Master of Arcana in Bardic Lore
University of Our Lady of the Lake
Here's a relatively novel take on alignment that I've been considering: Defining various types of good and evil in terms of virtues and vices. This works best if you think of good and evil being primary forces with law and chaos as secondary. Thus it's hard to define lawful neutral, chaotic neutral, or true neutral this way, since by definition they are neither good nor evil.
Think of the alignments I list as compass headings. For instance, lawful by lawful evil refers to the point between lawful neutral and lawful evil. Good by lawful good refers to the point between lawful good and neutral good.
I'm using these concepts as a larger metaphysical framework for my campaign, so I'll mention the domains and naturally aligned races associated with them.
I'll start with the seven deadly sins, since they're the most fun. You may remember these from medieval literature, parochial elementary school, or the movie Seven.
[Edit: I recently swapped two sets of vices and virtues, so have yet to write new descriptions for them.]
Sloth: Lawful by lawful evil
Physically represented as laziness or inactivity, sloth refers more generally to living the unexamined life, or reluctance to change from behaviour one knows is wrong. Slothful people are lawful in the sense that they know right from wrong and can easily recognize faults in others, but they have never taken the time to look at their own shortcomings. Evil clerics dedicated to sloth are often granted the knowledge domain, so that in spying on others they may overlook their own wickedness. Blue dragons are slothful in that they lazily oversee their own bleak domains from aloft or buried under the earth, but never do anything to improve them.
Pride: Lawful Evil
Devils
war domain
Envy: Evil by lawful evil
Envy is not so much desire for what another has as hatred for that person for having it. It is also the perverse pleasure of witnessing another's misfortune. Envy is lawful to the extent that it demands impossible equity in misery; because the envious person is unhappy, everyone else should be as well. Evil clerics dedicated to envy are often granted the magic domain, whose powers mostly involve dispelling and destroying the magical creations of other. Green dragons are envious in that they cannot bear the sight of anything more beautiful than themselves, which is pretty much everything.
Greed: Evil, the root of all
Greed is the desire for what one does not need, simply for the having. The dragon sitting on the hoard that he can never make use of is a classic archetype of this vice. Evil clerics dedicated to greed are often granted the trickery domain so that they may increase their wealth by ill gotten gain. Red dragons are, among other vices, the most greedy of all creatures.
Wrath: Evil by chaotic evil
Black dragons
destruction domain
Lust: Chaotic evil
While sexual desire is the type most worried over by medieval theologians, lust can refer to any mistreatment of others in body or oneself in principle to fulfill an urge or desire. It is any sort of dishonor, whether on the battlefield or in the bedroom, and is thus chaotic as well as evil. Evil clerics dedicated to lust are often granted the death domain, so that in undeath they may pervert the most fundamental law of life. Demons, especially the debased Incubus and Succubus, are the embodiment of lust.
Gluttony: Chaotic by chaotic evil
Most often represented as eating too much food and drinking too much alcohol, gluttony is the overindulgence in anything that may harm oneself or another. Because it is the excess of a natural appetite, gluttony is more chaotic than evil. Evil clerics dedicated to gluttony are often granted the chaos domain to break down the limits of law and let their instincts run wild. White dragons are gluttonous in that they indulge their urge for killing, eating, and mating without giving thought to the consequences.
And now on to the virtues. These have been defined in numerous ways, but I'll use the set that counters the seven deadly sins.
Zeal: Chaotic by chaotic good
Zeal is the energy and drive to do what's right and to inspire others to do the same. It does not judge the weak in spirit but rather leads by example. Good clerics devoted to zeal are often granted the strength domain so that they may tirelessly pursue the ends of good. Copper dragons are zealous in their love of life and good humor.
Humility: Chaotic good
Eladrins
Luck domain
Fellowship: Good by chaotic good
Fellowship is joy at the good of one's neighbor, even if one does not personally benefit from that good himself. A good fellow is always willing to help for the sake of helping, even if it takes him far out of his way. Good clerics devoted to fellowship are often granted the travel domain so that they may walk the extra mile with their companions. Brass dragons, with their love of company and conversation, are full of fellowship.
Generosity: Good, love has no greater
Generosity is the willingness to sacrifice something, whether one's treasure, treasure, or even life, to aid another. Human society often represents this with the sharing of money, but any resource can be given generously. Good clerics devoted to generosity are often granted the healing domain, because life is the greatest gift of all. Gold dragons are generous with both their treasure and their talents, and they expect those they help to show the same generosity to others.
Patience: Good by lawful good
Bronze dragons
protection domain
Chastity: Lawful good
Not limited to sexual continence, chastity is honor and purity in all aspects of one's life. Others may think that personal behaviour affects no one but themselves, but the chaste person knows that every action has its consequence, no matter how private or insignificant. Good clerics devoted to chastity are often granted the sun domain to light up the darkness and purify the unclean. Archons, who judge and reform humanity, are the embodiment of chastity.
