Alignment is meant to indicate a creature's morality and societal views. (Crawford, page 122). Morality is ruled by the dichotomy of Good and Evil, which is an elementary aspect of the high fantasy D&D is. A new dichotomy is thrown in though for societal views, Law and Chaos. Law vs. Chaos determines whether the character functions inside the bounds of society's laws.
I find, the most difficult aspect of alignment is how it uses subjective concepts like good, evil, lawful, chaotic, and neutral. Outside a game world [real life], those concepts are dependent on the society the individual lives in. Inside D&D those concepts are objective. That might seem strange but keep in mind that for the basic D&D setting [Forgotten Realms] there are numerous deities and even planes of existence based on each of those alignment, and they interact with the world. If someone is being evil, then an agent of a god of evil alignment would praise them or a messenger from a god of good alignment would curse them.
If you are doing a homebrew campaign [custom made setting], then consider if alignment is subjective or objective. Subjective would base what alignments are off of what the dominant society views the concepts. Object means that no matter the society alignment is the same in what it means. Objective alignment definitions do not mean all societies are the same morally. A great example is how in D&D's Forgotten Realms setting there is a society of evil elves (Drow) who worship an evil deity. Their society promotes acts of evil such as murder and thievery. Though the Drow would view their way as superior and an evil character would be welcomed there, the general society is objectively evil.
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| Alignment Wheel |
Alignments can shift overtime. Whenever an alignment is picked for your character then it states to the other players what your character generally feels about Good, Evil, Law, and Chaos. There are no good archetypes for the various combinations of those four alignments because D&D is the only form of media that uses alignment.
It's useful to base these concepts off of the standard of your real world society's ethics on matters. Generally killing people arbitrarily is evil, trying to save anyone no matter what is good. Extremes are boring, which is where the GM should work to make characters face outlier cases to test their alignment. An evil character may need to save his enemy because it will increase his chance of survival in the long term, or a good character can only lift a curse by killing an innocent. A lawful character gets framed for a crime and is forced to act outside the law, thus becoming chaotic.
The combinations are:
- Lawful Good—The gothic white knight falls under this alignment, but also most people that believe in doing good within the bounds of the law. When playing this alignment the character should prefer to work inside the law and seek the most moral solutions.
- Lawful Neutral—While the Player's Handbook suggests most people are Neutral Neutral, I disagree. I believe most people are Lawful Neutral because they aren't powerful monsters or adventurers, so they require the laws of society to even the field more than anything else. A lawful neutral character archetype would be characters that care more for upholding law than anything else. Guards are a great example of this, as they may know someone is good with the right reasons but that person committed a crime and still needs to be brought in.
- Lawful Evil—This is the villain that plans ahead, the person that takes full advantage of legal loopholes. The character is evil and will thus ruin anyone that gets in the way of their ambition. A character of this alignment believes in the ordering and power of law, and that they should be in charge.
- Neutral Good—Those who are of this alignment simply try their best. They may call the guards on a thief but are capable of showing mercy if they see the thief is just trying to steal bread to eat. A neutral good character could offer shelter for someone a few nights, yet will turn people away if they can't afford to help. A character like this focuses more about doing right than if their act is lawful or chaotic.
- Neutral Neutral—Surprisingly a neutral neutral character doesn't have to be bland. In actuality they can be the most unpredictable of all the alignments as they have no preference to anything. The best description of this character is opportunist. The character will do what they want when the opportunity arises, but is able to think ahead. They may have an opportunity to kill a villain, but it might be too easy to trace back to them. The character might have a chance to save someone; however, it would place the character in too much danger. It is a character that focuses more on themselves, while not strictly being evil and selfish.
- Neutral Evil—A character of this alignment cares for themselves, chiefly their own survival. They may not want to rule or be a major player in a dark empire, yet they can climb the ranks. It is a character that wants to play law and chaos against each other to create buffer zone, a no man's land where they can see rivals approaching.
- Chaotic Good—Vigilantes are a great example of chaotic good. Someone who takes the law in their own hands or simply doesn't care for what others think. This character knows they are good and if people disagree that's their problem.
- Chaotic Neutral—This is a character that prefers their own code of conduct rather than society's. This character prefers independence and freedom over what others state. Still, it is possible for their own codes to be very strict.
- Chaotic Evil—Most arbitrary of beings are those of chaotic evil alignment. These are people driven by their base desires. Demons, dragons, and the like are chaotic evil. A character that behaves this way would consider their way superior, the hero of their own story. They wouldn't necessarily screw the party over, for they need someone to bear witness to their superior ways. Chaotic evil isn't an alignment that runs through a village killing for fun, rather it's an evil that acts more like a force of nature villain. Something that can only be contained not stopped, always seeking to show its greatness.
(Colville)
(Pruitt & Davis)
(Alignments: Episode 1 - Why They Matter)
Works Cited
Alignments: Episode 1 - Why They Matter. DwarforgedCast. March 10, 2015. Web. 4/12/2017. Accessed <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiuLkFVCHGE&list=PLTgwt_ewEFeP-XVoWcYRJcaEyYcf4p1WR>
Colville, Mathew. Alignment Examples. Mather Colville. May 7, 2016. Web. 4/12/2017. Accessed From <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgNQ3NXqqiQ>
Crawford, Jeremy, et al. Player's Handbook. USA: Wizards of the Coast, 2014. Print.
Pruitt, Johnathan, Jim Davis. EVIL CAMPAIGN in 5e Dungeons and Dragon - Web DM. September 28, 2016. Web DM. Web. 4/12/2017. Accessed <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fcsxXr3fOk&t=993s>
