Aristotle’s Alignment
Aristotle’s Alignment isn’t your typical alignment system dissection, nor is it a regurgitation of tired debates about Good versus Evil or Law versus Chaos. Nope, this is a weird little book that takes the nine-point alignment grid of classic fantasy roleplaying and smashes it against Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. Why? Because I could. And because someone should.
Roleplaying has always been a playground for curiosity and exploration. If you’ve ever looked up a mythological creature because you fought one in a dungeon, or fallen down a history rabbit hole because of a campaign setting, you’ll understand. For me, that rabbit hole led to Aristotle, ethics, virtue, and all that philosophical heavy lifting. At the same time, alignment systems have been living rent-free in my brain for decades. Love them or hate them, they’re impossible to ignore if you’ve spent any time with Dungeons & Dragons I don’t even use alignment at my table anymore, and yet here I am, trying to make sense of it. Again.
This isn’t my first rodeo with alignment, and if I’m honest, it probably won’t be my last. But this time, I wanted to tackle it through Aristotle’s lens: the golden mean, virtue ethics, finding balance, and not being an extremist about it. It’s not about slapping philosophical jargon onto a character sheet, but about looking at how alignment could mean more than “who gets to be smote or banished.” Let’s face it: alignment as it’s been presented is mostly used as a blunt instrument for justifying violence. Isn’t it about time we had a deeper conversation about that?
Let me be clear, I don’t expect this book to set the roleplaying world on fire. People will probably side-eye it, and a few will mutter that I’ve wasted my time. And yet, here it is, because sometimes you write the book that you want to read. Sometimes you create because the thing calls to you, even when you know most people won’t get it.
My hope is simple: that a few curious souls will pick this up and come away with something to chew on. Ethics isn’t some abstract, ivory-tower nonsense; it’s about how we live, the choices we make, and the ways we understand the world. And right now, the world could use a little more of that. If Aristotle’s take on alignment makes one person think a little harder about what ethics really means, at the table or in their own life, I’ll consider it a win.
So, if you’re ready to look at alignment through a fresh, ancient lens, or if you’re curious about what the heck Aristotle has to do with roleplaying, this book might be for you. Or maybe it’s not. Either way, it’s here, and I had fun writing it.
Navigating This Book
Here’s an overview of what you’ll find inside and how each section fits into the big picture:
The Philosophy of Fantasy: We begin by asking a fundamental question: why do ethics matter in fantasy roleplaying? This section lays the groundwork by exploring the philosophical curiosity that roleplaying encourages and how Aristotle’s framework connects to the alignment systems we know. You’ll discover what this book seeks to achieve and why ethics should play a bigger role at your table.
Understanding Nine-Point Alignment: Alignment has a long and divisive history. We’ll dig into its origins, look at the reasoning behind its categories, and examine whether it’s a simple tool for understanding morality or an oversimplification that raises more questions than answers. If you’ve ever wrestled with how alignment fits into your campaign, this section will help you untangle its complexities.
Aristotle’s Ethics: Aristotle’s philosophy provides the lens through which we’ll examine alignment. This chapter introduces his ideas on virtue and the doctrine of the mean, the idea that true virtue lies between extremes. We’ll also discuss moral agency, eudaimonia (the concept of flourishing and living a Good life), and practical wisdom, or phronesis, which helps individuals make sound moral decisions.
The Virtues of Order: What does it mean to be Lawful? This section explores the relationship between Law and the virtue of justice, while Chaos gets its due as a reflection of courage. Neutrality, too misunderstood as indifference, is reframed as prudence, the ability to balance competing priorities with wisdom.
The Concept of Good: Good and Evil are the cornerstones of alignment, but they’re rarely defined with clarity. Here, we’ll examine the nuances of goodness, connecting it to generosity, altruism, and selflessness. On the flip side, we’ll unpack the roots of Evil, identifying it as selfishness, greed, and an unwillingness to consider the needs of others. These concepts go beyond simplistic labels, offering a deeper look at what drives moral behavior.
