What's your alignment?

Big_Chris

I really like systems for categorizing and understanding people. I understand that people don't fit in boxes but I like to think up the boxes anyways. I see talk every now and then about the ol' MBTI or enneagram and yeah that's cool but have you ever played Dungeons and Dragons?

For those that don't know, character alignment in D&D is a two-axis measurement of how your character (the role you are playing) might act in any given circumstance. It is less applicable in the real world than middle earth, but its possible to think of normal people falling somewhere in the alignment chart.

The first axis is somewhere between law and chaos. Law represents stability, order, and control. Chaos represents free will, spontaneity, and change. If you have no preference or are evenly split, you might be the third option: neutral.

The next axis is Good and Evil. Good represents altruism, trust, and respect. Evil represents selfishness, power, and superiority. Again here we have a neutral option as well.

To get your alignment you add the two together, with the law/chaos part first. For example:
Chaotic Good
Lawful Evil
Neutral Good
Chaotic Neutral

If you have Neutral for both, then you're what's called true neutral.

There's plenty more info out there if you've never played and want to learn more, you can also take this quiz to find out what you might be:
http://easydamus.com/alignmenttest.html

The quiz is assuming you're a feudal adventurer but still mostly applies. I just took it and got Lawful Neutral. I think I slide between good and evil, while remaining solidly Lawful. Evil doesn't necessarily mean Hitler kind of evil. It can simply mean that you wouldn't stick your neck out if it put you at risk. I tend to think some people are bad people, and I'm better than them. This organization of human worth is a sign of evil in D&D.

If you already have a good idea about your alignment, thanks for reading the tutorial! Why do you think you have that alignment? Also if a thread like this already exists then I apologize, I couldn't find anything.

quixotic_life

Oooh Fun!!
@Big_Chris are you primarily asking for our alignment in real life/how we identify? Or for the alignment of a character we have/would like to play? Or both?

JasonCuddles

In real life I would consider myself about 60 percent lawful on the lawful/chaotic spectrum and I am not sure about the good/evil part.

On one hand I avoid purchasing products from coke and a bunch of other companies that are complete scum and I am ethical vegan....on the other hand I probably helped murder a child a few months ago and I sometimes give people cancer or other issues more than I really need to to live decently.

TheMidnightOwl

That was fun. I have strong conviction on certain things related to integrity and used to stick my neck out for everyone without hesitation. Experience has taught me that most people aren’t worth doing that for and wouldn’t do that for me, so I don’t martyr or stretch myself thin for every cause and relationship anymore. I’ll meet halfway but won’t do all the work. I have very little faith in leaders and government and support free will and individual choice over nanny statism. I think I’m getting to a positive balance.

sunnysideup

@TheMidnightOwl I got the same result. I too felt I was way too nice in my younger years, and have been actively working on toning back how much I help others. Because I'm tired of being taken advantage of.

alexis831

I got true neutral too, like @TheMidnightOwl

cualtzin

My result was True Neutral as well, which is not surprising. I don’t have many closely held convictions. Evaluating a situation depends on the details. I never know ahead of time what my opinion will be. And it’s always subject to change as new information emerges. Some people see this as weakness. But I’m proud I that I can reconsider my point of view.

However, true neutral runs the risk of inaction. Sometimes I’ll discuss politics with a co-worker. The guy is pretty wild and he’s full of inconsistencies and contradictions. But he volunteers to get out the vote for his party. And I just show up at the polls every few years, if at all.

quixotic_life

Ditto ~ True Neutral
The next highest was Chaotic Neutral.
I'm not surprised by either really.

Big_Chris

Many true neutral people!

Very interesting. I'm not sure how they break down all the numbers but it seems the neutral result is having an even spread of results.

@JasonCuddles the good/evil axis is a tough one. In DnD there's a clear line but reality is far from it. I think your hesitancy to assign yourself to good for fear of your faults tips you into the good side.

@TheMidnightOwl balance is good! I think I have a balance-based philosophy on life, never going too far in one direction. I challenged myself to dive into an extreme to prove that I could, and now I'm back to normal haha

@cualtzin Good points, neutral has the weakness of sometimes failing to act. From the game perspective, true neutral characters may have trouble making the decisions but are happy to follow the crowd. Unless they have some kind of militant neutrality like a Jedi.

