Secret Lesson 32

Alignment, Personality, and Character Details

Your character already has:

  • a Class

  • an Origin

  • a Background

  • a Species

  • Languages

  • Ability Scores

  • Ability Modifiers

But a playable character is more than a collection of statistics.

You also need to decide:

WHO THIS PERSON IS

One of the SRD's tools for describing that identity is:

ALIGNMENT

The SRD describes Alignment as a broad summary of a creature's:

ETHICAL ATTITUDES

and:

IDEALS

 

But Alignment is only one part of personality.

Your:

  • past

  • relationships

  • loyalties

  • experiences

  • motivations

can all help define how the character behaves.

PART ONE — WHAT IS ALIGNMENT?

Alignment is a shorthand description of a character's:

MORAL COMPASS

During character creation, choosing an Alignment is:

STEP 4

 

The system combines:

TWO FACTORS

FACTOR 1 — MORALITY

A creature can broadly be:

GOOD

EVIL

or:

NEUTRAL

FACTOR 2 — ATTITUDE TOWARD ORDER

A creature can broadly be:

LAWFUL

CHAOTIC

or:

NEUTRAL

 

COMBINING THE TWO FACTORS

The two dimensions create:

NINE ALIGNMENTS

They are:

LAWFUL GOOD — LG

NEUTRAL GOOD — NG

CHAOTIC GOOD — CG

LAWFUL NEUTRAL — LN

NEUTRAL — N

CHAOTIC NEUTRAL — CN

LAWFUL EVIL — LE

NEUTRAL EVIL — NE

CHAOTIC EVIL — CE

 

ALIGNMENT IS BROAD

The SRD makes an important point:

THESE DESCRIPTIONS REPRESENT TYPICAL BEHAVIOR

Individual creatures can:

VARY

from those descriptions.

So Alignment is not a script controlling every action.

It is a:

BROAD CHARACTERIZATION

of values and tendencies.

ALIGNMENT DOES NOT MEAN PERFECT CONSISTENCY

A Lawful Good character does not have to make the same type of decision every time.

A Chaotic Neutral character does not have to behave randomly every minute.

A Neutral Good character can occasionally follow a strict rule.

Alignment summarizes a general pattern rather than replacing:

CHARACTER PERSONALITY

CIRCUMSTANCES

DECISION-MAKING

THE NINE ALIGNMENTS

Now let's examine every Alignment in the SRD.

1. LAWFUL GOOD — LG

Lawful Good creatures try to:

DO WHAT IS RIGHT

in the way society expects.

The SRD gives the example of someone who:

  • fights injustice

  • protects innocent people

  • does so without hesitation

 

LAWFUL GOOD — CORE IDEA

GOOD + ORDER

Such a character might place importance on:

  • justice

  • responsibility

  • duty

  • laws

  • honorable institutions

when those systems serve what the character sees as good.

EXAMPLE CHARACTER CONCEPT

A knight who believes civilization survives only when honorable people uphold just laws.

The character may think:

“DO THE RIGHT THING, AND DO IT HONORABLY.”

2. NEUTRAL GOOD — NG

Neutral Good creatures try to:

DO THE BEST THEY CAN

They may work within rules but don't necessarily feel completely bound by them.

NEUTRAL GOOD — CORE IDEA

GOOD FIRST

Rules can be useful.

Freedom can be useful.

But helping others is more important than rigid loyalty to either extreme.

EXAMPLE

A healer follows the law when possible.

But if breaking a rule is necessary to save an innocent person:

THE PERSON MATTERS MORE THAN THE RULE

3. CHAOTIC GOOD — CG

Chaotic Good creatures tend to follow:

THEIR CONSCIENCE

with relatively little concern for what others expect.

The SRD gives the example of a rebel who steals the tax money of a cruel baron and uses it to help poor people.

