What do Aligments Mean (9 Alignment system)

In my games alignment is just shorthand for world view. In no particular order this is how I see those world views.



Lawful Good, service in the common good

Chaotic Good, personal freedom is the right thing

Neutral Good, you are just basically a decent person

Neutral, I look out for my own

Neutral Evil, I look out for me.

Chaotic Neutral, I do whatever I want but I probably look out for my own

Chaotic Evil, screw you. I do whatever a rutting feel like, when I feel like it.

Lawful Evil, the weak serve the strong

Lawful Neutral, the law is the most important thing.

Can Diverging Aligments Work Together? With Firefly Content

My take? Of course they can. With the exception of say some divine classes who have vows against associating with certain alignments, people often do in real life and in fiction. You can be friends or family with people of radically different views than yours as well.

Let me give you a recent media example, the character of Joss Whedon's Firefly. You'll hardly ever get a more diversely aligned crew anywhere.

We have

Mal, Chaotic Neutral leaning to Good

Zoe, Same

Wash, Neutral

Kaylee, Neutral Good

Book, Neutral Good

Inara, Neutral

River , Chaotic Neutral (more or less, she is damaged and thus normal CN tropes are magnified )

Simon, Neutral

Jayne, Neutral Evil (he'll sell out people for money and is fundamentally selfish)


The bad guys in the show

Alliance -- full spectrum of lawful, mostly Neutral or Evil with a few Good guys even ....

Jubal Early -- Chaotic Neutral

The Operative - Lawful Evil

Nishka -- Chaotic Evil

YoSaffBridge -- Neutral Evil

The Blue Hands -- Unknown, probably Lawful evil

Patience-- Probably Neutral

And in case anyone asks, the Reavers don;t really have an alignment or a world view. They act Chaotic Evil but as they have no free will to speak of, they are more or less Zombies and don;t count.