Editing Alignment (section)

== The iconic D&D alignments (and why your party should kill them) ==
[[File:Alignment Demotivational.jpg|thumb|right|350px]]The title of the section alone should be a giant neon sign to take its contents with a shaker full of salt grains (or a vat of [[skub]], we're not picky).

=== Lawful Good ===
{{Topquote|Where men gather, a bustle of chaos ensues. I would save them all if I could|Keldorn Firecam}}
Truth, justice, apple pie, and curbstomping.  Based on a combination of honor and compassion, they believe that law should be used to further the public good, compassion for others beside oneself is required, that order is separate from goodness but a vital part of it and that no one is above the law including themselves so they practice what they preach.  And sometimes they see [[Powder Keg of Justice|large displays of violence are necessary to protect what its good/defeat what is evil, and act accordingly]].

On the downside, they tend to cause conflict when party members take actions that are less moral or more chaotic ("You are not doing good, then you must be doing evil!  Taste my blade, evildoer!").  As a result, they can slip into, or get get conflated with, [[Lawful Stupid]] due to their rigid morality codes.  While Lawful Stupid is a potential pitfall for any lawful characters, Lawful Good gets tarred with this brush the most as the other Lawful alignments get written off as evil and treated accordingly when conflict arises.  The difference between Lawful Good and Lawful Stupid is Lawful Good can see the bigger picture and be intelligent. 

Despite popular stereotypes, Lawful Good can be reasoned with if the party does something against the law, depending on the personality and which code they follow.  Or if they're a threat to the party, have the rogue engineer an "accident" for them, [[Dwarf Fortress]] style.

Example(s): A textbook Paladin who combats evil wherever they see it, to uphold their religion's core beliefs.

Iconic Character(s): The Man of Steel himself, [[Superman]]

Expected Personality: A bold and brave good guy at best.  Chief of the Fun Police at worst.

=== Neutral Good ===
{{Topquote|I don't care if it is legal; it's wrong|Ava Fontaine, ''Lord of War''}}
The quintessential "nice guy". Unlike the Lawful Good types, Neutral Good types draw their morality from simply being a good person, not because a book or the law told them to. Its vague, and usually boils down to trying to do whatever helps the most people, ignoring but not acting against traditions and laws. They differ from Chaotic Good in that they don't go out of their way to shake things up or "stick it to the man." Perhaps the simplest form of good, as it doesn't have as many complications as Chaotic or Lawful variants... except when you have Variant 1 (good actions no matter the consequences) [[Stupid Good]] who will try to <s>negotiate</s> ''talk things out'' with the big bad (let them do it, but be sure to stay out of the blast radius).  Given how much debate around what constitutes "good", especially without going to the "Lawful" or "Chaotic" side, this is also the hardest alliance to maintain.

Example(s): A peace-loving cleric who is against the mere thought of violence, or a wandering adventurer who visits small towns and helps with various problems.

Iconic Character(s): A certain Friendly Neighborhood [[Spider-Man]]

Expected Personality: [[This Guy|An easy-going nice guy]], a friendly child, or an all-loving cleric.  At worst they're a compassionate but indecisive fence-sitter.

=== Chaotic Good ===
{{Topquote|A vigilante is just a man lost in the scramble for his own gratification. He can be destroyed, or locked up. But if you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal, and if they can't stop you, then you become something else entirely.|Ra's Al Ghul}}

{{Topquote|I'm dishonest, and a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly, it's the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never predict when they're going to do something incredibly stupid.|Jack Sparrow}}
Essentially adopting the credo of: "If you want peace, prepare for war", they will do good deeds and actions using rather unorthodox methods. Though this alignment can respect the law, they mostly break in it efforts to protect people, since to them the "Good" comes before the "Law". This tends to have [[skub|mixed results]]. Sure, that cop beat his wife or took drug money… and maybe that bank was run by the mafia. But the fact remains he broke rules - he broke them for good reasons, but he broke them. His well-intentioned extremism is going to get you in deep shit with the man, so be sure to betray him to the establishment at first opportunity. For an apt summary, think Robin Hood. Beware of variant 2 (good consquences no matter the actions) [[Stupid Good]].