CHAOTIC GOOD — CORE IDEA

GOOD + PERSONAL FREEDOM

A Chaotic Good character may distrust:

  • oppressive laws

  • corrupt authorities

  • rigid traditions

when those things prevent people from doing what is right.

EXAMPLE

A rebel hero who breaks unjust laws to protect ordinary people.

The character might believe:

“A LAW ISN'T GOOD JUST BECAUSE SOMEONE WROTE IT.”

4. LAWFUL NEUTRAL — LN

Lawful Neutral characters act according to:

  • law

  • tradition

  • personal codes

 

The SRD describes someone who follows a disciplined way of life without being easily moved either by:

  • people in need

  • temptations toward evil

as a possible Lawful Neutral example.

LAWFUL NEUTRAL — CORE IDEA

ORDER, DUTY, OR CODE

The central concern isn't necessarily:

GOOD

or:

EVIL

Instead, the character may value:

  • structure

  • obligation

  • discipline

  • tradition

  • procedure

EXAMPLE

A judge who believes the stability of the legal system matters more than personal feelings about individual cases.

5. NEUTRAL — N

Neutral characters generally prefer to avoid taking strong sides in moral or ethical debates.

The SRD describes Neutral characters as people who:

DO WHAT SEEMS BEST AT THE TIME

and may simply have little interest in moral debate.

NEUTRAL — CORE IDEA

PRAGMATISM OR NONCOMMITMENT

A Neutral character might not strongly identify with:

  • Good

  • Evil

  • Law

  • Chaos

Instead, circumstances may matter more.

EXAMPLE

A practical traveler who tries to survive, protect friends, and make reasonable decisions without building their entire worldview around morality or ideology.

6. CHAOTIC NEUTRAL — CN

Chaotic Neutral creatures tend to:

FOLLOW THEIR WHIMS

and place great value on:

PERSONAL FREEDOM

 

The SRD gives the example of a wandering scoundrel surviving by their wits.

CHAOTIC NEUTRAL — CORE IDEA

FREEDOM FIRST

The character may dislike:

  • restrictions

  • obligations

  • authority

  • rigid expectations

without necessarily being committed to either Good or Evil.

IMPORTANT

Chaotic Neutral does not mean:

“DO COMPLETELY RANDOM THINGS”

The SRD describes valuing personal freedom, not behaving without personality or reason.

7. LAWFUL EVIL — LE

Lawful Evil creatures pursue what they want:

METHODICALLY

within the boundaries of:

  • codes

  • traditions

  • loyalty

  • systems of order

 

The SRD gives the example of an aristocrat exploiting citizens while scheming for power.

LAWFUL EVIL — CORE IDEA

SELFISH OR HARMFUL GOALS + STRUCTURE

Such a character might use:

  • hierarchy

  • contracts

  • institutions

  • law

  • discipline

to gain or maintain power.

EXAMPLE

A tyrant who keeps every promise precisely but writes those promises so that everyone else loses.

8. NEUTRAL EVIL — NE

Neutral Evil describes creatures who are:

UNBOTHERED BY THE HARM THEY CAUSE

while pursuing what they want.

The SRD gives the example of a criminal who robs and kills freely in pursuit of personal desires.

NEUTRAL EVIL — CORE IDEA

SELF-INTEREST WITHOUT MORAL CONCERN

Rules might be useful.

Freedom might be useful.

Neither matters as much as:

GETTING WHAT THE CHARACTER WANTS

EXAMPLE

A mercenary who will betray almost anyone when the reward is high enough.

9. CHAOTIC EVIL — CE

Chaotic Evil creatures act with:

ARBITRARY VIOLENCE

driven by things such as:

  • hatred

  • bloodlust

 

The SRD gives the example of a villain seeking:

  • vengeance

  • destruction

  • havoc

CHAOTIC EVIL — CORE IDEA

DESTRUCTIVE SELF-WILL

Such a character may reject both:

MORAL RESTRAINT

and:

ORDER

PLAYER CHARACTERS AND EVIL ALIGNMENTS

The SRD makes a specific assumption:

PLAYER CHARACTERS AREN'T ASSUMED TO BE EVIL

If you want to create an Evil character:

CHECK WITH YOUR GM

 

WHY CHECK WITH THE GM?

