Alignment

Ah Good vs. Evil! Law vs Chaos! These things help fuel epic stories and elevate Heros to almost godhood like status... or at least for some it does. Things like Good and Evil are hard to define in the modern world. Its a tricky thing. If there where Gods and Devils and such roaming around giving edicts and fighting one another then perhaps Humanity wouldn't have such a hard time asking the question. "What that a bad act or a good act?" and "If that was bad or good how back or good was it? How much of an award or punishment should be given?" weighing these things is difficult in the real world. However in the world of entertainment the murky waters of morality and ethics seams to be filtered into a simple constant stream of action. Bad guys die! Good guys win! The Bad guys deserved to die! The Good guys are meant to be victorious (And get to have sex)!

Future Path is meant to be a form of entertainment through storytelling. It is suppose to be a rule set for telling stories in the Sci-Fy genre with all its sub-categorizes. So for the most part this game system assumes good and evil are definitive things. Think of Star Wars and the Jedi vs Sith. The Jedi are definitively Good while the Sith are definitively Evil. There have been some more neutral view points of Sith and Jedi provided outside of the original films but we will get to that later. Good and Evil are things that you can detect or sense and they can effect your Characters view or opinion about something. This by know means should be seen as a restriction for storytelling. Over the years many artists from Music/Movies/Books and so on have told stories about viewing the good and bad aspects of what would originally seam like definitive, set in stone, evil or good. Or shared a "grey" neutral perspective. This can be very interesting to explore.

Exploring the themes like Good vs. Evil vs. Neutral from a Sci-Fy setting can be fun and interesting but also can change the "feel" of the game. The below alignment's is a tool for developing Player Character's identities as well as themes for the storytelling the GM will do. It is not meant to be a straitjacket for restricting your character or forcing the story to have to end a certain way. Remember this is a game of the imagination where the rules are more for the ability to effectively share that imagination then it is to restrict people from exploring ideas. Each alignment represents a broad range of personality types or personal philosophies, so two characters of the same alignment can still be quite different from each other. In addition, few people are completely consistent.

A creature's general moral and personal attitudes are represented by its alignment: lawful good, neutral good, chaotic good, lawful neutral, neutral, chaotic neutral, lawful evil, neutral evil, or chaotic evil. More about each type of alignment below. Animals and other creatures incapable of moral action are neutral. Even deadly vipers and tigers that eat people are neutral because they lack the capacity for morally right or wrong behavior. Dogs may be obedient and cats free-spirited, but they do not have the moral capacity to be truly lawful or chaotic.

The Versus Story Tropes

Below is two of the common versus themes you find in stories. Especially regarding Table Top games.

Good Versus Evil

Good characters and creatures protect innocent life. Evil characters and creatures debase or destroy innocent life, whether for fun or profit.

Good implies altruism, respect for life, and a concern for the dignity of sentient beings. Good characters make personal sacrifices to help others.

Evil implies hurting, oppressing, and killing others. Some evil creatures simply have no compassion for others and kill without qualms if doing so is convenient. Others actively pursue evil, killing for sport or out of duty to some evil deity or master.

People who are neutral with respect to good and evil have compunctions against killing the innocent, but may lack the commitment to make sacrifices to protect or help others.

Law Versus Chaos

Lawful characters tell the truth, keep their word, respect authority, honor tradition, and judge those who fall short of their duties. Chaotic characters follow their consciences, resent being told what to do, favor new ideas over tradition, and do what they promise if they feel like it.

Law implies honor, trustworthiness, obedience to authority, and reliability. On the downside, lawfulness can include closed-mindedness, reactionary adherence to tradition, self-righteousness, and a lack of adaptability. Those who consciously promote lawfulness say that only lawful behavior creates a society in which people can depend on each other and make the right decisions in full confidence that others will act as they should.

Chaos implies freedom, adaptability, and flexibility. On the downside, chaos can include recklessness, resentment toward legitimate authority, arbitrary actions, and irresponsibility. Those who promote chaotic behavior say that only unfettered personal freedom allows people to express themselves fully and lets society benefit from the potential that its individuals have within them.

Someone who is neutral with respect to law and chaos has some respect for authority and feels neither a compulsion to obey nor a compulsion to rebel. She is generally honest, but can be tempted into lying or deceiving others.