@quixotic_life have you played before? Haha I'm also interested in what someone might want to play as. It seems most people want to play as chaotic good thanks to Batman and others. I think its interesting that animals are true neutral for the most part, acting on instinct. It's different for people but true neutral is closest to being in tune with nature.

Look at all these True Neutrals!! Well, time to shake things up

cookiecrumb

Ever heard of Meyers Briggs?

Big_Chris

Finally some variation @squeakytoy!

I find that chaotic is rare IRL because so many of us live in society and in order to do so, we have to respect it in some ways. How do you reconcile your free spirit with the standards for "normal"?

@cookiecrumb Yes! I love the MBTI, I like to take a look at how people fit into frameworks thanks to my J in INFJ. I like astrology for how it organizes things, even when I don't 100% believe in it. If you've read Homestuck, I also like typing people according to their class and element haha. Even simple Harry Potter classes are fun to sort people into. Every system is interesting and yet they all have holes and blindspots.

biancalovecraft

I got chaotic neutral too, but I answered while imagining living in a world with dragons and dungeons, and well, I guess we do when you think about it

EponymousName

Chaotic neutral, but an independent thinker and a bit distrustful of bureaucracy and not in lockstep with my family’s values. I think most rational people in society would get a few good and evils, but neutral is the default. Lawful and chaotic is how much do you place in bureaucracy.

I have played D&D, and generally like chaotic neutral/good plus neutral good and true neutral.

I don’t wish to break laws and try to abide by them. But, I also recognize laws can be used to oppress as opposed to enrich people’s lives, and heck no, I don’t want anything to do with jury duty. (Never served and no rational pair of lawyers would ever consent for me on a jury trial.)

Fun to play with, but I think most would be true neutral with some chaotic. Most people live vicariously through their D&D char. Maybe they want to be a thief, stealing and plundering. But, hard to imagine many being evil, and good is far too much effort. Lawful puts laws first, right or wrong. Really pigeonholes people into TN or CN.

I got Chaotic Neutral though in the detailed results section I got the same score of 22 for CN and CG.

Lawful Good ----- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (17)
Neutral Good ---- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (18)
Chaotic Good ---- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (22)
Lawful Neutral -- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (17)
True Neutral ---- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (18)
Chaotic Neutral - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (22)
Lawful Evil ----- XXXXXXXX (8)
Neutral Evil ---- XXXXXXXXX (9)
Chaotic Evil ---- XXXXXXXXXXXXX (13)

The thing with these kinds of tests is that they're going to be influenced by how you're feeling when you take them.

If you're had a shitty day then you might answer more pessimistically, if you've been overly emotional recently or feel you have been at least when you might try to over-correct that by being more cold in your answers than you usually would be, if you've recently had a bad experience with a king and he was a bit of a dick then maybe you would say you'd poison a king for money... okay maybe not that one. The same is true for Myers Briggs, the various Harry Potter house/Patronus tests, etc.

People also expect a certain result or are hoping for a certain result generally and/or also assume what result they're going to get which could make subconsciously nudge them towards answering in a way that lines up with their expectations of what they think they'll get rather than what's actually reflective of how they'd act or think in the scenarios the questions are describing.

Sideon

Chaotic Good, represent!

Alignment:
Lawful Good ----- XXXXXXXXXXXXX (13)
Neutral Good ---- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (20)
Chaotic Good ---- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (21)
Lawful Neutral -- XXXXXXXXXXX (11)
True Neutral ---- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (18)
Chaotic Neutral - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (19)
Lawful Evil ----- XXX (3)
Neutral Evil ---- XXXXXXXXXX (10)
Chaotic Evil ---- XXXXXXXXXXX (11)

Law & Chaos:
Law ----- XX (2)
Neutral - XXXXXXXXX (9)
Chaos --- XXXXXXXXXX (10)

Good & Evil:
Good ---- XXXXXXXXXXX (11)
Neutral - XXXXXXXXX (9)
Evil ---- X (1)

Serendipity7

Another True Neutral 😜 I try to do the smart or strategic thing.

Melomaniac9

Somehow I’m not surprised!