A creature’s general moral and philosophical attitudes are represented by its alignment: lawful good, neutral good, chaotic good, lawful neutral, neutral, chaotic neutral, lawful evil, neutral evil, or chaotic evil.

Alignment is a tool for developing your character’s identity. It is not a straitjacket for restricting your character. Each alignment represents a broad range of personal moralities and philosophies, so two characters of the same alignment can still be quite different from each other. In addition, few people are completely consistent.

GOOD VS. EVIL

Good characters and creatures protect innocent life. Evil characters and creatures debase or destroy innocent life, whether for fun or profit.

“Good” implies altruism, respect for life, and a concern for the dignity of sentient beings. Good characters make personal sacrifices to help others.

“Evil” implies hurting, oppressing, and killing others. Some evil creatures simply have no compassion for others and kill without qualms if doing so is convenient. Others actively pursue evil, killing for sport or out of duty to some evil deity or master.

People who are neutral with respect to good and evil have compunctions against killing the innocent but lack the commitment to make sacrifices to protect or help others. Neutral people are committed to others by personal relationships.

Being good or evil can be a conscious choice. For most people, though, being good or evil is an attitude that one recognizes but does not choose. Being neutral on the good–evil axis usually represents a lack of commitment one way or the other, but for some it represents a positive commitment to a balanced view. While acknowledging that good and evil are objective states, not just opinions, these folk maintain that a balance between the two is the proper place for people, or at least for them.

Animals and other creatures incapable of moral action are neutral rather than good or evil. Even deadly vipers and tigers that eat people are neutral because they lack the capacity for morally right or wrong behavior.

LAW VS. CHAOS

Lawful characters tell the truth, keep their word, respect authority, honor tradition, and judge those who fall short of their duties.

Chaotic characters follow their consciences, resent being told what to do, favor new ideas over tradition, and do what they promise if they feel like it.

“Law” implies honor, trustworthiness, obedience to authority, and reliability. On the downside, lawfulness can include close-mindedness, reactionary adherence to tradition, captiousness, and a lack of adaptability. Those who consciously promote lawfulness say that only lawful behavior creates a society in which people can depend on each other and make the right decisions in full confidence that others will act as they should.

“Chaos” implies freedom, adaptability, and flexibility. On the downside, chaos can include recklessness, resentment toward legitimate authority, arbitrary actions, and irresponsibility. Those who promote chaotic behavior say that only unfettered personal freedom allows people to express themselves fully and lets society benefit from the potential that its individuals have within them.

Someone who is neutral with respect to law and chaos has a normal respect for authority and feels neither a compulsion to obey nor a compulsion to rebel. She is honest but can be tempted into lying or deceiving others.

Devotion to law or chaos may be a conscious choice, but more often it is a personality trait that is recognized rather than being chosen. Neutrality on the lawful–chaotic axis is usually simply a middle state, a state of not feeling compelled toward one side or the other. Some few such neutrals, however, espouse neutrality as superior to law or chaos, regarding each as an extreme with its own blind spots and drawbacks.

Animals and other creatures incapable of moral action are neutral. Dogs may be obedient and cats free-spirited, but they do not have the philosophical capacity to be truly lawful or chaotic.

THE NINE ALIGNMENTS

Nine distinct alignments define all the possible combinations of the lawful–chaotic axis with the good–evil axis. Each alignment description below depicts a typical character of that alignment. Remember that individuals vary from this norm, and that a given character may act more or less in accord with his or her alignment from day to day. Use these descriptions as guidelines, not as scripts.

The first six alignments, lawful good through chaotic neutral, are the standard alignments for player characters. The three evil alignments are for creatures and villains.

Lawful Good 

The Path of Righteousness: Conformity, Tradition and Benevolence

A lawful good character acts as a good person is expected or required to act. She combines a commitment to oppose evil with the discipline to fight relentlessly. She tells the truth, keeps her word, helps those in need, and speaks out against injustice. A lawful good character hates to see the guilty go unpunished. She believes in the virtues of chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, patience, kindness, and humility.

• Restraint of actions, inclinations, and impulses likely to upset or harm others and violate social expectations or norms.
• Being obedient, having self-discipline, being polite, honoring parents and elders.
• Respect, commitment, and acceptance of the customs and ideas that traditional culture or religion provide the self.
• Respecting tradition, being devout, accepting one’s own portion in life, being humble, and taking life in moderation.
• Preserving and enhancing the welfare of those with whom one is in frequent personal contact (the “in-group”).
• Being helpful, responsible, forgiving, honest, loyal, and having mature love for others and true friendships.

Lawful good is the ideal alignment because it combines honour and compassion.

Neutral Good

The Path of Mercy: Benevolence and Universalism. 

A neutral good character does the best that a good person can do. He is devoted to helping others. He works with kings and magistrates but does not feel beholden to them.

