D&D: Five Awful Good Lawful Good Characters
As the saying goes, lawfully good is awfully good. And here are five different NPCs that prove it with their own take on what that means.
When it comes to alignments it’s hard to go wrong with lawful good. After all, according to the book, lawful good characters and creatures by and large “can be counted on to do the right thing as expected by society.” And there’s no one more by the book than a lawful good character. Yet the alignment gets a lot of malignment from folks who prefer the term “lawful stupid” because the paladin won’t let them torture the goblin for information/because it’s Thursday. But here to show you that there’s more to being lawful good are five characters who embody lawful good without being ‘awful’ good.
The Scholar
Athron Thatch is a scholar and minor magic-user residing in a small town or perhaps a small community within a larger city. While not as powerful as archmages, Athron is nevertheless interested in doing the right thing by promoting community where he can, whether by organizing dinners to make sure that people who can’t eat, can–or by providing lectures and education to the urchins in the thieves’ guild, Thatch is a positive influence where he can be. He might serve as a source of arcane or otherwise esoteric information, or a quest-giver if something were to happen to the people he cares about.
The Guard
Vinara “Vin” Kethra is a rising star in the city watch. She’s got a nose for trouble–but pairs it with a head for people. She understands when someone needs to spend a night sleeping it off at home vs. in the city jail. She knows how to talk a crowd down from the verge of coalescing into an angry mob, and when to spur on that righteous anger to raise the hue and cry. If characters want to get the feel for a neighborhood, they should talk to Vin, nobody knows their neighbors like she does.
The Prince
Prince Edelor IV is a young prince on the run from a mysterious group of assassins who attacked the royal family the night of a deadly coup in a nearby kingdom. Edelor IV managed to escape and assume another identity–and now he works as an attendant in a blacksmith’s shop, carrying water and stoking the bellows while learning how to forge arms and armor. He knows that he must one day retake his throne, but doing so could mean war–and that could mean many innocent people dying. Until he can find a way to save his kingdom without killing its people, Edelor remains a humble blacksmith’s assistant.
The Paladin
Cassandra the Brave is an itinerant knight who was raised in a small, out of the way town, where the only religious teachings came from an old cleric who once saw a paladin riding through town. Cleric Maynard’s stories aside, the only other connection she had to the divinity that called her, were stories that her father had passed down, of noble knights and glorious deeds. She’s a quixotic figure, who is learning that people do not act like they do in stories–but she’s determined to see the world for what it could be, heroic, and to live up to her own standards, even if others do not.
The Wizard
Algard, Seventh Scion of the Order of the Sphere, is an abjuration wizard who works powerful protective spells. Algard might first encounter the players when they accidentally destroy one of their magical wards, meant to keep a deadly monster (or other evil threat) at bay from a local town, and now Algard must demand the PCs’ help if they are going to keep the town near their wizard tower safe.
Happy Adventuring! What does lawful good look like to you? Tell us about your LG examples in the comments!
