Is Alignment Good or Evil?

In this post I will list my views on Alignment, why I think it can be useful, but mostly it will be a rant about why I think it sucks and why I don’t pay very much attention to alignment when I’m playing D&D or when I’m creating a character.

What is Good and Evil?

Morality is subjective, although there are some things that most people agree on. If you consider “Good” to mean what you personally think is right then your “Good” decisions could be deemed as “Evil” by another player at the table who has a different opinion to you.

As well as this players might not even agree on what “Good” and “Evil” means an example of a character who could be argued to have a “Good” or “Evil” alignment is
Thanos. In the Marvel films Thanos’s goal is to eradicate half of the life in the universe in order to leave a recourse rich and prosperous world for the 50% of life left behind.

Is Thanos a “Good” Character or an “Evil” character, most people would agree that killing Trillions of people in not a good thing, but Thanos’s goal is pure and he does these things for what he thinks will help others. Because he has good intentions, does that make him a “Good” or “Evil” Character?

Creating a 2D Character

Just because they have an alignment of “evil” doesn’t mean the character will always act selfishly, for example, sometimes a usually selfish character could be sympathetic to a street orphan, growing up in similar circumstances to the way they grew up. This character could do a selfless thing for this particular NPC that does not necessarily conform to their alignment.

Chaotic Stupid or Chaotic Smart?

It would be more helpful to look at Alignment as what the Characters would do in an ideal world. It is not always smart or Practical to act upon your Characters alignment in some circumstances. For example your Level 1 Choatic Good Fighter is invited to a banquet hosted by a King, Your Character may not like the way the tyrannical King treats his servants during the Banquet, but that doesn’t mean your level 1 Character will intervene at the risk of death. Similarly your chaotic evil rouge may want to steal the crown directly off of the Kings head, but that doesn’t mean that your character needs to act on that desire.

It Could Constrict Your Roleplaying

I also think that sticking too close to alignment can limit your ability to roleplay as a believable character who’s opinions can change, instead of some cartoonishly evil villain or a goody two shoes who have never made a decision that goes against there alignments. I also think that if you only allow yourself to make decisions based on your alignment, it can cause your player character to never develop or have any character arcs.

Should I Even Care About Alignment?

Although I personally think you shouldn’t pay much attention to alignment, I still think it has it’s uses. The main use for alignment is a quick summary of what your character will be like in the Game. Saying “I’m a Chaotic Good Fighter” will give the other players at the table a quick impression of your character, keeping it simple and saving time. I think evidence of alignment being used in this way is obvious when you think how many times you’ve heard people use the phrase “I was playing (Insert Character Name Here) he is a Lawful Good Fighter Or “I was playing (Insert Character Name Here)” she is a Chaotic Neutral Rogue.

I still think using your alignment as a vague preview of your characters personality is useful and I personally think that choosing your alignment after you have created your characters backstory is fun. I also enjoy the character alignment memes were people have placed famous Characters into an alignment chart, but over than that I don’t think alignment is very important.

Feel free to keep alignment in mind whilst playing your character or being the Game Master but I would also keep in mind that sticking too closely to alignment can cause your roleplaying and potentially even your fun at the table to suffer.