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In Dungeons & Dragons and some similar role-playing games, alignment is a categorisation of the moral and ethical perspective of the player characters, non-player characters, monsters, and societies in the game.
Not all role-playing games have such a system, and some narrativist role-players consider such a restriction on their characters' outlook on life to be overly restricting. However, some regard a concept of alignment to be essential to role-playing, since they regard role-playing as an exploration of the themes of good and evil.
Dungeons & Dragons
The canonical system derived from Dungeons & Dragons creates a three alignment system of Law, Neutrality and Chaos. In Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, this became a two-dimensional grid, one axis of which measures a "moral" continuum between good and evil, and the other "ethical" between law and chaos. Those characters that fall on one of the extremes are "good" or "evil", "lawful" or "chaotic"; in addition, there is a middle ground of "neutrality" on both axes, describing characters that are indifferent, committed to balance, or conflicted about the struggle between good & evil (or law & chaos). By combining the two axes, any given character has one of nine possible alignments:
| Lawful Good | Neutral Good | Chaotic Good |
| Lawful Neutral | Neutral | Chaotic Neutral |
| Lawful Evil | Neutral Evil | Chaotic Evil |
Game creator Gary Gygax largely derived the alignment system from the cosmology imagined by science fiction writer Michael Moorcock. This is especially evident in the original Dungeons & Dragons game, in which "lawful", "neutral" and "chaotic" were the only three alignments available, with "lawful" including characteristics ascribed to "good" and "chaotic" those ascribed to "evil". The Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game revised the alignment system into the biaxial system that is currently used.
Gygax was also influenced by a novel by Poul Anderson, Three Hearts and Three Lions, in which the forces of law, the paladins of Charlemagne, were at war with the forces of Chaos, the faerie kingdom. Note that elves were of chaotic alignment in the original Dungeons & Dragons.
The first edition of Dungeons & Dragons suggested that Lawful Good was the "best" alignment and Chaotic Evil the "worst". Later editions moved away from this perspective, but continue to discourage player characters of the three evil alignments (Lawful Evil, Neutral Evil and Chaotic Evil).
Certain character classes are restricted in the sorts of alignment they can take. A paladin traditionally must be of Lawful Good alignment; rogues and barbarians are seldom lawful in alignment. Clerics and other priests must typically uphold the alignments favoured by their deities. Druids must be wholly or partially neutral in their allegiances. Assassins are usually evil. These restrictions have been somewhat relaxed in the third edition of the Dungeons & Dragons game, although a Dungeon Master may penalize a player character who acts in marked variance from his declared alignment or may shift the character's alignment to match the actual behaviour.
Players are usually discouraged from playing outright evil characters, leaving these alignments only for non-player characters, as evil characters don't make for heroic fantasy.
The alignment system was originally designed as a tool for the Dungeon Master, and not something the player needed to be much concerned about. As the system became more detailed, many Dungeon Masters used alignments as an encouragement for role-playing, by making stricter judgments over whether player characters' actions matched their alignments.
Dungeon Masters often allow characters to be of an alignment falling between two of the traditional nine alignments; for instance, a character could be neutral good / lawful good, meaning that he is primarily neutral good but has lawful tendencies. Indeed, this system was supported canonically in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons First Edition, particularly in alignments of the Outer Planes as depicted in the Manual of the Planes; for example, neutral good / lawful good is the alignment of the plane of Bytopia. These Dungeon Masters treat alignment as a two-dimensional plane rather than a grid, allowing for a much greater range of alignments. Dungeon Masters using nine strict alignments have often had conflicts with players over punishments for behaviour on the borderlines of one alignment and the next (earlier editions of the game included severe penalties for changing alignment, or for repeated or flagrant violations of one's current alignment).
Good vs. Evil
Good characters and creatures protect innocent life. Evil characters and creatures debase or destroy innocent life, whether for fun or profit."Good" implies altruism, respect for life, and a concern for the dignity of sentient beings. Good characters make personal sacrifices to help others.
"Evil" implies a lack of concern for others, and in extreme cases hurting, oppressing, and killing others. Some evil creatures simply have no compassion for others and kill without qualms if doing so is necessary or convenient to their goals. Others are actively malicious, killing for sport or out of duty to some evil deity or master.
People who are neutral with respect to good and evil have compunctions against killing the innocent but lack the commitment to make sacrifices to protect or help others. Neutral people are generally committed to others by personal relationships rather than by a general sense of moral obligation.