Temperance: Lawful by lawful good
Temperance is the measuring out of one's actions according to strict standards, avoiding excess in all things but goodness itself. The temperate person may be at odds with secular jurisdiction, but his life is ruled by a self-imposed order. Good clerics devoted to temperance are often granted the law domain to protect themselves and their friends from wanton overindulgence. Silver dragons are temperate in their austere lives and lairs.
That's all. I'd be interested in seeing a similar compass arranged using the vices and virtues of eastern philosophy and religion as well, maybe focusing more on law and chaos as opposing forces.
A paladin charging into battle who must be LG is no more zealous then a barbarian charging into battle which must be CG (if good).
Another example could be Pride. Is the LE Lich who just slayed a thousand of a kingdoms best warriors any more arrogant then the self-entitled "All glorious" dragon who has just taken over a kingdom?
Or better yet Patience. Is the CG patient wizard who spends years learning how to cast but cantrips any more patient then the LG Monk who spends years trying just trying to reach "true enlightenment?"
I like the thought, I like the creativity, I liked that you could make it make sense, however I must disagree that virtues don’t define alignment. I believe that virtues are more like adjectives. A LG paladin and a CE barbarian can both be dedicated and that’s an adjective (and arguably a virtue)?
-Frostbite Ravenheart.
You make a good point with your examples. I should have mentioned before that I'm using these words for the vices and virtues in a much more narrow and specific sense than how we treat them in our common parlance. The description that I give following each virtue/alignment correspondence is a quick summary of how these abstracts were imagined in medieval Christian theology, though maybe I should elaborate a bit more to make them more specific.
For instance, while our modern secular meaning of "patience" includes the antithesis of hastiness or impetuousness, as in the case of the wizard and monk that you cite, this is not part of the older meaning. Rather, patience is the bearing of pains or trials calmly and without complaint. Socially, I would call it tolerance. The lawful monk may be patient in the sense that he is disciplined, but this doesn't necessarily mean that he's willing to put up with undisciplined fools. He might if he's particularly good aligned, as all good people possess all seven virtues to some degree, but I'd imagine that his strongest virtue is his temperance, which actually includes the kind of careful consideration that our modern usage of patience implies.
I've considered a variety of arrangements for the virtues and vices, one of which involved pride/humility in the true evil/good spots, and one with them in the lawful evil/chaotic good extreme slots. Ultimately I found that pride fit best with the other vices if we reduce it to simple vanity/despair, as my description implies, rather than the overarching root of sin as it appears in St. Gregory and later in Milton. So if you think of pride in terms of Satanic rebellion or domination, it doesn't fit where I've put it. But in terms of petty vanity, I think it works as evil with a chaotic bent.
Setting greed/generosity in the middle is a throwback to the Gospel text rather than medieval theology, so I suppose we could swap greed/generosity and pride/humility for a more Augustinian perspective. In this case we'd have to think of pride as primal disobedience and greed as mere money-grubbing. Of course Augustine's more practical concern was lust, and his word for sinful desire (concupiscentia) seems to put a sexual spin on the Gospel message that greed is the root of evil (cupiditas est radix malorum).
The fact that Augustine was a citizen of the Roman empire with a lawful streak implies that the sins that most bothered him would extend in the chaotic direction (greed, pride, and lust as NE, ECE, and CE). On the other hand, the Gospel takes a more revolutionary stance against Roman society, and its primary sins are greed, envy, and wrath (NE, ELE, and LE). If we take these two Christian perspectives, the cultural and the countercultural, we see greed emphasized equally, with the other vices extending towards law and chaos away from the perspectives law/chaos orientation. So I'd stand by my arrangement of pride to the chaotic side of greed as representative of the tradition as a whole.
However, I have two qualms with it - as you can see in my essay, I denounce the idea that Law and Chaos should ever play supporting roles to Good or Evil, although I myself had some trouble sorting through exactly how to interpret them, if that was the case. Also, I feel the extra dimension of "North by Northwest" adds unneeded complexity to the system, though I did appreciate and enjoy your interpretation of medieval vice and virtue.
Still, I gave it a "5". Well done.
I'm sorry if the "compass" metaphor was confusing. Another way to look at it is that these virtues match planes on the great wheel. There are seven upper planes from Arcadia to Ysgard, and these virtues map to them.
It takes a while for posts to get up here, so I'll go ahead and say a few things now. I'm going to move pride and wrath, as well as the corresponding virtues humility and patience. The domains will stay the same though. I just have to think of a way to rephrase the descriptions.