A variation that also falls under this category is the "thief with a heart of gold" - people like Han Solo who were thrust into a life of crime by circumstance and generally aren't above harming people, but have kept their moral compass intact and will, for example, outright refuse to steal a valuable artifact if they see that its value to its owner far exceeds its material worth (think of a precious silver locket that holds a picture of a deceased relative, for example) or harm people that are vulnerable or defenseless. Same goes for people that like to boast about their badness, but actually are big softies at heart that will go out of their way to protect their friends, even if that runs against their self-image.

Example(s): A freedom fighter, combating an oppressive regime to free their people or a dashing rogue who feeds the poor from the money he stole. 

Iconic Character(s): [[Batman|The Goddam Batman]], Han Solo, Captain Jack Sparrow

Expected Personality: A hotblooded asshole with a barely functioning moral compass, or a merciless vigilante.

=== Lawful Neutral ===
{{Topquote|Justice is not blind, for I am her eyes|Vhailor ''Planescape Torment''}}

Think Paladins without the morality. Lawful Neutral characters are essentially the law-made-manifest. They uncompromisingly enforce the law down to the letter and do not give any unofficial leeway regardless of the circumstances. Stole some food to feed your starving family? One year, isocubes. Stole a car to save the lives of hundreds? '''Five years.''' Robbed the bank to buy a cure for your dying sister? '''TWENTY YEARS!''' And code thirty six thirteen, the first degree murder of a street judge...  Death.  Court's adjourned.

If they aren't actively enforcing the law, they are instead following it to the letter and will insist to other people to do the same. The reasoning varies, but it usually boils down to them respecting and upholding order, which the law represents. Upholding order isn't always simple or easy, sometimes you have to make the hard call and have morality take a back seat a few times for the bigger picture (what the "bigger picture" actually is will vary from character from character of course).

At best they're obstructive bureaucrats who will get through almost anything by ruthlessly exploiting every legal avenue and loophole they can find (They probably legally ruined a few lives along the way, but the law's the law, not their problem.). At worst they're insufferable [[Rules Lawyer]]s given the license of roleplay, and will bitch even more about the rules than the lawful goods. They're going to turn on you the second you jaywalk across the street to stop a mugger, so as soon as you get out of town leave them in a shallow grave. Beware even harder of [[Lawful Stupid]].

That being said there are settings where they're justified.  Judge Dredd, the Adeptus Arbites, ... Chicago on a weekend... Whatever it may say about human nature, it's pretty easy to worldbuild a scenario where hardnosed lawgivers are literally the only thing keeping a city from resembling [[Commorragh]]. On non-grimdark settings though they could end up being the actual villains of the story in the absence of an outright BBEG

Another, also somewhat common, archetype are literal machines or inhuman aliens who are instead ruled by cold logic and numbers, and are downright unable to think in terms of morality and emotions, or even comprehend them, because it is just not part of their nature, and are only ever able to make decisions based on what's a more efficient use of available resources. You'll rarely be able to reason with these, so might as well whack'em and toss their metal bodies into a rubbish pile

Example(s): An uncompromising judge who dispenses justice as their codex demands, for better or worse.   The [[Modron|Modrons]] from Planescape for the "unfeeling machines" archetype.

Iconic Character(s): Good old [[Judge Dredd]]. Or Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory when he isn't scheming (Lawful Evil) or being Lawful Good to his friends. 

Expected Personality: The first half of the neutral jerkass duo, who wants to stop people from having fun.

=== True Neutral ===
Comes in three varieties: "Dedicated to Balance" True Neutral, "Can't be Bothered to Care" True Neutral, and "amoral animal" True Neutral (AKA 5e Unaligned). 


