Editing Alignment (section)

==Alignment in Palladium's Megaverse==
[[Palladium Books]] was, at its core, a response to the success of [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]]. The kind of would-be rival who was never afraid to go "Okay, that system looks semi-useful; I'mma pinch it and put my own spin on it!" Hence, Palladium's various titles share a singular mechanic: Alignment, and quite clearly ripped from D&D's example. Fans of D&D, especially back in the days when Palladium was actually on the radar, often took great delight in pointing out how Palladium's system is clearly a knock-off to D&D's, although arguably they do have better descriptions in that they explicitly spell out what a character of X alignment would do in Y situation. There is no "True Neutral" equivalent alignment in Palladium, however; per word of god, this was because A: [[Stupid Neutral]] was, well, a stupid idea, and B: anyone who truly did not give a shit about anything (the ''other'' primary description of the True Neutral alignment in D&D) would not be at all inclined to go adventuring. By the game designer's arguments, somebody who's only adventuring to get something they need or want done (your classic "I don't care if the Empire's hurting people, but they'll take my farm if I don't take them out" jerk) would fall under one of the Selfish alignments.

Palladium's Alignment system breaks into three broad moral categories; '''Good''', '''Evil''', and '''Selfish''', with the seven (well, eight, we'll get to that) specific alignments falling under one of these three umbrellas. The descriptions broadly remain the same between gamelines, but games from later in Palladium's lifetime may have expanded definitions of the "alignment points" - for example, the Principled Alignment has only 11 points in [[Rifts]] or [[Palladium Fantasy RPG]], but 13 in [[Dead Reign]].

[[Ninjas & Superspies]], being a gameline revolving heavily around [[Japan]]ese and [[China|Chinese]] characters from the 90s, does devote a section of its corebook to how Alignment interacts with [[Honor]], dividing the alignments into '''Honorable''' (Principled, Unprincipled, Aberrant), '''Non-Honorable''' (Scrupulous, Anarchist), and '''Dishonorable''' (Miscreant, Diabolic), complete with revised descriptions of how Honorable and Dishonorable alignments approach that "Discipline". Ironically, Mystic China does mention the Honor-based divisions of Alignments, but doesn't describe where the new Taoist alignment fits, though from the description of it, Non-Honorable or even Dishonorable is probably the best fit.

===Palladium Good===
It bears mentioning that in Palladium's terminology, "Good" characters are ''not'' '''flawless'''. They can be and often are full of the same foibles, quirks, prejudices and tendencies to being obnoxious, irritating and arrogant as anyone else. But a character with a Good alignment will strongly tend towards doing the right thing and wanting others to be happy.

'''Principled:''' Morality is the definitive characteristic of a Principled character. These guys believe not only in good, but also the importance of law and order; they're team-players, whether as leaders or followers, and defined by their strong respect for not just a personal code of right and wrong, but the legal authorities of wherever they happen to be (unless, y'know, they're blatantly corrupt or evil). Basically, this is Palladium's Lawful Good alignment; the "boy scout", the "do gooder". Compassion, mercy, cooperation and sincerity are the watchwords of the Principled alignment, and these are their defining traits:
::1. Always keep his word.
::2. Avoid lies.
::3. Never kill or attack an unarmed foe.
::4. Never harm an innocent.
::5. Never torture for any reason.
::6. Never kill for pleasure.
::7. Always help others.
::8. Always work within the law whenever possible.
::9. Never break the law unless conditions are desperate. This means no breaking and entering, theft, torture, unprovoked assaults, etc.
::10. Respect authority, law, self-discipline and honor.
::11. Work well in a group.
::12. Never take “dirty” money, or ill-gotten valuables or goods. This means any property that belongs to criminals or villains. It matters not how the bad guys got that property themselves; the hero will not touch it even if destitute.
::13. Never betray a friend.

'''Scrupulous:''' Good is the end-all, be-all for Scrupulous characters; they're not inherently ''opposed'' to law and order, but if the choice comes down to between doing what's morally right and following the rules, then the rulebook can go hang. Life, freedom, and justice; these are the virtues that define a Scrupulous character, and in this they can be seen as the Chaotic Good to Principled's Lawful Good - though they come off as more the Neutral Good when compared to the Taoist, some would argue. A Scrupulous character will usually try to:
::1. Keep his word to any other good person.
::2. Lie only to people of selfish or evil alignments.
::3. Never attack or kill an unarmed foe.
::4. Never harm an innocent.
::5. Never torture for pleasure but may use muscle to extract information from criminals or evil characters.
::6. Never kill for pleasure, will always attempt to bring the villain to justice alive, no matter how vile he may find him.
::7. Always try to help others.
::8. Attempt to work within the law whenever possible.
::9. Bend and, occasionally, break the law when deemed necessary. This means he may use strong-arm techniques, harass, break and enter, steal, and so on (but only against the bad guys).
::10. Distrust authority; fears the law and government may not be an effective weapon against injustice and crime. However, he will try not to flagrantly disregard the law.
::11. Work with groups, but dislike confining laws and bureaucracy (red tape).
::12. Never take “dirty” money or items.
::13. Never betray a friend