Being good or evil can be a conscious choice, particularly in the case of people or entities that recognize the objective existence of alignment in the default Dungeons & Dragons cosmology. For most people, though, being good or evil is an attitude that one recognizes but does not choose. Being neutral on the good/evil axis usually represents a lack of commitment one way or the other, but for some (particularly druids) it represents a positive commitment to a balanced view. While acknowledging that good and evil are objective states, not just opinions, these people maintain that a balance between the two is the proper place — if not for all people, then at least for themselves.
Animals and non-sentient creatures are neither good nor evil. Even man-eating carnivores and animals trained to kill are neutral because they lack the capacity to distinguish between morally right or wrong behavior. Most gamers refer to this as "Neutral Hungry", in the case of wild beasts.
Law vs. Chaos
Lawful characters tell the truth, keep their word, respect authority, honor tradition, and judge those who fall short of their duties.Chaotic characters follow their consciences, resent being told what to do, favor new ideas over dogma, and do what they promise if they feel like it.
"Law" implies honor, trustworthiness, obedience to authority, and reliability. On the downside, lawfulness can include closed-mindedness, reactionary adherence to tradition, judgmentality, and a lack of adaptability. Those who consciously promote lawfulness say that only lawful behavior creates a society in which people can depend on each other and make the right decisions in full confidence that others will act as they should.
"Chaos" implies personal freedom, self reliance, adaptability, and flexibility. On the downside, chaos can include recklessness, resentment toward legitimate authority, arbitrary actions, and irresponsibility. Those who promote chaotic behavior say that only unfettered personal freedom allows people to express themselves fully and lets society benefit from the potential that its individuals have within them.
Someone who is neutral with respect to law and chaos has a normal respect for authority and feels neither a compulsion to obey nor a compulsion to rebel. She is honest but can be tempted into lying or deceiving others.
Devotion to law or chaos may be a conscious choice, but more often it is a personality trait that is recognized rather than being chosen. Neutrality on the law/chaos axis is usually simply a middle state, a state of not feeling compelled toward one side or the other. Some few such neutrals, however, espouse neutrality as superior to law or chaos, regarding law and chaos each as an extreme with its own blind spots and drawbacks.
Animals and other creatures incapable of ethical action are neutral. Dogs may be obedient and cats free-spirited, but they do not have the ethical capacity to be truly lawful or chaotic.
Alignments
In Dungeons & Dragons there are nine separate alignment pigeonholes into which characters can fall:Lawful Good
"Crusader"Lawful good combines honor and compassion for the innocent.
A lawful good character upholds society and its laws, believing that these laws are created to work for the good and prosperity of all. He is both honest and benevolent. He will work within the established system to change it for the better, and strives to bring order to goodness that other good-aligned characters might pool their resources to better the world. A lawful good character combines a commitment to oppose evil with discipline. Most lawful good characters live by a strict code of honor, or by the rules of conduct set down by their deity. They will generally selflessly act by these codes even at the cost of their own life.
It must however be stressed that blind obedience to local laws is not required by the Lawful Good alignment. A Paladin is not in violation of his alignment if he decides to take up arms against a usurper on behalf of the rightful king, for example, even if that means going against the sedition laws instated by the usurper.
A lawful good character does not actually have to obey laws, as intimated above. Lawful alignment means that the character prefers a structured life to any other; this typically means that a set of codified laws are followed.
An incorruptible cop, a ruler or politician who acts for the good of his people, and a heroic soldier who strictly obeys the laws of battle are all examples of lawful good characters.
Neutral Good
"Benefactor"This alignment desires good without bias for or against order.
A neutral good character does good for goodness' sake, not because he is directed to by law or by whim. Such a character will obey the law, or break it when he sees that it will serve a greater good. He isn't bound strongly to a social system or order. His need to help others and reduce suffering may take precedence over all else.
A doctor who treats both sides in a fight and an aid worker who feeds the starving in a war zone are both examples of neutral good characters.
Chaotic Good
"Rebel"Chaotic good combines a good heart with a free spirit.
A chaotic good character acts as his conscience directs him with little regard for what others expect of him. He is kind and benevolent, a strong individualist hostile to the claims of rules, regulations, and social order. He hates it when people try to intimidate others and tell them what to do. He will actively work to bring down unjust rulers and organizations and to liberate the oppressed. He finds lawful societies distasteful and will avoid them, often living as a nomad or hermit.
