D&D moral alignment
The Dungeons & Dragons moral alignment grid plots characters on two axes, law versus chaos and good versus evil, yielding nine combined alignments. The good-evil axis was added by Gary Gygax in a 1976 article, incorporated into the 1977 Basic Set, and the full nine-alignment grid was canonized in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook (1978); it sorts people by their stance on order versus freedom and altruism versus self-interest.
A playful framework from tabletop gaming, not a scientifically validated personality model. (Gary Gygax / TSR, Dungeons & Dragons; good-evil axis introduced 1976, nine-alignment grid canonized in the AD&D Player's Handbook (1978))
Groups
- Lawful Good — Upholds order and rules as the path to protecting others, combining respect for structure with genuine concern for the welfare of all.
- Neutral Good — Pursues doing good as a goal in itself, working with or around law and chaos as needed to help others.
- Chaotic Good — Values personal freedom and conscience over rules, doing good by following one's own heart rather than imposed order.
- Lawful Neutral — Acts in accordance with order, tradition, or a personal code, valuing consistency and structure above questions of good or evil.
- True Neutral — Holds no strong allegiance to order or freedom nor to altruism or self-interest, often seeking balance or simply acting on practical need.
- Chaotic Neutral — Prizes individual freedom and self-direction above all, resisting both rules and obligations to good or evil.
- Lawful Evil — Pursues self-interest through order, hierarchy, and rules, exploiting structure and codes to dominate or control others.
- Neutral Evil — Seeks personal gain by whatever means is most effective, using or discarding law and chaos with little regard for others.
- Chaotic Evil — Acts on selfish desire and impulse with contempt for both rules and the well-being of others, valuing freedom to harm above all.
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