Mediocrity or Moderation?: The Neutral alignments tend to be the most misunderstood, but they also hold some of the best opportunities for meaningful play. Neutral Good represents moderation in action, embodying balance and fairness. True Neutral raises questions: is it genuine wisdom, or is it indecision masquerading as impartiality? Neutral Evil, meanwhile, is the realm of cold, calculated immorality, where self-interest is carefully weighed against opportunity.
Moral Dilemmas: This is where philosophy meets the practical challenges of roleplaying. What does it mean to kill in the name of Good? Is looting a treasure chest the same as theft, or does ownership change when you’re saving the world? And how do cooperation and individualism coexist in a party? These dilemmas challenge the assumptions that alignment is built on and provide tools for more thoughtful storytelling.
Moral Storytelling: Fantasy roleplaying thrives on storytelling, but alignment restricts the narrative rather than expanding it. This chapter looks at the limitations of the nine-point alignment system and shows how incorporating Aristotle’s virtue ethics can create nuanced characters and more compelling moral choices. Virtue becomes more than a label; it becomes a tool for building dynamic, memorable stories.
Ethical Depths: Alignment isn’t an endgame; it’s a starting point. This final section takes everything we’ve covered and ties it together, urging you to think beyond the grid and consider Aristotle’s call to virtue. Whether you’re building a campaign or developing characters, this chapter will encourage you to approach roleplaying with a deeper understanding of morality and ethics, both in the game and in life.
116 pages. PDF and epub files included.
Aristotle’s Alignment isn’t your typical alignment system dissection, nor is it a regurgitation of tired debates about Good versus Evil or Law versus Chaos. Nope, this is a weird little book that takes the nine-point alignment grid of classic fantasy roleplaying and smashes it against Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. Why? Because I could. And because someone should.
Roleplaying has always been a playground for curiosity and exploration. If you’ve ever looked up a mythological creature because you fought one in a dungeon, or fallen down a history rabbit hole because of a campaign setting, you’ll understand. For me, that rabbit hole led to Aristotle, ethics, virtue, and all that philosophical heavy lifting. At the same time, alignment systems have been living rent-free in my brain for decades. Love them or hate them, they’re impossible to ignore if you’ve spent any time with Dungeons & Dragons I don’t even use alignment at my table anymore, and yet here I am, trying to make sense of it. Again.
This isn’t my first rodeo with alignment, and if I’m honest, it probably won’t be my last. But this time, I wanted to tackle it through Aristotle’s lens: the golden mean, virtue ethics, finding balance, and not being an extremist about it. It’s not about slapping philosophical jargon onto a character sheet, but about looking at how alignment could mean more than “who gets to be smote or banished.” Let’s face it: alignment as it’s been presented is mostly used as a blunt instrument for justifying violence. Isn’t it about time we had a deeper conversation about that?
Let me be clear, I don’t expect this book to set the roleplaying world on fire. People will probably side-eye it, and a few will mutter that I’ve wasted my time. And yet, here it is, because sometimes you write the book that you want to read. Sometimes you create because the thing calls to you, even when you know most people won’t get it.
My hope is simple: that a few curious souls will pick this up and come away with something to chew on. Ethics isn’t some abstract, ivory-tower nonsense; it’s about how we live, the choices we make, and the ways we understand the world. And right now, the world could use a little more of that. If Aristotle’s take on alignment makes one person think a little harder about what ethics really means, at the table or in their own life, I’ll consider it a win.
So, if you’re ready to look at alignment through a fresh, ancient lens, or if you’re curious about what the heck Aristotle has to do with roleplaying, this book might be for you. Or maybe it’s not. Either way, it’s here, and I had fun writing it.
Navigating This Book
Here’s an overview of what you’ll find inside and how each section fits into the big picture:
The Philosophy of Fantasy: We begin by asking a fundamental question: why do ethics matter in fantasy roleplaying? This section lays the groundwork by exploring the philosophical curiosity that roleplaying encourages and how Aristotle’s framework connects to the alignment systems we know. You’ll discover what this book seeks to achieve and why ethics should play a bigger role at your table.