Noble rebel leaders fighting corrupt or venal regimes, vigilantes acting for what they see as the greater good, mercenaries who only work for the good guys, and anyone who "robs from the rich to give to the poor" are all examples of chaotic good characters.
Lawful Neutral
"Judge"A lawful neutral character is directed by law, logic, tradition, or a personal code. Order and organization are paramount to him. He may believe in personal order and live by a code or standard, or he may believe in order for all and favor a strong, organized government.
Lawful neutral combines reliability and honor, without moral bias. Note that this does not mean that a Lawful Neutral character is amoral or immoral, or does not have a moral compass, but that moral considerations — the good or evil of the action — come a distant second to what the character's code, tradition, law, or logic dictate.
A functionary, soldier, or employee who follows orders without question regardless of the result, an arms dealer who sells his wares to the highest bidder, whatever that bidder may do with them, and an impartial jurist who sticks rigidly to the rule book are all examples of lawful neutral characters.
Neutral
"Undecided"The neutral alignment is without prejudice or compulsion.
A neutral character does what seems to be a good idea. He doesn't feel strongly one way or the other when it comes to good vs. evil or order vs. chaos. He thinks of good as better than evil — after all, he would rather have good neighbors and rulers than evil ones. Still, he isn't personally committed to upholding good in any abstract or universal way.
This is the most common alignment of sentient creatures and the alignment of almost all animals and other creatures of very low intelligence.
=True Neutral
= "Balancer"Some neutral characters commit themselves philosophically to neutrality. They are of the true neutral alignment.
A true neutral character sees good, evil, law, and chaos as prejudices and dangerous extremes. He advocates the middle way of neutrality as the best, most balanced road in the long run. His position is carefully neutral, but he does not continually balance his morals in a yin yang or fanatical fashion.
Some true neutral characters actively support balance in the world, and seek to avoid having any one side — law or chaos, good or evil — become too powerful over them or anyone else, and will work against whichever side is the most powerful. They tend to side with the underdog in any situation, and they are often opportunistic in their actions.
True neutral is committed to the avoidance of extremes, and is non-judgmental.
=Druidic True Neutral
= In Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, all druids were true neutral. The true neutral alignment is central to the philosophy of neutral druids:Because a druid's main charges — plants, animals, and the health of the planetary ecology — essentially lack alignment or ethos, druids feel free to use almost any means necessary to protect them.
The druidic order works to maintain the natural balance among the alignments. However, druids do realize that most individuals' actions — including their own — will prove significant to the cosmic balance. The druid sees the friction between alignments as the driving force in the world.
When faced with a tough decision, a druid usually stands behind the solution that best serves nature in the long run.
Chaotic Neutral
"Free Spirit"Chaotic Neutral is freedom from both society's restrictions and a do-gooder's zeal.
A chaotic neutral character follows his whims. He is an individualist first and last. He values his own liberty but does not strive to protect the freedom of others. He avoids authority, resents restrictions, and challenges traditions. A chaotic neutral character doesn't intentionally disrupt organizations as part of a campaign of anarchy. To do so, he would have to be motivated either by good (and a desire to liberate others) or by evil (and a desire to make others suffer), or be lawful neutral. A chaotic neutral character may be unpredictable, but his behavior is not totally random. He is not as likely to jump off a bridge as to cross it.
A wandering rogue who lives both by work for hire and petty theft is an example of a chaotic neutral character.
Lawful Evil
"Dominator"Lawful evil is the methodical, intentional, and frequently successful devotion to a cruel organized system.
A lawful evil character methodically takes what he wants within the limits of his personal code of conduct without regard for whom it hurts. He cares about tradition, loyalty, and order but not about freedom, dignity, or life. He plays by the rules but without mercy or compassion. He's comfortable in a hierarchy and would like to rule, but is willing to serve. He is loath to break promises, and he is therefore very cautious about giving his word unless a bargain is clearly in his favour.
This reluctance comes partly from his nature and partly because he depends on order to protect himself from those who oppose him on moral grounds. Some lawful evil villains have particular taboos, such as not killing in cold blood (but having underlings do it) or not letting children come to harm (if it can be helped). They feel these personal morals put them above unprincipled villains.
Many lawful evil characters use society and its laws for selfish advantages, exploiting the letter of the law over its spirit whenever it best suits their interests.
Some lawful evil people and creatures commit themselves to evil with a zeal like that of a crusader committed to good. Beyond being willing to hurt others for their own ends, they take pleasure in spreading evil as an end unto itself. They may also see doing evil as part of a duty to an evil deity or master.
