As described in the Player’s Handbook, alignment is a roleplaying tool. It is a quick way to describe a creature’s moral and ethical orientation. Like other elements of the game, it’s meant to be a tool to serve you and your game, not a constraint or burden. Alignment can help your game in three ways: as a tool for player characters, as a descriptor of a creature’s demeanor, and as a summary of an organization’s ethos.
Some common misconceptions about alignment can cause conflicts between players and DMs. The following sections can help you navigate how player characters interact with alignment.
A character might think they’re good and profess to believe that senseless slaughter is wrong, but if that character repeatedly engages in senseless slaughter, the character’s beliefs aren’t what they profess.
Alignment doesn’t limit the actions characters can take; rather, the actions they take indicate what their alignment is. It’s OK to stray from the tenets of one’s alignment now and then, and players can (and should) change their characters’ alignments if these alignments no longer describe their characters.
Good and evil characters can share common goals, though they’ll likely use different tactics to pursue those goals.
Imagine two characters—one Lawful Good, the other Lawful Evil—who are both dedicated to stopping monsters from preying on the people of their city. The Lawful Evil character is willing to employ methods (such as bribing or threatening potential witnesses) that the Lawful Good character isn’t.
When good- and evil-aligned adventurers coexist in the same party, they’re likely to have disagreements as the campaign unfolds. Many players enjoy roleplaying such conflicts, but see “Ensuring Fun for All” in chapter 1 if you run into trouble with evil characters played in a disruptive way.
The Outer Planes (described in chapter 6) are realms where alignment manifests in reality. When creatures explore the Outer Planes, they can experience those realms differently depending on their alignment.
Alignment can help you determine how a creature behaves in your game in two simple ways.
A creature’s alignment can help you determine the creature’s attitude in an encounter. A Chaotic Evil monster is likely to be Hostile, while a Lawful Good one is more likely to have a Friendly attitude, ready to help those in need.
Chapter 2 of the Player’s Handbook offers a table of brief personality traits linked to alignment that can inspire you in playing an NPC or another monster in your game.
It can be useful to assign an alignment to an organization—including a faction, a guild, or a nation—to describe its ethos. This can help you decide how groups interact with each other.
An organization’s ethos doesn’t dictate the alignment of its members or even the alignment of its leaders. In fact, a stark difference between a society’s ethos and the alignment of its leadership can generate interesting material for adventure. For example, imagine a Neutral Good queen ascending to the throne of a Lawful Evil empire and struggling to reform its institutions.