The SRD does not provide a special mechanical penalty for choosing Evil here.

Instead, this is a:

CAMPAIGN EXPECTATION

Your character's Alignment should fit the kind of group and story the GM is running.

ALIGNMENT REFERENCE GRID

Lawful Neutral Chaotic
Good Lawful Good Neutral Good Chaotic Good
Neutral Lawful Neutral Neutral Chaotic Neutral
Evil Lawful Evil Neutral Evil Chaotic Evil

This is the classic:

3 × 3 ALIGNMENT STRUCTURE

PART TWO — UNALIGNED CREATURES

Not every creature has an Alignment.

The SRD states that most creatures lacking the capacity for:

RATIONAL THOUGHT

are:

UNALIGNED

 

EXAMPLE — SHARK

The SRD uses a shark as the example.

A shark is:

A SAVAGE PREDATOR

but that doesn't make it morally:

EVIL

Instead:

IT IS UNALIGNED

 

DANGEROUS DOES NOT MEAN EVIL

This is an important distinction.

A creature can:

  • attack

  • kill prey

  • defend territory

  • behave violently

without having a moral Alignment.

If it lacks the rational capacity required for that moral framework:

UNALIGNED

may be appropriate.

ALIGNMENT VS. UNALIGNED

Neutral

Is an:

ALIGNMENT

Unaligned

Means the creature:

DOESN'T HAVE AN ALIGNMENT

These aren't the same thing.

PART THREE — PERSONALITY

The Character Creation section does not give player characters a separate mechanical:

“PERSONALITY SCORE”

or a required personality-stat system.

Instead, the SRD encourages you to develop personality through the character's:

PAST AND PRESENT

using Background and Species as inspiration.

WHERE PERSONALITY COMES FROM

Think about:

WHO RAISED YOU?

WHO WAS YOUR CLOSEST CHILDHOOD FRIEND?

DID YOU HAVE A PET?

HAVE YOU FALLEN IN LOVE?

DID YOU JOIN AN ORGANIZATION?

ARE YOU STILL PART OF IT?

WHAT FROM YOUR PAST MAKES YOU ADVENTURE NOW?

These are the specific kinds of questions the SRD suggests.

PERSONALITY IS MORE THAN ALIGNMENT

Consider two characters who are both:

LAWFUL GOOD

One could be:

  • cheerful

  • forgiving

  • idealistic

  • diplomatic

The other could be:

  • stern

  • disciplined

  • suspicious

  • uncompromising

Same Alignment.

Very different personalities.

EXAMPLE

Character A:

CHAOTIC GOOD

Personality:

  • humorous

  • compassionate

  • impulsive

  • deeply loyal to friends

Character B:

CHAOTIC GOOD

Personality:

  • quiet

  • suspicious of authority

  • patient

  • determined to protect the powerless

The Alignment describes a broad ethical direction.

It does not determine every personality trait.

BUILDING PERSONALITY FROM BACKGROUND

Suppose your character has the:

SOLDIER BACKGROUND

You might ask:

  • Did military life make you disciplined?

  • Did it make you cynical?

  • Did you love the camaraderie?

  • Did you hate authority?

  • Are you proud of your service?

  • Did something happen that made you leave?

The Background provides:

A STARTING POINT

Your answers define the character.

BUILDING PERSONALITY FROM SPECIES

Species can also inspire your history, but the SRD encourages you to:

IMAGINE YOUR PARTICULAR CHARACTER'S PAST

rather than assume every member of a Species has the same personality.

RELATIONSHIPS CREATE PERSONALITY

A useful character isn't defined only by:

“WHAT AM I LIKE?”

Also ask:

“WHO MATTERS TO ME?”

