Explanation of what each alignment means here or here
[Note: I didn't put anyone for Neutral Good or Chaotic Neutral because most Good and Neutral characters in MDZS tend towards Lawful due to the tenets of their sects, so there weren't any major characters that fit.]
Justifications below:
Lan Wangji, Lawful Good - Prioritizes upholding good through the principles of his sect and of himself. Leans a little more chaotic when he's with Wei Wuxian.
Wei Wuxian, Chaotic Good - Protecting people and upholding good is very important to him, but he normally does it incidentally when he comes across injustice rather than seeking. He acts very flexibly based on the situation. He also generally doesn't conform to expectations, rules, and norms of cultivation society, even going against it if necessary to protect those who need it.
Lan Qiren, Lawful Neutral - Prioritizes upholding his sect's principles above anything else, even if it is not always "good" (e.g. campaign against Wei Wuxian and the Wen remnants).
Jiang Cheng, True Neutral - Prioritizes his family's survival and well-being above anything else, including the well-being of others unrelated to him. He'll do what's necessary to keep his sect and family safe but doesn't put too much weight on the principles and expectations of the cultivation world.
Jin Guangyao, Lawful Evil - Has a fairly strict set of principles and overall seeks to systematically rule his sect and improve the cultivation world and beyond, but achieves his goals through destroying and killing anyone who gets in his way. For the most part nothing personal, just business.
Wen Ruohan, Neutral Evil - No particular principles to guide him or goals besides keeping power. Commits many evil deeds. Leans chaotic due to unstable mood.
Xue Yang, Chaotic Evil - Does bad things because he wants to do them, not necessarily because he has a goal and definitely not because he has set principles he follows.
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Other Character Alignments based on my opinion:
Lawful Good: Lan Sizhui (follows Lan precepts, kind and open-minded), Nie Mingjue (strong principles directed towards justice), Xiao Xingchen & Song Lan
Lawful Neutral, leaning Good: Lan Jingyi, Jin Ling, Jiang Yanli, Jin Zixuan, Lan Xichen (all protect people because it is part of their profession; all follow clan precepts)
True Neutral, leaning Good: Wen Ning, Wen Qing (both care most about family but willing to take risks to help others in need, i.e. Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian)
Lawful Neutral, leaning Evil: Jin Guangshan (Lawful because he's a cultivator, leaning Evil because he's a very scummy guy)
True Neutral: Nie Huaisang (uses clever methods neither lawful nor chaotic to get revenge on someone who deserved it)
Lawful Evil: Wen Zhuliu (lawfulness from strict loyalty)
Neutral Evil: Wen Chao, Su She (motivated by personal grudges and greed to do evil)
I've been thinking a lot about the MN's alignments lately. I think Beau was chaotic neutral and shifted to true neutral after molly's death and now may be shifting towards neutral good. I think Vandren!Fjord was lawful good and he dropped that after the iron shepherds and is true neutral. Caleb is true neutral. Nott is chaotic neutral. For me Jester straddles the line between chaotic good/chaotic neutral. Cadeusus is lawful neutral. Molly I never had a good read on. Yasha maybe chaotic neutral?
I haven’t done alignment meta in a while, so I’ll give it a go prompted by this ask. I agree of some of your theories, and disagree with others.
I also think the entire crew is just generally paying less attention to alignment this campaign. Alignment is one of the less helpful mechanics and seems kind of outdated, in my opinion, especially if you’re playing a really nuanced, role-play heavy long-term campaign. It can help at character creation as a guideline, but tends to be a restrictive, unhelpful box as characters get more and more developed. It’s also incredibly possible for every person at the table to have a different interpretation of what certain alignments mean (we’ve even seen a disagreement about that on CR between Matt and Laura). That being said:
Fjord
I never believed Travis when he said Fjord was Lawful Good. He’s far too…curious, in my opinion? He’s been willing to go against “lawful” restrictions from the beginning to satisfy his curiosity or accomplish the goal at hand. That being said, I do think he’s always been a “good” character, and remains one. He pulled out of the Uk'otoa release scheme in spite of his curiosity because (late in the game due to his low Wisdom) he sensed it would be “bad” in the grand scheme of things. I’d put him at Neutral Good.
Beau
We have confirmation from the player that Beau is Neutral. What flavor, I’m not sure. I’d guess True Neutral at the start of the campaign, and possibly still now. I do think a case could be made for her leaning toward Neutral Good now though, because character development.