Understanding Nine-Point Alignment: Alignment has a long and divisive history. We’ll dig into its origins, look at the reasoning behind its categories, and examine whether it’s a simple tool for understanding morality or an oversimplification that raises more questions than answers. If you’ve ever wrestled with how alignment fits into your campaign, this section will help you untangle its complexities.
Aristotle’s Ethics: Aristotle’s philosophy provides the lens through which we’ll examine alignment. This chapter introduces his ideas on virtue and the doctrine of the mean, the idea that true virtue lies between extremes. We’ll also discuss moral agency, eudaimonia (the concept of flourishing and living a Good life), and practical wisdom, or phronesis, which helps individuals make sound moral decisions.
The Virtues of Order: What does it mean to be Lawful? This section explores the relationship between Law and the virtue of justice, while Chaos gets its due as a reflection of courage. Neutrality, too misunderstood as indifference, is reframed as prudence, the ability to balance competing priorities with wisdom.
The Concept of Good: Good and Evil are the cornerstones of alignment, but they’re rarely defined with clarity. Here, we’ll examine the nuances of goodness, connecting it to generosity, altruism, and selflessness. On the flip side, we’ll unpack the roots of Evil, identifying it as selfishness, greed, and an unwillingness to consider the needs of others. These concepts go beyond simplistic labels, offering a deeper look at what drives moral behavior.
Mediocrity or Moderation?: The Neutral alignments tend to be the most misunderstood, but they also hold some of the best opportunities for meaningful play. Neutral Good represents moderation in action, embodying balance and fairness. True Neutral raises questions: is it genuine wisdom, or is it indecision masquerading as impartiality? Neutral Evil, meanwhile, is the realm of cold, calculated immorality, where self-interest is carefully weighed against opportunity.
Moral Dilemmas: This is where philosophy meets the practical challenges of roleplaying. What does it mean to kill in the name of Good? Is looting a treasure chest the same as theft, or does ownership change when you’re saving the world? And how do cooperation and individualism coexist in a party? These dilemmas challenge the assumptions that alignment is built on and provide tools for more thoughtful storytelling.
Moral Storytelling: Fantasy roleplaying thrives on storytelling, but alignment restricts the narrative rather than expanding it. This chapter looks at the limitations of the nine-point alignment system and shows how incorporating Aristotle’s virtue ethics can create nuanced characters and more compelling moral choices. Virtue becomes more than a label; it becomes a tool for building dynamic, memorable stories.
Ethical Depths: Alignment isn’t an endgame; it’s a starting point. This final section takes everything we’ve covered and ties it together, urging you to think beyond the grid and consider Aristotle’s call to virtue. Whether you’re building a campaign or developing characters, this chapter will encourage you to approach roleplaying with a deeper understanding of morality and ethics, both in the game and in life.
116 pages. PDF and epub files included.
Aristotle’s Alignment isn’t your typical alignment system dissection, nor is it a regurgitation of tired debates about Good versus Evil or Law versus Chaos. Nope, this is a weird little book that takes the nine-point alignment grid of classic fantasy roleplaying and smashes it against Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. Why? Because I could. And because someone should.
Roleplaying has always been a playground for curiosity and exploration. If you’ve ever looked up a mythological creature because you fought one in a dungeon, or fallen down a history rabbit hole because of a campaign setting, you’ll understand. For me, that rabbit hole led to Aristotle, ethics, virtue, and all that philosophical heavy lifting. At the same time, alignment systems have been living rent-free in my brain for decades. Love them or hate them, they’re impossible to ignore if you’ve spent any time with Dungeons & Dragons I don’t even use alignment at my table anymore, and yet here I am, trying to make sense of it. Again.
This isn’t my first rodeo with alignment, and if I’m honest, it probably won’t be my last. But this time, I wanted to tackle it through Aristotle’s lens: the golden mean, virtue ethics, finding balance, and not being an extremist about it. It’s not about slapping philosophical jargon onto a character sheet, but about looking at how alignment could mean more than “who gets to be smote or banished.” Let’s face it: alignment as it’s been presented is mostly used as a blunt instrument for justifying violence. Isn’t it about time we had a deeper conversation about that?
