D&D 5E What Alignment Am I?

[vostyg]

I am relatively new to D&D, and I am a little bit confused about where my new character falls on the alignment axes. He is driven by his own internal compass to punish wrongdoers and to protect the innocent, but he cares very little about the law. He also tends to view things in black and white, and can be pretty ruthless in his pursuit of justice.

• The fact that he cares little about the law suggests that he is probably not lawful, though his obsessive pursuit of justice at all costs might suggest otherwise.
• The fact that he is driven to punish wrongdoers and protect the innocent suggests he is good, but his willingness to take ruthless measures in his pursuit of justice might suggest otherwise.

I know that alignment is intended to serve as a simple guideline, and perhaps this character blurs the lines, but I'm curious to see what the Enworld veterans have to say on the matter.

Thanks in advance!

EDIT - Here is some additional exposition that I added in a subsequent post which might help to clarify a few things:

As I'm thinking about it, he doesn't really follow an external code at all, just his own simple sense of right and wrong. This generally involves protecting the helpless and innocent from those who would prey on them. He tends to categorize people as either villains, victims, or neither, based on their behavior. He is not above roughing someone up whom he categorizes as a villain in order to get information, and he has no compunctions about killing a serious villain outright if only to prevent that person from victimizing others in the future. He takes no particular joy in this. To him, it's just an unsavory but necessary part of his job. He evaluates each person on his or her own merits, and he doesn't waste his time on petty wrongdoers, focusing instead on serious villains.

EDIT - Yet more exposition from a subsequent post:

The character was once a blacksmith dwelling in a backwoods village in Rashemen with his wife and two young sons. He thought that he had everything he wanted or needed out of life, and he would have been content to continue this humble existence had fate not intervened. After a hard day's work at the anvil, he returned home late one evening to find that his wife and boys had been cruelly savaged by a roving werewolf. Something snapped inside of him. He managed to track the werewolf down and trap it inside a barn, which he proceeded to set ablaze, thereby putting an end to the creature's rampage. With his family dead, and nothing left to keep him rooted to his old life, he took up the sword and armor which he had crafted for himself, and embarked on a new life as a champion of the weak and helpless, motivated by the memory of his wife and sons.

 

[5Shilling]

Almost certainly Chaotic Good. Like you say - punish evil, protect innocent = good. Break the law, not worried about the means to an end = chaotic (although if he upholds the law when it suits him, perhaps that axis is neutral). At most he's erring towards neutral, and if he stops protecting the innocent he may end up there.

 

[vostyg]

Almost certainly Chaotic Good. Like you say - punish evil, protect innocent = good. Break the law, not worried about the means to an end = chaotic (although if he upholds the law when it suits him, perhaps that axis is neutral). At most he's erring towards neutral, and if he stops protecting the innocent he may end up there.

Thanks! Good insights.

 

[delericho]

The fact that he doesn't care about the law (rather than being opposed to it) suggests he's Neutral on the L/C axis. As far as his alignment on the G/E one, I'd start him off as Good to reflect his intentions, but shift him first to Neutral and then (maybe) Evil depending on his exact actions - 'ruthless' can mean many things, but if it includes torture and murder, that's a pretty clear evil, regardless of intent.

That said, given that 5e doesn't attach any mechanics to alignment, I'm tempted to say "whatever you want". It's also worth noting that I don't use alignment these days, but if I did it would be strict "team shirt" alignments, where LG is best represented by "Team America: World Police" - calibrate the rest of the scale accordingly.

 

[Oofta]

I rarely pay much attention to alignment, unless it helps me define my character.

I view alignment as a quick guide to "how does this character view the world".

In your case, you have a clear idea of you're character's point of view is, so alignment is pretty superfluous.

 

[vostyg]

The fact that he doesn't care about the law (rather than being opposed to it) suggests he's Neutral on the L/C axis. As far as his alignment on the G/E one, I'd start him off as Good to reflect his intentions, but shift him first to Neutral and then (maybe) Evil depending on his exact actions - 'ruthless' can mean many things, but if it includes torture and murder, that's a pretty clear evil, regardless of intent.

This reasoning makes sense to me.

where LG is best represented by with "Team America: World Police" - calibrate the rest of the scale accordingly.

Jingoism + Racial Bigotry + Puppet Sex = LG. Got it!

 

[delericho]

Jingoism + Racial Bigotry + Puppet Sex = LG. Got it!

Yeah. As I said, I don't use alignment these days.

 

[vostyg]

I rarely pay much attention to alignment, unless it helps me define my character.

I view alignment as a quick guide to "how does this character view the world".

In your case, you have a clear idea of you're character's point of view is, so alignment is pretty superfluous.

I'm prone to agree with this, though I asked the question primarily to ascertain whether there was a fairly cut-and-dried answer that I was just missing.

 

[ccs]

Neutral Good

 

[Oofta]

I'm prone to agree with this, though I asked the question primarily to ascertain whether there was a fairly cut-and-dried answer that I was just missing.

It made more difference in past editions (particularly 3.5) but there is little in the way of mechanics associated to it now.