System	
  Reference	
   Document	
  5.1 	
   59	
  
	
   Lawful	
  neutral 	
  (LN)	
  individuals	
  act	
  in	
  accordance	
  
with	
  law,	
  tradition,	
  o r	
  personal	
  codes.	
  Many	
  monks	
  
and	
  some	
  wizards	
  are	
  lawful	
  neutral. 	
  
	
   Neutral	
  (N)	
  is	
  the	
  alignment	
  of	
  those	
  who	
  prefer	
  
to	
  steer	
  clear	
  of	
  moral	
  questions	
  and	
  don’t	
  take	
  sides,	
  
doing	
  what	
  seems	
  best	
  at	
  the	
  time.	
  Lizardfolk,	
  most	
  
druids,	
  and	
  many	
  humans	
  are	
  neut ral.	
  
	
   Chaotic	
  neutral 	
  (CN)	
  creatures	
  follow	
  their	
  
whims,	
  holding	
  their	
  personal	
  freedom	
  above	
  all	
  else.	
  
Many	
  barbarians	
  and	
  rogues,	
  and	
  some	
  bards,	
  are	
  
chaotic	
  neutral. 	
  
	
   Lawful	
  evil	
  (LE)	
  creatures	
  methodically	
  take	
  what	
  
they	
  want,	
  within	
  the	
  limits	
  of	
  a	
  co de	
  of	
  tradition,	
  
loyalty,	
  or	
  order.	
  Devils,	
  blue	
  dragons,	
  and	
  
hobgoblins	
  are	
  lawful	
  evil. 	
  
	
   Neutral	
  evil	
  (NE)	
  is	
  the	
  alignment	
  of	
  those	
  who	
  
do	
  whatever	
  they	
  can	
  get	
  away	
  with,	
  without	
  
compassion	
  or	
  qualms.	
  Many	
  drow,	
  some	
  cloud	
  
giants,	
  and	
  goblins	
  are	
  neutr al	
  evil.	
  
	
   Chaotic	
  evil	
  (CE)	
  creatures	
  act	
  with	
  arbitrary	
  
violence,	
  spurred	
  by	
  their	
  greed,	
  hatred,	
  or	
  bloodlust.	
  
Demons,	
  red	
  dragons,	
  and	
  orcs	
  are	
  chaotic	
  evil. 	
  
Alignment in the Multiverse 
For	
  many	
  thinking	
  creatures,	
  alignment	
  is	
  a	
  moral	
  
choice.	
  Humans,	
   dwarves,	
  elves,	
  and	
  other	
  humanoid	
  
races	
  can	
  choose	
  whether	
  to	
  follow	
  the	
  paths	
  of	
  good	
  
or	
  evil,	
  law	
  or	
  chaos.	
  According	
  to	
  myth,	
  the	
  good-­‐‑
aligned	
  gods	
  who	
  created	
  these	
  races	
  gave	
  them	
  free	
  
will	
  to	
  choose	
  their	
  moral	
  paths,	
  knowing	
  that	
  good	
  
without	
  free	
  will	
  is	
  slavery.	
  
	
   The	
  evil	
  deities	
  who	
  created	
  other	
  races,	
  though,	
  
made	
  those	
  races	
  to	
  serve	
  them.	
  Those	
  races	
  have	
  
strong	
  inborn	
  tendencies	
  that	
  match	
  the	
  nature	
  of	
  
their	
  gods.	
  Most	
  orcs	
  share	
  the	
  violent,	
  savage	
  
nature	
  of	
  the	
  orc	
  gods,	
  and	
  are	
  thus	
  incl ined	
  toward	
  
evil.	
  Even	
  if	
  an	
  orc	
  chooses	
  a	
  good	
  alignment,	
  it	
  
struggles	
  against	
  its	
  innate	
  tendencies	
  for	
  its	
  entire	
  
life.	
  (Even	
  half-­‐‑ orcs	
  feel	
  the	
  lingering	
  pull	
  of	
  the	
  orc	
  
god’s	
  influence.) 	
  
	
   Alignment	
  is	
  an	
  essential	
  part	
  of	
  the	
  nature	
  of	
  
celestials	
  and	
  fiends.	
  A	
  devil	
  does	
  not	
  choose	
  to	
  be	
  
lawful	
  evil,	
  and	
  it	
  doesn’t	
  tend	
  toward	
  lawful	
  evil,	
  
but	
  rather	
  it	
  is	
  lawful	
  evil	
  in	
  its	
  essence.	
  If	
  it	
  
somehow	
  ceased	
  to	
  be	
  lawful	
  evil,	
  it	
  would	
  cease	
  to	
  
be	
  a	
  devil.	
  
