ALIGNMENT ESSAY

The following are the basic precepts of the four alignment tendencies. Neutrality in 
either respect represents a balance between the attitudes represented by opposing 
alignments. 

GOOD: 

Charity:  Be willing to give of yourself, your time, and your possessions to those less 
fortunate than yourself, granting aid to all according to their need.  When an opportunity 
arises to help another, it should be done to the best of your ability, so long as the 
greater good is served. 

Mercy:  Be willing to forgive and attempt to rehabilitate those who have done wrong.  If 
an enemy can be redeemed away from evil, good is best served.  Those who resist such 
redemption, however, or who are irredeemable must be dealt with, but always in the most 
humane and least painful fashion possible.  Pain and sickness should be avoided and 
alleviated whenever possible, and violence must be undertaken only with reluctance. 

Protection:  Always protect those who cannot protect themselves, especially when the weak 
are being abused by the strong. 

EVIL: 

Miserliness:  What is gained or possessed by each should not be distributed to those who 
do not earn for themselves.  No one should expect others to give of their own to help 
them. 

Power:  Those who are strong are the fittest of the species and deserve to rule over those 
who are weak. Those who protect the weak are fools who do not understand the basic laws of 
natural dominance. 

Ruthlessness:  Anyone who surrenders or places themselves at your mercy is asking for the 
worst.  Whenever an enemy is at a disadvantage, your advantage should be pressed home and 
exploited for all it is worth.  Violence and the inflicting of pain should be undertaken 
with relish, and the suffering brought about thereby should be maximized whenever 
possible. 

LAW: 

Calculation:  Every action should be undertaken as a means to an end, not an end in 
itself.  Nothing should be undertaken merely for its own sake, but only in order to 
achieve a goal. 

Commitment:  Seek to enter into lasting relationships and partnerships, and do not break 
them lightly.  When a commitment has been made, follow through and do not renege on it. 

Conformity:  Bow to the rule of the majority.  Do not seek to undermine that authority.  
Promote order and organization and bind individuals to the writ of law. 

Consistency:  Approach similar situations in similar ways.  Be prudent and predictable 
whenever possible, rather than always changing minds and opinions like so many hats.  Be 
open to reason and logic, but reject impassioned but illogical appeals and impulses and 
spur-of-the-moment decisions and actions. 

CHAOS: 

Freedom:  Act against blind obedience to authority.  Ensure that the minority has its say 
and that individuals are not always suborned by the masses.  Ensure that free will is 
fostered and is available to all. 

Independence:  Avoid entanglements in long-term relationships whenever possible.  Do not 
shun the company of others, but make sure that you are not trapped or locked into any 
situation.  If a commitment has been made and you feel the need to back out, do so. 

Intuition:  Make decisions based on your best impression of the information at hand, but 
do not waste long hours cogitating over protocols for dealing with every possible 
eventuality.  Do not become caught up in goals and agendas, but live each moment and 
undertake each action for its own sake. 

Randomness:  It is not necessary to react the same way to the same situation.  Actions and 
reactions should be determined anew as each situation arises, and previous actions need 
not have any bearing on present or future actions. 


These alignments have been set up as point-counterpoint to one another.  The elements of 
GOOD are naturally opposed by the elements of EVIL.  Hence, the overall philosophies of 
GOOD-EVIL and LAW-CHAOS are mutually exclusive.  One cannot be both at the same time 
(though a single action also cannot describe the entire locus of a being's behavior 
pattern and alignment inclinations. Whether you want to see behavior as a result of 
'natural' alignment or alignment being a classification system that describes a pattern of 
behavior by a given creature is up to you.  Whichever way you go, these are traits that 
describe the characteristics of creatures of various alignments IMC.