'''Taoist:''' This is the forgotten one of the Palladium alignments, as it was introduced in the [[Ninjas & Superspies]] [[splatbook]] ''Mystic China'' and is intended to recapture the "benevolent but anarchic/disreputable" good-guys popular in wuxia films and their chop-sockey adaptations. Taoists aren't ''selfish'' in their alignment, but they're irresponsible, hedonistic even; the crux of their description is that they're torn between doing what's good and doing what's good for ''them''. Like the Scrupulous character, they're basically the Chaotic Good of Palladium, though with a bit more emphasis on the Chaotic side. The defining traits of a Taoist character are:
::1. Intend to keep their word of honor, when they give it. However, if things change, well...
::2. Avoid Lies (except in fun).
::3. Cheat whenever necessary.
::4. Will not kill an unarmed foe (but will take advantage of the situation).
::5. Never harm an innocent.
::6. Not use torture unless absolutely necessary.
::7. Never kill for pleasure.
::8. Usually help those in need.
::9. Refuse to take any position of leadership or authority, except in a short-term emergency.
::10. Ignore the law and the rules, whenever they feel they can get away with it. However, they will never violate the law for personal gain.
::11. Usually make fun of authority.
::12. Usually, but not always, stick by a friend. 

===Palladium Selfish===
The Selfish alignments are Palladium's answer to the Neutral alignments of D&D, representing characters who have strong drives to go out and be protagonists, but who aren't really good or evil. They're the wildcards, driven by what makes sense to them. Interestingly, neither of them conflates to the Lawful Neutral alignment, but instead represent more different interpretations of Chaotic Neutral, when compared to their D&D counterparts.

'''Unprincipled:''' These characters straddle the borders between Selfish and Good; they're ''fundamentally'' decent people at their cores, but they prioritize their personal goals, desires and feelings. That core decency generally keeps them from being ''too'' awful, but they are still far more morally ambiguous than a Scrupulous character and they tend to have both a fundamental distrust of authority and a dislike of self-confining laws and/or self-discipline. Ironically, despite the alignment's name, they tend to have too many principles to be truly Evil. An Unprincipled character will probably:
::1. Keep his word of honor.
::2. Lie and cheat if necessary (especially to those of Anarchist and evil alignments).
::3. Not kill an unarmed foe (but will take advantage of one).
::4. Never harm an innocent.
::5. Not use torture unless absolutely necessary.
::6. Never kill for pleasure; will attempt to bring the villain to justice alive and ruin him rather than simply kill him.
::7. Usually help those in need.
::8. Rarely attempt to work within the law.
::9. Blatantly break the law to achieve his (usually good-intentioned) goals.
::10. Dislike and distrust authority, the law and bureaucracy. Feels they have been corrupted and abused.
::11. Work with groups, especially if it serves his needs, is profitable, and/or he is in the limelight.
::12. Take “dirty” money.
::13. Never betray a friend.
::14. Have a high regard for life and freedom.

'''Anarchist:''' This is the definitive Selfish alignment - "Selfish Selfish", as it were. These characters care only for one thing: themselves, and their gratification. They do still believe that life has meaning, keeping them out of the Evil alignments, but ''their'' life is the most meaningful and important of all, in their mindsets. These are [[mercenary]] type characters; they'll work with anyone and do just about anything if it suits their needs or serves their goals. Power, glory, and wealth tend to be the driving motivations of an Anarchist character's life. Common traits of an Anarchist alignment:
::1. Keep his word, but only if it suits or pleases him.
::2. Lie and cheat if he feels it necessary.
::3. Not be likely to kill an unarmed foe, but certainly will knock out, attack or beat up one.
::4. Never kill an innocent, although his rash or self-serving actions may injure or kill bystanders by accident.
::5. Use torture to extract information, but is not likely to do so for pleasure.
::6. Seldom kill for pleasure.
::7. Not be likely to help someone without some ulterior motive (even if it’s only to show off).
::8. Rarely work within the law unless it serves his purpose.
::9. Constantly break the law to achieve his goals.
::10. Have little respect for authority, the law, or self-discipline.
::11. Not work well within groups; tends to do as he pleases, despite orders to the contrary.
::12. Take “dirty” money without hesitation.
::13. Possibly betray a friend. Sorry, pal.

