Alignment Chart

This was a small project I undertook as I didn't have a good way of explaining how the were planes laid out, in a symbolic sense. It was a bit troubling in finding a simple way to explain it in games such as Pathfinder and Dungeons and Dragons, whom had a focus on Extra-Planar beings, as well as the Alignment chart and how the planes, typically, are said to work. I am proud to say I have crafted my own version, building up from the original alignment chart, to explain both in a philosophical and a religious sense just how far up or how far down a person needs to go psychologically to become a said alignment, as well as how the planes tend to lay out.

For those of you who don't know what the Alignments are, I'll give you a brief rundown.

(Hahaha brief yeah right
)

Lawful Good is the archetype of your typical super-good factions.
People in Lawful Good love, respect and do everything they can to uphold the law, both those that are man-made and those made from morality. They are your policemen, your paladins, your priests (most of them anyway ;] ) and just about any one else whom fits the description of a go-to guy for supreme justice, though often by a gentle fist. Your Lawful Good characters typically do not kill people unless there's no other resort or they're facing off against Undead, in which case, that's practically their life goal.
The realms that are tied to the Alignment can be described as Heaven-like. The typical view of the Judeo-Christian view of Heaven often has it's place here, where it is a place of great good and great power. Sometimes these beings will intervene on the other worlds, but they have to be witness to a great cosmic event, usually, before they like stepping in, otherwise they mostly observe and only get into Extra-planar conflicts with their polar opposites.


Neutral Good is where you will find the more accepting people.
They do not like evil, but they are not as out to get it as Lawful Good of Chaotic Good may be inclined too. They will do what they can to uphold the peace and their basic morals, but they are no means crusaders who would take up arms with a great army to fight a great, vile threat. That does not mean they would not, but they represent a character whom has a good mind and a good soul who tries to do what is right most of the time, but is by no means a soldier. Neutral Good characters may even be opposed to military regimes, preferring to help the law as a vigilante. He fits the role of being a warrior well, sometimes as a wandering blade, who does what he can to help those he meets, whether or not he gets paid adequately for his deeds.
The realms of Neutral Good are somewhat tricky to describe. They are not quite like Heaven, but they have healthy doses of the almost Nirvana-like existence in Lawful Neutral worlds. You could probably describe it as a more human Heaven, with less emphasis on glory and magical might and focusing more on having a kind of equal paradise for all.


This is where it starts getting tricky and when the moral compass is starting to look a little more gray.


What do you get when you have a great source of good and you so violently cut at it's pride, those it loves, do everything you can to destroy it's core thinking on why it's good and give it, whether intentionally or unintentionally, a desire for vengeance? You get Chaotic Good.


This is when Lawful Good decides that a good to slap to your wrist is just too good for the scum-sucking low-life that you are and decides to take his Claymore of Holy Smiting and jams it up your rectum, cuts it down through your stomach, intestines and finishes off by cleaving once more upward to split you neatly in half. They then burn your body with magic fire while giving a merciful prayer to their god, only now not only for you, but for themselves. This is the character that has been simply been pushed too far.
In his life he may have been a die-hard Lawful Good or was a fairly noble Neutral Good or, in certain cases, Lawful Neutral character and then all of a sudden his life does a face-heel-turn. Your arch-nemesis may have finally done the worst deed he could possibly do to you. He may have raped and killed your wife, your mother or your entire family. He could have kidnapped or may have killed your first-born or something just as equally destructively and personally bad to you. In fact, the act was so bad, those normal, law-abiding gears in your head pop out of place from having been victim to these circumstances and sparks start to fly. These little sparks then drive you off to your arch-nemesis to deal out a punishment that would make your order most likely shun you or even arrest you.
Chaotic Good is the alignment of people forced onto the edge whether by choice or by personal anguish, mercilessly killing even the lowest of vagabonds for the smallest of crimes. Samurai fit this description quite well and your Viking or Norse Warrior is just as well to be such a character. A person whom loves combat but is on the good side of things, whom is more liable to pierce someone through the chest, rather then save it. Often their mindset is, if it's evil, I can kill it. If it's dishonorable I can maim it. If it's both and it's done something to me, I can crucify it in the middle of town.
The alignment doesn't make a person bad, but this is when good people make bad decisions to do what they believe is ultimately good, such as vengeance, attaining honor in battle, a conquest to right the world's wrongs, etc.
The Chaotic Good realms are often those like Asgard in Norse mythology, realms that enforce precepts of good, but are ready to take up a sword in a moments notice, often for pleasure, for glory or for justice. More often then not, all three at once.