	
   Most	
  creatures	
  that	
  lack	
  the	
  capacity	
  for	
  rational	
  
thought	
  do	
  not	
  have	
  alignments —they	
  are	
  
unaligned.	
  Such	
  a	
  creature	
  is	
  incapable	
  of	
  making	
  a	
  
moral	
  or	
  ethical	
  choice	
  and	
  acts	
  according	
  to	
  its	
  
bestial	
  nature.	
  Sharks	
  are	
  savage	
  predators,	
  for	
  
example,	
  but	
  they	
  are	
  not	
  evil;	
  they	
  have	
  no	
  
alignment.	
  
Languages 
Your	
  race	
  indicates	
  the	
  languages	
  your	
  character	
  can	
  
speak	
  by	
  default,	
  and	
  your	
  background	
  might	
  give	
  
you	
  access	
  to	
  one	
  or	
  more	
  additional	
  languages	
  of	
  
your	
  choice.	
  Note	
  these	
  languages	
  on	
  your	
  character	
  
sheet.	
  
	
   Choose	
  your	
  languages	
  from	
  the	
  Standard	
  
Languages	
  table,	
  or	
  choose	
  one	
  that	
  is	
  common	
  in	
  
your	
  campaign.	
  With	
  your	
  GM’s	
  permission,	
  you	
  can	
  
instead	
  choose	
  a	
  language	
  from	
  the	
  Exotic	
  
Languages	
  table	
  or	
  a	
  secret	
  language,	
  such	
  as	
  thieves’	
  
cant	
  or	
  the	
  tongue	
  of	
  druids. 	
  
	
   Some	
  of	
  these	
  languages	
  are	
  ac tually	
  families	
  of	
  
languages	
  with	
  many	
  dialects.	
  For	
  example,	
  the	
  
Primordial	
  language	
  includes	
  the	
  Auran,	
  Aquan,	
  
Ignan,	
  and	
  Terran	
  dialects,	
  one	
  for	
  each	
  of	
  the	
  four	
  
elemental	
  planes.	
  Creatures	
  that	
  speak	
  different	
  
dialects	
  of	
  the	
  same	
  language	
  can	
  communi cate	
  with	
  
one	
  another.	
  
Standard	
  Languages	
  
Language	
   Typical	
  Speakers	
   Script	
  
Common	
   Humans	
   Common	
  
Dwarvish	
   Dwarves	
   Dwarvish	
  
Elvish	
   Elves	
   Elvish	
  
Giant	
   Ogres,	
  giants	
   Dwarvish	
  
Gnomish	
   Gnomes	
   Dwarvish	
  
Goblin	
   Goblinoids	
   Dwarvish	
  
Halfling	
   Halflings	
   Common	
  
Orc	
   Orcs	
   Dwarvish	
  
Exotic	
  Languages	
  
Language	
   Typical	
  Speakers	
   Script	
  
Abyssal	
   Demons	
   Infernal	
  
Celestial	
   Celestials	
   Celestial	
  
Draconic	
   Dragons,	
  dragonborn	
   Draconic	
  
Deep	
  Speech	
   Aboleths,	
  	
  cloakers 	
   —	
  
Infernal	
   Devils	
   Infernal	
  
Primordial	
   Elementals	
   Dwarvish	
  
Sylvan	
   Fey	
  creatures	
   Elvish	
  
Undercommon	
   Underworld	
  traders 	
   Elvish	
  
Inspiration 
Inspiration	
  is	
  a	
  rule	
  the	
  game	
  master	
  can	
  use	
  to	
  
reward	
  you	
  for	
  playing	
  your	
  character	
  in	
  a	
  way	
  
that’s	
  true	
  to	
  his	
  or	
  her	
  personality	
  traits,	
  ideal,	
  bond,	
  
and	
  flaw.	
  By	
  using	
  inspiration,	
  you	
  can	
  draw	
  on	
  your	
  
personality	
  trait	
  of	
  compassion	
  for	
  the	
  downtrodden	
  
to	
  give	
  you	
  an	
  edge	
  in	
  negotiating	
  with	
  the	
  Beggar	
  
Prince.	
  Or	
  inspiration	
  can	
  let	
  you	
  call	
  on	
  your	
  bond	
  
to	
  the	
  defense	
  of	
  your	
  home	
  village	
  to	
  push	
  past	
  the	
  
effect	
  of	
  a	
  spell	
  that	
  has	
  been	
  laid	
  on	
  you. 	
  