A Guide to Understanding Alignments

[Swulf]

 Along my travels i have come across many player resources in regaurds to rp and alignments.
Often there are huge debates about how a player should play their character in reguards to the alignment they have chosen.
The following resource was bestowed upon me to use and share with others.

 I strongly feel it is an amazing explanation of the entire alignment systems intention and purpose aswell as how one can best use it for their character. If the DM team feels any desire to add the guide in game either as a sign or as an item they have full permission to do so provided credit is given respectfully. This is not here to 'replace' any resource already present but meerly add on and perhaps shed a different light on the subject of alignments which have been poorly explaiined in the DnD rulebooks.

 ~The Legendary One

[Swulf]

Alignments: Introduction

One of the longest standing arguments of any gaming community, the Alignment Debate attempts to address the proper representation of the nine basic alignments in roleplaying, but never seems to achieve a resolution. Truth is, there is nothing inherently wrong with the system if used simply as a guideline. The alignments are defined in very broad and abstract terms, leaving a great deal of room for personal interpretations. But the problems begin when each of us tries narrowing it down into something more focused and tangible without leaving room for further, or even alternative, perspectives. Then we restrict ourselves even more by allowing the behavior of our characters to be dictated by our chosen alignment.

Let me put some emphasis on that last statement: We restrict ourselves even more by allowing the behavior of our characters to be dictated by our chosen alignment.

This is why "Chaotic Neutral" seems to be the most popular choice among players when their selected class(es) allows it. Most players prefer to be a "Free Spirit", picking the option that let's his character "follow his whims" and "represents true freedom". More often than not, this alignment is used as a 'loop-hole' to get around the imposed alignment strictures that are so grieviously misconceived to begin with.

Your character's alignment is neither a restriction, nor a permit. It is an unwritten code of personal ethics that he chooses for himself to live by. It suggests how he conducts himself personally, how his morals are perceived, and where he places his values. But there are no absolute standards to pinpoint exactly where a character registers on the alignment chart, because the chart itself lacks any true definition. And more significantly, most people (i.e. characters) are possessed of two qualities which can only allow them to be generalized into broader categories, at best: emotions and free will. It is these traits that allow even the most humble peasants to turn into a violent mob, or a ruthless killer to show mercy on an innocent bystander.

So what exactly is an alignment? There a number of ways to describe it, and deciding how your character views his alignment can also help further define his personality or motives. He could think of it as a 'lifestyle', a 'code of conduct', or even a 'philosophy'. Some are commited to it, acknowledging it in a conscious manner. Others just automatically subscribe to it without being aware of it or giving it much thought. And sometimes, a traumatic or enlightening event may cause one to change his disposition completely.

Now before you determine which of these 'paths' is best suited for your character, we need to develop a better, broader understanding of the alignment structure. The next few topics will look at the five basic components (i.e Law, Chaos, Good, Evil, and Neutrality) and offer ideas on how to develop character traits, motives, and even personalities from them.


Alignments: Lawful

Of all the alignment representations, Lawful characters are probably the most stereotypical and poorly portrayed by any player. To be Lawful simply means to have or want Order. Orderly people tend to be organized, cautious, and thoughtful. They like to plan ahead, explore all their options, and keep prepared by anticipating everything. They are not typically fond of surprises and usually avoid taking any unnecessary risks. They value such things as honor, tradition, logic, security, and discipline.

But being lawful does not mean you follow every rule and law that's ever been written or made. Nor does it mean that you automatically respect and obey every person in a position of authority (or claims to be). A character who believes in the idea of a structured society does not necessarily have to agree with or support the one that he is a part of, which is a decision based on free will. And he may not particularly like the captain of the guard who doesn't allow him to drink by the docks, which is a decisions based on emotions.

Do either of these examples make this character any less lawful (or more chaotic)? Absolutely not. Even though these may seem to represent the behavior of an unlawful person, they are very minor instances with circumstances attributed primarily to the character's own personality and motives. They do not impact his overall beliefs or behavior, and therefore cannot be consider a transgression of his alignment.

On the other hand, if the same Lawful character were to deliberately ignore the warnings about drinking on the docks simply because he wanted to, then that could be considered 'out-of-alignment' for him. A person who craves structure and regulation does not ignore the established rules and boundaries when presented by one who is recognized as an authority empowered to administer or enforce them. That goes against the very principals of being Lawful, regardless of their personal feelings.

When you play a Lawful character, take some time to identify any organizations or groups that he may relate to or support. These may include almost any kind of guild, religious orders, military groups, or even the local/regional government where he lives. Familiarizing yourself with their motives, goals, and how they operate, will sometimes give your character a frame of reference on how he might conduct himself in certain situations.

