Alignment

by Pleiades LLC

Adapted from Alignment and Alignment

Players playing in mixed alignment groups can come into conflict as differences in character alignment become evident. For example, Rogue-Paladin interaction can often cause a bit of trouble as a character class might be restricted to acting within the allowances of a particular alignment. It can become a concern between players during the game and even cause friction. The DM is responsible for tracking and adjusting a character's alignment so a DM should communicate in advance how some common game scenarios might effect a character's alignment. This way players on both sides can think about how a character might react in a scenario and anticipate ways to handle it to keep the game balanced.

The guidelines considering lies and concealment of the truth do not mean to prevent characters from using disguises or subterfuge that might be needed to gain entry into a forbidden areas or enemy encampments. A Paladin might not be the best choice to drive the wagon that is attempting to sneak into the enemy fortress but surely he could ride in the back under the hay or wear a disguise. Just be aware of the positions they could potentially get into and help avoid circumstance that might be too poignant. When you've made your intentions to oppose the villain clear it shouldn't be a problem to be smart in how you go about doing it. Use of smart tactics is encouraged.

Also, alignment is not a commodity and attention needs to be paid to a character's alignment when collecting loot and how it is collected. Contrary to specious arguments the collection of spoils of war, scavenging, or looting can affect a character's alignment. The dead do retain ownership of their possessions. It would go to those that inherit or be buried with their bodies. A landowner retains ownership of all that the land contains even for bounty that lies un-recovered in long forgotten dungeons. At the very least a tithe would be required for collecting the spoils of war and might be above and beyond any tithe requirements imposed by the character's class.

Torment is singled out from torture and I will try to make the distinction clear. It is usually clear and obvious when torture takes place but torment can be a more vague form of coercion. In outlining torment, the focus as an example might be on a situation where the character's purpose is to make an NPC dangle without knowing their fate. In this example, a particularly gruesome or unpleasant fate might await the NPC unless cooperation with the characters takes place. Think of it in relation to the principles of Miranda rights before such a distinction were ever made. It might be a false intimidation or bluff on the character's part but those actions won't sit well with certain alignments.

Don't interpret these guidelines too rigidly or literally. Those who are truly concerned about this should consider purchasing a Phylactery of Faithfulness. Infractions may be hard to enforce in a region or a character may experience no immediately observable effects in game play but alignment consequences could be accumulating. The following is provided so imagine the DM ticking off, considering, or evaluating actions related to the following.

LAWFUL GOOD characters will

1. Always keep their word.
2. Avoid lies and never conceals the truth.
3. Never attack, harm, or kill an unarmed foe.
4. Never attack, harm, or kill an innocent.
5. Never tolerate torture or torment for any reason.
6. Never kills for pleasure, possessions, or revenge.
7. Always help others in need.
8. Speak out against injustice.
9. Never let the guilty go unpunished and will always attempt to bring the villain to justice.
10. Work well in a group and respect authority figures.
11. Never betrays a friend.
12. Never break the law. This means no breaking and entering, theft, unprovoked assaults, etc.
13. Tithe at least 10% of loot to inheritors except those with evil alignments.

LAWFUL NEUTRAL characters will

1. Always keep their word.
2. Avoid lies and always reveal the truth in obedience to a law, tradition, or an authority figure.
3. Not attack, harm, or kill an unarmed foe unless law, tradition, or an authority figure requires.
4. Not attack, harm, or kill an innocent unless law, tradition, or an authority figure requires.
5. Never use torture or torment unless required by law, tradition, or an authority figure.
6. Never kills for pleasure, possessions, or revenge.
7. Will help those in need if an agreement, law, tradition, or an authority figure requires.
8. Does not recognize injustice as concept since the law is paramount.
9. Will bring the guilty to justice within the laws, traditions, or dictates of an authority figure.
10. Works well in a group and respects authority figures.
11. Never betrays a friend unless it would violate a law, tradition, or authority figure.
12. Never breaks an agreement, law, tradition, or order even when conditions are desperate.
13. Tithe 10% of loot to inheritors when within the realm bounded by the law, tradition, or authority figure.

LAWFUL EVIL characters will

1. Always keep their word.
2. Avoid lies but does not have the compassion to always reveal the truth.
3. May or may not attack, harm, or kill an unarmed foe.
4. Not kill but may attack, harm, or kidnap an innocent and behavior can vary according to local taboos, for example children or elves.
5. Never torture or torment for pleasure but lacks mercy and compassion so may torture to extract information or enforce codes of behavior.
6. Never kills for pleasure or possessions but lacks mercy and may take revenge.
7. May or may not help someone in need depending on if it furthers their own goals.
8. Lack the respect for dignity and life and can seek to take advantage of injustices.
9. Will bring the guilty to justice within the conformance of the law, tradition, or authority figure.
10. Work with others to attain goals and is willing to serve if need be but seeks to rule.
11. Never betray a friend.
12. Reluctant to break an agreement, law, tradition, or order because they depend on law and order to protect them.
13. May or may not tithe loot.

