Alignment Traits

[LoneWolf23]

I've been considering the concept of Alignments, and it seems the
biggest problem people have with Alignments is misunderstanding what a given Alignment signifies.

Take Kargin's problem with the Chaotic Neutral characters who act more like Chaotic Evil sociopaths... Obviously, the player there doesn't really understand that Chaos isn't about random, unrestrained actions, but means flexibility, freedom and sometimes irresponsibility.

But no two characters ever act the same, even when they share an Alignment. A LG Human Paladin will act differently from a LG Dwarf Fighter, a LG Gnome Illusionist, or even another LG Human Paladin. But they may all share some similar traits, even if they don't share all.

So I'm writing down here what I feel a given Alignment component might entail. A character who chooses Good might have a Merciful trait, a Peaceful trait, or a Defender trait. They would all be Good, but all act differently, depending on each Trait they decide to choose. These traits have both positive and negative aspects, and so are different from Feats.

Good Traits:

Peaceful - You wish everyone could get along well together, and you've chosen to dedicate your life to encouraging people to get along. You try to avoid entering in any conflict more heated then an exchange of words, and when you see a conflict brewing, you will try to help the involved parties resolve it through peaceful means rather then violence. This does not mean you're completly unable to fight, however. You merely prefer passive resistance, leaving more aggressive means as a last resort.

Merciful - You see value in all life, no matter how lowly and wretched it may seem. You will go out of your way to help the suffering and the downtrodden, and will only take a life if no other options are open to you.

Defender - You wish to protect the innocent and spare them suffering from the hands of those who would abuse and oppress them. You will challenge the odds and the elements, not backing down so long as an innocent is threatened.

Evil Traits:

Selfish - You care only about yourself, your own pleasures and glory. You might find others to be amusing company, and enjoy having them around, but ultimatly their wellfare matters little to you. If those close to you die, you'll simply replace them somehow.

Cruel - You're pitiless and harsh, deriving pleasure from the
suffering of others. You will go out of your way to drag on the pain of your enemies, torturing them physically and psychologically. And even those close to you are sometimes subjected to your little "games".

Nihilistic - You find value in nothing. The principles and institutions of society are pointless. Human Life is meaningless, and existance has no purpose. It is best to simply end it all, bringing oblivion to everyone.

Lawful Traits:

Law-Abiding - Society has rules for a reason. They serve to maintain order and keep everyone from turning on each other like animals. Laws are made to avoid conflicts, and thus one must turn to them whenever a social problem arises. When a perticular situation doesn't seem to fit a law, an existing law may be re-interpreted or a new law might be decided by society, but ultimatly the law is the final authority upon all matters.

Honorable - You live by the strictures of a personal code of honor,
living by it's rules of conduct whenever possible. While the code itself may vary from individual to individual, some common elements include being truthful and honest, keeping your word of honor when given, being courteous to others and respecting those in authority.

Director - You recognize the world needs order, and are ready to impose your own if necessary. You despise chaos and seek to organize things as much as possible, either according to pre-existing rules or by making your own rules if none exist.

Chaotic Traits:

Rebel - You're the eternal rebel, the one who constantly questions authority and strives to change tradition, by any means you feel comfortable with. The reasons for this rebellion vary; some have a legitimate beef with authority, others just do it because they feel contrary.

Loner - You are always alone, even amongst others. You're a wanderer, a lone wolf. For whatever reason, you just don't get along well with others, and prefer being on your own most of the time. This doesn't mean you won't work with a group; so long as you can do your own thing.

Deviant - You just don't fit in with society, and don't feel comfortable with the status quo. You're not a rebel, however; merely a free spirit and independant thinker who doesn't belong in the society that raised you. You don't really care about the morality of others, but follow your own strange code.

Neutral Traits:

Builder - You don't care about the high concerns of morality or society, so long as you can continue the work you've dedicated your life to: this could be something grand as building a temple, or simply tending to the farm that was tended from father to son in your family for generations. So long as you can continue with this work, you could care less about morality or society.

Philosopher - Rather then simply blindly following an Alignment, you've chosen to step back and examine the various philosophical elements of the Alignments, in order to get to the Truth behind the Alignments. You're always open to other points of views, ready to debate your views with others.

Undecided - You simply haven't picked a side yet, without strong feelings going one way or the other when it comes to good vs evil or law vs chaos. This Trait is most often a temporary step towards another step, a period of time when you question your old beliefs, ready to lean towards another set of beliefs.

Thus, a Lawful Good Paladin might have the Honorable and Defender traits, while a Lawful Good Dwarven Cleric might have the Law-Abiding and Peaceful Traits. A Devil might have the Honorable and Cruel trait, making open bargains with mortals, keeping his word but twisting the results to spread as much pain and cruelty as possible.

...Of course, these are far from being all the possible Alignments Traits and combinations, but I think this makes for a good start, don't you think? I'm sure everyone else here might have good ideas for possible Alignment Traits to add to this list...

