List of Personality types for specific alignments

[Aeromyre]

Does anyone have a list of personality types that could correspond to specific alignments. My players are all almost all the same personality just following the alignment to a dot.

Thanks for the help.

[hamishspence]

Champions of Ruin has a list of "evil tropes" which can manifest as different personalities.

A villain who feels it is Better To Reign In Hell, is a very different one than a villain who believes that I Am Not Evil, or one who is Driven To Evil.

Exemplars of Evil lists a few personality traits, and mentions what alignments some of them tend to be associated with.

[Nefarion Xid]

I don't think MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory) has a dimension for measuring Evil...

Maybe you could assign alignments to Jungian archetypes? But those aren't really personalities. Or you could familiarize yourself with the MBTI dimensions, then add a measure for Evil/Good and Chaotic/Lawfulness.

"Hey guys! This online test tells me I'm an ENFPCG... and that I should seek a career as a teacher, a counselor or a bard..."

[Cahokia]

Personality and alignment are two quite different metrics.

Someone can be easy to get along with, loyal to their friends, and constantly cracking jokes and still be a very solid Evil. After all, their personality doesn't conflict with them murdering authority figures because they don't like getting bossed around (Chaotic Evil), nor does it conflict with them rising up the ranks of a political body through merciless sabotage (Lawful Evil). On the flipside of the coin, being a spiteful jerk does not prevent you from being good.

While both alignment and personalities are ways of labeling sets of behaviors, alignment describes belief system more than mannerism.

[Swordgleam]

I don't think MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory) has a dimension for measuring Evil...

Pretty sure it only tests for mental disorders, not personality types.

I can see Myers-Briggs maybe working, with judging being lawful and feeling being chaotic and that kind of thing.

But I think you're looking in the wrong direction. You want reasons, not personality types.

A man kills an unarmed man. Does he do it
1) Because he delights in killing
2) Because he is taking vengeance for a personal slight
3) Because he is taking vengeance for an evil act
4) Because the unarmed man would be a threat in the future
5) Because he is overcome by berserker rage and can't stop himself
etc

Killing an unarmed man is generally an evil act, and one that certainly someone of evil alignment can and would do. But just because it's an evil act and they're an evil character doesn't mean there's only one reason for it.

[okpokalypse]

I don't think personality types fit into alignment categories. Some might be more common as one type, but a LG person could still be cruel and prejudiced without affecting his alignment.

Alignments, in reality, are a VERY subjective thing. As far as D&D goes, they're actually defined in the BoED and BoVD with regards to actions rather well for gameplay sake.

[Nefarion Xid]

Pretty sure it only tests for mental disorders, not personality types.

I can see Myers-Briggs maybe working, with judging being lawful and feeling being chaotic and that kind of thing.

The MMPI tests for enduring personality traits as well as the emotional state of the test taker at the time. You can even compare different dimensions of the test to see how nervous the test taker was. And while it's a useful diagnostic tool, it most certainly doesn't just test for disorders. Also it kind of has Personality Inventory in the name. Now, the Antisocial measure in the MMPI would be a pretty good indicator of someone's Lawful/Chaotic inclination.

And the last 3 dimensions of the MBTI indicate how people take in, process and act on information and really has nothing to do with how submissive, obedient, rebellious, free spirited or whacky people are. Now, while some types (all 4 letters together) tend to have different feelings about authority and convention (INTJ comes to mind), we're talking about the interplay of four different dimensions of personality all coming together rather than just one, clear cut aspect of someone's personality.

Now, while I don't have anything insightful to add about PCs and personality, you can certainly spice up NPCs by reading up on different personality disorders.

Probably best to just think of the 2 dimensional D&D alignments as just that; simply 2 dimensions of a character and not the total package of who a character is.

[Swordgleam]

The MMPI tests for enduring personality traits as well as the emotional state of the test taker at the time. You can even compare different dimensions of the test to see how nervous the test taker was. And while it's a useful diagnostic tool, it most certainly doesn't just test for disorders. Also it kind of has Personality Inventory in the name. Now, the Antisocial measure in the MMPI would be a pretty good indicator of someone's Lawful/Chaotic inclination.

My mistake. I've only ever been given the "are you a danger to yourself or others" part of it and only ever in combination with more general tests, so I assumed that that was all it could handle. (No, I have no idea why that happened, either.)

