The Color of Alignment

[ArgentumLupus]

I'm trying to decide a more descriptive element to the detect alignment spell, and since I'm using a 0-100 scale system for my game I decided to use colors as the representation.

Now here's my issue. I've decided gray and green are ideal for the neutral colors, but I'm having problems deciding on what White/Black and Blue/Red should represent.

Should it be:
1) White/Black = Good/Evil, and Blue/Red = Law/Chaos?
or
2) White/Black = Law/Chaos, and Blue/Red = Good/Evil?

Feed back is much appreciated in this case, because I don't know what those colors may represent to most people. Coming from a Magic: The Gathering background, I personally see it as option 1.

Please discuss.
-Argentum

[Orthos]

Of the two, 1 looks more "traditional" to me.

That said, I normally go with:

> Yellow - Good
> Red - Evil
> Blue - Order
> Green - Chaos

And corner alignments just being a blend of the colors they're between. (LE=Purple, CE=Bluh Brown, CG=Apple Green, TN=Teal; LG being kind of a sticking point since yellow+blue=green, I just make a bright Gold)

[Garden Tool]

By RAW, Good is white, evil is black, lawful is gold, and chaos is violet.

Here's proof from the CRB.

You're welcome!

[Kirth Gersen]

We had an idiosyncratic one in a previous campaign, with a specific color for each alignment (rather than a scale). IRRC:

LG = Gold (like gold dragons, etc.)

NG = White (for obvious reasons)

CG = Green ('cause of all the elfy tree stuff)

CN = Orange (no idea why)

N = Gray (self-explanatory)

LN = Blue (one of the players was obviously LN and he liked the color)

LE = Red (Hellfire, etc.)

NE = Black (self-explanatory)

CE = Purple (can't remember why)

[Jal Dorak]

Wasn't the old-school Law/Chaos system represented by white/red respectively?

Of course, nowadays that would probably translate as Good/Evil, or more specifically LG/CE.

[William-Scott Hathaway]

Putting my Necromancy skills to use a bit here.

I just had an argument with a friend over this topic. We can both agree that Evil is represented by Red and Chaos by Orange but are having difficulty with the other two. Every time I have dealt with someone who can Detect evil, under any DM, they have always told me that Good is Blue, and I've never had a situation for Law but I believe it to be White.

My friend thinks the Good is Green and Law is Blue. Thoughts?

[master_marshmallow]

Kirth Gersen wrote:

CE = Purple (can't remember why)

The joker.

[Mikaze]

Instead of restricting it to color, why not involve sensations of certain feelings and visual cues that say a bit more about the target's nature, allowing for a more nuanced approach?

That way, CG worshippers of Black Butterfly give off a black aura with wispy forms of butterflies and moths trailing off the edges and giving off a comforting, if lonesome, feel. And CE worshippers of Nurgal would have a golden aura, glowing with a harsh, hateful light that doesn't illuminate so much as attack the retinas.

[The black raven]

Kirth Gersen wrote:

CN = Orange (no idea why)

Orange Lantern for Greed. VERY much CN (bordering on CE) this one.

For the OP : red is the color of warmth, which is linked to disorder, hence Chaos. Blue is the color of cold, which is linked to stasis, hence Law. So 1 for me.

[Jikuu]

For what it's worth, the Recluce Saga poses white as chaos and black as order. It had something to do with light.

[Threeshades]

Good=Yellow
Evil=Purple
Chaos=Red
Law=Cyan

That makes
LG=Green
NG=Yellow
CG=Orange
LN=Cyan
TN=White or Gray (as the center of the spectrum and mix of all colors)
CN=Red
LE=Blue
NE=Purple
CE=Magenta

It's hard to derive this from a color circle which is hex based while the alignment system is square based.

[Haladir]

I use an interpretation similar to Mikaze's: What you actually see vis-a-vis detecting alignmnent depends on your patron deity.

Regardless of what you see, the in-game effects are the same, but I do like to use consistent descriptive window dressing in my descriptions whenever possible.

[Pryllin]

I made a thing for my game-

Phylactery of Pharasma

Aura moderate necromancy; CL 10th
Slot headband; Price 20,000 gp; Weight —
Description
This item is a silver eight pointed star containing a small clear diamond at its centre. The star is affixed to a silken cord and tied around the forehead, worn so that the star sits upon the wearer’s brow. There is no mundane way to determine what function this item performs until it is placed on the brow of a deceased humanoid. The soul of the wearer of a Phylactery of Pharasma immediately returns to the deceased creature as if raise dead had been cast upon the subject. However, the subject does not gain two permanent negative levels and this effect is temporary until such time as the subject is actually raised or resurrected. Additionally, the clear diamond changes colour to match the wearer’s alignment as shown in the following table.

Lawful Good - White
Neutral Good - Blue
Chaotic Good - Green
Lawful Neutral - Yellow
Neutral - Grey
Chaotic Neutral - Orange
Lawful Evil - Purple
Neutral Evil - Red
Chaotic Evil - Black

Should the subject be slain again, their body crumbles to dust and dissipates and they can only be revived by a miracle, wish or similar magic. Should the phylactery of Pharasma be removed or destroyed (2 hit points, hardness 1, and damage reduction 5/slashing), the soul will depart the body once more, returning the subject to its dead condition.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, detect chaos, detect evil, detect good, detect law, raise dead, restoration; Cost 12,500 gp

In designing it-
I used White for purity, Black for corruption. (no surprises there)
I used blue for good and red for evil tying them to water and fire which I also link to Good and Evil and have standard game tropes.
I used Green for CG and life and nature.
I used Purple for LE mostly as an opposite to Green and for its closeness to red.
Grey for NN I used as an obvious balance of Black and White and for its lack of colour/alignment.
Yellow for LN and Orange for CN were somewhat arbitrary.
But I wanted to use the 3 primary colours, the 3 secondary colours, and the Black, White, Grey as my nine alignments.