What about alignment?

Most roleplaying games have some sort of alignment mechanism, be it forcing the player or party to play for the side of good, or clustering the characters into one of a set of options. The MaL system addresses this common staple of roleplaying games while still allowing for a broad range of character creation traits and individuality.

Standard Alignment Generalizations:

In most roleplaying games of the past, players were forced to play the heroic characters, saving the day. Even in the case of the childhood game of Cops and Robbers, the robber typically ended up in the pretend jail by the end of the chase, because it reinforced the idealization of justice. Some other games dealt with playing from the perspective of a character that was typically seen as criminal, but was in fact an antihero or, like Robin Hood, wrongfully persecuted due to an injustice system of law. Dungeons and Dragons is one of the most well-known early examples of roleplaying games where a player could choose to play a truly evil, chaotic character with all the consequences of that choice, a heroic rule-abiding hero, or somewhere between or sideways from those extremes. Some games have since stuck with purely good, evil and neutral as options, eliminating the lawful/chaotic aspect. Many others have returned to the roots of giving no option at all, or going with the nine-alignment system. While players do have the right to play in games with choices that deviate from what seems to fit their alignment, they usually do not receive a reward for it, unless they can roleplay out why it still fits their character, and some GMs have punished players for such things. As with any game run by a group, the rules of such systems are flexible to meet the demands and preferences of the individuals in the group. MaL does, however, have alternate recommendations or additions for alignment and roleplaying them.

Renown:

"You bungled the rescue and set fire to a neighboring animal shelter by accident. The townsfolk of Nevin murmur that either you are the biggest idiots they've ever seen or actually evil and in league with the kidnappers. They'll be eying you with suspicion for some time."

Renown is one of the traits MaL uses to assign and keep track of a character or group's perception in the mind of another individual or group of individuals such as a family, town, planet or beyond, in as many steps as the GM wishes to deal with. Renown is both individual, local and universal. A player's renown with an individual may either make them eyed suspiciously as they shop, or make the shopkeeper want them as a repeat customer to be able to claim a hero shops there, and thus give them a discount, other special deal, free items, a side-quest, or other manner of interactions, both positive and negative. A family may form a vendetta against a group, or try to get them to come to a wedding (or even try to match-make a player's character with one of their relatives). A town may put out a warrant for a group's arrest, or provide them with free lodging, food and drink. A planet may have its news spread rapidly telling of a villain's failures against a hero, or triumph in a villainous character dominating yet another country. Renown points can be assigned by the GM however they see fit, but MaL recommends a section on each player's profile to list special notes, as well as areas the character's renown is different from being a complete stranger.

More Specific Alignment:

"So what you're saying is that your character isn't going to slay the family of your mortal enemy because you plan to bend them to your will?"

One of the more commonly known psychological categorization systems known currently is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. It deals with grouping a person by four primary pairs of functions: Extroversion (E) and Introversion (I); Sensing (S) and Intuition (N); Thinking (T) and Feeling (F); Judging (J) and Perceiving (P). The makeup of an individual's personality according to the system is where they fall on the different pairings and the total composite. A person that is ESTP, for example, is an extrovert who prefers to trust things they can see or touch for themselves over gut intuition, prefers logic over emotions, and prefers to keep things open for further review but with very concrete opinions until swayed. A character with this type of personality could be evil, neutral or good, chaotic, neutral or lawful, and still fit in with that personality consistently. A player could choose to be more or less intelligent as per their stats, or even with a high intelligence decide to play dumb so as to be underestimated by enemies. There are thousands upon thousand of different situations in which further exploration of personality can be dealt with. In MaL, the infernal species are often seen as evil by neutral or celestial species, and due to their selfishness this can often be the case. But one could be selfish but feel more protected by having 'meat shields' and thus occasionally do things jealously to keep their allies close or even part with the funds and items they have miserly gained in order to curtail favor and continued assistance. The same goes for selflessness. A character could feel they are being selfless and sacrificing themselves for the greater good, but in actuality be misled or misguided in their attempts to better other individuals, such as encouraging another species to eat more vegetables and less meat, slaving for hours over a nice meal, but find out that the meal contains ingredients allergenic or poisonous to said species! Additionally, a character might be working for the good of all to sacrifice a small number, but they would be known locally and possibly further for their failure or sacrificing of that number more than the good that such an act might have possibly done. Sexuality, romantic preference, being a loner by choice or being forced, being a follower or a leader, all of these things and more affect how a character is played and develops over the series of sessions between a GM and their players.

Is Alignment Needed?

Another perspective to investigate is whether or not a player should even worry about things such as alignment, or if they should just play and let their actions and words in context be interpreted by other characters and the GM as they are happening, as happens most in real life. Alignment does not need to be firmly fixed to limit or force certain actions, but it can be very useful in ensuring a player's character is consistent and realistic in as much of the session as possible. It is entirely up to the GM and players to decide on how enforced alignment is, if even at all.  In the case of the pen and paper version of the game, it is up to the player and the GM to decide if something is in alignment or in character for the actions or lack thereof in question.  In the case of the computer version, the renown system will let NPCs and other players be able to view the perceived alignment, and react accordingly.  A player choosing to not follow a set alignment or personality type may be harder to have renown spread, and as a result have fewer bonuses or penalties as a result that apply specifically to their perceived alignment.  One that focuses on a particular alignment may find additional items and abilities that only work for their current alignment.  The point of alignment in both the pen and paper version and the computer version is not to force actions, but to reward and challenge those that have picked one and stuck to it in an area.