So I talked in the last post about the use of Magic colors as a kind of alignment system - one that side-steps questions of good and evil in favor of other ideas that the player can interpret as one or the other. One of the nice benefits of Magic's colors over alignment is that you can blend colors that are even opposites of one another.
There is a loose and not really mechanic-enforced idea within Magic that colors next to each other on the wheel are "allied" colors while those opposite the color are enemies. That gives each color two allies and two enemies. As an example, White and Green agree a lot on the interconnected nature of reality, that things ought to cooperate and synergize with one another - which is a direct contrast with Black's self-centered worldview.
But you can combine just about any two colors and find common ground - even between enemies. Red and Blue, for example, are opposed based on the idea that Red is passionate and impulsive while Blue is cerebral and logical. Yet both value a quick wit and the perfectly timed action - the difference is really more about how they determine that perfect timing.
Two-color combinations are the major theme of Magic's Ravnica setting, which they'll be exploring a third time in the upcoming Guilds of Ravnica set. It is one of the most popular settings - both thanks to high-watermark design quality and a really cool concept that allows for a diversity of styles - and I think one major reason for this is that they really nailed just about every color combination, finding not just a decent combination of the colors' values, but more finding the common ground where those values overlap.
So as long as we're talking about character alignment in RPGs, we can also talk about the attitudes of the various guilds of Ravnica. Spoiler alert: I'm pitching Ravnica as a really cool setting for a D&D campaign. Wizards has put out a number of Plane Shift articles suggesting how you could adapt other settings for such a purpose. They've done so with other very popular settings (which sadly came after I stopped playing MTG,) Innistrad and Zendikar, and I'll be pretty shocked if they don't make an article for Ravnica with the upcoming release. So let's talk guilds! I figure to quasi-randomize it, I'll just go with the guilds as they were introduced in the original block.
Selesnya Conclave: White and Green
The Selesnya are all about collectivism. Their leader is a group of dryads, and they focus a great deal on interconnectivity. Their style is less about self-sacrifice than it is for people all lifting each other up at the same time ("Lift as we climb" is a good ethos for them.) It rejects the idea that everything has to be a zero-sum game, and pushes everyone to come together to achieve great things.
Boros Legion: Red and White
The Boros Legion is all about fighting shoulder to shoulder with your fellows. There's always a fight that needs fighting, but together, the Boros can win that fight. Glory and righteousness guide the Boros ethos.
Golgari Swarm: Black and Green
The Golgari are focused on the cycle of life and death, and unlike the Selesnya, they do see things as a zero-sum game. But it's one in which equality and justice is served by ensuring that the cycle of life continues unimpeded. There's no end to the way that resources can be redistributed, and while it's a shame that some things have to be destroyed, doing so brings about the new.
House Dimir: Blue and Black
House Dimir is all about secrets. Controlling information is the way to control the world, and you can do this by both acquiring knowledge and depriving your foes of it. The Dimir ethos is the enigma, preferring that people aren't even aware of their existence, which allows them every opportunity to operate unimpeded.
Izzet League: Red and Blue
Experimentation is the key to acquiring knowledge, and you can only discover new knowledge by testing your limits, regardless of how dangerous that might be. The Izzet are fearless and brilliant, but this also makes them reckless, passionate and eager and with a certain cerebral dissociation that allows them to ignore the risks in the name of science.
Orzhov Syndicate: White and Black
The Orzhov look after their own. It's a dangerous world out there and you're justified in doing whatever it takes to exploit and cheat your way to prosperity, but once you're in, you're in. And that means you have a responsibility to those within your organization. In exchange, you enjoy its protection.
Gruul Clans: Green and Red
Civilization ruins the natural splendor of the wilds, and as one of the Gruul, you are there to keep it in check. Freedom is the greatest value of the Gruul Clans, and you can't let anyone tell you what to do. And if anyone does, it's time to fight them.
Cult of Rakdos: Black and Red
Nothing matters. Do whatever you can to have fun and enjoy yourself, whether that means hedonistic excess or gleeful destruction. It's all about how much you can enjoy yourself, so go crazy!
Simic Combine: Green and Blue
Things can always be improved, and to deny that improvement is both arrogant and self-defeating. You can either be part of evolution or you can be left behind by it (also known as going extinct.) Perhaps in participation you might guide the future toward what you'd like to see, but you've also got to be open to the idea that the future will shape you as well. Don't be sentimental about the past.
Azorius Senate: Blue and White
Laws are the only way to ensure that order in the universe is maintained. And when all is in order, everything is smooth and beautiful. You see, without rules and restrictions, the Azorius contend, there is only chaos and disorder, and who would want to live in such a world? Besides, how hard is it really to fill out a few hundred-page forms a day? It's a small price to pay for a well-functioning society!
I tried to write these out in such a way that they talk more specifically about the guild philosophies than the specifics of their roles within Ravnica's society so that you might think of them as more universal alignments than to be used specifically in a Ravnica-set RPG. And the good news is that they mostly work pretty well that way!
I think you could use this, along with the five primary colors, to create a sort of character-alignment system. Obviously there's some potential cross-over - a Rakdos Red/Black character would very easily fall into the Chaotic Evil category. But thanks to the fact that "evil" is less explicit in Magic, you could create a lovable Rakdos character who is more Chaotic Neutral (good might be a stretch.) Similarly, while Green and White are both often portrayed as "good guy" colors, the collectivism of the Selesnya could translate into a kind of brainwashed cultishness.
But if we also just kind of move away from the idea of calling any given character good or evil, it frees the narrative up for a great deal of nuance. The Azorius might really just want a safe and orderly world, but the callousness of their bureaucracy winds up making a lot of people miserable. The Izzet could be doing great work and making terrific discoveries, but doing so endangers everyone around them.
I'll be super curious to see the new take on the setting in the third block, and definitely keeping an eye out for the Plane Shift article should it come out.
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