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You may have noticed by now that certain chatrooms ask for you to fill out an "alignment" section for your character sheet. This isn't their sexual orientation, nor is it if they are wall-eyed or cross-eyed. It's actually their tendencies towards good or evil as well as law or chaos. DnD players will be familiar with these.

Every character follows what they think is the right thing to do, but each character has a different definition of what is right and what is wrong, as well as what they should do about it, and that is defined by their alignment. A character on the "good" alignment, for example, would think it will be right to help someone who's in danger. An evil character would think it might be best if the person didn't manage to overcome the ordeal, whereas a neutral character wouldn't mind either way. The way the character will ensure that their choices are carried out is their alignment towards law or chaos; lawful characters will usually try to stir up as little attention as they can, or will at least try to stay out of trouble with authority and law-enforcement groups. Chaotic characters would disrespect laws just so their plan can go the way they wanted, and neutral characters would – once again – not mind either way; they would often take the time to weigh options before acting too drastically.

Here is a list of all the possible alignments, as well as a short description of each:

Lawful Good: This kind of character will usually go by the law and try not to cause unnecessary trouble, and will always attempt to help those who need it and to crush those who disrupt peace. Most of the "knight in shining armour" kinds of characters will have this alignment, as well as any brave and powerful saviour. Lawful Good characters will usually be very chivalrous, and may also hold on to a code of honour and consider anyone who disrespects it as evil. Some of them might be considered like extremists by some of the less assiduous people on the "good" alignment. I recommend this type of character for newbies, because their mindsets aren't overly complex, and they are stable characters. On the other hand, interaction might be awkward with these characters since they may be stuck-up or overly vehement when faced with "not good".

Neutral Good: A character that tries to do good without particularly going overboard with the "saviour" character side will usually be considered Neutral Good. They are the "everyday good guy" type of character; they would usually do things like most people would in real life to help someone. No chivalrous stand or epic confrontation against evil for those guys a lot of the time; they just aim for the individual happiness of others. Neutral Good characters could be counsellors or good Samaritans, among others, and would usually act calmly and rationally when someone is in trouble. This type of character may a good choice for rookies because it lets you be a "good" character without having to partake in saving the world or defeating the bad guys. This might restrict some possibilities for "epic" plots to happen, though, which I know are commonly popular to rookie roleplayers.

Chaotic Good: Characters with this alignment are good-natured, but will often do things in an inconsiderate manner. Their conception of good is unhindered by the laws of society, and as such they may actually be dangerous when trying to do what they believe is right. They are very free-spirited in general, but might be close-minded about doing things someone else's way at times. These characters will sometimes play roles similar to Batman; they may be wanted by the police or any other form of authority fitting the era and setting, but they will do whatever they can on their own to bring justice to wrong-doers. They are vigilantes, and hold the city or area they protect just as dear as anyone living inside it, but they're the ones who take action to defend it. I might or might not recommend this alignment for rookie roleplayers, since characters featuring it will usually be very impulsive (which might be a good or bad thing), and one of the results of this is that their behaviour might often be destructive and might endanger everyone around them. However, they are perfect for "save the world" plots.

Lawful Neutral: They don't really mind the fight between good and evil, or don't care about taking part in it. Lawful Neutral characters just want to stay safe by not joining one side to put the other side against them, and by following the laws so as to not potentially get both against them and be considered as evil by the law. These characters will often be excellent at remaining on an acceptable level of relationship with most people, but will hardly ever take risks; they revere the status quo as being the best way to keep themselves out of danger. I somewhat recommend this alignment for rookies because it'll allow your character to interact on a non-hostile, non-hateful level with most other characters so that you can avoid starting a roleplay with a hateful relationship between characters. However, your character, when given that alignment, might be arguably restrained by the laws it follows.

True Neutral: These characters are rather particular; in a one-hour period of time, they may do things both a Neutral Evil and a Lawful Good character may do. They decide to help those whom they think need help when they do, and might go against those they previously helped in order to assist another needy party. These characters may be committed to being entirely neutral, but they may also simply be undecided on which side they want to embrace. Thus, they try interacting with several different people in order to maintain their neutrality or in order to get a better idea of what they want. A True Neutral character is a difficult character to efficiently portray; they are arguably the most difficult characters to play as. I wouldn't recommend you try using one until you fully understand the implications of this alignment. A True Neutral character requires a near-perfect balance of both axes of alignment, good/evil and lawful/chaotic, yet should be detached from either side of both.

