Alignment in D&D is NOT Dead! But It’s Not What You Think

Alignment is not dead. There, I said it. Stone me if you will. However, alignment goes beyond fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons in my opinion, though not in the way you might think. I’m not talking about our conventional alignment system of law vs. chaos and good vs. evil. As the system stands it really only works in the contexts of certain moods and genres as I’ll explain in a bit. I do believe there is a sort of alignment to story genres that can help us compartmentalize and define our games, stories and even the media we consume.

Story alignment in 5E D&D

I had an epiphany the other day: genre moods can be thought of like a sort of alignment system. This really hit me while thinking about how I would want to run a Wild Beyond the Witchlight game for 5E D&D. I realized I could lean into the brighter and nobler aspects of a fairy circus giving it a Studio Ghibli kind of feel or I could twist everything into a grim nightmare carnival where everything is dark and foreboding, leaning into vibes like Hollow Night or the Witcher.

As I continued to think about running a 5E D&D game with Wild Beyond the Witchlight I thought it could be just as interesting if I blended the ideas of noble but creepy or grim and bright. This was the point when it hit me — just as 5E D&D has an alignment so do genre moods, after a fashion. Let me start by laying it all out with a handy little table (don’t @ me; I’m a nerd and like my charts). As shown, the scale ranges from noble grim and bright to dark. I think by delving into the nature of what each of these mood alignments mean you’ll begin to see how you can run your own games, Wild Beyond the Witchlight and beyond.

Morality Alignment — Noble vs. Grim

The first aspect in our genre alignment is noble vs. grim, or how characters and the cosmos manifest morality. Noble stories tend to embrace true, objective morality. There is defined good in the world as well as objective evil. Grim paints things in shades of gray. In a grim story good and evil are subjective words holding little meaning and there are no true moral absolutes.

Noble stories often feature heroes pitted against villains. Heroes often learn lessons and grow throughout the stories. While villains may be shaded with nuance, motivation and even sympathetic qualities, noble stories leave little room for interpretation. Villains are villains. Noble stories might show how a villain could have been a hero if they had not crossed one or more lines. Sometimes these lines are ideological and at others they’re actions taken by the character. Taking an ideal to an extreme is another example of a line that might be crossed by a villain in these stories, such as valuing the ideals of law and justice to the point a character becomes a tyrant.

Grim stories approach characters fundamentally differently. In grim stories there are no moral absolutes. Heroes are just villains who justify their own atrocities with ideals. Usually in grim stories those who believe in moral absolutes are more corrupt than those who acknowledge atrocities are necessary and thus try to mitigate them. In grim stories admitting flaws and sins is the ideal and none are exempt.

Neutral moods fall between these. These usually defer to the other aspect of genre alignment — bright vs. dark, focusing less on morality and more on the struggles of those alignments. Bright stories are about maintaining the brightness in the world while dark stories tend to be about survival. There are sometimes moral absolutes but there are also times where there is no good or bad. Neutral stories simply are — the good, the bad and the ugly.

Circumstantial Alignment — Bright vs. Dark

The second aspect to genre alignment is the world’s tone and circumstance: bright vs. dark.

In bright worlds society flourishes and the masses live generally comfortable lives. Civilizations are lawful and orderly while the more chaotic or wild parts of the world are few and far between. Usually such untamed places are sources of respite or at least have a beauty and allure not found in settlements within a bright story.

Conversely, dark stories paint the world with consequences. Pleasant things come alongside things the unpleasant. However, tragedy seldom comes without a glimmer of hope. Dark stories emphasize consequences, duality and balance. In a dark story the world usually needs saving, often from a cosmic threat that will never truly be defeated on a grand scale, merely suppressed for a time.

As for neutral stories in this category, they often defer to the moral mood — noble vs. grim. Usually in these stories the morality (or lack thereof) is the focus. There is a true middle ground of stories embracing all aspects of genre alignment an leaning into different themes at different times. I would place the Forgotten Realms in this camp as it truly has a little of everything, and I think because it fits so neutrally into this discussion I’ve found myself thinking about how to run a game in this setting.

Four Corners of the Alignment Chart

Let’s talk for a second about what the four corners of the alignment chart look like in stories. Each has a plethora of examples in media, so feel free to share some of your favorite stories and campaigns in the comments and tell us where you think they fall in this alignment chart, and why!

Firstly is Noble Bright. This alignment is all about objective good and evil duking it out. Things like Justice League: Unlimited, the Marvel Cinematic Universe and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power all fit soundly into this category. Villains in these stories are clearly evil and usually want to disrupt society’s utopian existence.

Noble Dark stories encompass things like the Witcher and Dragon Age franchises. Fullmetal Alchemist also fits in here. In these stories the world is dark, threatened by looming evils and most villains are those who would take a more grim stance on morality. Our heroes acknowledge the existence of good, and no matter how hopeless the heroes of these stories strive to be the flickering hope in the darkness.

Grim Bright stories include The Boys, Invincible and Watchmen. It’s noteworthy these stories are usually associated with superheroes. In these stories society is a utopia hiding a multitude of sins lying beneath the surface. In these stories the world may be at peace but this is at the cost of terrible atrocities suppressing the less privileged. These stories often discuss inequities and privilege in a world built on secrets and falsehood. In these stories exposing the truth isn’t even always feasible or it might prove an active harm to the less fortunate, making a “right decision” carry its own baggage and dangers.

In Grim Dark stories moral absolutes are the enemy. Stories are not about heroes and villains but protagonists and antagonists. These tales happen in worlds where existence is difficult by and large. Everyone is some degree of selfish and sometimes the best living a person can make is a hedonistic lifestyle.

As you can see, each of these aspects could be embraced to adjust the mood of Wild Beyond the Witchlight to make for very different experiences. Each could be hella fun in its own way.

What do you think?

Are you running Wild Beyond the Witchlight? What alignment do you think your favorite stories and campaigns fall under? Whatever your thoughts, let us know by tweeting @Nerdarchy or connecting with us on Facebook.

If you want to experience a great Noble Dark Fantasy story, tune into Nerdarchy Live for Ashes of Ardor. Our latest episode can be found below.

*Featured image — The Witchlight Carnival has come to town! [Image courtesy Wizards of the Coast]

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