{{Topquote|So you remove excess of both good and evil? How can you tell which is which?|Yoshimo}}
The "Dedicated to Balance" types are types who are not concerned about the morality of their choices, but rather how it will affect the status quo (although what that status quo is, is dependent on the character in question, and considering the cosmology of many settings the status quo is not something good). This means that a true neutral character may allow things like war, suffering, or disasters to continue, if it ensures that the balance of power is maintained. They are not necessarily malevolent in theory, as they see their actions as a completely necessary act for the greater good that would benefit everyone in the long run (paradoxically defeating the purpose of their supposed moral neutrality) - but then again they're insufferable dickbags who sees the entire universe as one big chequebook to even out, who will sell you out in a heartbeat if it meant maintaining the status quo, and just how would you balance out a place that has an excess of good? [[Derp|By committing evil acts of course!]] In actuality, these fucks are just Neutral Evil in disguise and [[BLAM|should be treated accordingly.]]


{{Topquote|Good, bad...I'm the guy with the gun.|Ash Williams}}
"Don't Care" types are either extremely uninspired roleplayers, NPC villagers, or [[Bear Lore|bears]]. However, they'll usually do what seems like a good idea at the time. This means you should kill them, because chances are they're reading this at the same time as you, and will try to kill you preemptively. 


{{Topquote|Nature is what she is, persistent and amoral|Stephen Jay Gould}}
The "amoral animal" types are those whose actions lack any type of moral motivation behind them, and instead act upon their own pre-programmed instincts like how an animal in the wild would. Typically reserved for non-sapient enemy NPCs (and gods forbid you actually play as one), these types do what they do, because its just their nature.

They don't really see anything as good or evil nor rationalize that to any extent, they just do it for their own survival. (Murdered a man for food? Its just prey like that goat I slaughtered earlier, only less hairy. Me and my brood have to eat to survive, don'tcha know?) The main distinction between those and the "don't care" True Neutrals is the fact that they genuinely lack the capacity to normalize or rationalize in any direction, rather than refusing to acknowledge their ability to.

Overall, show them the business end of your weapon as soon as the opportunity presents itself. Beware of both variant 1 (passive/don't care) and variant 2 (active/cosmic checkbook fanatic) [[Stupid Neutral]]. Given the many [[Derp|Derpy]] problems (roleplaying-wise and setting-wise) and [[RAGE|implications]] that arise from the True Neutral Alignment itself, it is [[Squat|generally for the best to remove it from your system/setting.]] That being said, you can have fun with a character whose motivations are "I don't care, but I keep my stuff in the world so I'll fight I guess." but it takes a good player to do it.

Example(s): "Amoral"<small>(read:evil)</small> druids for the first, filler NPCs and/or civilians for the second, and a literal wild animal for the third.

Iconic Character(s):  Mordekainen for the cosmic checklister variety, Spawn for the Don't Care type, Galactus for a rare "amoral animal" type that isn't an actual animal.

Expected Personality: The most bland and uninteresting person you can meet, a really weird sociopath, or a literal animal.

=== Chaotic Neutral ===

{{Topquote|Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me|Rage Against the Machine}}

The actual alignment of most Gamers, the original interpretation was the agent of chaos. Characters of this alignment were often random and completely inconsistent as long as chaos was achieved. Anarchistic and individualistic, AD&D 2e notes that they are extremely difficult to deal with due to their unreliable nature. Abandoned 3.X onwards when everyone realized no-one could ever play this alignment longer than 5 minutes before suffering a forced change for the sake of adventure. That is, of course, if the character wasn't killed thanks to AD&D's high character mortality rate.

The current interpretation of this is a perfectly amoral and self serving character. One who isn't necessarily evil, as they don't actively plot to screw people for some higher cause (it just so happens they need to, given the circumstances), but instead believe in maintaining their own self interest (or cause) above all others. As far as they're concerned, they gotta watch out for numero uno and everyone else is just a tool and stepping stone to keep numero uno alive.

The player interpretation of this is "whatever the fuck I want, whenever the fuck I want." [[The Henderson Scale of Plot Derailment|Usually used directly ''after'' the DM bans evil alignments and directly ''before'' the DM ragequits.]] They're alright to have ''so long as your goals align with each other'', but as soon as that changes, it's highly recommended you introduce them to the business end of your weapon and throw their corpse in a ditch.

