Lawful And Good

I was recently watching a stream from Troll Lord Games (check out their YouTube channel HERE) where Steve Chenault referred to an entity from their amazing setting of Aihrde as "lawful and good." This simple phrasing with "and" attached to it made the proverbial lightbulb go off in my head.

For as long as I can remember, we have been discussing alignment in Dungeons & Dragons. I am a big fan of alignment and consider it essential to proper D&D. But...my concept of alignment differs from what it has morphed into over the decades. I like it's original, even if somewhat vague, usage in OD&D and the clear line from the amazing book Three Hearts and Three Lions by Poul Anderson where it is meant to show which cosmic forces you align with: Law, Chaos, or Neutrality. 

It wasn't necessarily meant to denote one's morality and behavior. B/X D&D already began to shift the focus away from cosmic forces and more towards behavior. This was further altered with the publications of Holmes Basic and AD&D, which expanded alignment into 5 and then 9 aspects. The cosmic forces were beginning to largely fade away and morality took its place. Yet it was still called "alignment" and the aspects of Law, Neutrality, and Chaos left in.

I personally believe they got it right the first time, as in keeping the concept of the forces of Law facing off against the forces of Chaos, with Neutrality stuck in between and not really concerning itself with either side. When Steve used the simple word "and" between Lawful-Good it showed how flexible and diverse the original alignment concepts truly are. This character aligns with the forces of Law and is also good. They like civilization, society, and structure, but for the positive benefit of those within it. Equally, you can be Lawful and Evil. Still abhorring the anarchy presented by Chaos, you believe society and civilization is the best mechanism to benefit you and your power. Someone who is Chaotic and Good detests the structure of civilization, but does not want their individualism to cause harm to others. There is an elegant nuance and player freedom to the original three-alignment system that has been lost in subsequent editions.