A New Player’s Guide To Alignment in Dungeons and Dragons (D&D)

The alignment system in Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) can be complicated for new players. Terms like Lawful Good and Chaotic Evil are thrown around, and what they mean isn’t exactly what you think based on the word choice. I have been playing D&D for nearly 14 years now, and the way that the terminology has evolved over time has also helped to change the way that we think about these alignments as a whole. Evil and Good aren’t necessarily as black and white as they used to be in the days of AD&D.

So what is Alignment?

Alignment in D&D is an axis, it helps drive our character’s underlying being. The core of who they are and how they function. Alignment is NOT a personality trait like so many people think. It does, however, help to determine one’s personality. See how this can get complicated?? In Dungeons and Dragons, we describe characters on the axis of Good and Evil, and the Axis of Lawful and Chaotic, with Neutral falling in between in both cases.

We have all seen memes that place both real life and TV show and movie characters into this chart before. It is, at its base, a way to categorize people and why they do what they do. It’s almost like a Myers Briggs type system, but to do with morality. It will help you determine what your character is like in certain situations and what they value in the long run. Let’s start with a quick run down.

Lawful Characters

Just like good and evil, lawful isn’t exactly what it sounds like. It doesn’t mean, necessarily that they follow the law, for example. Plenty of Lawful Evil characters exist who engage in various illicit activities. The simplest measure of lawful is that a lawful character upholds a code or traditions in some way. That this measure of “society”, whatever that is, is more important than their individual freedoms. At its core, that is what separates lawful characters from chaotic ones. Chaotic characters aren’t about unrelenting chaos, they are about the ability to put one’s personal freedom and choice over that of any binding.

Lawful characters have a bad reputation, especially in the case of the Lawful Good Paladin as being a character that isn’t fun, that won’t help out in certain circumstances because it would break their code or the law. What many people forget is that a person’s code can be very different from one another. And while one Lawful Good Paladin might very well uphold the law of the land, another Lawful Good Paladin might uphold a code of chivalry, where helping the underprivileged and putting the lives of others above their own very much puts them directly in the line of the king’s orders. Not to mention that in D&D, Devils are also lawful, but are known for playing games like the best lawyers, getting out of contracts with loopholes. Above all else, a Lawful character is one that puts the tenets and traditions of their own code, over the personal freedoms of themselves and others.

Chaotic Characters

The other side of the Axis from Lawful, Chaotic characters are not raving madmen, or crazy tricksters, though they very well can be. Chaotic characters instead are those that value personal freedom over a set of rules. They can value themselves over the rules in the case of evil, or they might value the community over the rules in the case of good. Robinhood is a classic example of a Chaotic Good character. One that believes that their own values and freedoms are above the law when it is necessary to help the community as a whole. Chaotic characters tend to be more fluid in their actions, often doing what they think is best in any given situation.

A Chaotic character can also be one that is uncomfortable with routine, and who wishes to shuck off cultural norms. Chaotic characters value personal freedom above all else, they value the ability to do what they wish, that doesn’t mean they are always rule breakers, but that the rules/laws/customs are not as important to them overall, as they might be to someone more Lawful, or even Neutral. Chaotic characters sometimes see laws and customs as tools of oppression, and often find themselves as drifters, as merchants, as sailors or even pirates. Anything that allows them for more agency is in the best interest of a chaotic character. What that does not mean is that a chaotic character does foolish things because they are chaotic. Chaotic does not mean stupid, and that’s something most new players need to know!

Good Characters

Good doesn’t mean morally right! Good means that your character is more concerned with the community or with society rather than themselves. A good character might plunge into a burning house to save others, they act in a manner to bring the most good to the most people. Good characters might act selflessly, even unto their own downfall. Because of this notion, characters of good alignment can be villains as easily as their evil counterparts. A good villain believes that their scheme is for the good of society as a whole. A Lawful Good Paladin might burn an entire city to the ground with its citizens inside to stop a plague because it is the King’s Law, and because it will save the kingdom.

Good, at its core is the lack of selfishness. Evil is selfish. Good is selfless. It means that a good character will do what they think is necessary to promote their community, to help society keep living. A good character may go out of their way to accomplish things for others, even going as far as to promote special interests that will help whatever they consider to be their community.

Evil Characters

Evil is essentially selfishness at is core. Evil characters are those that promote their own self interest over that of the community or society. This does not always mean that an evil character will openly disobey the norms, but they are more likely to break laws or to commit morally ‘bad’ actions if they think they can get away with them. Evil characters put themselves first, and causing problems for others is not necessarily a downside to them.

However, an evil character isn’t necessarily a bad person. A selfish individual simply does what they think helps them. Perhaps a specific town is important to them and they do their best to save this town, perhaps to the detriment of other towns nearby. Perhaps their friends are what is important to them, and bolstering their actions even to the detriment of others in their way is of no concern to this character.

Neutral Characters

A Neutral character isn’t one that is extreme. It doesn’t mean they can’t be selfish or selfless, a traditionalist or a free spirit. It just means that their beliefs in either direction on both axes is not so strong that they would be considered to be of that alignment. A neutral character might be selfish in some ways and selfless in others. True Neutral is an alignment for one that takes every action on a case by case basis.

Conclusion

How you combine these alignments is how things get interesting. Remember, every Lawful Good character is not the same as another, every chaotic evil character is not the same as another. And more so, while alignment is not something that blows in the wind, it is also not so set that it can not be changed. Important events in one’s life can easily change how they think of themselves. An evil character can become good over time, and a chaotic one into a lawful character.

While alignment is important, real life characters are flexible in who they are, and it is okay to make a selfish action as a good character, okay to break traditions in specific moments as a lawful character. In fact, how and when your character might choose to break alignment is as important as their alignment as a whole.