And then we have the Neutral bracket. Stay with me, we're almost halfway there.


Lawful Neutral characters can be described as Monk-like, both in the clergical and warrior sense.
They are characters whom are capable of obeying the law, but do not necessarily like to. They don't like causing problems, or getting entangled in them unless it is for a just cause and one they explicitly agree with to every fiber of their being. As a rule, Lawful Neutrals follow their own laws whether these were passed down to them from an ancient monastic order or believe that they follow much more basic principals such as philosophy, logic and/or nature.
They are often peaceful, loving folk and take great care with their power and their responsibilities. They can be compared easily to the version of Elves in Tolkien's works of Lord of The Rings where they are a very calm, very wise branch of people, but are unlikely to get involved in anything beyond politics and knowledge preservation. They often come out of the wood-work when the balance of the world is threatened, when evil is getting too big for it's britches and sometimes requires the biggest Lawful Good faction to come down on a knee before them and plead for their assistance, and, sometimes, Lawful Neutral is only too smug to make them grovel a bit more or go to greater lengths to prove that their situation is truly one that they should get involved in.
It does not mean that Lawful Neutrals are weak or are slow to act, they are just very mindful of their place in the grand scheme of things and try not to interfere as their factions often have a secret, forbidden weapon or spell that can only be used after a laundry list of components or conditions have been full-filled which, conveniently, when they're needed, all or most of the components have already been filled (hmmm suspicious ) or know precisely how to achieve them and give this laundry list to the heroes who, more likely then not, have to go on a great and perilous quest to achieve such conditions to save the world.
The Lawful Neutral realms have various interpretations, but the ones I find the most befitting are, again, like the Elven Kingdoms from Tolkien, a separate dimension like the Hidden Valley with the city of Rivendell or planes of existence that reflect the most depth on an even, peaceful mind like, for example, Nirvana. Some interpretations put this as being the positive end of Purgatory, like going up a ladder towards the other planes where this one is where you may end up in wait ascension into a higher form of being or may reside in this realm until you reincarnate, whether by choice or forced by another power.


True Neutral, aka the impossible character, is a robot. He is as gray as gray can get and in the D&D, as well as Pathfinder, worlds having a True Neutral character is next to impossible.
The True Neutral character does everything for himself, shows very little emotion towards others or other alignments and never gets directly involved in conflicts concerning global or extra-dimensional forces. He is the practical assassin, something akin to what Agent 47 would be if he never went rouge. Working solely for money, shelter and food. Nothing less and nothing more.
That is why it's almost impossible in having such a character as it does not really exist in our world.
The closest thing you have to True Neutral are animals whom live solely by primal instinct and on that instinct alone, having no higher thought process to come in conflict with morals or whom to follow. You are at the feet of those whom feed you as well as your primal needs, driven by hormones and by instinct alone.
It is very difficult to craft and keep such a character because good DMs make it a point to challenge the moral fiber of the characters in the story, to see just how loyal are they to their own causes and it often becomes down right despicable for True Neutral characters because they can be quickly shafted on one end of the spectrum or another due to caravan circumstances and faction relations, more then moral choice.
They simply don't give two shits about anyone or anything and do not have the moral fiber to be good, but neither do they have the gumption or desire to be outright evil. They are jammed in-between and it takes some remarkable circumstances and role-playing to keep a character in the True Neutral spot. They take the good and bad of life, but they do not do anything with it anymore then they may rely on it.
The pure scientist is also a good example of True Neutrality.
Dr. House would be a great role-model for this, but unfortunately he does have moral fiber and does do the right thing a fair amount of the time, winning him Lawful Neutral in my eyes. Another perspective of the True Neutral is that he is Lawful Neutral, without the Lawful. That he recognizes each person, each event and each conflict as part of the great wheel, giving meaning to everything and everything keeps life moving, but again, he is not pulled in a specific direction. He does whatever he feels would be good for him at any given time which often, again, leads to the most base needs of survival in working for the highest bidder. They can be polite and cruel at the same time in the same way one is being good to those who do them good and being cruel to those who try to be cruel to them. Emphasis on the word try, because the True Neutral character is often the most suspicious in the party and can be in a wonderful position of having a Batman's utility belt against those he has to fight; even his own allies.
The realms of True Neutral are just as baffling and sometimes not. They usually consist on primal things like Death, creating Purgatory like worlds where there isn't a lot of good, but not a whole lot of bad and tend to be desolate. Sometimes the aforementioned realms are focused on the existence of beings whom keep life and all of it's factors in perfect motion, like emotions or sins or instincts or what have you. I also enjoy the idea of having realms like Earth and Midgard being a foreground for the True Neutral plane as even our world has a mixing between good and evil, law and chaos, thus making a "neutral" playing field.


