Alignment, For Players, Greenhorns GuideRichard OstranderSeptember 05, 2021Good, Evil, Neutral

The Greenhorn's Guide to... Alignment!

Alignment, For Players, Greenhorns GuideRichard OstranderSeptember 05, 2021Good, Evil, Neutral

So when you make a character there is always a box for alighment. When working with new players this is always a moment for their eyes to glaze over as I try to explain the twin axis grid that determines how their character is supposed to act. This is often followed by the same question everyone responds with… does this really matter? So let’s take a look greenhorns, and see if it actually does.

So to understand how alignment works, we must tackle that same two axis grid no one wants to discuss or understand. When I explain this grid to my players, I often describe it in the form of two question.

Are you an organized, structured, rule following person, by the book person? A random, messy, do whatever you feel like rule breaker? Or are you somewhere in the middle?

This question determines where you fall on the order to chaos axis, which in D&D has three values. Lawful (organized, structured, rule following), Chaotic (random, messy, do whatever you feel like rule breaker) or neutral (somewhere in the middle). Lawful and Chaotic are pretty easy to understand, but neutral can be tricky. Neutral is not wishy washy. Neutral often represents following certain rules or laws, but knowing when to break them. A good example I like to give is that a guard who enforces the rules no matter the circumstance is lawful. That investigator that never wears his uniform, pay informants under the table, and lies to his superiors? Chaotic. But what about the one who generally enforces thee law, except for the those special circumstances when he chooses not to, like when he sees an orphan steal a loaf of bread from a wealthy merchant? Neutral all the way.

Are you selfless, devoting your time to time to helping others and standing against hatred, injustice, and tyranny? Are you selfish, putting your needs before others and doing things that make you feel good, regardless of the consequences for others? Or are you somewhere in the middle?

This question determines where you fall on the good to evil axis, which in D&D also has three values. Good (selfless, just, tolerant), Evil (selfish, tyrannical, uncaring), or neutral (somewhere in the middle). Now this axis is generally much harder to understand than the previous one. People often try to tie it directly to a black and white morality, which is often based on a specific perspective. Is a paladin who murders unbelievers evil? Is a high priest of a good aligned deity still good, even after he lets orphans starve?

For this reason, I try to avoid comparing this axis to the characters morality. Instead, I like to focus on their willingness to sacrifice to help others or their selfishness that causes others harm. For the neutral version of this axis, I look at characters that generally look out for themselves first, but helps others when they can.

Using our same guard example as before, a “Good” guard helps the innocent and protects the weak, regardless of the consequences. An “Evil” guard takes bribes, looks the other way when crimes are committed, and sabotages his coworkers to insure he rises through the ranks. The neutral guard generally tries to be a good person, but they can often be tempted towards a selfish act. They might take a small bribe to overlook a while collar crime, or take a coffee break when their supposed to be on duty.

Should you still have a player who is struggling over their alignment, here are a few other factors to consider.

Lawful - Following the law doesn’t have to mean the civil laws that govern a city. It can also the personal code of a gentleman thief or the meticulous set of rules and iron fisted order of a evil crime lord.

Chaotic - Chaos is not evil. Its chaotic. Good people can be rulebreakers, and they can be quite random and unpredictable in their application of said goodness. This lack of planning can often result in devastating unintended consequences, which is not evil, even when things end badly.

Good - Good people can do terrible things. This is because morality is not black and white, and without perspective, people can be selfless and caring while inflicting unimaginable amounts of harm that they are incapable of seeing or understanding. So remember to consider this when looking at a players actions.

Evil - Evil does not need to be a person who murders indiscriminately or commits acts of mustache twirling villainy. They can simply just be incredibly selfish. This can be a character who robs the poor or murders anyone who stands in the way of their plans. This lack of empathy can be taken to the extreme of true psychopathy, or can be so slight that the character is more neutral than evil, but always on the verge of crossing that line.

So now that you’ve asked your players these two questions and their answers have determined their alignment, the question becomes… what do they do with it? To answer this question it really depends on which of the two types of player your dealing with. The person who wants a role to play, or the player that always plays “their” role.

For players that want to play “their role”, I have a tendency to refer to them as a “Prince Naveen”. This moniker originates with one of my own players. In every game he is a suave prince. It does not matter the game or the character… suave prince. He plays this character primarily as himself. Since he is neutral good in real life, all his characters are neutral good. For players such as this, they can determine their alignment, but once it is stamped on their sheet, they will never use it again (unless a spell or effect only works on particular alignments).

However, for players who want a “role to play”, alignment is invaluable. For these players, acting in character is a big part of why they play. Perhaps they want to be a scenery chewing villain, or an over the top do-gooder. For them, their alignment is a constant guide to their behavior, and often a limitation they would have to struggle to overcome. Does their lawful evil character want to help the thieving orphan? Sorry, that goes against your alignment. Doesn’t mean you can’t do it, but you’ll need to find a way to make it fit who you are. Perhaps you catch the orphan in the act, and then force him to work for you to advance your plans. Now the orphan works for you and earns a wage, but the jobs you give him put him in personal danger.

With that being said, whichever type of player you have, never try to force their alignment on them. Only encourage the limiting nature of alignment with players who want that type of challenge. For everyone else, I tend to let them play as they want to play, and just remind them when their actions might cause their alignment to shift. This statement usually causes other more advanced players to wonder how this effects clerics and paladins, and I’ll admit it’s a good question. If possible, I tend to make these characters start to experience issues communing with their god, making clutch moments a bit… unreliable. This usually leads them towards either atoning for their misdeeds, or shifting to a new god/order. Is this a big deal for their character? Totally. It’s also the best part of roleplaying, where you actions drastically affect your character.

So that is alignment, which can be a side note for your character or the driving force behind their behavior. As for which of those two it will be? Well, that’s up to you.

Choose carefully, and as always…

Happy roleplaying, and may the dice be ever in your favor.