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

Here's one off the top of my head:

Good trait - Helper
You instinctively move to help people in worse situations than yourself. You often refuse more than a minimum payment, sometimes you refuse to take any payment at all. You do all in your power to act as the backbone of the party, buffing other characters, supplying opportunities for sneak attacks, healing, etc.

 

[candidus_cogitens]

Selfish is not an evil trait. The way you describe selfishness sounds like a neutral attitude. Your definition describes someone who is detached from others--but not even completely detached, since he still enjoys them. To say that the welfare of others "matters little to you" does not even come close to describing true evil.

I would also argue that nihilism is not evil. The only thing that sounds evil in your description of it is the wish to bring destruction upon all humanity. But it doesnt even sound like that wish, on the part of a nihilist, is completely without regard for others. It almost suggests a kind of pity: "Its really better for these poor saps not to live." A truly evil person does not find society and life to be merely meaningless, but contemptible!

Cruelty is on the mark!

 

[Cheiromancer]

IMHO, candidus cogitens should include a "IMO" in his remarks.

I believe that selfishness is evil. I can see forms of nihilism that are not evil, but that would be the exception rather than the rule. (A Life has no meaning... except what we give it! kind of philosophy). Check out Mephistopheles in the Rogue's Gallery for a portrayal of very evil nihilism.

 

[Jeremy Ackerman-Yost]

Have to agree with LoneWolf and Cheiromancer. Selfishness is one of the defining traits of evil. A neutral character may be a little bit greedy or selfish, but true self-absorption is reserved for evil.

 

[Celebrim]

Without getting into the specifics of what I believe each alignment to represent, I just want to say that alot of the basic problem many DM's and players have with alignment is that the alignments are often poorly defined by the DM prior to play. Alignment has generally been the worst defined aspect of the D&D game system, and individual authors of published source material themselves show wide disagreement over what constitutes a particular alignment. For instance, various authors have created Drow cultures which are obviously and clearly more lawful than chaotic (and arguably continue to do so) yet persist with the notation 'Chaotic Evil' for historical reasons and because unfortunately 'Chaotic Evil' is somehow widely percieved as 'most evil' (also for historical reasons).

All DM's should probably sit down before a campaign, or with any new player, and define what the moral precepts are (at least conventionally) within his campaign and hash out what alignment the player really wants to play as opposed to the one he thinks he wants to play. Often times, their is consentual agreement on this, but other times - as can clearly be seen from the debates in this forum - there is not.

For instance, you might want to define good/evil/law/chaos as (most simply) productive/destructive/ordered/unordered for the purposes of your campaign. If you have a player that equates productive wt. ordered and destructive with unordered, you are going to have to explain to him how they differ before starting play or there will be significant alignment confusion on his part that is really none of his fault (because another campaign could well equate ordered with destructive, and at the very least the society IRL in which we draw are actual beliefs frequently does).

 

[Celebrim]

And for the record, while I disagree to varying degrees with almost ever line in C.O.'s post, I do concur with him that selfishness is not enherently evil trait. Again, I think we are confusing 'law' with 'good' and 'chaos' with evil.

If selfishness was an evil trait, it would be the dominating trait of a lawful evil, which it isn't, since a lawful evil can be selfless (even to the point of self sacrifice). Similarly, it is quite possible that a chaotic good could be an ungenerous miser, untrusting, and a loner - yet be honest, compassionate, brave, fair minded, and so forth.

 

[Jeremy Ackerman-Yost]

Similarly, it is quite possible that a chaotic good could be an ungenerous miser, untrusting, and a loner - yet be honest, compassionate, brave, fair minded, and so forth.

Compassion and selfishness are mutually exclusive. By definition, an ungenerous miser does not have compassion. If he did, he would give some of that money to help those who needed it, or else use his resources to help them directly. This is getting into that poorly defined "what constitutes a specific alignment" area, but that's pretty much how I define good vs. evil. Good people are motivated by compassion for others. Evil people are motivated by personal gain. To achieve any form of personal gain that does harm to others is evil. To hold to your life or possessions ahead of helping others is evil.

Of course, all my opinions on this subject are somewhat suspect, as my personal philosophy leaves very little grey area or room for "neutrality" on the good vs. evil spectrum. IMO, if you're not a part of the solution, you're part of the problem, and furthermore, sitting on the fence is for sissy weasels.

 

[Rhialto]

Selfishness is hardly an evil trait if it is seperate from malice and an utter lack of regard for others (IMO). A person who runs away from danger may be a coward, but that doesn't make them evil. Indeed it can be argued that the worldview that sees them as such is a falling away from the good in itself, as empathy and understanding are replaced dogmatism, and self-righteousness.

Further more, I have said this before, and will say it again--selfishness is no more the purview of chaotics than loyalty is the purview of lawfuls. Both are personality traits independant of the law and chaos axis (and quite possibly the good and evil axis as well)....

 

[Melkor Lord Of ALL!]

If a person is so sellfish that he doesn`t mind harming others to achieve what he wants, isn`t it evil?