                    THE GUIDE TO TRAITS' EFFECTS ON ALIGNMENT

             Suggested Alignment Adjustments for NPC (and PC) Traits

                                       by

                             Matthew "Xeno" Shelton
                            <mlsheltn@cc.memphis.edu>


The traits shown in this guide and their suggested alignment adjustments are a way to give a kind of method to deciding a player character's or non-player character's alignment. The idea is to add and balance out all the traits, which will indicate a balance on the two alignments or a tilt towards one extreme or the other.
     Given that a character is perfectionist, irritable, vengeful, and covetous, these traits give the following values according to which alignments they affect: 1L (perf), 1C (irri), 1E (veng), and 2E (covt). These numbers aren't treated as positive or negative; though one can consider law/chaos and good/evil to be two positive/negative scales. The numbers would then read +1LC, -2LC, -1GE, -2GE, but you may use whichever notation that is most readable to you
     Using the above traits, we find that the balance on the two alignments come out to 1 Chaotic, and 3 Evil. Interpreting this in light of the standard nine alignments, this indicates a chaotic evil character. Looking at it speculatively, the character is slightly chaotic and significantly evil (but not evil incarnate).
     Some races are naturally more evil, good, lawful, or chaotic than the rest. Accordingly, one should apply appropriate adjustments to reflect this. A (N)PC Drow might have 5C/5E, while a minotaur would have an adjustment of 3C/5E (they do not respect law or the status quo but are a disciplined). A Gold dragon might have a 5L/5G, or even a 6L/6G. As a general rule, the races having the most extreme alignments should receive the maximum of 7 to tip the character's alignment towards its race's alignment norm. Few if anything should have a 7 for any alignment, unless they are unsurpassed in that particular alignment (a god, for example).
     Applying traits to alignments should not be done by considering a character's behavior on the basis of singular instances; rather, the DM needs to chart a general progression of a character's alignment remaining true to form (or shifting towards another one). Only if a character has taken on a certain trait for a good amount of time should that trait then be applied to determining alignment (habits are hard to pick up and hard to break).
     It is also recommended that if a character exhibits a trait in an extreme form (such as extreme kind-heartedness) then the adjustment for that trait (2G in this case) should be increased by 1.
     A character whose lawful and chaotic traits negate each other and/or whose good and evil traits negate each other, are considered to be Neutral in those areas. The lawful, chaotic, good, and evil alignments can be weighted; this is not true for neutrality, even though one character may emphasize neutrality more than another (the neutrality in law and chaos in regard to a neutral good farmer versus the neutrality of a high-level druid, for instance).
     If a certain trait from the DMG isn't listed, it was either because I couldn't see it affecting alignment in any way. The assignments I gave to the traits are my own judgments of what's what; others may feel differently and they are entitled to use whatever alterations they might think will be more accurate. DMs are free to rule on any trait, increasing or decreasing the adjustment or changing that trait's alignment, or excluding it from consideration altogether.
     Some traits will have more than one adjustment listed; both adjustments should be applied (it is not an either-or situation).


     TRAIT                           ADJUST    NOTES

     Antagonistic                    1C & 1E   promotes chaos and is selfish
     Argumentative                   1C
     Arrogant                        1E
     Avaricious (more than selfish)  3C & 2E
     Barbaric (savage)               2C & 2E
     Benevolent (of rulers)          2L & 2G
     Bigoted                         2E
     Blustering                      1C
     Boorish                         1C
     Brave1 (average, steady)        1L        } related to creature's morale
     Brave2 (elite, champion)        2L        } rating or PC's role-played
     Brave3 (fanatical, fearless)    3L        } morale rating
     Capricious                      1C
     Careless                        1C
     Cavalier (almost chivalrous)    1C & 1G   "3 Musketeers"
     Charitable                      2G
     Compassionate                   3G
     Covetous                        2E
     Cowardly1 (unsteady)            1C
     Cowardly2 (unreliable)          2C
     Cowardly3 (gutless)             3C
     Cruel (more than rude or mean)  2C & 2E
     Deceitful                       2E
     Driven                          1L
     Easy-Going                      1G
     Elitist                         1E
     Exacting                        2L
     Foolhardy                       1C
     Forgiving                       2G
     Friendly                        1G
     Generous                        2G
     Greedy                          1E
     Hard-Hearted                    2L & 2E   unyielding and inconsiderate
     Harsh                           1L & 1E   sternness with some cruelty
     Haughty                         2E
     Helpful                         1G
     Honest                          1L & 1G   a little under truthful
     Hot-Tempered                    1C
     Humble                          2L & 3G
     Immature (childish)             1C & 1E
     Immoral1 (rare slip-up)         1C        } Immoral is associated
     Immoral2 (dabbler)              1C & 1E   } with sinfulness, wickedness
     Immoral3 (frequent)             1C & 2E   } evil, or otherwise corrupt
     Immoral4 (absolute)             2C & 3E   } behavior.
     Impulsive                       2C
     Insensitive                     1E
     Irreverent                      2E
     Irritable                       1C
     Jealous                         1E
     Kind                            2G
     Kind-Hearted                    2G
     Lazy                            2C
     Level-Headed                    2L
     Loyal                           2L
     Lusty (lecherous)               2E
     Madcap                          3C
     Mature (adult)                  1L & 1G   similar to sober
     Mischievious                    1C
     Miserly                         1E        less than selfish
     Moody                           1C
     Obedient (to authority)         3L
     Overbearing (controlling)       2E
     Perfectionist                   1L
     Pleasant                        1G
     Polite                          1L & 1G
     Practical                       1L
     Proud                           2E
     Punctual                        2L
     Reverent                        3G
     Rude                            1E
     Sadistic (engaging in torture)  3C & 3E
     Scheming                        1E
     Selfish (more than miserly)     2E
     Sober (frank, serious)          1L & 2G   not associated with drunkenness
     Stern (disciplined)             1L        not the same as harsh (not evil)
     Thoughtless (negligent)         1C
     Thrifty                         1L
     Truthful                        2L & 2G
     Tyrannical (of rulers)          2L & 2E
     Uncivilized (uncouth)           1C        primitive, uneducated
     Vengeful                        1E
     Violent1 (occasional scuffle)   1C & 1E
     Violent2 (fights often)         2C & 1E
     Violent3 (menace to society)    3C & 2E
     Warlike (rambunctious)          1C        similar to violent but less evil

Many of these traits were gleaned from the Dungeon Master's Guide, pages 114 to 115, the Random NPC Traits Table. I have also added several of my own traits. I encourage everyone to add new traits of their own, and I would appreciate any new traits that can be added to this guide.
     When adding new traits, consider the following. (1) Is this trait unique? If there is a trait already listed that is too synonymous with the new trait, then perhaps it should be lef alone. English has a lot of words for the same behaviors; one need only think about all the different words for being drunk to realize this. (2) Would this trait really affect alignment (as far as suggesting personal discipline or the lack thereof, morality, concern for others vs. oneself, regard for authority, etc.)? If the new trait meets these criteria, then it is probably a good candidate to be added to the list. Keep in mind that this alignment system does not necessarily regard chaotic behavior as evil or lawful behavior as good; the lawful good mindset that I personally have makes it difficult to put these traits in a neutral perspective (i.e., not everything is in black and white, CE or LG).


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This text written by: Xeno (mlsheltn@cc.memphis.edu)
Internet Address: http://www.people.memphis.edu
(c) 1997 by Matthew Shelton, where applicable.
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