Let me be clear, I don’t expect this book to set the roleplaying world on fire. People will probably side-eye it, and a few will mutter that I’ve wasted my time. And yet, here it is, because sometimes you write the book that you want to read. Sometimes you create because the thing calls to you, even when you know most people won’t get it.
My hope is simple: that a few curious souls will pick this up and come away with something to chew on. Ethics isn’t some abstract, ivory-tower nonsense; it’s about how we live, the choices we make, and the ways we understand the world. And right now, the world could use a little more of that. If Aristotle’s take on alignment makes one person think a little harder about what ethics really means, at the table or in their own life, I’ll consider it a win.
So, if you’re ready to look at alignment through a fresh, ancient lens, or if you’re curious about what the heck Aristotle has to do with roleplaying, this book might be for you. Or maybe it’s not. Either way, it’s here, and I had fun writing it.
Navigating This Book
Here’s an overview of what you’ll find inside and how each section fits into the big picture:
The Philosophy of Fantasy: We begin by asking a fundamental question: why do ethics matter in fantasy roleplaying? This section lays the groundwork by exploring the philosophical curiosity that roleplaying encourages and how Aristotle’s framework connects to the alignment systems we know. You’ll discover what this book seeks to achieve and why ethics should play a bigger role at your table.
Understanding Nine-Point Alignment: Alignment has a long and divisive history. We’ll dig into its origins, look at the reasoning behind its categories, and examine whether it’s a simple tool for understanding morality or an oversimplification that raises more questions than answers. If you’ve ever wrestled with how alignment fits into your campaign, this section will help you untangle its complexities.
Aristotle’s Ethics: Aristotle’s philosophy provides the lens through which we’ll examine alignment. This chapter introduces his ideas on virtue and the doctrine of the mean, the idea that true virtue lies between extremes. We’ll also discuss moral agency, eudaimonia (the concept of flourishing and living a Good life), and practical wisdom, or phronesis, which helps individuals make sound moral decisions.
The Virtues of Order: What does it mean to be Lawful? This section explores the relationship between Law and the virtue of justice, while Chaos gets its due as a reflection of courage. Neutrality, too misunderstood as indifference, is reframed as prudence, the ability to balance competing priorities with wisdom.
The Concept of Good: Good and Evil are the cornerstones of alignment, but they’re rarely defined with clarity. Here, we’ll examine the nuances of goodness, connecting it to generosity, altruism, and selflessness. On the flip side, we’ll unpack the roots of Evil, identifying it as selfishness, greed, and an unwillingness to consider the needs of others. These concepts go beyond simplistic labels, offering a deeper look at what drives moral behavior.
Mediocrity or Moderation?: The Neutral alignments tend to be the most misunderstood, but they also hold some of the best opportunities for meaningful play. Neutral Good represents moderation in action, embodying balance and fairness. True Neutral raises questions: is it genuine wisdom, or is it indecision masquerading as impartiality? Neutral Evil, meanwhile, is the realm of cold, calculated immorality, where self-interest is carefully weighed against opportunity.
Moral Dilemmas: This is where philosophy meets the practical challenges of roleplaying. What does it mean to kill in the name of Good? Is looting a treasure chest the same as theft, or does ownership change when you’re saving the world? And how do cooperation and individualism coexist in a party? These dilemmas challenge the assumptions that alignment is built on and provide tools for more thoughtful storytelling.
Moral Storytelling: Fantasy roleplaying thrives on storytelling, but alignment restricts the narrative rather than expanding it. This chapter looks at the limitations of the nine-point alignment system and shows how incorporating Aristotle’s virtue ethics can create nuanced characters and more compelling moral choices. Virtue becomes more than a label; it becomes a tool for building dynamic, memorable stories.
Ethical Depths: Alignment isn’t an endgame; it’s a starting point. This final section takes everything we’ve covered and ties it together, urging you to think beyond the grid and consider Aristotle’s call to virtue. Whether you’re building a campaign or developing characters, this chapter will encourage you to approach roleplaying with a deeper understanding of morality and ethics, both in the game and in life.
116 pages. PDF and epub files included.