We’re back to this one on social media somehow.
Let’s go over the basic nine Dungeons & Dragons alignments. Please understand that I have been having this discussion since I was in Middle School, so I’m trying for a fresher take. It’s a very old topic.
| Lawful Good | Neutral Good | Chaotic Good. |
| Lawful Neutral | “True” Neutral | Chaotic Neutral |
| Lawful Evil | Neutral Evil | Chaotic Evil |
Lawful Good is known as the goody-two-shoes of the alignments. This is possibly the hardest alignment to portray accurately because at some point every character is probably going to color outside the lines eventually. We all make mistakes, step on someone’s toes, or hurt someone’s feelings.
Lawful Neutral probably doesn’t get enough credit. Again, I think a lot of people fail to understand the “Neutral” part of the alignment. It doesn’t matter if something is “right” or “wrong.” What does the local law say about this, or do we need to find an arbitrator? Lawful Neutral can lead to great weal or great woe depending on what is just.
This is also the alignment of Vulcan logic from Star Trek. It’s the Bushido code. Being “nice” is a side effect of always following the rules.
Lawful Evil aka the Dictator. “Do as I say.” Period. The despot in charge is all that matters. All that really matters is power to the leader. Disobey and disaster will follow.
Neutral Good is an easy fun alignment to portray for me. Rules are a side effect of doing the right thing. Just do the right thing. Try to be a good person. Occasionally rules are going to be bent or broken as long as we’re doing the right thing. Be nice. Bring others joy and prosper.
“True” Neutral is another tough alignment for a lot of players because a lot of people lean toward Neutral Good in real life. It’s the balanced, natural alignment. The problem is, sometimes nature can be a cruel mistress with animals eating other animals, forest fires, floods, droughts, and so on. Yes, we all love warm fuzzy little animals, but sometimes they get eaten by apex predators.
“True” Neutral usually means doing what makes the most sense to the character from an unbiased point of view. Laws don’t matter. Good and evil don’t really matter. What should be done here? Up to the N person to decide what’s most balanced.
Neutral Evil is probably one of the scarier alignments if not the scariest. It’s just plain evil. It’s not trying to hide the fact, either. It’s the selfish alignment. I’d also argue that it’s the sociopath serial killer alignment. There’s no sense of what other people think. Just do the nastiest most rotten things you can get away with.
Chaotic Good is the Batman or Robin Hood alignment. Justice, equality, and other virtues are upheld regardless of what the law or anyone else thinks. Bring the “bad” people to justice no matter what you have to do to get there. Rob from the rich and give to the poor because they need it more. It’s the antithesis to Lawful Evil. Screw the people in charge, we’re doing the right thing. This leads to some Player Characters getting in trouble and ends in, “It’s what my character would do.”
Chaotic Neutral, aka “Chaotic Stupid,” or “Chaotic Chaotic.” This is another cheapened alignment that some players use to abuse the rules and generally irritate their fellow players. Again, there’s a lot of, “It’s what my character would do,” justification for whatever the player thinks of. Personally, I have a lot of disgust for this alignment because I’ve seen it abused so much. It’s just chaos for the sake of chaos most of the time. (Yuck.)
Chaotic Evil, the “Bad Guy” alignment. If Neutral Evil is just for the sake of evil, then Chaotic Evil is going out of its way to be the nastiest, most evil thing possible. This is the nasty wallowing in misery and destruction kind of evil. The kind you’d expect from the depths of Hell. A lot of evil dragons, demons, and hockey mask wearing murderous nutjobs fall under this alignment.
Disclaimer: Statements expressed in this article are strictly my opinion. If you disagree or have a different opinion, that’s okay. I’m not an expert on everything. I’m not always right. I’m just writing from my experience as I know it. Your mileage may vary.
That’s my take on all nine alignments. If we’re using the alignment system for a game, I always give my players the list of acceptable ones: LG, LN, NG, N, and CG. That’s just for my players, though. As a Dungeon/Game Master, I’ve found those particular alignments to be the easiest for my players to pick up on. I think most people in the real world tend to fall into those particular categories. That’s also the batch of alignments that cause the least amount of party infighting and arguing.
Am I wrong?
Alas, this is where the arguments come in. Every DM/GM seems to have a different take on what the alignments mean all the way down to giving the actual players an alignment. Depending on how strict the DM is about Rules As Written, characters might have in-game consequences, mandatory alignment changes, loss of class privileges (Paladins, Clerics, etc) or even lose their character altogether in some extreme cases.
*Note: I’ve had some DMs strictly enforce the rule that if the character turns to the proverbial dark side, their alignment changes to Chaotic Evil and the DM takes over playing the character. I’m here to tell you, it royally sucks to lose a character that way. I’ve never had to enforce that house rule because we discuss it in Session Zero.
Someone is bound to disagree with my GM interpretation of the nine alignments. It’s okay. I’ve accepted it as a perfectly natural part of the hobby. What works at my table might not work at yours. Please understand I’m not saying, “I’m right and you’re all wrong.” Far from it, actually.
Could alignments disappear someday?
I sure hope so. I think there are better ways or at least different ways to tackle the situation. I like the way Weakness is presented in Dragonbane. Players have a chance to earn more XP if they confront their weaknesses. They can even overcome their weakness, but then they have to roll or choose a new one. Nobody’s perfect.
There are lots of other versions of the D&D alignment chart. Some games only use Law, Neutrality or Chaos such as Shadowdark and Dungeon Crawl Classics. There has even been talk over the years of throwing out the alignment system entirely and just relying on personality traits. (My personal favorite idea.)
In some ways alignment helps new players better understand and define characters. On the other hand, just telling new players to play the way they want to works pretty well. Unless they go full murder hobo. Then there just need to be consequences to the character’s actions.
As we say all the time, there is no wrong way to play. If your group is strictly rules as written, good for you. If you’re a big softie like me and let players have lots of leeway, that’s okay too. No one is going to take your books and dice away for the way you adjudicate alignment in your game.
Please make sure everyone is on the same page before the campaign begins is it’s a long term game. Otherwise you could get caught in the trap of, “It’s what my character would do.”
My honest advice is don’t let alignment dictate a character’s actions. People act against their nature sometimes. A lot of moral and ethical decisions are over ridden by actions that made perfect sense in the moment. (Giggity.) Sometimes the most well thought-out decision can end up being the wrong thing, too. It’s all in the eye of the observer.
Well, I’m sure Safety Tools and Session Zero will come up again any day now. We also haven’t had a good combat wheelchair controversy in a while. I also seem to remember someone bringing up character death again the other day. Who knows.
Thank you for being here with me today. I appreciate you. Keep it real, but please strive for positivity, too. Please embrace the things that bring you the most joy in your life.
Jeff's Game Box 