D&D alignments suck. There, I said it. They suck in every edition of the tabletop game, but they particularly suck in D&D videogames. What a relief to hear Baldur’s Gate 3 isn’t using them at all.
For those unfamiliar, alignment is a sort of objective label for a D&D character’s morality. Different editions have had different categories of alignment, but the one used most widely across the editions rates characters along an axis of lawful vs chaotic and good vs evil. A Lawful Good character is kind and just, and always follows the laws of the land as much as possible; a Chaotic Evil character follows their dark heart’s desire, inflicting death and suffering whenever they wish. Characters can be neutral on one or both axes too. A Chaotic Neutral character believes in freedom and self-determination above all; a True Neutral (neutral to both) character seeks balance in all things; a Neutral Good character devotes themselves to… er, get back to me on that one.
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(Image credit: Larian Studios)
It’s a system that held on for a long time because of nostalgia and tradition, but it’s always been awkward and reductive….