Potential relationships include:

  • family

  • childhood friends

  • romantic partners

  • teachers

  • rivals

  • comrades

  • religious communities

  • guilds

  • former employers

The SRD explicitly prompts several of these relationship questions.

ORGANIZATIONS

Your character might have belonged to:

A GUILD

A RELIGION

or another organization.

Then decide:

ARE YOU STILL A MEMBER?

This single question can create many story possibilities.

EXAMPLE

You once belonged to a temple.

Possible answers:

Still loyal

You adventure on the temple's behalf.

Left peacefully

You still have friends there.

Expelled

You may resent its leaders.

Escaped

The organization may still be searching for you.

Same original organization.

Four very different characters.

MOTIVATION FOR ADVENTURE

One of the SRD's most useful character questions is:

WHAT ELEMENTS OF YOUR PAST INSPIRE YOU TO GO ON ADVENTURES NOW?

 

WHY THIS QUESTION MATTERS

A character needs a reason to participate in the campaign.

Possible motivations could include:

  • duty

  • curiosity

  • revenge

  • discovery

  • protecting others

  • wealth

  • redemption

  • loyalty

  • ambition

Those specific examples are narrative possibilities rather than a fixed SRD list.

The SRD requirement is simply to use the character's past as inspiration for:

WHY THEY ADVENTURE NOW

 

SIMPLE MOTIVATION EXAMPLE

Background:

SAGE

Past:

You discovered references to a forgotten city.

Present motivation:

FIND THE CITY

You now have an immediate reason to explore dangerous places.

RELATIONSHIP-BASED MOTIVATION

Background:

SOLDIER

Past:

Your closest friend disappeared during a campaign.

Present motivation:

DISCOVER WHAT HAPPENED

That connection can immediately give the GM material for adventures.

PART FOUR — CHARACTER DETAILS

After choosing Alignment, the SRD moves to:

STEP 5 — CHARACTER CREATION DETAILS

This is where you fill in the remaining information on the character sheet.

RECORD CLASS FEATURES

The first instruction is to look at your Class's feature table and record:

YOUR LEVEL 1 FEATURES

If those features offer choices:

MAKE THOSE CHOICES

 

EXAMPLE

A Class feature might ask you to choose:

  • a particular option

  • a Fighting Style

  • a sacred role

  • another Class-specific choice

Your character isn't complete until the required choices have been made.

MECHANICAL DETAILS

Step 5 also has you fill in important numbers such as:

SAVING THROWS

SKILLS

PASSIVE PERCEPTION

HIT POINTS

HIT DICE

INITIATIVE

ARMOR CLASS

ATTACKS

SPELLCASTING STATISTICS

 

These calculations are part of finishing the character.

We introduced them in Lesson 28.

Several will be examined more deeply in the next lessons.

NARRATIVE DETAILS AND MECHANICAL DETAILS WORK TOGETHER

A completed character therefore has two broad kinds of information.

MECHANICAL IDENTITY

Things such as:

  • Class

  • Ability Scores

  • Proficiencies

  • AC

  • HP

  • attacks

  • spells

NARRATIVE IDENTITY

Things such as:

  • Alignment

  • personal history

  • relationships

  • organizations

  • motivation

  • personality

Neither side replaces the other.

Together they create:

THE PLAYER CHARACTER

COMPLETE CHARACTER IDENTITY EXAMPLE

Let's imagine:

Class:

PALADIN

Background:

SOLDIER

Species:

HUMAN

Alignment:

LAWFUL GOOD

PAST

Who raised you?

YOUR GRANDPARENTS

Who was your childhood friend?

ANOTHER FUTURE SOLDIER

Organization?

A ROYAL MILITARY ORDER

Still a member?

NO

Why adventure?