[Aeromyre]

Some good tips thank you all
But i remembered in my AD&D DMG There is random generation table for personalities and traits for NPCS, I sat with my first player and he chose well.
Jabu Moondust level 5 Cleric of Dionysus Chaotic Neutral
Sanity: Neurotic
Tendencies: Helpful/kind, violent/warlike, foul/barbaric, Obsessive/fanatical, Practical joker/prankster, (I know helpful kind conflicts all of them, but he will base this on individual disposition of each person he meats.)
Personality: Rash/reckless
General Disposition: Cheerful
Intellect: Dreaming
Nature:Unforgiving
Materialism:Average
Honesty: Deceitful
Bravery: Foolhardy
Energy: Energetic
Thrift: Average
Morals:Lusty
Piety: PIous to Zealot/Martyr
Iterests: Religeon, wine and spirits, food and preperation, gambling, collecting high quality flasks goblets bottles or any containers for alchohol, and also collecting coins

Dionysus is the god of wine and has two side of a coin. THe plesure side and the madness side. Clerics must try to reprecent this in their personalities

[arguskos]

Champions of Ruin has a list of "evil tropes" which can manifest as different personalities.

A villain who feels it is Better To Reign In Hell, is a very different one than a villain who believes that I Am Not Evil, or one who is Driven To Evil.

Exemplars of Evil lists a few personality traits, and mentions what alignments some of them tend to be associated with.

CoR doesn't get nearly enough press for that section, which I find very useful and sanely written.

[Aeromyre]

Second CHaracter chose over the phone
Madi Level 5 human wizard - Summoner specialty Chaotic good after 2 alignment changes from neutral to evil then to good.
Sanity: Normal
Tenancies: Optimistic, studious, kind/helpful
Personality: Friendly
Nature:Hardhearted
Materialism: Intellectual (Knowledge is Power)
Honesty: Liar
Bravery: Foolhardy (I said ok vince so are you sure that if you have 1hp and you're fighting Asmodeus you won't run? he replied HELL NO!)
Energy: Driven
Thrifty:average
Morals: Virtuous
Piety: Reverent
Interests: Exotic animals, legends, history

If anyone would like these tables I'd be happy to scan them and post them. Just ask i have found them to be uber helpful

[KillianHawkeye]

Personality does not relate to Alignment. At all.

[Aeromyre]

Personality does not relate to Alignment. At all.

Sure they can be drastically different but generally i think personalities can and often do conform to a specific alignment.

Also that's not the point of this thread Killian, the point of this thread is to help teach new players the difference between the two.
My players kind of see their alignment as their personality, basing their characters on basically being outspoken against the government whenever possible but when i comes to other issues they don't care.
I wanted help fleshing them all out

[KillianHawkeye]

I'm just saying that your players should come up with a personality for their characters. The characters also have an Alignment, but it has no effect on personality. Just tell them to make up whatever personality they want. LG can be jerks and CE can be nice to kittens.

[Aeromyre]

I'm just saying that your players should come up with a personality for their characters. The characters also have an Alignment, but it has no effect on personality. Just tell them to make up whatever personality they want. LG can be jerks and CE can be nice to kittens.

I agree, but i think they have trouble grasping that concept

[WarKitty]

I agree, but i think they have trouble grasping that concept

Run a mini game with no alignment. Make them come up with characters without having to think within the matrix.

[Aeromyre]

Run a mini game with no alignment. Make them come up with characters without having to think within the matrix.

Thats an interesting idea
I might do that when this campaign is over

[Roderick_BR]

What, no one told you? With D&D's alignment system, you can have only 9 types of personality.

[Aeromyre]

What, no one told you? With D&D's alignment system, you can have only 9 types of personality.

hahahaha after 10 years of experience i can't believe no one told me that!

[hamishspence]

CoR doesn't get nearly enough press for that section, which I find very useful and sanely written.

I agree, but every time I bring it up, I get told "It's not core- therefore irrelevant"

When it comes to alignment, there are a lot of splatbooks out there that make it more subtle and interesting that the PHB- and allow for characters who believe they are one alignment when they are actually another, as per "I Am Not Evil" in CoR.

The game designers have tended to make quite a few such NPCs- Gareth Cormaeril in Waterdeep City of Splendours, Michael Ambrose in Tome of Magic, Calais Archwinter in Exemplars of Evil, and so on.