Lawful evil is sometimes called "diabolical", because devils are the personification of lawful evil.
A tyrannical ruler who drafts the rules to suit himself, a corrupt lawyer or judge who uses the law to mask his own misdeeds, and the ruthless bosses and minions of organized crime are all examples of Lawful Evil characters.
Neutral Evil
"Malefactor"Neutral evil is pure pragmatism without honor and without variation — survival of the fittest.
A neutral evil character does whatever he can get away with. He is out for himself, pure and simple. No tears for those he kills, whether for profit, sport, or convenience, and he has no love of order and holds no illusion that following laws, traditions, or codes would make him any better or more noble. On the other hand, he does not have the restless nature or love of conflict that a chaotic evil villain has.
Some neutral evil villains hold up evil as an ideal, committing evil for its own sake. Most often, such villains are devoted to evil deities or secret societies.
Career criminals, particularly those who harm others for money, such as hitmen, are the most obvious example of Neutral Evil.
Chaotic Evil
"Destroyer"Chaotic evil is power without control, selfishness unfettered by any law.
A chaotic evil character does whatever his greed, hatred, and lust for destruction drive him to do. If he is simply out for whatever he can get, he is ruthless and brutal. If he is committed to the spread of evil and chaos, he is even worse. Fortunately, his plans are haphazard, and any groups he joins or forms are poorly organized. Typically, chaotic evil people can be made to work together only by force, and their leader lasts only as long as he can thwart attempts to topple or assassinate him.
These characters will commit any act to further their own ends. Chaotic evil is sometimes called "demonic" because demons are the embodiment of chaotic evil.
Many serial killers would fit this description, as would indeed most of the more violent and reckless criminals found in the worst sorts of places.
Criticism
The law-versus-chaos axis has generated some controversy and confusion. Different books, and even different parts in the same book, have interpreted law and chaos to mean different things. Among its different interpretations are a person's feelings on government and laws, a person's sense of honor, how orderly and logical a person's mind works, how flexible a person's mind is, whether a person prefers cities or countryside, and even how orderly a person likes to keep his or her house.Gygax portrayed in his original Advanced Dungeons and Dragons that the purest good was neutral good because it is goodness for its own sake, but most players consider lawful good as the epitome of goodness. Later versions of Dungeons & Dragons reference material, minus the direct contribution of Gary Gygax, support the latter view occasionally, but recent editions have varied in their portrayal of alignment. Some prefer Gygax's complex description of alignment in the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Dungeon Master's Guide, first edition. Others prefer the descriptions from the recent 3.5 edition of Dungeons and Dragons, cited above in verbatim, without attribution to source.
World of Darkness
Characters in White Wolf's World of Darkness games have "Nature" and "Demeanour" characteristics that describe how the characters really are and how they behave superficially. The Nature and Demeanour are freeform, allowing players to create new types.
Additionally, in White Wolf's The Masquerade, vampire and human characters may have a "Humanity" trait ranging from 0 to 10. The higher levels are the compassionate and humane while the lower levels are psychotic (further enhanced by the predatory nature of the vampire psyche). The average living, non-magic human has a Humanity score of about 7 or 8. Other Paths were created for vampire types.
However, with the recent re-imagining of the World of Darkness setting, this has changed. In the new editions of the White Wolf games (World of Darkness, The Requiem, The Awakening, etc.), all characters have a morality trait ranked from 0 to 10, though what it is called varies from game to game, and what sorts of behaviour will raise or lower it depend on the character type as well (though in Vampire: The Requiem it is still Humanity and is still affected by the same behaviours). In addition to this, all characters now have a Virtue and a Vice based upon the traditional seven of each, which represents their major (though not only) vice and virtue. This is intended to illustrate that even the very good are never perfect, although characters with a score closer to 10 will be much more capable of avoiding evil behaviour while characters of lower moral tone will begin to care less about and get off more on simply being wicked.
- Illustration: A vampire with a Humanity of close to 10 respects and admires the gentler aspects of mankind, seeking to rise above himself and bring a more compassionate and life-affirming tone to vampire society. A vampire with a very low Humanity (between 2 and 4) will be unmoved by the deaths of innocents, possibly including those of small children, whereas a vampire with a Humanity of 0 is a frenzied, inhuman monster who must be put down for the good of the vampire community. Similarly, a mage with a score (called Wisdom) close to 10 avoids using magic whenever it is not necessary, and only indulges in its usage in order to better and enrich others and rarely himself. A mage with a low Wisdom seeks power for its own sake, disregarding the needs and the well-being of others; a mage with a score of 0 is considered an abomination, and may be someone who magically binds others (robbing them of their free will), or a soul-eater.