YOUR FORMER COMMANDER WAS FRAMED FOR TREASON

PERSONALITY

Perhaps the character is:

  • disciplined

  • polite

  • loyal

  • uncomfortable with dishonesty

  • protective of ordinary soldiers

ALIGNMENT

Lawful Good reflects the broad tendency to:

DO WHAT IS RIGHT WITHIN A SENSE OF DUTY AND ORDER

But the specific:

  • loyalty

  • manners

  • discomfort with lies

  • military relationships

come from the character's individual personality and history.

SECOND EXAMPLE

Class:

ROGUE

Background:

CRIMINAL

Species:

HALFLING

Alignment:

CHAOTIC GOOD

PAST

Raised by:

AN OLDER SIBLING

Childhood friend:

A LOCAL STREET PERFORMER

Former organization:

A THIEVES' GUILD

Still a member?

NO

Motivation:

STEAL BACK WHAT THE GUILD TOOK FROM POOR FAMILIES

PERSONALITY

  • sociable

  • distrustful of authority

  • generous

  • jokes when nervous

  • fiercely protective of friends

Again:

ALIGNMENT IS ONLY ONE PART OF THE CHARACTER

ALIGNMENT QUESTIONS

If you're unsure which Alignment fits, ask two questions.

QUESTION 1

When morality matters, does the character generally lean toward:

GOOD

NEUTRAL

or:

EVIL?

QUESTION 2

When rules, authority, and freedom matter, does the character generally lean toward:

LAWFUL

NEUTRAL

or:

CHAOTIC?

Combine the answers.

EXAMPLE

Good + Lawful:

LAWFUL GOOD

Good + Chaotic:

CHAOTIC GOOD

Neutral morality + Lawful:

LAWFUL NEUTRAL

Evil + Neutral toward order:

NEUTRAL EVIL

DON'T FORCE AN ALIGNMENT BEFORE YOU KNOW THE CHARACTER

You can also think about:

  • values

  • history

  • relationships

  • motivation

first.

Then ask:

WHICH ALIGNMENT BEST SUMMARIZES THIS PERSON?

The Alignment can follow the concept rather than creating the entire concept.

ALIGNMENT IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR ROLEPLAYING

Simply writing:

NEUTRAL GOOD

doesn't tell the table:

  • how your character speaks

  • what frightens them

  • who they love

  • what they regret

  • why they adventure

  • whether they are patient

  • whether they have a sense of humor

Those details come from:

YOUR CHARACTERIZATION

ROLEPLAYING CONSISTENCY

A useful approach is to decide a few stable ideas.

For example:

VALUE

“People deserve a second chance.”

RELATIONSHIP

“I will never abandon my younger brother.”

MOTIVATION

“I need to discover who destroyed my village.”

PERSONAL HABIT

“I always try diplomacy before violence.”

These details can make decisions at the table easier.

They are examples of roleplaying development, not mandatory SRD mechanical fields.

IMPORTANT SOURCE DISTINCTION

The SRD 5.2.1 explicitly provides:

  • the nine Alignments

  • the Unaligned concept

  • questions about your past

  • organizations and relationships

  • motivation for adventuring

  • instructions to fill in remaining character details

It does not establish a separate mandatory numerical personality system in this Character Creation section.

Therefore:

PERSONALITY IS PRIMARILY NARRATIVE HERE

while Alignment is the formal shorthand supplied by the rules.

COMMON BEGINNER MISTAKES

MISTAKE 1 — THINKING ALIGNMENT CONTROLS EVERY ACTION

The SRD says the descriptions represent:

TYPICAL BEHAVIOR

and individuals can differ.

MISTAKE 2 — THINKING LAWFUL MEANS “OBEYS EVERY LAW”

Lawful alignment broadly concerns attitudes toward:

ORDER

The SRD descriptions also reference:

  • tradition

  • codes

  • disciplined ways of life

not only government law.

MISTAKE 3 — THINKING CHAOTIC NEUTRAL MEANS RANDOM

The SRD emphasizes:

PERSONAL FREEDOM

not random behavior.