As for Chaotic Neutral, well, I assume you already know where this is going.
This is where you have your rebels and thieves. Not necessary bad people, but those whom live on a darker tone. They do not like man-made law, they refute it but do not try to disassemble it. They may praise and follow anarchy, but they never, ever try to cause it. They are the common folk who usually were out on their luck and have fallen into desolation from one manner or another. They can be a very crafty thief or a cruel mercenary. Their morals edge on that of simply doing whatever they want, but they are still picky about it.
It's essentially what Lawful Neutral is, only reversed, not wanting to get involved in conflicts outside of their reach, but they are more inclined to join it once their carnal needs are met, often christening this alignment with the title "The Henchman Alignment" because henchman are never truly evil, they just work for those who are and make their way through life appropriately.
Like the Neutrals, they can be like you and me down the street, but while a Lawful Neutral would be inclined to pick up an old woman's glasses that fell and give them to her, the Chaotic Neutral may see this as an opportunity to steal her purse while she's blind or, further, pretend to be virtuous while he's helping her, but pick-pocket her wallet in the meantime.
They are part of the groups of people whom are forced to survive, but instead of doing what's morally right, they may have been pushed, by circumstance or from conflicts in their own psyche, to break the laws of their society. Again, it doesn't make this character particularly evil, but it's wise to expect potential clashes, and a potential blood bath, if there's a Chaotic Good aligned character nearby whom witnesses their crimes. However, if society's laws come tumbling down or otherwise had crumbled away long ago or if the laws of their people, clan or homestead change, expect them to make a monumental alignment choice, that is, if they are still affected by said the people in this society.
Realms for Chaotic Neutral are, again, somewhat like Purgatory but more on a darker side. More often then not, the themes reflect on the pre-stages of the Dante's Inferno's interpretation of Hell, where there's not a lot of demons around, but they do call it home.
I personally like to think of it as the reverse to Nirvana, the entrapment on the mortal plane, not being so fiercely aligned to darkness to really fall, but not having the will power or sense of ethics to really head upwards on the ladder; just trapped in limbo which is a convenient opening for the creation of Hollows, Wraiths and whatever other machination of creature that may come into existence from the twisting, manipulation or destruction of trapped souls.


We're doin' great bros!
Now it's onto the last and most worth-while bracket, the EVIL bracket! Muahaha!
And what a better way to start off, then with my favorite Alignment, the Lawful Evil Alignment.


