From the city watchman with a heart of gold to the merciless fiend slaughtering innocents in its wake, all characters in Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition are guided by their Alignment. While we briefly discussed Alignments in the Create your Character post, this post is going to provide a deeper dive into the nuances between the nine Alignments and wrap up with some tips on how to best utilize your character’s Alignment in your games.

For the full origins of the Alignment system in Dungeons and Dragons, I recommend you read this series of articles by Gary Gygax himself. It does a much better job than I could accomplish here. Without further ado, let’s get started!

The Mighty Nine

When we talk about the Alignments of Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, we’re referring to the following chart:

While the Alignments can be used directly as a game mechanic (e.g., the Protection from Good/Evil spell), they’re primarily used as an indicator of your character’s moral compass. How your character feels and acts about the world around them is explained by their Alignment. While this may sound absolute, you are free to follow or abandon the Alignment as much as you wish. I actually like to reward my players with Inspiration when they follow their character’s Alignment instead of acting how they (as the Player) would react.

Consider the following scenario: While walking the city streets at night, Dwarven Fighter Brundolf Acklebark spots a citizen being mugged by two Humans and a Halfling. Here’s how each Alignment would generally approach the situation:
Lawful Good: Brundolf calls for the city guard at the top of his lungs and barrels towards the thieves to end the mugging. If he’s successful, he will probably refuse a reward from the citizen.
Neutral Good: Brundolf barrels towards the thieves to stop the mugging. He may decide to inform the city guard afterwards, if he chooses. If he’s successful, he may refuse a reward from the citizen.
Chaotic Good: Brundolf, believing the guards are useless, barrels towards the mugging to save the citizen on his own. If he’s successful, he will probably accept a reward from the citizen.
Lawful Neutral: Brundolf calls for the city guard and believes they will resolve the situation. He may not believe he needs to interfere.
True Neutral: Brundolf, knowing he would be outnumbered, ignores the situation and continues on with his night.
Chaotic Neutral: Brundolf, knowing he would be outnumbered, attempts to distract the thieves in a way that would not force him to fight, but may give the citizen a chance to flee.
Lawful Evil: Brundolf calls for the city guard at the top of his lungs, hoping to scare off the thieves. If he’s successful, he will threaten the citizen to pay him for his help.
Neutral Evil: Brundolf barrels towards the thieves to kill them. If he’s successful, he will threaten the citizen to pay him for his help.
Chaotic Evil: Brundolf joins the thieves in their shakedown. He will either kill the citizen, the thieves, or all of them.

Keep in mind, the examples provided above are generalizations. How you actually decide Brundolf would resolve the situation is entirely your choice. Above all, remember they’re Brundolf’s choices (based on his moral compass) and not yours (as the player).

What to Do with Alignment

To avoid confusion or any potential unease during gameplay, it’s quite common for players to set their character’s Alignment to roughly depict what they believe matches their real-world moral compass. This makes it easier for the player to act in-character, since they’re essentially parroting their own reactions. However, I strongly encourage you to try different Alignments as you become more confident in your roleplaying skills; you may find yourself in some interesting moral discussions and situations when the actions of your character contradict your own.

Never let the Alignment of your character impede the fun you or your group is having with the game. While most parties are composed of characters of similar Alignments (rare is the case where Chaotic Evil and Lawful Good characters band together), it’s not out of the question for a group to have differing opinions on how the world works. If you find yourself in a situation where your character and another party member are at odds due to your Alignments, don’t feel either of you have to go “whole hog” at the risk of disrupting the game.

Finally, frequent intense experiences can challenge, refine, or even alter one’s moral compass. If your Lawful Good character experiences many wrongs at the hands of a corrupt government, it may make sense for their Alignment to shift to Neutral Good, or even Chaotic Good. Before making these shifts, consult with your DM to ensure they can help you incorporate these new character elements into the campaign narrative or your personal story. Sometimes, the DM may tell you to adjust your character’s Alignment based on their actions, even if you did not plan on changing it. In these cases, ensure you feel the shift is justified for the narrative. If you disagree, discuss the adjustment with your DM and work towards a resolution you both can agree upon.

What’s Next

That’s all I have for now regarding Alignments as they work in Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. I may revisit this topic in future posts, but I believe this provides enough of a starting point for any new player to understand how the Alignment system works and incorporate it into their character ideas.

I’m not certain what topic I’ll be covering next, but I promise it’ll be worth reading!

Blessed be,

Matthew Wulf

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