Also the alignment of 13 year old [[edgelord]] characters with KEWL powers if they aren't Neutral/Chaotic/Stupid Evil, because the rebellious asshole who doesn't play by the rules is totally kewl. Beware of [[Chaotic Stupid]].

Example(s): A lone, thrill-seeking rogue fighting for his own gains and enjoyment.

Iconic Character(s): A Merc with a Mouth that doesn't shut up - [[Deadpool]], Tyler Durden

Expected Personality: The other half of the neutral jerkass duo, this time having fun at the expense of everyone else.

=== Lawful Evil ===

Two types, The Corrupt Tyrant and The Honorable Villain(tm) (aka the Bipolar Dick)

{{Topquote|Our strategy is to exploit the value in our huge and extensive (nearly 40 years) library of IP across multiple markets globally and in multiple categories for both direct income and increased brand awareness and engagement.|Games Workshop 2021 Financial Report}}

For type 1: You have your Fascists, Stalinists, Social Darwinists, contract killers, organized crime, corrupt officials, corporate/business sharks and anybody else who can be reliably and systematically counted on to be a [[Eldrad|dick]]. In real world terms, Lawful Evil would be corrupt politicians, [[Games Workshop|ridiculously wealthy plutocrats who play the system in obviously self serving ways]], and/or [[Loren L Coleman|high-functioning sociopaths]] (ones who are good at hiding their evil and selfish tendencies).  Most do it in a socially acceptable manner that others might applaud as clever tricks; sometimes you might never even know a person is Lawful Evil, since they usually do their utmost to appear integrated in societies. The endgame is almost always multidimensional domination, so be sure to kill them before they get ''too'' powerful. Alternatively, kill them before they get the chance to screw you over/enslave you/bind you to some contract that will suck for you.


{{Topquote|When your enemies defy you, you must serve them steel and fire. When they go to their knees, however, you must help them back to their feet. Elsewise no man will ever bend the knee to you.|[[A Song of Ice and Fire|Tywin Lannister]]}}
For type 2: Think of a ruthless warrior that nonetheless holds himself up to some sort of code; they might despise weakness and will show no hesitation at slaughtering innocents, burning villages, etc., but will sometimes let those innocents arm themselves first, as they consider killing an unarmed opponent "dishonorable". While they might care little for virtues such as mercy and compassion, they still take giving their word very seriously, and once they've been forced to make a promise you can usually count on them keeping it. However, as soon as the innocent picks up that sword, their opponent shows cowardice, or they've fullfilled their word, they’ll show no pity or hesitation and immediately resume slaughtering. Usually they are dedicated to some cause higher than themselves, and often that cause is serving the type 1 Lawful Evil villain; just as often they are also the type of disgruntled servant that will turn on said villain once they've developed some sort of respect for the hero's strength and/or realize that their boss is a dick with [https://pics.me.me/you-have-no-honor-like-a-woman-no-rrrip-your-21799641.png no honor.] There's a 50/50 chance of them either switching teams or taking the BBEG's spot for themselves, and they tend to do a better job at it. Kill them as soon as you can because in either case you'll have to put up with a cliche redemption arc or you'll have to deal with a more dangerous bad guy leading the opposing team later on. 

Type 2s tend to be more prone to [[Lawful Stupid]]. Both types can borrow elements from the other to make for a more complex character such as a Type 1 who behaves Type 2 because they believe that kind of behaviour better serves them personally or a Type 2 who behaves Type 1 because they think selfish behaviour is what they must do, probably because their culture, religion, philoshopy or simple life circumstances dictate so. 

Example(s): Type 1: A corrupt Baron with an eye for the throne. Type 2: A dark knight in the service of an evil god. Type 1 borrowing from Type 2: A Barbarian Chieftain who wishes to keep his authority and not be labeled a tyrant while doing so. Type 2 borrowing from Type 1: An orphan who did what they had to survive and would  have ended up a good man if they had a better upbringing.

Iconic Character(s): Lex Luthor for Type 1, Magneto for Type 2, Doctor Doom for type 1>type 2 mix, Darth Vader for type 2>type 1 mix

Expected Personality: A smart man with legitimate grievances against the powers that be, or a smart asshole.