Considered the truest personification of Evil, Lawful Evil characters are those whom are, often, the type of evil that win the fight against good.
They make up the kingpins and dark archons of the world, your stereotypical Necromancers and power hungry princes. The thing about Lawful Evil though is that they're very clever in what they do. They purposefully make the law or if there is already a system in place, they like to use this system to get their way and that's why Lawful Good is often powerless against them. They are very capable of getting the law on their side and that's often where they live. They let their henchmen do the dirty work for them, often under the guise of someone else to disjoint them from others, so they are not made blatantly at fault, for example, Fisk from Spiderman, using the alias of King Pin to work his criminal activities, while remaining as a benefactor in the eyes of the people.
Dark Magic Schools often are made and ruled over by a Lawful Evil character, as it is also the Lawful Evil whom are the most adept and knowledge-full about the powers at be, their weaknesses and just where to strike. Such characters that easily come to mind are those like Sauron of LoTR or Slade from Teen Titans, masterminds with a lot of power and resources who *know* how to use them.
Lawful Evil is also a useful element to have in a party if a DM will allow it and if the quest being undertaken is following a cause that is great enough for any Lawful or Chaotic Good characters to overlook the fact that their new comrades are or were their once sworn enemies, because Lawful Evil prefers balance.
Like Lawful Neutral, they are very knowledgeable about their place in the world and while they try to make it better, or worse, Lawful Evil can be the likable character and can be a good Anti-Hero if used well in a story, though the line is drawn very thin.
As the mention of Anti-Heroism may suggest, another interpretation of Lawful Evil is that they are characters that believe to do the best they can for the world, they need to become a great threat to it or give something for good to oppose, aware that Good cannot exist without Evil. The case of Lelouch is perhaps the greatest example of Lawful Evil, using his great power at great evil risks to ultimately reshape the world and, at the end, having done this dream by presenting the world with an enemy it had to destroy to regain peace. In this instance, Lawful Evil is the expression of Lawful Good when the normal constraints of emotions, morals and the circumstances at hand prevent one from being Good.
The realms associated with Lawful Evil can be described as being like Nifelheim. Not exactly a Hell, but a place where greater evils can be found. It is also a popular notion that these realms are where the powers of Vampirism and Necromancy originate, powers that have the potential to do great good *and* great evil, depending on the person wielding said power.


The next level down from here, is taken by the spot of Neutral Evil, where it gets a bit nastier.


If there was hope for Lawful Evil characters to be brought back to good, then the chances of these characters being brought back to the fold of good is a lot less slim and have to go through quite a few philosophical and mental changes to be considered anywhere near that possibility, for here is where the anarchists, the extremists, the corrupt, the brutal thieves and truly despicable reside.
Neutral Evil characters are those whom register that they are part of the evil collective and they like it. They are not necessarily serial killers or rapists, but they are the people whom have turned to evil deeds for their own ambitions. These characters do not seek political status, power or control over others, but neither do they outright want to see everything ablaze in fire and death, as is the case for Chaotic Evil.
They are the ones whom make lives miserable in what they do, whether or not they realize it and whether they enjoy doing so or not. They rob banks, lease themselves to prostitution and in some cases join the cause of a bigger bad who's appeared if they can achieve a greater goal of their's, usually tricked into thinking this or too stupid to realize that the big bad cares nothing for them and, usually, will be the first to be squashed as a form of making an example to other peons what happens when you think you can cross your evil daddy or if you believed status granted you immunity, as this alignment is usually higher in the said organization's ladder. Some Neutral Evils were good at one point, but feeling like they were either not of use or simply couldn't exist by someone else's rules, they decided to take their lives, and sometimes those of others, into their own hands.
They are often disorganized and loners, preferring themselves as company and only knit into small groups of similar mindsets. Freedom is their ultimate expression, the desire to do what they want, whenever they want, however they want. These characters are essentially pirates. They live by their own rules and kill anyone who tries to put them in chains for it. They fight civilized government and do whatever they can to get ahead, but do not put enormous amount of effort into it and so are prey to the aforementioned powers of Lawful and Chaotic Evils, using them to get ahead in their own goals, often stomping on the lives of Neutral Evils in the process.
Their realms are essentially a kind of Hell that you could get to. Not always fire and brimstone, but don't expect many of the inhabitants to take kindly to your Good characters should they find themselves there and expect blood everywhere, so help you, if you bring along a couple of Chaotic Goods, whom are almost guaranteed to start a crusade.


