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Alignment

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In Aether Spira, a character’s alignment is measured on two independent scales: Concordance and Integrity.

• Concordance measures a character’s position between Law and Chaos.
  
• Integrity measures a character’s position between Good and Evil.

Each scale contains 9 boxes, representing gradual moral/ethical movement rather than a single fixed alignment.

	4	3	2	1	Neutral	-1	-2	-3	-4
Good					O					Evil
Lawful					O					Chaotic
	4	3	2	1	Neutral	-1	-2	-3	-4

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SHIFTING ALIGNMENTS

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Any action a character knowingly and willingly performs is categorized as Trivial, Minor, or Major.

Trivial: These actions are insignificant and do not affect alignment. This might include things such as being rude or polite or being considerate or inconsiderate but not anything that legitimately harms or helps anyone nor anything that violates or upholds any significant laws or traditions.

Minor: Minor actions include everyday kindness, cruelty, courtesy, or rudeness. They may reflect an alignment but rarely change lives. A Minor aligned action only shifts your alignment if you currently belong to the opposing category. Examples:

• A Minor Evil act shifts a Good character 1 box toward Evil, but it does not move a character who is Neutral or Evil.
  
• A Minor aligned action only shifts your alignment if you currently belong to the opposing category.

Major: Major actions dramatically affect others or the world. Examples include:

• Killing a sapient creature
  
• Stealing someone’s life savings
  
• Destroying a lifetime of work
  
• Saving innocents from certain death
  
• Curing a lifelong affliction

A Major aligned action shifts your marker 1 box toward that alignment. If you are currently in the opposing category, it instead shifts 2 boxes. Example:

• A Neutral character committing a Major Lawful act moves +1 toward Lawful.
  
• A Chaotic character committing the same act moves +2 toward Lawful.

Alignment Swing: Rapid moral shifts strain a character’s identity. If a character moves more than 1 alignment box in a single session, they gain +1 Breaking Point. Moving one box and later returning to the original box does not count as shifting multiple boxes.


Atonement: A character may deliberately realign their moral path through reflection, discipline, or divine intervention. A character may spend 1 year of downtime to move 1 box in a chosen direction. This time can be reduced to a lower time at a cost:

Cost	Time Required
1 Surge	1 Month
1 Breaking Point	1 Week
1 XP	1 Day

Alternatively, a character may receive the Atonement effect from a higher-level character of the appropriate alignment allowing a reduction as well. The caster must share the newly desired alignment (Lawful to move toward Law, Good to move toward Good, etc.). The effect cannot affect characters of higher level than the caster.

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DEFINING ALIGNMENTS

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Chaotic: Chaos reflects nonconformity and emotional guidance. An action is Chaotic if it strongly rejects social order, law, or structured systems, or if it follows personal instinct over logic or codes. Examples include:

• Open rebellion against authority
  
• Circumventing laws or bureaucracy
  
• Acting on personal conviction rather than structured doctrine

Chaotic behavior is often described as doing what feels right rather than what rules say is right.

Evil: Evil arises from cruelty, malice, and selfishness, especially when one knowingly harms others for personal gain. Examples:

• Killing someone outside contexts of self defense
  
• Exploiting the vulnerable for profit
  
• Destroying another’s livelihood

Context matters. Killing in self-defense is not evil, but deliberate disproportionate harm is. Minor exploitation may be Minor Evil, while acts that ruin lives or destroy survival resources are Major Evil.

Good: Good is expressed through compassion, mercy, and self-sacrifice. Good actions often involve giving of yourself, especially when doing so brings risk, hardship, or cost. Examples:

• Protecting others at personal danger
  
• Providing aid beyond what is required
  
• Sacrificing wealth, safety, or opportunity to help those in need

However, aiding beings that will clearly commit great evil—such as freeing a demon without restraint—is not considered Good but likely evil if done willingly and knowingly.