Additionally, unlike Dungeons & Dragons in which every character is subject to at least a cursory moral classification, not all World of Darkness characters are subject to morality: some beings, such as very old and very powerful Spirits (like the Idigam), or entities from the Abyss (like the Acamoth) are beyond manifest conception and thus are outside any measure of useful definition.
Other game systems
Many gaming systems, including most systems not in the United States, eschew this concept of alignment, though a few (especially those games directly derived from Dungeons & Dragons, such as a number of MUDs) use similar or identical systems:
d20 Modern
d20 Modern uses "allegiance", an ordered list of groups and ideals the character is aligned with, ranked in approximate order of increasing priority. Characters' allegiances determine a 'rule of thumb' for their reactions to situations, in that they will generally favor the interests or outlook of their highest allegiance, or their next where the first does not apply, etc. This generally allows for snap-decisions on moral or ethical questions, in keeping with the rapid pace of gameplay.DC Heroes
DC Heroes from Mayfair Games (now known as MEGS, Mayfair Exponential Game System) used the characteristic "Motivation" to describe a character's ethical behavior. They were selected from a list divided into "heroic" (upholding the good, responsibility of power, seeking justice, thrill of adventure, and unwanted power) and "villainous" (mercenary, thrill seeker, psychopath, power lust, and nihilist). In the MEGS licensed game Blood of Heroes by Pulsar Games, a set of "anti-heroic" variations on some of the heroic and villainous motivations were presented, allowing characters to exist in moral and ethical gray areas.GURPS
GURPS uses "mental disadvantages" to model the personality of character ("good" and "evil" personality traits are disadvantages because they limit or impose behaviour). Mental disadvantages include ordinary personality traits ("honest", "curious", "shy", "bad temper"), phobias ("scotophobia", "triskaidekaphobia"), mental illnesses ("delusions", "hallucinations", "manic depression"), and various self- or externally-imposed behaviours ("vow", "code of honor", "addiction"). Characters gain extra points by taking disadvantages, allowing them to buy more advantages and skills. However, only the extremes of behavior are defined as strong disadvantages, while normal predilections and preferences are referred to as "quirks". Also, if a personality trait or physical trait would normally be defined as a "disadvantage" is created for a character in a game of GURPS where it would actually be an advantage, it's termed an advantage instead -- and costs points.Palladium
Palladium uses a system where alignments are described in detailed terms with alignments describing how a character acts in a certain situation; whether they will lie, how much force they will use against innocents, how they view the law, and so on. The alignments are organized into three broad categories: Good, Selfish, and Evil. The seven core alignments are Principled (Good), Scrupulous (Good), Unprincipled (Selfish), Anarchist (Selfish), Aberrant (Evil), Miscreant (Evil), and Diabolic (Evil). An eighth alignment, Taoist, was introduced in Mystic China, but has not seen wide use.Each category contains answers to a set of questions on moral behaviors. For example, given the question "Would you keep a wallet full of cash you found?", most selfish or evil alignments would keep it, while most good alignments would seek to return the wallet to its owner. The categories are not organized into a pattern like Dungeons & Dragons. The system specifically does not include any sort of "neutral" alignment on the grounds that a neutral point of view is antithetical to the sort of active role heroes and villains should play in a story.
Star Wars
The alignments of WotC Star Wars RPG are limited to Light Side and Dark Side, though there are variations within these.Unknown Armies
Characters in Unknown Armies have "passions," specific stimuli that bring out certain behavior and reflect the character's deepest personality traits. Every character has one "fear passion" that gives the character a bonus chance to escape a specific kind of frightening stimulus, one "rage passion" that helps the character lash out against a particular frustrating stimulus, and one "noble passion" that provides a bonus to selfless behavior for the sake of some greater cause. Passions are invented freeform during character creation, but each fear passion is tied to one of the five types of psychological stress in UA: Violence, Helplessness, Isolation, Self, or the Unnatural.See also
References
- d20 System Reference Document (used with permission).
External links
- Alignment test - Wizards of the Coast
- What D&D Character are you? Version 4.10
"Alignment (role-playing games)"