Caleb
We have confirmation from the player that Caleb is True Neutral. We also have confirmation that he was Lawful Evil while training with Ikithon, before his Break and his time in the asylum (Ikithon and Astrid seem like characters who would both still fit that alignment). Caleb, to me, is a great example of what’s fun about playing True Neutral, but also what’s very difficult about it. Riding that line between selfishness and altruism, and the internal conflict that might come with the alignment.
Nott
Chaotic Neutral makes sense, but I also don’t think that was Veth the Halfling’s alignment. I think it’s circumstantial, and born out of trauma, desperation, and just general ‘who cares what I do??’ energy after everything that happened to her.
Jester
We have confirmation from the player that Jester is Chaotic Neutral. This makes…a lot of sense. Especially that she doesn’t consider whether her pranks or ideas hurt others, and had to have it pointed out to her that contacting Beau’s dad behind her back was maybe not…the best idea.
Caduceus
Here’s a character I could see being Lawful Good, although I also think being Lawful Neutral is probably more likely. He certainly puts a lot more stock in the idea of trusting authority figures than anyone else in the group. His odd, hermit, nature-based morality is what would tip him from Good to Neutral though.
Molly
Molly struck me as a very good example of Chaotic Good. He tried to make a positive impact, cared about the well-being of others and the world in general, but his methods…chaos personified.
Yasha
I think it’s still hard to tell with Yasha, but given the connection to the Stormlord and her blatant disregard for the “rules” of civilization (“What’s ‘assault’?”) I think Chaotic Neutral is a fair guess. That alignment is also just Big Barbarian Energy.
With these guesses, I’ve come up with a current party of 3 CN, 2TN, 1 LN, and 1NG. Which seems…right, for the Mighty Nein.
If you feel like it, can you give your opinion on a good way to play lawful good? It feels very interesting to me, a sort of "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one" mentality, but all the jokes about it being boring/basic/lame make me worried about giving it a go.
There are no boring alignments, only people who find the alignments boring, that’s how I feel. I think Lawful Good can be a really fun alignment to play, though getting down to the nitty gritty of it can be a little difficult.
The thing to remember with Lawful Good folks is they’re good hearted. Above all, they want to do what’s best for all, so you’re not far off the mark with “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” They’re not soldiers blindly following orders, or a judge adhering strictly to the law. A Lawful Good character wants what is best for the little people, essentially. Just simply following the local laws of a town is not required to be Lawful Good. What you absolutely must have is a personal code of honor that satisfies a few goals:
1. Does what you do make the lives of others better?
2. Does what you do extinguish the goals of evil-aligned individuals?
3. Are you willing to lay down your life in the name of your personal values?
It’s all about what your personal code is. If the town law is your personal code, then it is. If your deity’s belief is your personal code, then it is. However your personal code cannot harm others, or contribute to doing any evil. That’s the important part. Your code must be good, you must be good, and you must adhere to it.
SO. Knowing all that, what kind of characters can you play?
-lawful good clerics who follow lawful good gods
-lawful good paladins who follow good oaths (redemption, devotion, crown - if the ruler you’re following has the good of their people in mind and only wants to do good for them)
-lawful good fighters who defend the weak (a folk hero background would be VERY good for this, someone who has defended their home from a tyrant or despot)
-lawful good warlock with a good, celestial patron (the flavor text says “Being connected to such power can cause changes in your behavior and beliefs. You might find yourself driven to annihilate the undead, to defeat fiends, and to protect the innocent.”)
Hope this helps, shoot any follow-up questions at me if you need something cleared up or any new ideas!
how do you interpret lawful vs neutral vs chaotic for dnd alignments? i've been thinking about these term a lot in relation to beau. while i think beau has always admired and been attracted to chaos, her intentions and actions have never struck me as being consistently chaotic but i always have a hard time putting words to why that is
I’m not really a huge fan of Alignment as a mechanic in general, to be perfectly honest. At a certain point, immersive role-play with very complex characters sort of grows beyond it, and Alignment can be more of a hindrance than a help. It’s not a bad tool when you’re first building a character, but I think people shouldn’t be afraid to let their characters grow beyond it.
That being said, I think what you’re describing here with Beau is a good example of a character being “neutral” on the chaos->lawful scale. She follows certain rules and uses systems when they suit her (think her ability to use her Cobalt Soul title to talk to people in positions of power), but she also can be an unexpected agent of chaos if the mood strikes her. This is what makes her “True Neutral” rather than “Chaotic Neutral” or “Lawful Neutral.”
