ALIGNMENTS

Lawful Good: Characters of this alignment believe that an orderly, strong society with a well-organized government can work to make life better for the majority of the people. To ensure the highest quality of life, laws must be created and obeyed. When people respect the laws and try to help one another, society as a whole prospers. Therefore, lawful good characters strive for those things that will bring the greatest benefit to the most people and cause the least harm. An honest and hard-working peasant, a kindly and wise official, and a stern but fair judge are all examples of lawful good people.

Lawful Neutral: Law and organization are of paramount importance to characters of this alignment. They believe in a strong, well-ordered government, whether it be a brutal tyranny or benevolent democracy. The benefits of organization and regimentation outweigh any moral questions. An official determined to ferret out traitors at any cost or a soldier who never ques-tions orders is a good example of a lawful neutral character.

Lawful Evil: These characters believe in using society and its laws to benefit themselves. To them, structure and organization elevate those who deserve to rule and provide a clearly defined hierarchy between master and servant. Thus lawful evil characters support systems that protect their own concerns; if someone else suffers because of that, too bad. Such people obey laws out of fear of punishment rather than any higher moral code. Because they may be forced to honor an unfavorable contract or oath, lawful evil characters are usually very careful about giving their word. Once it is given, though, they break their word only if they can find a way to do so legally. An iron-fisted tyrant and a devious, greedy merchant are examples of lawful evil people.

Neutral Good: These characters believe that a balance of forces is important, but that the concerns of law and chaos do not moderate the need for good. Since the universe is vast and contains many creatures striving for different goals, a determined pursuit of good will not upset the balance; it may even maintain it. Social structure itself has no innate value. If fostering good means supporting organized society, then that is what must be done. If good can come about only through overthrowing the existing social order, so be it. A soldier who defies a commander's orders, so as to destroy something he or she sees as evil, is an example of a neutral good character.

True Neutral: Such characters believe in the ultimate balance of forces, and they refuse to see actions as either good or evil. They do their best to avoid siding with the forces of either good or evil, law or chaos. It is their duty to see that all of these forces remain in balanced contention and thus may find themselves forced into peculiar alliances. They are compelled to support the underdog in any given situation, sometimes even changing sides to maintain the balance as the previous loser becomes ascendant. A true neutral character might join the local militia to put down a gang of bandits, only to drop out or join the former enemy's forces once they brought to the brink of destruction. Since the majority of people in the world make judgments, true neutral characters are extremely rare.

Neutral Evil: Neutral evil characters are primarily concerned with themselves and their own advancement. If there is a quick and easy way to gain a profit, whether it be legal, questionable, or obviously illegal, they take advantage of it. Those of a neutral evil alignment have no particular objection to working with others or, for that matter, going it alone. They typically base their allegiance on power and money, which makes them receptive to bribes. They have no qualms about betraying their friends and companions for personal gain. An unscrupulous mercenary, a common thief, and a double-crossing informer who betrays people to the authorities are typical examples of neutral evil characters.

Chaotic Good: Chaotic good characters are strong individualists marked by a streak of kindness and benevolence. They believe in all the virtues of goodness and right, but they have little use for laws and regulations. They have no patience with people who try to push folk around and tell them what to do. Their actions are guided by their own moral compass, which although good, may not always be in agreement with the rest of society. A wandering monk who helps those in need is an example of a chaotic good character.

Chaotic Neutral: Chaotic neutral characters believe that there is no order to anything, including their own actions. With this as a guiding principle, they follow whatever whim strikes them at the moment: Good and evil are irrelevant when making a decision. Chaotic neutral characters are extremely difficult to deal with; the only reliable thing about them is that they cannot be relied upon! Such people might cheerfully and for no apparent purpose gamble away everything they have on the roll of a single die. This alignment is perhaps the most difficult to play. Lunatics and crackpots tend toward chaotic neutral behavior.

Chaotic Evil: These characters are the bane of all that is good and organized, motivated solely by the desire for personal gain and pleasure. Chaotic evil characters see absolutely nothing wrong with taking whatever they want by whatever means possible. To them, laws and governments are tools of weaklings unable to fend for themselves. The strong should take what they want; the weak are to be exploited. When chaotic evil characters band together, they are not motivated by a desire to cooperate, but rather to oppose powerful enemies who threaten their personal interests. Such a group can be held together only by a strong leader capable of bullying underlings into obedience. Leadership of this sort is based on raw power, so a leader is likely to be replaced at the first sign of weakness by anyone who can grab the position, whatever the method. Bloodthirsty bandits and brutish monsters of low Intelligence are fine examples of chaotic evil personalities.

The following alignment tendencies are a further refinement of the alignment system. Use at DM's discretion only.

This following chart represents all possible alignments. The nine basic alignments above have no parenthetical "tendencies." The following 10 additonal alignments allow PC's to lean slightly towards another alignment than their base alignment would normally allow for.

NOTE: Nobody may lay claim to having "Neutral" tendencies. A tendencies either leans left or right, it never remains impartial.

Lawful Neutral (Good): This character could be one that is essentially both lawful and good, but will choose to uphold the law over performing a good act if both cannot be accomplished by one deed.

Lawful Neutral (Evil): This character could be one that is essentially both lawful and evil, but will choose to uphold the law over performing an evil act if both cannot be accomplished by one deed.

Neutral Good (Lawful): This character is essentially Neutral Good, but exhibits more lawful traits than most Neutral Good beings, but not enough to be considered Lawful Good.

Neutral Good (Chaotic): This character is definitely Good, but he tends to be a little more Chaotic than characters of a Neutral Good alignment.

Neutral (Lawful): This character is pretty much True Neutral, but he has a tendency to choose a lawful action when asked or forced to make a decision.

Neutral (Chaotic): This character is pretty much True Neutral, but he has a tendency to behave in a Chaotic manner when he does act out of character.

Neutral Evil (Lawful): This character is most definitely evil, but will attempt to stay within the local laws when possible.

Neutral Evil (Chaotic): This character is most definitely evil, but will typically ignore local laws and refute ordered society.

Chaotic Neutral (Good): If we refer to a character as Chaotic Neutral (Good) then we know immediately that he is morally a Neutral character, but he tends towards Goodness.

Chaotic Neutral (Evil): When referring to a character as Chaotic Neutral (Evil) then we know immediately that he is morally a Neutral character, but he tends towards acts of Evil.

In the World of Arkuth campaign setting, the following guidelines for alignment tendencies are recommended for all DM's.

"DM Ruling"

For the purposes of the game system, ignore the alignment tendency. Thus, a Lawful Neutral (Evil) cleric would be not detected as evil by a paladin using a detect evil spell. This character would take 6d6 points of damage when touching a Talisman of Pure Evil because he/she is and has chosen Lawful Neutral as their primary alignment. The alignment tendency is simply a part of that character's moral compass and has no effect on actual game play.