You can also develop some routine habits for your character to perform regularly. These actions should be acted out on a consistent basis to demonstrate his affinity for following established routines. Some ideas include stopping to pray or meditate at precise times of the day, honoring those who fell in battle by pouring dirt over their eyelids, or only using your left hand when salting any meat. But don't just pick something abstract or random. Find a reason for doing it, whether it is a custom of your people, a holy practice, or just superstition. And don't use too many, unless you want to play an obsessively habitual person.


Alignments: Chaotic

This is often perceived as the 'easiest' of the alignment groups to roleplay because of the way it is presented. The description of a 'free spirit' who 'acts on his whims' gives us the impression that every chaotic individual is incapable of making rational decisions or lacks any sense of judgement. These are the traits of a character who may lack intelligence or wisdom, but have little to do with his personality or beliefs.

On the surface, the Chaotic alignment is exactly as it is portrayed in the rulebooks. But your character would lack any real depth if you simply portrayed him as 'the polar opposite of Lawful'. A chaotic person tends to live in the moment, enjoys the simpler pleasures, and prefers individuality over conformity. He is often ruled by his emotions, which can attribute to having a personality for every mood. He tends to get bored easier than others, but is quicker to adapt with change. He is often considered impulsive, indecisive, and unpredictable. He mostly values ideas or things that promote individuality, personal strengths and freedoms, self expression, and non-conformity.

But this doesn't mean that every chaotic person must thumb his nose at rules, regulations, and authority. Most sensible people will agree that the need for some kind of organization or laws are needed when there are so many minds and opinions collected together to live. They just think that 'the fewer, the better' would be the best approach. And as long as they don't keep them from doing anything they really want, there's no reason why they can't follow the rules, especially if it doesn't take any additional effort or consideration on their part.

On the flip side of the coin, some chaotic individuals feel that any imposed order is a threat to the natural state of the universe. They do not feel it is the place of so many to decide anything for a few. Each person is unique, and only an individual can know or decide what is best suited for himself. The strengths of a single person can lose it's potency when it must be spread out and shared among so many others.

Playing an effective chaotic character can be fairly easy, if you know what motivates him. Anyone can pick decisions at random or do things unexpectedly, but there's always a reason for such actions. Most people (if they're sane) do not simply act out suddenly without motivation for it, even if no one else may know what that is. So knowing what motivates your character may help you to determine how he may react in different situations, thus making a more believable and better developed character. His goals may be as simple as 'collect gold and have fun', or as complex as 'atoning for a past offense so that he may regain favor and be allowed to marry his love before a rival is granted permission first'. (And just in case it needs to be said, a character who acts out at random simply to be unpredictable is motivated to be unpredicatable.)

Finally, do not confuse playing a character with little or no direction with playing one with little or no intelligence. If your character needs to arrive at a certain destination, do not have him sneak aboard the next boat leaving port to see if it will get him close to it. Save that tactic for the time he needs to leave in a hurry and is not overly concerned about where he ends up. Do not be reluctant to have your character listen to his instincts, react from his gut, or follow his heart. But try to avoid flipping a coin, rolling dice, or having every decision he makes be determined by blind chance. Unless, of course, that's what he prefers to do.



Alignments: Good and Evil

The principles of Good and Evil are much easier to grasp as they are more familiar to us and better defined. They also have a more dynamic relationship; the presence of one can be described as the absence of the other, and vice versa. But they are still dependent on each other as one cannot exist without the other. Because of this relationship, it is better suited, and more appropriate, to describe them together instead of seperately.

Good and evil can be measured in various degrees of each. There is no one true method of accurately determining the nature of every act or being because everyone has different opinions and perspectives. At best, we can use a simple and fundamental guideline as a measuring stick to gauge virtually any situation we may encounter or devise. But since they are truly polar opposites of one another, it is easy to when we compare one side to the other. The Good seek to promote Life and find ways to benefit others before himself, while the Evil seek to destroy Life and find ways to benefit themselves before others. Good heals, while Evil harms. Good liberates, and Evil enslaves. Whatever Good strives to achieve, Evil opposes or does the opposite.

Now we're all familiar with the basics of what is Good, and what is not. But there are instances when we must go against these basic principles because our emotions may convince us differently, and we possess the free will to decide our own actions. The act of killing, for example, is considered the most evil act because it destroys life. But if the life taken was an Evil one, is that considered another method of promoting Good, since Evil opposes it? Otherwise, how could you justify that every sword-carrying, fireball-slinging, and undead-turning adventurer is not Evil? How else would they be able to get stronger and find the magic items to help them slay even more monsters?

