Post by Alex on Jan 11, 2009 12:53:37 GMT -8
Alignment is what side of good or bad your character is on.
From the most good, to the most bad it goes
Lawful good- Lawful good is known as the "Saintly" or "Crusader" alignment. A lawful good character typically acts with compassion, and always with honor and a sense of duty. A lawful good nation would consist of a well-organized government that works for the benefit of its citizens. Lawful good characters include righteous knights, paladins, and most dwarves. Lawful good creatures include the noble golden dragons.
Lawful good characters, especially paladins, may sometimes find themselves faced with the dilemma of whether to obey law or good when the two conflict - for example, upholding a sworn oath when it would lead innocents to come to harm - or conflicts between two orders, such as between their religious law and the law of the local ruler.
Neutral Good- Neutral good is known as the "Benefactor" alignment. A neutral good character is guided by his conscience and typically acts altruistically, without regard for or against Lawful precepts such as rules or tradition. A neutral good character may cooperate with lawful officials but does not feel beholden to them. A doctor that treats soldiers from both sides in a war would be considered neutral good
Chaotic Good- Chaotic good is known as the "Beatific" or "Rebel" alignment. A chaotic good character favors change for the greater good, disdains bureaucratic organizations that get in the way of social improvement, and places a high value on personal freedom. Most elves are chaotic good, as are some fey.
Lawful Netral- Lawful neutral is called the "Judge" or "Disciplined" alignment. A lawful neutral character typically believes strongly in Lawful concepts such as honor, order, rules and tradition, and often follows a personal code. A lawful neutral society would typically enforce strict laws to maintain social order, and place a high value on traditions and historical precedent. Examples of lawful neutral characters might include a soldier who always follows orders, a judge or enforcer that adheres mercilessly to the word of the law, or a disciplined monk.
Characters of this alignment are neutral with regard to good and evil. This does not mean that lawful neutral characters are amoral or immoral, or do not have a moral compass; but simply that their moral considerations come a distant second to what their code, tradition or law dictates. They typically have a strong ethical code, but it is primarily guided by their system of belief, not by a commitment to good or evil.
Neutral- Neutral alignment, also referred to as true neutral or neutral neutral, is called the "Undecided" or "Nature's" alignment. This alignment represents neutral on both axes, and tends not to feel strongly towards any alignment. A farmer whose only concern is to feed his family is of this alignment. Most animals, lacking the capacity for moral judgement, are of this alignment.
Some neutral characters, rather than feeling undecided, are committed to a balance between the alignments. They may see good, evil, law and chaos as simply prejudices and dangerous extremes.
Chaotic Neutral- Chaotic neutral is called the "Anarchist" or "Free Spirit" alignment. A character of this alignment is an individualist who follows his or her own heart, shirks rules and traditions. They typically act out of self-interest, but do not specifically enjoy seeing others suffer. Many adventurers are of this alignment.
An unusual subset of chaotic neutral is "strongly chaotic neutral", describing a character who behaves chaotically to the point of appearing insane. Characters of this type may regularly change their appearance and attitudes for the sake of change, and intentionally disrupt organizations for the sole reason of disrupting a lawful construct.
Lawful Evil- Lawful evil is referred to as the "Dominator" or "Diabolic" alignment. Characters of this alignment show a combination of desirable and undesirable traits: while they typically obey their superiors and keep their word (trustworthy), they care nothing for the rights and freedoms of other individuals. Examples of this alignment include tyrants, devils, honorable but undiscriminating mercenary types, and soldiers who follow the chain of command but enjoy killing for its own sake.
Neutral Evil- Neutral evil is called the "Malefactor" alignment. Characters of this alignment are typically selfish and have no qualms about turning on their allies-of-the-moment. They have no compunctions about harming others to get what they want, but neither will they go out of their way to cause carnage or mayhem when they see no direct benefit to it. An example would be an assassin, who has little regard for formal laws but does not needlessly kill. A villain of this alignment can be more dangerous than either lawful or chaotic evil characters, since he is neither bound by any sort of honor or tradition nor disorganized and pointlessly violent.
Chaotic Evil- Chaotic evil is referred to as the "Destroyer" or "Demonic" alignment. Characters of this alignment tend to have little respect for rules, other peoples' lives, or anything but their own selfish desires. They typically only behave themselves out of fear of punishment
Thank you, Wikipedia for explaining this better than I ever could.
If you're not sure where your Character sits in all of this, try this test to help you figure it out:www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/20001222b
There is such a thing as "Alignment drift" so don't freak out if your character isn't 100% on the mark to begin with, or if they grow out of an alignment into another over time. This stuff happens. Just add on to your character profile. Heck, they may even drift back to their original alignment.
This does not mean you can make your character do things alien to their alignment. A Lawful Evil character can not do something very, very good and then have it blamed on alignment drift; that is inconsistency and anyone pulling that will probably find it hard to find people to RP with.