=== Neutral Evil ===

{{Topquote|I think my mask of sanity is about to slip.|Patrick Bateman, American Psycho}}

The asshole alignment. <strike>Follows</strike> ''hides behind'' the law as long as it helps them, then breaks it when it doesn't. Ingratiates themselves to people, before betraying them. Does good deeds, until they cease to elevate them. Social acceptance never really comes into it with these guys. There's some variety on how willing they are to act on their evil impulses, on one hand you can have someone that slits people's throats and purses for a living but on the other you can actually have a NE individual that goes through his entire life without directly killing someone, not because they haven't thought about it, but because they know the circumstances they find themselves in make getting away with murder flawlessly more trouble than it is worth. The latter are also the reason why Paladins can't just go around using their "detect evil" ability and throwing everyone that tests positive into jail, not everyone who has the potential to be a murderer will do it (in fact, most won’t, they'll just be garden variety assholes instead).

If he's being an insufferable prick you should probably just kill him, nobody will question you. If he's generally acting like a good guy you should definitely just kill him, ''he's up to [[Just as planned|something]]''. Beware of [[Stupid Evil]] if they are of the more impulsive variant or are arrogantly confident on the current situation.

Example(s): A greedy merchant that would rather let someone die on his doorstep than give away his coin for the more restrained version, a serial killer putting on a facade to continue his deeds for the more unhinged one and a lowlife thug who doesn't have any moral qualms about murdering people for money but is restrained enough to know doing this is a bad idea most of the time for a more balanced variant.

Iconic Character(s): A merc with an eye that got shot up - Deathstroke, Gordon Gekko

Expected Personality: High functioning (selfishness helps prevent impulsiveness to some degree) sociopath, or narcissistic personality disorder when not currently in a rage.

=== Chaotic Evil ===


{{Topquote|Let their blood RAIN FROM THE '''SKY'''!!!|Jeremy Irons, Dungeons & Dragons (2000)}}

A psychopath who's evil for the sake of being evil. There's no redeeming/remotely sane factor why they're Satan-incarnate — someone didn't betray them, no-one is threatening survival, not to set things right in their own misguided way; they only care about themselves and relish hurting others. They will murder people for kicks, rape and torture people to get their willies on, and hates everyone else, just because they were there. Some people just want to watch the world burn; those are Chaotic Evil people.

Always on a feud against society and will piss on a book of law just because he likes it, and fuck you, and fuck your law too, and I’ll eat your babies. This alignment has little-to-no depth at all and is very dangerous to keep around, its only real purpose is to make a quick 2D villain for your party to murder without any qualms, or a fun psycho-type character in a non-serious game. It is highly recommended you give them a good stomping and throw their corpse off the ramparts as soon as possible, because they will be trouble the moment their attention shifts to you. If you start out your party with one, you kinda deserve it, once the inevitable happens. 

It should be mentioned however that being Chaotic Evil has nothing to do with being a fucking idiot (though many are very susceptible to falling into one of the "Stupid" alignments as is mentioned below), they might have this constant urge to brutalize everyone in the room but as long as the room has armed guards at the ready or the people there are otherwise useful for the CE character's schemes they'll play along, be ready for them coming back and painting said room red with blood as soon as any of that changes though.

Beware of [[Stupid Evil]] or worse, someone who ''alternates'' between [[Chaotic Stupid]] and [[Stupid Evil]].

Example(s): An insane doomsday cultist, who fights and kills just for the sake of fighting and killing. A bloodthirsty warlord indiscriminately spilling the blood of whomever is unlucky enough to be in their visual range, just to constantly feel the thrill of taking people's lives.  The disfavored creations of gods (the trope of the fallen favored son going emo dates back to antiquity).

Iconic Character(s): The Joker, Failbadon, Freddy Kruger, The Biblical Satan...there's a million of these

Expected Personality: Low functioning (impulsiveness is completely unchained) sociopath, or NPD whilst triggered into a narcissistic rage.  "For the Evulz!" in full effect.