cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/35310729
this post was submitted on 28 Aug 2025
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While this is cool I don't think it's very accurate to how the D&D alignment system works.
Lenin for example can't be Lawful Good as he was a revolutionary, which is antithetical to a 'Lawful' character. The category specifically refers to how the individual interacts with authority, in which a Lawful character respects the authority of institutions/figures even while trying to fight against them (basically reformism).
'Chaotic' by contrast has little to no reverence for authorities - even nominally 'good' ones - and is closer to an anarchist than a communist. Not where I'd put Stalin at all.
"Neutral" is an explicitly moral quantifier; the middle ground between "Good" (compassionate, empathetic, selfless, etc.) and "Evil" (cruel, corrupt, petty, etc.) and refers to literal moral grayness; e.g. a "True Neutral" would be a mercenary-type figure. Not how I'd classify Marx at all.
I wonder, if a revolutionary carries out a successful revolution, and establishes a new government that they see as more legitimate than the one they deposed, does the entire universe shift to seeing the new government as "lawful" and the anyone fighting to restore the old regime as "chaotic"? If not, at what point does a post-revolutionary government shift from a chaotic organization to a lawful one, in the universe's eyes?
Perhaps the difference is generational, ie the people who overthrew the old system will always be considered chaotic, but their children who grow up in the new system if they don't overthrow it in turn are considered lawful. There has to be some arbitrary moment where the designation changes, because alignments in D&D are observable, objective phenomenon and not relative in the slightest.
D&D alignment is more for individuals than governments or organizations IIRC since D&D is a character-based game.
In which case a character can change their disposition over time, just like real morality.