**Rare** - About 50% of all people fall under Neutral between good/evil and law/chaos. Regardless, most PC’s will choose to be one of the other alignments. There is nothing wrong with this choice, and we encourage players to explore all aspects of morality.

**All Alignments:**

**Are spectra -** Not every chaotic character is equally chaotic. The same goes for good, evil, neutral, or any alignment. A slightly evil character would likely want to defeat the super-evil necromancer trying to murder millions of people, because the chances are good that he’ll die too, and there are limits to what evil he finds acceptable.

**Are fluid -** Characters can change their views. Many do. This can make for very interesting arcs, and make characters that feel influenced by the world around them.

**Are an approximated average** - A character does not have to have the exact same position on every issue. They may believe in a more lawful, or more chaotic solution depending on the specific scenario. A person who takes both evil and good actions likely lies somewhere in the middle depending on their motivations.

**Encompass only a vague approximation -** Morality cannot be summed up by the terms given here. Two lawful neutral characters can be wildly different in temperament, values, abilities, desires, and interests. Most conflicts have people of every alignment on both sides.

**Window Dressing**:

Of course, there is plenty more to your character. Characters have a history, a personality, friends, behaviors, quirks, and all sorts of neat things that make them unique. The rest of your character is up to you and your GM. The two of you can come up with some cool ideas for fun people to pretend to be.