• Preserving and enhancing the welfare of those with whom one is in frequent personal contact (the “in-group”).
• Being helpful, responsible, forgiving, honest loyal, and having mature love for others and true friendships.
• Understanding, appreciation, tolerance, and protection for the welfare of all people and for nature.
• Advancing equality, being one with nature, having wisdom, filling the world with beauty.
• Advancing social justice, being broad-minded, protecting the environment, and see the world at peace. 

Neutral good is the ideal alignment because it means doing what is good without bias for or against order.

Chaotic Good

The Path of Liberty: Universalism and Self-Direction. 

A chaotic good character acts as his conscience directs him with little regard for what others expect of him. He makes his own way, but he’s kind and benevolent. He believes in goodness and right but has little use for laws and regulations. He hates it when people try to intimidate others and tell them what to do. He follows his own moral compass, which, although good, may not agree with that of society.

• Understanding, appreciation, tolerance, and protection for the welfare of all people and for nature.
• Advancing equality, being one with nature, having wisdom, filling the world with beauty.
• Advancing social justice, being broad-minded, protecting the environment, and see the world at peace.
• Independent thought and action; choosing, creating, exploring.
• Freedom, creativity, independence, choosing one’s own goals, being curious, having self-respect.

Chaotic good is the ideal alignment because it combines a good heart with a free spirit.

Lawful Neutral

The Path of Harmony: Security, Conformity and Tradition.

A lawful neutral character acts as law, tradition, or a personal code directs her. Order and organization are paramount to her. She may believe in personal order and live by a code or standard, or she may believe in order for all and favour a strong, organized government.

• Safety, harmony, and stability of society, of relationships, and of self.
• Ensuring national security, reciprocation of favours, ensuring family security, having a sense of belonging.
• Preserving the social order, being healthy and clean. 
• Restraint of actions, inclinations, and impulses likely to upset or harm others and violate social expectations or norms.
• Being obedient, having self-discipline, being polite, honouring parents and elders.
• Respect, commitment, and acceptance of the customs and ideas that traditional culture or religion provide the self.
• Respecting tradition, being devout, accepting one’s own portion in life, being humble, and taking life in moderation. 

Lawful neutral is the ideal alignment because it means you are reliable and honourable without being a zealot.

True Neutral

The Path of Pragmatism: Versatility

A neutral character does what seems to be a good idea. She doesn’t feel strongly one way or the other when it comes to good vs. evil or law vs. chaos. Most neutral characters exhibit a lack of conviction or bias rather than a commitment to neutrality. Such a character thinks of good as better than evil—after all, she would rather have good neighbours and rulers than evil ones. Still, she’s not personally committed to upholding good in any abstract or universal way.

Some neutral characters, on the other hand, commit themselves philosophically to neutrality. They see good, evil, law, and chaos as prejudices and dangerous extremes. They advocate the middle way of neutrality as the best, most balanced road in the long run.

• Any values, whether incongruent or not, can serve as motivations for True Neutrals.
• True Neutrality can indicate no strong preference for a set of motivations (i.e., most motivations are of equal strength) or a tendency to be motivated by values that are normally incongruent (such as Benevolence and Power or Security and Self-Direction).

True Neutral is the ideal alignment because it means you act natural, in the present, without prejudice or compulsion.

Chaotic Neutral

The Path of Autonomy: Self-Direction and Stimulation.  

A chaotic neutral character follows his whims. He is an individualist first and last. He values his own liberty but doesn’t strive to protect others’ freedom. He avoids authority, resents restrictions, and challenges traditions. A chaotic neutral character does not intentionally disrupt organizations as part of a campaign of anarchy. To do so, he would have to be motivated either by good (and a desire to liberate others) or evil (and a desire to make those different from himself suffer). A chaotic neutral character may be unpredictable, but his behaviour is not totally random. He is not as likely to jump off a bridge as to cross it.

• Independent thought and action; choosing, creating, exploring.
• Freedom, creativity, independence, choosing one’s own goals, being curious, having self-respect.
• Excitement, novelty, and challenge in life.
• Having an exciting and varied life, being daring.

Chaotic neutral is the ideal alignment because it represents true freedom from both society’s rules and an outlaw’s zeal.

Lawful Evil

The Path of Dominance: Power and Security. 

A lawful evil villain methodically takes what he wants within the limits of his code of conduct without regard for whom it hurts. He cares about tradition, loyalty, and order but not about freedom, dignity, or life. He plays by the rules but without mercy or compassion. He is comfortable in a hierarchy and would like to rule, but is willing to serve. He condemns others not according to their actions but according to race, religion, homeland, or social rank. He is loath to break laws or promises.

This reluctance comes partly from his nature and partly because he depends on order to protect himself from those who oppose him on moral grounds. Some lawful evil villains have particular taboos, such as not killing in cold blood (but having underlings do it) or not letting children come to harm (if it can be helped). They imagine that these compunctions put them above unprincipled villains.

