An Alignment Post
Don't make me tap the blog tagline.
I've never particularly paid attention to alignment in my games. It very occasionally comes up in the context of magic items and spells, but that's largely it. I have never used alignment languages. Consider the following half-baked, in need of further thought.
Alignment in the LBBs
In my read through the LBBs, alignment follows very specific functions: it affects who/what a character can speak to via their alignment language, it affects interactions with magic swords (which are all aligned to either Law, Neutrality, or Chaos), and high-level Clerics must align with either Law or Chaos. Creatures are mentioned as possessing alignments and, given that 'Evil High Priests', Vampires, Mummies, Brigands/Pirates (specifically Chaotic Bandits/Buccaneers) and other generally 'evil' creatures are Chaotically-aligned, there's an implication that Chaos = Evil but no additional details given. There are spells which reference 'Evil', but none which reference alignment.
The concept of alignment languages is deeply weird to me, implying a sort of gestalt-consciousness based on the particular cosmic faction one is aligned to - that's a very cool idea, and one which I think bears further investigation, but I think it's at odds with other parts of the game, i.e. why would a Cleric prepare Speak with Animals when roughly the same effect could be had by a Neutral character speaking their alignment language (all animals are Neutral)? The swords part is interesting as it applies to literally every magic sword and implies that there is some kind of factional conflict between Law, Neutrality and Chaos, given that each side is making weapons to combat the other. Clerics must choose Law or Chaos once they reach 7th level and each is bitterly opposed to the other. There's definitely some sort of cosmic divide at play but I can't find much depth beneath there.
Given how Gygax expanded on alignment in the LBB shortly after its publication, adding the second Good-Evil axis which continued through the publication of 1e AD&D to this day, the whole thing comes across as quite vestigial. I'm planning to run OD&D RAW soon, so perhaps it'll all click in play.
Until then, I've had a few things percolating in my brain. I like the idea of alignment as something cosmic, the side you choose in a conflict virtually beyond mortal comprehension. What do these represent?
Alignment Theory
Law: Classification, constancy, structure, revelation, taxonomy, linearity, hierarchy, centralisation, reduction, separation, homogeneity. Law defines and binds and limits and identifies.
Chaos: Profusion, recombination, mutability, nonlinearity, entropy, occlusion, levelling, decentralisation, disaggregation, fractal, heterogeneity. Chaos alters and escapes and frees and defies classification.
Neutrality: The fizzing intersection where Law and Chaos sublimate/condense. A blending of the two.
POWERS of Law defy comprehension. Their thoughts, if such things exist, cannot be understood by mortal minds. Their domains, and in many cases, mere presences, are generally inimical to human life. They progress impossibly complex schemes towards a perceived Omega-point wherein probability is flattened, all is determined, and everything exists in accordance with their plan(s). God is in His Heaven. All is right with the world. There are no POWERS of Chaos, only Chaos itself, equally as inscrutable. It possesses no consistent plans save things put in motion by transitory assemblages of intellect, generally relying on a combination of infiltration via osmotic forces and violent spasmodic outbursts to reduce all to its constituent parts, that the ever-churning primordial sea may cast up new and unique things. POWERS progress their own plans, which inevitably conflict with those of their fellows, and Chaos is equally likely to tear at itself as it it to nurture.
Entities of Law and Chaos exist, the former created by a POWER and the latter budded off the fractal membrane of its parent. These entities share in their patrons' weirdness, though their exposure to the world apart changes them in ways which make them more familiar, or at least palatable, to mortal minds. Chaotic beings become capable of planning and speech. Lawful beings can engage in falsehoods, deceptions and adapt to acting without perfect information. Beings of either alignment generally find these changes deeply unpleasant. They possess immense power, though only a fragment of their progenitor's, and are sometimes worshipped as deities. The rare mortals able to truly pledge themselves to a POWER are almost instantly recognisable by some quirk of their demeanour, mannerisms, or physical detail as marked by cosmic influence.
Neutrality, as mentioned above, is the meeting point of the dipoles, a stable film which separates and is fed by them. Magic is the infinite potential of Chaos bound by the categorising formulae of Law. There are no Neutral POWERS, but things exist which possess great power to the degree of the Lawful and Chaotic beings mentioned above. Neutral beings wish to maintain the equilibrium between Law and Chaos. A character pledged to a Neutral entity is marked similarly as if they were bound to Law or Chaos, but rather than otherworldly and bizarre they appear real to a disturbing degree.
In the Game
This can be applied as a means of advancement. Characters do not possess alignments when created. The overwhelming majority of sentients and creatures are 'Unaligned', they are not even considered in the system. To become aligned is to actively dedicate oneself to the will of an entity formed of it: performing tasks, battling its enemies, defending it from attack, enhancing its power, accepting its gifts or otherwise furthering the aims of one of these things will draw a character towards its alignment. Characters and creatures sharing alignments can communicate with each other, and all may Commune with their patron at-will. Embracing alignment is a conscious decision and confers benefits and restrictions:
Embracing Law
Permanent True Sight, immunity to magical effects, 1/day affect a physical law (gravity, friction, momentum, electromagnetism etc.) in your immediate vicinity to a significant degree.
Immunity to magical effects, you are vulnerable to binding with the correct formulae and wards, if reduced to 0hp there is a 1-in-6 chance of your body immolating the surrounding area in a screaming, scorching white flame (your husk will reanimate centuries in the future, remembering little but the directives of your patron).
Embracing Chaos
Polymorph self at will, immunity to disease, poison and paralysis/petrification, all incoming physical damage reduced by 1d6.
Re-roll two random characteristics and all HD each day, if reduced to 0hp there is a 1-in-6 chance of your body separating into 2d6 random slimes (each of which is capable of reassuming your physical form, given enough time and food).
Embracing Neutrality
Light/Darkness at will, permanent Detect Life, you can never become lost unless so induced via magic, you reincarnate a year and a day after your death unless utterly destroyed.
Final Thoughts
As mentioned in the beginning, this needs longer in the oven but it's been rattling around my brain enough that I want to get it out and set my subconscious to work on it. I've been looking at alternative advancement means outside of the traditional XP system and I think this has legs, as well as bringing alignment into the game in a more meaningful way - I think the reason I never really considered it before is that it felt tacked on. As mentioned, perhaps running OD&D RAW will change my thoughts on that.
I'd like to revisit this in future when I've had a chance to chew on it more, perhaps work out some sort of gradient wherein characters change and gain abilities on a scale rather than hitting a limit and adopting an alignment. We shall see.