Oh spoot! We all know that religion, money, and alignment are the three topics to avoid in polite conversation, and I’ve just mentioned the third. Well, since I’m being rude, I might as well go all out and say that alignment is dead. Isn’t it?

A Short Bro History of Alignment

Michael Moorcock is probably the inventor of alignment. Moorcock’s Elric of Melniboné was an agent of Chaos, and he turned to Chaotic powers to fight against Chaos so that Law would return some modicum of balance to the force world. Moorcock also invented the eight-pointed Chaos symbol, which Games Workshop stole appropriated for Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000. And, since sword and sorcery was an important inspiration for Dungeons & Dragons, it’s not hard to blame Gary Gygax for stealing appropriating Moorcock’s idea about Chaos and Law for D&D.

But I don’t think Moorcock intended Law or Chaos to define a person in the same way alignment defines a character. Elric fought on the side of Good and of Law, but he was a murdering psychopath who killed friends and lovers while in the throes of his bloodlust. Yes, an evil sword was involved, but if Elric was Lawful Good, he’d never have picked up the sword in the first place.

What About Religion?

I don’t believe people are intrinsically good. Or intrinsically evil, in the way we commonly understand evil to include a willingness to murder, rape, and steal. But we are susceptible to temptation. We lie, and then lie to ourselves that the lie was only a white lie. If lying is evil, then, by lying, we become evil.

No. Some deep theological understandings need unpacking to fully understand this concept, but I believe we’re better off describing ourselves as broken sinners. Only God is good. Humans rock the needle on the Good-Bad sensor so wildly back and forth that using Good or Bad as an indicator of character is useless. My proof is every role model out there who has ever fallen from public opinion.

A Better Solution or No Solution At All

Alignment is useful in the same way icons on a phone are useful. They’re a simplification. For a game, that’s all you need. Alignment gave us nine ways to define a character, and it worked. Mostly. There were many arguments.

One of the many things I love about Pathfinder Second Edition is that alignment vanished, and we got evil and good baked into traits like holy and unholy. This isn’t alignment. This isn’t a feeling. We can finally have morally gray characters.

I think alignment still has its uses. When I build characters or monsters, I often give them an alignment even if it isn’t going to be published or on the character sheet. It’s a cue for me. But those cues are becoming less meaningful, especially as I work to create better-rounded characters.