5e Alignment "Guide" & end-of-2017 argument thread

[Naanomi]

I think that part of the problem with 'alignments' is that we use the word to represent two things...

1) A loosely defined and unenforced character trait that very broadly describes the normal behavior of a character; useful as a roleplaying aid (perhaps especially for monsters/creatures more than player characters).

2) Broad, cosmic forces that shape the nature of the default 'Great Wheel' Cosmology (and, less prominently, other DnD settings); that are often interpreted from a mortal perspective as somewhat arbitrary 'teams' (though Outsiders associated with such things would say that is just your limited mortal perspective being unable to comprehend deeper truths!)

A lot of the conflict about Alignments, I think, is reconciling these two things... and deciding (without much guidance) how closely they overlap (both in practice and in intent); and what to do if they are significantly different; doubly so when actual mechanical effects are involved (which, as linked above, is still a thing even if deemphasized in 5e compared to past editions). What alignment does a Sprite detect on a character that has 'lawful good' written on their sheet, but has killed a lot of babies? What kind of enforcement needs to be in place when a character's alignment is forcefully changed?

Now, I understand that a *lot* of people don't like #2 up there... but I'm a big fan myself. It doesn't need to be in every game and every home cosmology, of course, but as someone who played a lot of fun games in Planescape over the year... and greatly enjoyed studying the (much more complex and nuanced than many people give it credit for) the history and cosmology of The Great Wheel in novels, modules, and sourcebooks for many years and across many editions I was thrilled to see a return (more or less) to the universe I know and love, after sharp departures in 4e (and 3.X Forgotten Realms); including the broad prominence of Alignment in the Outer Planes and beyond. I would be happy to see the Alignment based Outer Planes even if Alignment had completely been removed from character sheets and all traces of mechanical effects had been removed.