General Alignment[]
This article lays down the basic ground rules for how Alignments work within The Easting Reach.
Alignments here are not much different from the official D&D rulebook and at Character Creation.
However, these are merely guidelines - or concepts, if you will - when roleplaying your character. We don't believe in hard and fast rules when it comes to what alignment your character is, because though characters have a basic personality, their decisions and actions are more often than not dictated by the circumstances around them. We would like to offer the player freedom in how his character is played and how it shall evolve (or devolve) throughout the character's lifetime.
If a DM witnesses a situation which they feel can result in alignment adjustments, they should ask after the character's motivation to know in which direction to adjust. If both the player and the DM cannot agree to a change, then a second opinion will be sought. Note that DMs are not here to dictate how accurately you are roleplaying your character's alignment, but rather we prefer to spend our precious time designing consequences for the actions your character is accountable for.
Lawful | Neutral | Chaotic | |
---|---|---|---|
Good | Lawful Good | Neutral Good | Chaotic Good |
Neutral | Lawful Neutral | True Neutral | Chaotic Neutral |
Evil | Lawful Evil | Neutral Evil | Chaotic Evil |
This is how Alignments work here:
Good: Willingness to do something for others at your own severe detriment.
Evil (Non-Good): Willingness to do something for yourself at the severe detriment of others.
Neutral: Willingness to do something for yourself or for others, for reasons inbetween (whether for one's sake or the sake of others).
Law: Willingness to do something correctly even when it's inconvenient.
Chaos: Willingness to do something convenient even when it's incorrect.
Evil also stacks itself and forges a path towards Absolute Evil, from which there is little chance of redemption, because it does indicate that darker forces have thoroughly left their stain on a character's soul. Nothing short of a holy strikedown can release such an individual's suffering.
It must be noted that while there is Absolute Evil, at the other end of the spectrum it is rare to find Absolute Good, for even the Gods themselves are said to have been ascended from mortals. And there has yet to be a mortal who has lived a life free from selfish motivation.
Clerics and Alignment[]
The following is from a thread by Copper Dragon.
The One-Step-Rule[]
Deities' servants abide by the one-step-rule: only those aspiring clerics receive powers that are maximum one alignment-step away from their deity's. A LG deity can have LG, NG and LN clerics.
There are a few that have interesting or contradictory rules on who receives spells and abilities. There are however specifications and even exceptions to this, especially in the human ie. Faerunian pantheon. The pantheons of the other humanoid races do not seem to show deviations from the one-step-rule.
Specifications: The NG and NE Deities[]
One would assume that NG and NE gods apply the one-step-rule just like any other deities, and as such have alignment prerequisites that allow four respective alignments, rather than but three which the one-step-rule otherwise always implies. Where a LG deity allows LG, NG and LN (3) servants, a NG deity should in theory allow NG, CG, LG and TN (4), and the same applies to NE.
This is however not the case for many NG and NE deities: apparently neither of the two, generally, allow for clerics of TN alignment. The clerics of a NG god can only be NG, CG and LG; idem for NE.
For example, Lathander, NG only gives spells to NG, CG and LG servants; Shar, NE only has NE, CE and LE clerics.
This seems intentional; perhaps FR's developers aimed to further enhance the contrast between light and dark, good and evil, by allowing less of a greyzone for NG and NE deity priesthoods. Perhaps they wished to differentiate clerics more from druids, or better separate the Good, Evil and Neutral deities. It might also simply have been made this way so that NG and NE deities still only have "claim" over three specific alignments instead of four.
Exceptions on the NG and NE Ruling
Over all, the NG and NE deities seem consistent about only allowing good and only allowing evil clerics respectively.
The exceptions to this ruling are: Chauntea, who grants spells also to TN clerics; and Mystra. Chauntea's granting of power to TN clerics might stem from her role as a nature deity and a counterpart to Silvanus, or because she has an aspect called The Earthmother venerated on the Moonshae Isles where she is herself TN.
Exceptions on the One-Step-Rule[]
Several deities besides the NG and NE ones do not limit themselves to the one-step-rule. Again, this is mainly something that occurs in the Faerunian pantheon, as the gods of dwarves, elves and gnomes keep themselves more limited. No surprise; humans and their cultures and religions have always been more exposed to change and incredible diversity, compared to the other races.
The exceptions are as follows:
The aforementioned Mystra, who, in her newest incarnation after 1358DR, is of NG alignment but still allows the alignment range that her predecessor (the LN Mystra) permitted for her clerics: Mystra's clerics can be NG, CG, LG, LN and LE. The high priest of the House of Wonder in Waterdeep is LE and a necromancer. One might appreciate some irony in this.
Kossuth, god of fire, is an elemental higher power. Unlike the other elemental lords he is rather active in supporting and guiding his clergy, and despite his TN alignment allows for clerics of a bigger range: anything except CG and CE.
On the topic of TN deities, Oghma and Gond are peculiar as well. They are both TN and focused on pure, "blank" ideas - that of knowledge and invention respectively - and perhaps because of this feel no need to limit themselves to specific alignments. Both of them value ideas above alignments. As such both allow clerics to be of any alignment, whether that is LG or CE.
All other deities seem to follow the one-step-rule for their clerics. One exception still deserves mention: Sune, who allows for paladins but is herself a CG deity. While she does call on paladins she does not have LG clerics.