Some lawful evil people and creatures commit themselves to evil with a zeal like that of a crusader committed to good. Beyond being willing to hurt others for their own ends, they take pleasure in spreading evil as an end unto itself. They may also see doing evil as part of a duty to an evil deity or master.

Lawful evil is sometimes called “diabolical,” because devils are the epitome of lawful evil.

• Social status and prestige, control or sway over people and resources.
• Having social power, wealth, and authority, preserving one’s own public image, and having social recognition.
• Safety, harmony, and stability of society, of relationships, and of self.
• Ensuring national security, reciprocation of favours, ensuring family security, having a sense of belonging.
• Preserving the social order, being healthy and clean. 

Lawful evil is the ideal alignment because it is methodical, intentional, and frequently very successful.

Neutral Evil

The Path of Supremacy: Achievement and Power. 

A neutral evil villain does whatever she can get away with. She is out for herself, pure and simple. She sheds no tears for those she kills, whether for profit, sport, or convenience. She has no love of order and holds no illusion that following laws, traditions, or codes would make her any better or more noble. On the other hand, she doesn’t have the restless nature or love of conflict that a chaotic evil villain has.

Some neutral evil villains hold up evil as an ideal, committing evil for its own sake. Most often, such villains are devoted to evil deities or secret societies.

• Personal success through demonstrating competence according to social standards.
• Being ambitious, influential, capable, successful, intelligence, and having self-respect.
• Social status and prestige, control or sway over people and resources.
• Having social power, wealth, and authority, preserving one’s own public image, and having social recognition.

Neutral evil is the ideal alignment because it represents pure power, without mercy, deliberation, or variation.

Chaotic Evil

The Path of Luxury: Hedonism and Stimulation.

A chaotic evil character does whatever his greed, envy, gluttony, wrath, sloth, pride, or lust drives him to do. He is hot-tempered, vicious, arbitrarily violent, and unpredictable. If he is simply out for whatever he can get, he is ruthless and brutal. If he is committed to the spread of evil and chaos, he is even worse. Thankfully, his plans are haphazard, and any groups he joins or forms are poorly organized. Typically, chaotic evil people can be made to work together only by force, and their leader lasts only as long as he can thwart attempts to topple or assassinate him.

Chaotic evil is sometimes called “demonic” because demons are the epitome of chaotic evil.

• Pleasure and sensuous gratification for oneself.
• Experiencing pleasure and enjoying life.
• Going where your desires take you without thought or care for their impact on others.
• Excitement, novelty, and challenge in life.
• Having an exciting and varied life, being daring. 

Chaotic evil is the ideal alignment because it represents both the unstoppable consumption of beauty and life and disregard for the order on which the creation of beauty and life depend.

ALIGNMENT AND INTELLIGENCE

INT 7 or less: The character’s alignment is unconsidered and intuitive. They cannot give reasons for their behaviour, but they act on their natural inclinations. A neutral character of low intelligence is easily swayed by circumstance and peer pressure. A chaotic character is contrary, while a lawful one is docile and obedient. A good character is naturally sympathetic and helpful toward anyone they meet, while an evil character dislikes everyone equally.

INT 8-11: This character has at least some rational justification for their alignment tendencies. A good character may quote the golden rule or appeal to the authority of the prevailing culture. An evil character may take a “do unto others before they do it to you” attitude. A lawful character will point to the stabilizing effects of order, while a chaotic one may condemn law as a first step to slavery. A neutral character will be motivated by a simple kind of relativism (“Different strokes for different folks”). Characters of average intelligence can be persuaded from their natural inclinations only with some difficulty, force or threat often being more effective than words.

INT 12-15: A character in this category almost certainly belongs to some specific philosophical school or holds some specific religious doctrine. They will discuss their principles and attempt to apply them when an important decision arises. However, they usually have a number of uncertainties regarding the philosophy they hold and are readily persuaded to take the most sensible course of action when in doubt. A chaotic character would speak in terms of individual rights and freedom, but a lawful character would appeal to a principle such as the divine right of kings. A good character will seek the greatest good for the greatest number and will have some interest in the survival of good on the large scale, rather than just an inclination toward generosity. An evil character will see history as a pattern of force and will measure success by the injury done to opponents.

INT 16-17: A highly intelligent character will have a detailed personal philosophy, often of their own devising. Their justifications for their actions will be well reasoned and distinctive. Many of their life’s goals consist of the creative realization of this philosophy. Such characters may be quite subtle, seeking to achieve some grand design that is not obvious to others. However, some find an intellectual challenge in holding to a strict code of ethics at all times. A good character of this latter sort might go to great lengths to survive a battle without taking another’s life or shedding blood.

INT 18 or above: Such a genius character is likely a philosopher with a detailed moral system of their own devising (or at least their own unique interpretation of an existing system). Such characters endeavor to become philosopher-kings, found religions, or establish places of learning from which to put forth their ideas. They are looked upon as spokespersons for their alignments.