NEUTRAL GOOD characters will

1. Keep their word to any other good aligned person.
2. Can lie to and conceal the truth from people of evil alignments.
3. Never attack, harm, or kill an unarmed foe.
4. Never attack, harm, or kill an innocent.
5. Never tolerate torture but may torment evil alignments to extract information or enforce codes of behavior.
6. Never kill for pleasure or possessions but may take revenge against evil alignments.
7. Always helps others in need.
8. Seek to prevent injustices.
9. Never let the guilty go unpunished and will attempt to bring about restitution.
10. Work well in a group but is not beholden to authority figures.
11. Never betray a friend.
12. Have no deference to law and can occasionally bend and break the law when deemed necessary.
13. Tithe at least 10% of loot to an inheritor with a good alignment.

TRUE NEUTRAL characters will

1. May keep their word but lack the conviction necessary for it to be reliable.
2. May or may not lie or conceal the truth but does so without prejudice or compulsion for either side.
3. May or may not attack, or kill an unarmed foe.
4. Never attack, harm, or kill an innocent.
5. May or may not tolerate torture or torment but never for pleasure.
6. Never kill for pleasure or possessions but may for revenge.
7. Often helps others in need and does so without prejudice because a good neighbor is better than an evil one.
8. Often lack the conviction to correct injustices.
9. Not biased in assigning guilt and will not necessarily seek out villains.
10. Work in a group but is not always committed to the group�s ultimate goals and hence to attaining them.
11. Never intentionally betray a friend.
12. Has no deference to law, traditions, or authority figures and breaks the law when necessary.
13. May or may not tithe loot regardless of other claims.

NEUTRAL EVIL characters will

1. Not necessarily keep their word to anyone.
2. Lie, cheat, and deceive anyone.
3. Most definitely attack, harm, or kill unarmed foes.
4. Use, harm, kidnap, attack, and kill an innocent.
5. Use torture or torment for sheer pleasure.
6. May kill for sheer pleasure, possessions, or revenge.
7. Feels no compulsion to help those in need without receiving some sort of tangible reward.
8. Seeks to take advantage of injustices.
9. Will let the guilty go unpunished and does not have the compassion to bring the guilty to justice.
10. Work with others only for as long as it helps them attain their individual goals.
11. Will betray a friend if it serves their needs and even kill potential threats or competitors.
12. Have no deference to laws or authority, but will work within the law if doing so yields an advantage.
13. Usually loots regardless of other claims.

CHAOTIC GOOD characters will

1. Keep their word to any other good aligned persons.
2. Lie only to people of neutral and evil alignments.
3. Never attack, harm, or kill an unarmed foe.
4. Never harm or provoke an innocent.
5. Never tolerate torture for any reason but may torment evil alignments to extract information or enforce codes of behavior.
6. Never kill for pleasure, possessions, or revenge.
7. Always help others in need.
8. Speaks out against injustice.
9. Never let the guilty go unpunished and will always bring about restitution.
10. Works with groups but distrusts authority and dislikes confining laws and bureaucracy.
11. Never betrays a friend.
12. Attempt to work within the law but bends or breaks laws only to the extent to bring about the greater good. Using strong-arm tactics, harassment, breaking and entering, theft, etc is only justified when it brings about a greater good.
13. Tithe at least 10% of loot to inheritors except those with evil alignments.

CHAOTIC NEUTRAL characters will

Chaotic neutral characters are so unpredictable that they can essentially bring on aspects of any alignment. For playing it is easiest to choose a particular alignment for the game session or points from various ones and noting it on a piece of paper.

CHAOTIC EVIL characters will

1. Rarely keep their word.
2. Lie or cheat anyone and has no qualms about misleading and concealing the truth.
3. Most certainly attack, harm, and kill an unarmed foe.
4. Use, hurt, kidnap, attack, and kill an innocent for selfish ends and even personal pleasure.
5. Use torture or torment for pleasure.
6. Kill for sheer pleasure, possessions, or revenge.
7. Likely to help someone in need only to kill or rob them.
8. Greed, hatred, lust for destruction, and desire for chaos and havoc often lead them create injustices that attacks the natural order of life.
9. Will let the guilty go unpunished and rejects guilt, justice, law, tradition, and authority figures.
10. Does not work well within a group and can only be made to work together through use of force.
11. Betrays friends but associates mostly with other evil alignments.
12. Break the law on a whim.
13. Always loots regardless of other claims.

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