Mike Mearls: So alignment is essentially a cosmic shorthand for which team you're playing for, but it stops short of being a cosmic force in the sense that you can cast spells. We don't have a spell that's like, no alignment, or we don't have a rule that says, "Oh, you changed your alignment. Suddenly, there's an XP penalty," or something like that.
Mike Mearls: We very specifically, in Fifth Edition, tried to position it more as a roleplaying descriptor and a shorthand for ... In terms of the D&D cosmos, there are these certain ... And this goes back to Planescape. There are these certain ... like, beliefs can shape things. And so there's this idea that on a cosmic level, there's a tension between law and chaos and good and evil, and creatures pick sides.
Mike Mearls: It's no different than saying ... Oh, well, then the idea is, then, you pick a side that reflects how you act. And I think there's a lot of ways you can approach it, right? As a DM, you can decide, is alignment ... like, does it describe someone, or does it define someone? And you can say, "I'm Lawful Good, because I act lawful and good." Or you can say, "I've chosen to be lawful and good, so now I have to act lawful and good." And we actually don't try to answer that in the game, because I think that's something that's really up to the players and dungeon masters.
Mike Mearls: And I also think it's something that, cosmologically ... on one hand, it's very useful just to say, "Orcs are Chaotic Evil. That means you can beat them up and not feel guilty." And I think in D&D's history, that worked. But now that you have, like, Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings on TV or movies, there's a lot more nuance now coming into fantasy.
So, as you can see, they are starting to change how alignment works. Why? Because the past alignment system is becoming unpopular. Nevermind that "it's very useful just to say, "Orcs are Chaotic Evil. That means you can beat them up and not feel guilty." And I think in D&D's history, that worked." People are bringing their real life issues into the game, and making a stink over it, and so they're changing it to be "As a DM, you can decide, is alignment ... like, does it describe someone, or does it define someone? And you can say, "I'm Lawful Good, because I act lawful and good." Or you can say, "I've chosen to be lawful and good, so now I have to act lawful and good." And we actually don't try to answer that in the game, because I think that's something that's really up to the players and dungeon masters."
So, in other words, to try to make everyone happy now, they are not taking a firm stance on anything. Let the DM decide. That's their stance on pretty much everything.
It's because the devs of D&D 5e and beyond are Chaotic in alignment. Lol. They are changing their alignment from Lawful and firmly placing it in Chaotic because there are those who don't like solid rules to govern things and put things in order. Now, D&D for one person may be a WHOLE lot different than for another, almost like you aren't even playing the same game.
And BG3 and all it's homebrew rules is EXACTLY the result you get, as is this entire thread.