The last and perhaps most widely enjoyed character, that most DMs control unless you're specifically in an Evil campaign, is the Chaotic Evil character.
This is what is called Pure Evil. Unrefined, uncontrolled, supreme EVIL.
This is the type of evil that keeps you awake at the wee hours in the morning because you were damningly sure you saw hell fire in the eyes of a skull in your closet.
The characters whom align themselves with this are as bad as they can be. They don't care for human life, hell, *any* life at all, including their own. They are often deranged, misguided and/or morbidly psychotic. They are seen as abominations to all those around them and they use anyone and anything they think they can to expand their deeds of destruction, the spreading of pestilence and lies through the world, just because they can, the only goal they find rewarding. They want to see the world ablaze.
The characters on this path are often under the direct influence, given power from or driven insane by coming into contact with an Infernal deity whom wants to bathe the world in smoke and ash. They care nothing for wealth or the pleasures of the flesh barely come as a distraction.
The humanoid and sentient characters whom've been touched in this manner grab whatever power they can, but they lack the sophistication and mental prowess of the Lawful Evil characters to use them truly effectively, making most of their methods brutish and simple and, due to this, they have no real organization. If they do, their henchmen are often made an example of for defiance, often leading to revolts and you can expect the hierarchy of their establishment to work a lot like king of the hill, where the one in charge, is the one's proclaimed it and is still alive. If the being was already like this, expect them to either have a demon sleeping in them slowly being awakened, will be touched by a demon soon or are demons suffering from amnesia or were altered at birth by the powers at be. On occasion they were experimented on by humans and driven to madness.
For the Extra-Planar beings and Deities aligned to Chaotic Evil, expect them to be the exact opposite, to be ruthless but very efficient tacticians in what they do. In some cases, these beings just want to cause Chaos to create Chaos, as their alignment implies, just giving the world something to focus it's sights on by touching the aforementioned sentient being and driving them on their unholy quest. Indeed, expect some beings to be outright disinterested by the other worlds, only delighting in what death and destruction they do cause, to others and often themselves, but for no greater benefit. These whom share the opinion, often take the positions of Satan's lapdogs, where the bigger bad above them, usually, has some-kind of plan for extra-dimensional conquest and uses his underlings like dogs he often sees them as, but hasn't done anything yet because, "The time isnt right" or conditions havent been met.
Chaotic Evil characters love to kill, main, torture and incinerate and they care little for what the flame touches. In most cases, they are too far gone to be negotiated with or helped back onto a reasonable path. Both Lawful and Chaotic Good characters will see this type of evil crushed before all else. If Chaotic Evil is the big bad in a story, expect certain Lawful Evil factions to join the fray against them as they may view the appearance of this creature, whether it be an ancient, sealed away monster, deity or human whom has assimilated a vast amount of power from questionable forbidden arts as an act of pure destruction, and will align themselves with Good characters to bring the balance back, but expect just as many Lawful Evil characters to see this as a great coming to power and join the Chaotic Evil. As well as this, expect Lawful Neutral to step into the fray with a forbidden, ancient killing/sealing spell or have precious, forgotten knowledge on what to do to stop the big bad from destroying everything.
Chaotic Evil realms are discombobulated, burning and, quite literally, chaos where all laws of nature, matter and energy are to be thrown out the window every other moment in time. Expect all manner of Eldritch abominations to stem from here and expect total war with its inhabitants if you're unlucky enough to find yourself in their realm or find them invading your own. Dealing with the Chaotic Evil realms is never a good sign, as it often bodes ill that a big bad is coming or an apocalypse may be coming to a theater near you.

And that's it!

If you managed to live through all that, congrats :3 Thank you very much for reading. Now I'm going to go cool off my fingers in some ice and then work some more on my D&D campaign. Hope you all like the work and I'll see ya later ^-^