Chaotic Neutral: They might be selfish, they might just be impulsive, but the fact is that they don't give a damn about what others think. The Chaotic Neutral alignment englobes characters who will act against the laws of society because it pleases them; they don't care about being good or evil, they just want to live freely. Non-villainous thieves, impulsive thinkers, mercenaries... these are examples of characters which would make the brunt of this alignment. They all do things for themselves or for a reward, and don't care about consequences; they don't realize it's good or evil, and they don't mind if it is, so long as they get their fun or their money. I recommend this alignment to rookie roleplayers mostly, as it may be fun to play for a while, but you might soon realize that unless your character feels restricted somewhat, the fun is taken out (NDA: this is entirely arbitrary, do not take my word for it).

Lawful Evil: These characters like to bring pain to others, kick puppies and kitties, be scary, and overall bring a sort of bad impression to others so that they will fear and respect them. They may have an army of minions at their disposal (usually comprised of Neutral Evils and Chaotic Evils). Though Lawful Evils care about destroying good, they will often be selective of their targets and methods, and will always make sure that they don't bring too much attention to themselves until they know it's safe. In other words, they are bad guys with a conscience. Though this conscience is telling them "be evil but be careful", it's still a conscience. The Lawful Evil alignment also includes characters who want everything to be the way they want it no matter what everyone else thinks about it; those who want to take over the world. I recommend this type of character for newbies because they make acceptable bad guys all the while being able to function perfectly normally in society; they know when to appear normal and when to let themselves go. The "ruler of the world" side of Lawful Evil may be less recommended for a player character, however. (NDA: Evil alignments are usually harder to roleplay than Good, since they often lack the social willingness and mental integrity of the other extreme of the Good/Evil alignment, therefore often resulting in conflict.)

Neutral Evil: No character can stand this character. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating, but it's got no manners, criticizes everyone, and overall just tries to make people feel bad for what they do. Most people would just want to give it a good slap and a "shut up" to make it sober up on the ego trip. It does what it does because it likes to be right, or because it wants everyone to do as it says. Either way, it most likely won't be saying sorry, nor will it admit being wrong. You can forget about that happening unless you have a knife on its neck or a gun pressed against its head. It may even find a way to bring itself justice by bringing up an old point again and twisting it so that it becomes "true" for the particular situation the characters are in at the moment. This type of character is very often conceited, and doesn't feel like it needs friends because it's too proud, and anyways, someone who isn't this character would just annoy it. They may not realize that what they're doing is "evil", because they do it for themselves, and they feel that whatever they do for themselves is "good". This type of character is hardly advisable as a main character in a roleplay, because it would very often just nag and start an in-RP argument, which would stall the roleplay. They may be interesting secondary non-player characters, however.

Chaotic Evil: You might remember a mention of this alignment from the Personality section tutorial, and how they are nearly impossible to roleplay as or with, and I will now explain what makes them so unrecommended even for experienced roleplayers. These characters are mainly those that would find themselves in an asylum for the criminally insane if it wasn't that this or that thing about them in their abilities or history prevents them from landing in there. They not only wish to be evil, but they also don't care what kind of evil they do; they are content blowing up buildings, causing chaos and fear, spreading bloodbaths, and destroying anything that doesn't scream "evil". These characters will often be portrayed as insane, and might work better in a duo with a Lawful Neutral, Lawful Evil or Neutral Evil character holding them back from doing whatever they want. I do not recommend this alignment in a stand-alone character unless you know perfectly well what you are doing and are able to find ways to counteract the character's instability.

These nine alignments are the easiest way to efficiently categorize your characters. HOWEVER! Your character doesn't have to follow its alignment perfectly; characters that are the physical embodiment of their alignment in every single way are rare and may be very bland. Your character is unique, and its alignment is simply a way to identify its usual personality.

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Wrapping it all up, your character has two types of alignments which determine it; good/evil and lawful/chaotic, in which it can choose from either extreme or neither (in which case it is neutral). Some people prefer thinking about the alignment first, meaning the chosen alignment would determine the way the character acts, whereas others would prefer determining the personality and habits first, which would then fix the alignment.

It's up to you; choosing the alignment first may restrict your character's "uniqueness" a little, but choosing personality and habits first may make it hard to tell which alignment it belongs to in certain cases.