If there is anything more true to the statement above, it would be that water is, in fact, wet. Alignment has been a core identity for Dungeons and Dragons since it's core incarnation underneath Gary Gygax's Dungeons and Dragons and Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, and in most circumstances it is the reason and drive on how most roleplayers play their character. Now, what if I told you, alignment doesn't really matter in the idea of how a character is roleplayed, as long as it is an anchoring point.
Alignment in Fifth Edition is extremely tensile, outside of some spells, abilities and roleplaying monsters [#notallmonsters]. The core idea that Lawful Good the Paladin alignment was thrown out in the favor of allowing the Paladin to follow his core edicts, which he attains at level 3, or that Druids are all neutral and Monks are always lawful have been thrown to the wind for the sake of just roleplaying. Depending on your Dungeon Master, A Paladin may now be Lawful Evil or even Chaotic Evil and still be considered Paladins. A Barbarian can now be Lawful Good, following laws of society or of a king for the sake of helping his or her village and Druids are allowed to project more urgency having aspects ranging outside of neutrality.
The major problem that I have always had with alignment is that a player character is and should be dynamic, especially when progressing through a campaign or leveling up. I always think about two literary examples when it comes to alignment changing over time: Conan the Barbarian and Anakin Skywalker. These two individuals spent much of their core story changing and developing. Conan shifts from a savage slave to that of a warrior king and conqueror. Anakin shifts from a slave child to a Jedi with questionable values to one of the most memorable villains created. So what stops a player from developing the same way from level 1 to level 7? Let's take a more detailed look at Anakin's story.
At first, in this case Episode 1, he is just a naive kid who wants to do good, because he can and doesn't adhere to laws: Anakin is Chaotic Good. He just wants to help. In Episode 2, we see that Anakin begins to slip in alignment as he matures, seeing that some edicts of the Jedi Order are holding him back from love, rescuing his mother, that he is willing to do what is necessary for him to get what he wants, including genocide: Anakin is now Chaotic Neutral or even Neutral Evil. It wasn't until his full conversion to Darth Vader in Episode 3 that he gains the alignment of Lawful Evil, following the will of his master and doing whatever it takes to complete that task, in this case: Murdering younglings, hunting Jedi and even applying the penalties of law "fairly" on individuals, but usually without mercy.
In most circumstances, I think it is a good thing to always question your character's alignment as a player and at any point you feel that actions determine a change, ask your Dungeon Master to shift to another alignment to help better represent your character. I personally like the idea of the story driving my character's alignment, maybe at one moment he was a Chaotic Good Rogue who hustled hustlers and then was hired or incorporated into a band of lawful individuals who, through multiple sessions, began to understand and appreciate the laws that his comrades followed and eventually adhering to their laws, but rarely bending back to his ways of out gambling hustlers and swindlers to give back to those in need.
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| Still, one of my favorite alignment charts. |
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