The key to knowing for certain whether your character's actions are good or not, is by determining his motivations or intentions for committing such acts. You cannot make an assumption based solely on what is done without knowing the purpose it was intended to serve.

Here's an example: 'a character who steals'. Why is this character stealing? What is he stealing, and who is stealing it from? And what does he do with his gotten goods? If he is stealing gold from someone who happens to walk by so he can buy himself a drink at the tavern, is that evil? Actually, no. He obviously intended no real harm or malice towards the unsuspecting victim if he only meant to take a few coins from someone who obviously had some to spare. This would be considered more of a Chaotic act, as opposed to an Evil one, because no one was really hurt or suffered from it (though it can be argued that gainings some benefit at the expense or inconvenience of another is somewhat Evil).

But what if the thief used the money gained to feed some hungry orphans? Well, now the situation seems to have gained a new light. Stealing, in this example, would still be considered a Chaotic act. But using the gold to benefit others, particularly at your own expense when you could use the gold for yourself, is definately a Good act. Now imagine this individual did this to win favor in the eyes of his peers in order to gain their trust and deceive them at some time when they are unsuspecting. As you can see, knowing the true purpose of these actions is vital in determining their nature.

Now despite everything said thus far, only those of the purest heart are completely free from doing anything even mildly Evil, and the only blackest soul is incapable of showing any compassion. The majority of us (and our characters) are filled with complex motives and personalities to be completely Good or wholly Evil. Thus, when you select one as part of your character's alignment, it should represent a stronger tendency of your character, rather than an absolute choice. Few individuals can be totally commited to one side or the other without having their moments of weakness. That's what makes us 'human', after all.

With that said, don't be afraid to cross the line every once in a while. A Good character who finds a bag of gold coins in the marketplace might decide to keep it for himself instead of attempting to find the rightful owner. And an Evil character may gain personal satisfaction by being generous to those he values or cares about; yes, Evil characters are capable of having feelings like love, desire, caring, etc., though they are more attuned to their selfish nature (i.e. having the desire of a particular woman is akin to a prized trophy, for example).

Your Good-aligned character will do things that are best for the group, or seek to help others who are incapable or unable to help themselves. Seek to protect or champion the weak, while supporting or aiding those who would do the same. Personal gain and station mean nothing if they do not help others to live free and without harm.

Your Evil-aligned character will do things to benefit himself, even at the expense of others. When you set a goal, you are determined to reach it and are not afraid to make personal sacrifices to obtain it, unless someone else can make them for you. If life has taught you anything, it is that the strong will always prey on the weak, and it is always better to be among those who feed than those who are fed upon.


Alignment: Neutrality

This is actually much easier to play than most people realize because characters who select Neutral are stating their impartialness towards one aspect of the alignment scale. Being impartial to anything is to take a passive stance and allows you greater emphasis on the aspect that you do follow actively. Thus, a Lawful Neutral person is more concerned with being Lawful than what the outcome of his actions may be (i.e. Good and Evil are irrelevant to him as long as order is established and maintained). In this case, it is sometimes referred to as True Lawful because it represents the Lawful nature of a character without the influence of Good or Evil. Likewise, the other respective alignments would be considered True Chaotic, True Good, and True Evil.

Because the previous examples demonstrated each of the alignment aspects individually, I will not include any more examples here to avoid redundancy. However, there is one specific alignment that does merit more focus than the rest: True Neutral.

It is difficult to perceive any person or character that can truly remain impartial to all the aspects of alignment because that would require supressing their emotions. In most cases, True Neutrals subscribe to a higher philosophy of a cosmic balance. This suggests that the nature of the universe requires the presence of both Law and Chaos, and Good and Evil in order to exist. And that it is healthiest when both scales are equally balanced, to ensure that one does not eliminate the other.

Now this may suggest that True Neutrals are prone to switch sides to aid whomever has the losing hand at the moment, but they are much more complex than that. In order for them to actually pick a side and directly aid it, they would have to violate their very ethics. If they were to directly involve themselves on the side of Good, for example, they would be contributing to the forces of Good in the universe. So unless they knew for certain that the amount of Good in the cosmos was lower than 'normal', their presence may very well upset the balance they are attempting to maintain.