===Palladium Evil===
One major difference between Palladium and [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] is that it never shied away from the possibility of Evil PCs and was always openly supportive - but every corebook invariably starts its description of the Evil alignments with a mini-essay that boils down to "don't use your character's alignment as an excuse to be [[That Guy]], and if you ''do'', then you deserve whatever your party does to your character or to you in response".

'''Miscreant:''' The darker counterpart to the Anarchist, this is the "Selfish Evil" alignment. Like an Anarchist, a Miscreant typically wants power, glory, wealth, prestige, anything that makes their life more comfortable - the difference is that they won't hesitate to lie, swindle, cheat, steal and kill to get it. Evil isn't usually a goal in and of itself, but they won't hesitate to perform the foulest acts if it serves a purpose (or simply would make them feel good). A character of this alignment will probably:
::1. Not necessarily keep his word to anyone.
::2. Lie and cheat indiscriminately (good, evil, selfish).
::3. Kill an unarmed foe as readily as he would a potential threat or competition.
::4. Use or harm an innocent.
::5. Use torture for extracting information and pleasure.
::6. Possibly kill for sheer pleasure.
::7. Feel no compulsion to help without some sort of tangible reward for him.
::8. Have no deference to the law, but will work within the law if he must.
::9. Blatantly break the law for his own goals and pleasure.
::10. Dislike and distrust authority and the law.
::11. Work with others if it will help him attain his personal goals.
::12. Take “dirty” money, stolen goods, and illegal items (as well as steal valuables for himself whenever the opportunity arises).
::13. Betray a friend if it serves his needs.
::14. Have no respect or concern for the lives or welfare of others.

'''Aberrant:''' We're all familiar with the archetype of the "Honorable Villain" or the "Reputable Rogue". That's this guy; they'll do evil shit, sure, but they believe strongly in a code of ethics... just one that means something to ''them'', not something arbitrarily decided upon by supposed authorities. Loyalty and keeping one's word tend to be the defining values of an Aberrant character; nothing pisses them off so much as treachery, and they'll express that disgust with sadistic thoroughness if provoked. It's this willingness to disregard conventional standards of mercy and ethical behavior that makes them Evil, and, ironically, they tend to get on better with Principled, Scrupulous and Unprincipled characters - if anything, they tend to hate Diabolic characters more than they hate good guys! Typical traits of an Aberrant include:
::1. Always keep his word of honor (at least to those he deems worthy of it).
::2. Lie and cheat to those not worthy of his respect; good, selfish or evil.
::3. May or may not kill an unarmed foe.
::4. Never kill an innocent, particularly a child, but may harm, harass or kidnap.
::5. Never torture for pleasure, but will use it to extract information and intimidate others.
::6. Never kill for pleasure, will always have a reason.
::7. Possibly help someone in need.
::8. Rarely attempt to work within the law.
::9. Break the law without hesitation.
::10. Have no use for the law or bureaucracy, but respects honor, self-discipline and the “concept” of laws and order.
::11. Work with others to attain his goals.
::12. Usually take “dirty” money, although his twisted code of ethics may prevent him from doing so in some instances.
::13. Never betray a friend. Never.

'''Diabolic:''' This is, from the presentation, clearly intended to be the Evilest of the Evil alignments. Diabolic characters are your 80s cartoon supervillain characters... if 80s cartoons could have R-ratings. Despicable and ruthless, Diabolic characters are largely defined as the characters from whom evil ''is'' the goal, rather than merely a means to reach that goal. A Miscreant [[dragon]] might eat a random human peasant because she was hungry, the peasant was nobody important, and the peasant was too weak to stop her. A Diabolic dragon, on the other hand, would probably ''prefer'' to eat sapient creatures because [[vore|they find their death screams sexually arousing or something]]. Likely traits of a Diabolic character:
::1. Rarely keep his word, and has no honor.
::2. Lie to and cheat anyone.
::3. Most certainly attack and kill an unarmed foe.
::4. Hurt and kill an innocent without a second thought and for pleasure.
::5. Use torture for pleasure and information, regularly.
::6. Kill for sheer pleasure.
::7. Be likely to help someone only on a whim (or to set them up for some evil deed later).
::8. Rarely attempt to work within the law.
::9. Blatantly break the law and mock authority.
::10. Despise honor, authority and self-discipline. Views them as weaknesses.
::11. Not work well within a group; constantly disregarding orders and vying for power/command.
::12. Always take “dirty” money, drugs, stolen goods, etc., as well as steal from others.
::13. Betray a friend without hesitation; after all, you can always find new friends.
::14. Associate mostly with other evil alignments