Lawful: Lawfulness is defined by conformity and honor. A character is Lawful if they strongly adhere to:

• Social laws or institutions
  
• Cultural traditions
  
• A strict personal code of ethics

Lawful behavior often involves upholding rules even when inconvenient, painful, or disadvantageous to oneself or allies.

Scenario	Good/Evil	Law/Chaos	Notes
Executing a corrupt official legally	Minor Evil	Major Law	Legal execution prioritizing order over mercy; context dependent
Freeing slaves illegally	Major Good	Minor or Major Chaos	Selfless act that violates established law
Bribing guard to enter restricted area	Neutral	Minor or Major Chaos	Integrity violation; severity depends on laws and stakes
Framing villain to ensure conviction	Minor Evil	Major Chaos	Harmful deception undermining justice
Publicly confessing wrongdoing	Minor Good	Major Law	Personal accountability restores social trust
Covering up ally’s crime	Minor Evil	Major Chaos	Protecting individuals over justice; severity depends on crime
Sacrificing yourself to uphold treaty	Major Good	Major Law	Extreme personal cost to honor lawful agreement
Refusing payment from a poor widow	Minor Good	Neutral	Generosity with little personal cost
Refusing large payment from wealthy noble out of principle	Minor Good	Neutral	Principled generosity
Donating most of your wealth to famine relief	Major Good	Neutral	Significant personal sacrifice to aid others
Risking death to save strangers	Major Good	Neutral	Heroic self-sacrifice for others
Charging desperate peasants double	Minor Evil	Neutral	Exploiting vulnerable people for profit
Abandoning innocents to ensure your own survival	Major Evil	Neutral	Self-preservation at the cost of innocent lives
Torturing captive for convenience	Major Evil	Minor Law or Chaos	Cruel and unnecessary harm regardless of authority
Killing defeated enemy to prevent future risk	Minor or Major Evil	Minor Law	Minor if pragmatic wartime execution; Major if unnecessary
Sparing defeated foe who may return	Minor Good	Neutral	Mercy despite potential risk
Lying to protect innocent people	Minor Good	Minor Chaos	Deception used to shield others from harm
Breaking unjust local law to save someone	Major Good	Minor Chaos	Ethical defiance of unjust authority
Defying corrupt ruler publicly	Minor Good	Major Chaos	Open rejection of illegitimate authority
Keeping your word despite serious cost	Neutral	Major Law	Strong commitment to oath or promise
Following local law even when inconvenient	Neutral	Minor Law	Routine obedience to authority
Enforcing strict legal punishment despite sympathy	Minor Law	Major Law	Upholding order over compassion
Ignoring minor laws for convenience	Neutral	Minor Chaos	Casual disregard for rules
Betraying oath for personal benefit	Minor Evil	Major Chaos	Personal gain through broken oath
Withholding truth to maintain political stability	Neutral	Minor Chaos	Pragmatic deception for social stability
Refusing to betray oath even to prevent harm	Neutral	Major Law	Integrity prioritized above outcomes
Imposing strict code on companions	Neutral	Minor or Major Law	Minor if advisory; Major if coercive
Looting tomb that locals revere	Minor Evil	Minor Chaos	Disrespect toward sacred cultural traditions
Returning relic to rightful culture	Minor Good	Minor Law	Restoring rightful ownership and justice
Using mind-control magic casually	Minor Evil	Minor Chaos	Violation of autonomy and consent
Creating undead to fight worse evil	Minor or Major Evil	Major Chaos	Ends may be noble but methods corrupt natural order
Reporting party member’s crime to authorities	Neutral or Minor Evil	Minor Law	Upholding law; may be harmful depending on punishment
Accepting exile rather than compromise ethics	Minor Good	Major Law	Personal sacrifice to uphold principles
Burning down building to stop plague spread	Minor or Major Evil	Minor Law if sanctioned	Harmful act possibly justified by greater survival

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