MISTAKE 4 — THINKING NEUTRAL AND UNALIGNED ARE THE SAME

NEUTRAL

is one of the nine Alignments.

UNALIGNED

means the creature lacks an Alignment.

MISTAKE 5 — CALLING A PREDATORY ANIMAL EVIL AUTOMATICALLY

The SRD explicitly uses the shark to show that a savage predator can be:

UNALIGNED

rather than Evil.

MISTAKE 6 — MAKING AN EVIL PC WITHOUT TALKING TO THE GM

The SRD asks you to:

CHECK WITH YOUR GM

before creating an Evil player character.

MISTAKE 7 — USING ALIGNMENT AS THE ENTIRE PERSONALITY

Two characters can share an Alignment while having completely different:

  • histories

  • relationships

  • motivations

  • temperaments

MISTAKE 8 — IGNORING YOUR CHARACTER'S PAST

The SRD specifically encourages you to think about:

  • who raised you

  • childhood relationships

  • organizations

  • love

  • motivation for adventure

 

MISTAKE 9 — CREATING A BACKSTORY WITH NO REASON TO ADVENTURE

One of the SRD's explicit prompts is:

WHAT IN YOUR PAST INSPIRES YOU TO ADVENTURE NOW?

 

MISTAKE 10 — FORGETTING TO COMPLETE CLASS FEATURE CHOICES

Step 5 tells you to:

RECORD LEVEL 1 CLASS FEATURES

and make any choices those features offer.

LESSON 32 — KEY TAKEAWAYS

ALIGNMENT IS

A BROAD DESCRIPTION OF ETHICAL ATTITUDES AND IDEALS

 

IT COMBINES TWO FACTORS

MORALITY

GOOD

NEUTRAL

EVIL

and:

ATTITUDE TOWARD ORDER

LAWFUL

NEUTRAL

CHAOTIC

THE NINE ALIGNMENTS ARE

LAWFUL GOOD

NEUTRAL GOOD

CHAOTIC GOOD

LAWFUL NEUTRAL

NEUTRAL

CHAOTIC NEUTRAL

LAWFUL EVIL

NEUTRAL EVIL

CHAOTIC EVIL

 

ALIGNMENT DESCRIBES TYPICAL BEHAVIOR

Individuals:

CAN VARY

 

EVIL PLAYER CHARACTERS

The game assumes PCs aren't Evil.

Before choosing an Evil Alignment:

CHECK WITH THE GM

 

UNALIGNED

Creatures without the capacity for rational moral thinking may have:

NO ALIGNMENT

The SRD's example is:

A SHARK

 

PERSONALITY

The SRD encourages you to build personality through:

PAST

RELATIONSHIPS

ORGANIZATIONS

MOTIVATION

 

CHARACTER DETAILS

After Alignment:

COMPLETE THE REST OF YOUR CHARACTER SHEET

including Class Features and remaining mechanical statistics.

NEXT LESSON

LESSON 33 — SIZE, SPEED, AND OTHER CHARACTER STATISTICS

Your character now has:

  • an identity

  • a moral outlook

  • a history

  • motivations

  • Ability Scores

Next we focus on several important statistics that determine how your character exists physically within the game world.

In Lesson 33, we will study:

SIZE

  • Tiny

  • Small

  • Medium

  • Large

  • Huge

  • Gargantuan

  • the space associated with each Size

  • how Species determines character Size

  • how Size interacts with creature spaces

  • Size differences in Grappling, Shoving, and movement

SPEED

  • what Speed represents

  • Species and Speed

  • movement on a turn

  • special Speeds

  • Speed 0

  • how Speed interacts with Difficult Terrain and other rules

and other important character statistics and sheet values connected to your character's physical presence in the game.

SRD 5.2.1 ATTRIBUTION

This work includes material from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 (“SRD 5.2.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available at https://www.dndbeyond.com/srd. The SRD 5.2.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.