From the most good, to the most bad it goes
Lawful good- Lawful good is known as the "Saintly" or "Crusader" alignment. A lawful good character typically acts with compassion, and always with honor and a sense of duty. A lawful good nation would consist of a well-organized government that works for the benefit of its citizens. Lawful good characters include righteous knights, paladins, and most dwarves. Lawful good creatures include the noble golden dragons.
Lawful good characters, especially paladins, may sometimes find themselves faced with the dilemma of whether to obey law or good when the two conflict - for example, upholding a sworn oath when it would lead innocents to come to harm - or conflicts between two orders, such as between their religious law and the law of the local ruler.
Neutral Good- Neutral good is known as the "Benefactor" alignment. A neutral good character is guided by his conscience and typically acts altruistically, without regard for or against Lawful precepts such as rules or tradition. A neutral good character may cooperate with lawful officials but does not feel beholden to them. A doctor that treats soldiers from both sides in a war would be considered neutral good
Chaotic Good- Chaotic good is known as the "Beatific" or "Rebel" alignment. A chaotic good character favors change for the greater good, disdains bureaucratic organizations that get in the way of social improvement, and places a high value on personal freedom. Most elves are chaotic good, as are some fey.
Lawful Netral- Lawful neutral is called the "Judge" or "Disciplined" alignment. A lawful neutral character typically believes strongly in Lawful concepts such as honor, order, rules and tradition, and often follows a personal code. A lawful neutral society would typically enforce strict laws to maintain social order, and place a high value on traditions and historical precedent. Examples of lawful neutral characters might include a soldier who always follows orders, a judge or enforcer that adheres mercilessly to the word of the law, or a disciplined monk.
Characters of this alignment are neutral with regard to good and evil. This does not mean that lawful neutral characters are amoral or immoral, or do not have a moral compass; but simply that their moral considerations come a distant second to what their code, tradition or law dictates. They typically have a strong ethical code, but it is primarily guided by their system of belief, not by a commitment to good or evil.
Neutral- Neutral alignment, also referred to as true neutral or neutral neutral, is called the "Undecided" or "Nature's" alignment. This alignment represents neutral on both axes, and tends not to feel strongly towards any alignment. A farmer whose only concern is to feed his family is of this alignment. Most animals, lacking the capacity for moral judgement, are of this alignment.
Some neutral characters, rather than feeling undecided, are committed to a balance between the alignments. They may see good, evil, law and chaos as simply prejudices and dangerous extremes.
Chaotic Neutral- Chaotic neutral is called the "Anarchist" or "Free Spirit" alignment. A character of this alignment is an individualist who follows his or her own heart, shirks rules and traditions. They typically act out of self-interest, but do not specifically enjoy seeing others suffer. Many adventurers are of this alignment.
An unusual subset of chaotic neutral is "strongly chaotic neutral", describing a character who behaves chaotically to the point of appearing insane. Characters of this type may regularly change their appearance and attitudes for the sake of change, and intentionally disrupt organizations for the sole reason of disrupting a lawful construct.
Lawful Evil- Lawful evil is referred to as the "Dominator" or "Diabolic" alignment. Characters of this alignment show a combination of desirable and undesirable traits: while they typically obey their superiors and keep their word (trustworthy), they care nothing for the rights and freedoms of other individuals. Examples of this alignment include tyrants, devils, honorable but undiscriminating mercenary types, and soldiers who follow the chain of command but enjoy killing for its own sake.
Neutral Evil- Neutral evil is called the "Malefactor" alignment. Characters of this alignment are typically selfish and have no qualms about turning on their allies-of-the-moment. They have no compunctions about harming others to get what they want, but neither will they go out of their way to cause carnage or mayhem when they see no direct benefit to it. An example would be an assassin, who has little regard for formal laws but does not needlessly kill. A villain of this alignment can be more dangerous than either lawful or chaotic evil characters, since he is neither bound by any sort of honor or tradition nor disorganized and pointlessly violent.
Chaotic Evil- Chaotic evil is referred to as the "Destroyer" or "Demonic" alignment. Characters of this alignment tend to have little respect for rules, other peoples' lives, or anything but their own selfish desires. They typically only behave themselves out of fear of punishment
Thank you, Wikipedia for explaining this better than I ever could.
If you're not sure where your Character sits in all of this, try this test to help you figure it out:www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/20001222b
There is such a thing as "Alignment drift" so don't freak out if your character isn't 100% on the mark to begin with, or if they grow out of an alignment into another over time. This stuff happens. Just add on to your character profile. Heck, they may even drift back to their original alignment.
This does not mean you can make your character do things alien to their alignment. A Lawful Evil character can not do something very, very good and then have it blamed on alignment drift; that is inconsistency and anyone pulling that will probably find it hard to find people to RP with.