True Neutral is an active stance at being passive. You do not take sides as you look at the really big picture. All things have a purpose and a role in life, but yours may be the most important of all. And only others like you will understand your purpose because they share your same ideas and goals. You may not like or agree with one aspect over another, but you know that each one is vital to maintain the true order of things. Without one, the other can corrupt. And though you are committed to help, you are limited in your capacity to become directly involved. Only by your wits and your ability to influence can you hope to achieve your goals.

The book on alignments was done by a one: Louminator
    Granted and presented to you by the one and only: Silly Wulf

[Neutral_Zone]

The trouble with alignments, I think, is that each axis is too loosely defined. By default PnP rules, as of 3.5e, people are still confused as to what alignment constitutes what behavior. In fact, there's even a few things in your post that I contend.

I'd have to say that I highly oppose the idea that True Neutral is represented by those who strive to maintain balance. This is a preposterous claim, as someone's actions can be entirely neutral in totality even if the individual acts are not. A True Neutral person MIGHT be someone that strives for balance, but that's a rare occurrence. More commonly, it's a person who simply doesn't have a set way of doing things - They have no tendency for good or evil, and don't obey a particular set of principles but still keep to some. They simply do what seems like a good idea at the time. In fact, True Neutral is probably the most common alignment, considering that most people just want to live their life as is, and change their view depending upon circumstances. If we were assigned a random value between 0 and 100 for each axis, where being between 33 and 67 is considered neutral, then a quarter of us would be neutral. Generally, neutral people tend to veer towards law and good, simply out of a sense of self-preservation, or the desire to remain out of trouble.

A good character generally seeks to aid and help others out of a desire to do good. Many good characters also try to avoid doing evil acts, but it's more a case of their good actions outweighing their bad. What constitutes something good or evil may depend upon the person's culture - In some beliefs, murder might not be as bad as certain other acts, and may even be acceptable in some cases, such as if the victim is an outlaw or the like. Good people have consciences, and may regret decisions that resulted in the harm of another.

An evil character is just that - Evil. They are not inherently selfish, though some selfish acts may be evil, and are evil mostly in that they seek to bring harm to others. Evil people do things out of malice, and often go out of their way to bring grief to others. They generally have no regard for the well-being of others, though may take exception to those close to them. Evil characters might not have an aversion to doing good, but what good they do is often outweighed by their other actions.

Lawful characters are not necessarily ones who abide by the law, but rather those that adhere to a strict set of principles that they chose to follow. Lawful people are more comfortable with routine, and generally prefer not to do things that other people would consider unexpected. Quite often, the principles chosen by a lawful character are those that are also accepted by the majority of the populace. Unlike chaotic characters, they are less inclined to change their behaviors and mannerisms.

A chaotic character is spontaneous - They enjoy living in the moment and being unburdened by laws. They take everything as it comes, using personal judgment to make decisions rather than relying on predefined answers. Chaotic people may appear selfish in their actions, as they enjoy their freedom and individuality, and are more often than not willing to leave their comfort zone. While a crazy person is probably chaotic, being chaotic does not make you crazy - It's about doing what you feel like, as opposed to simply being random.

Many people, rather than staying within the boundaries of a specific alignment, seem to balance on the edge of the categories. I personally think this is a good choice, as it allows more flexibility in beliefs and the ability to adapt when the situation calls for it.

Given a standard distribution, here is the approximate frequency of alignments:

LG 6.25% NG 12.5% CG 6.25% LN 12.5% TN 25% CN 12.5% LE 6.25% NE 12.5% CE 6.25%

[TheMadPoet]

Nutshell 

[Swulf]

Haha, nicely put MadPoet.
 
  Though id like to clarify now in no way was the post ment as an argument, contradictory or even objection to how alignments are RP'd here.  Its merely been posted as an alternative view expanding and exploring the alignment system out side the interperative PHB. In no part does the guide say "this is how it must be rp'd" but instead explores the motives and reasoning behind the opposite spectrums used in the alignment system. The point of the guide is to force the reader into examining the aspects of the alignment system forming their own opinions, and break away from longstanding preconcieved notions of what each alignment may entail. Essentially the point behind the guide and this thread is to allow players to take a deeper lookin into why a character may fall into one of the alignment catagories and to allow players to share their opinions on the system.

 I personally believe an alignment should not govern a characters behavior, but instead, be simply a sieve a character's personaility, values, morals and habits fall into.   :3     

 ~The Legendary One

[Kattze]

The only alignment I care about being played a certain way are Lawful Good paladins, and that's most about their code of ethics rather than the actual alignment.

Nice writeup!

I, too, disagree with the TN description suggested, but I also think that it can be relatively difficult to play TN.