Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic/Alignment

Choices made by main player characters throughout the game can affect their alignment to the light or dark side of the Force.

Points

Alignment has a hidden point value between 0 and 100, representing the extremes of dark side mastery and light side mastery respectively. Main player characters begin the game at 50, with dark side actions subtracting from that value and light side actions adding to it. All dark side and light side actions have a point value assigned to them:

Action	High dark	Mid dark	Low dark	Low light	Mid light	High light
Points	-6	-4	-2	+2	+4	+6

However, these point values are adjusted based on the current alignment of the main player character:

Action	Current alignment
	Very dark (0-14)	Dark (15-39)	Neutral (40-60)	Light (61-84)	Very light (85-100)
High light	+10	+8	+6	+4	+2
Mid light	+8	+6	+4	+2	+1
Low light	+6	+4	+2	+1	+1
Low dark	-1	-1	-2	-4	-6
Mid dark	-1	-2	-4	-6	-8
High dark	-2	-4	-6	-8	-10

Feedback only gives a vague indication of how many points have been added or subtracted after an alignment shift:

Points	Feedback
+10	You have moved a great deal closer to the light side of the Force.
+(6-8)	You have moved much closer to the light side of the Force.
+(1-4)	You have moved closer to the light side of the Force.
-(1-4)	You have moved closer to the dark side of the Force.
-(6-8)	You have moved much closer to the dark side of the Force.
-10	You have moved a great deal closer to the dark side of the Force.

Appearance

When viewing character models on the character screen an arrow indicates their position on the meter to their left, while an icon will appear on the status bar to their right when light side or dark side mastery is achieved. The background and their facial expressions and stances also indicate where they are on the spectrum of good and evil:

Character models displayed on the character screen for dark side mastery, neutral and light side mastery.

Main player character portraits also change as alignment shifts towards the dark side of the Force: from top to bottom, appearance corresponds to alignment 41-100, 31-40, 21-30, 11-20 and 0-10.

All 15 male portraits, including later changes in appearance as alignment shifts toward the dark side of the Force.

All 15 female portraits, including later changes in appearance as alignment shifts toward the dark side of the Force.

Equipment

Some items cannot be equipped unless a character has progressed beyond a certain threshold to either side: items restricted to the dark side cannot be equipped unless a character’s alignment is 0-40, while those restricted to the light side cannot be equipped unless it's 60-100:

Item	Restricted to: Light Side	Restricted to: Dark Side
Head	Circlet of Saresh	Tulak Hord's Mask
Hands		Marka Ragnos' Gauntlets
Robes	Qel-Droma Robes	Darth Revan's Robes
	Star Forge Robes
Power crystal	Crystal, Solari

Force powers

Some Force powers are inherently light or dark in nature, and cost more Force points to use if a character is of opposing alignment:

Power	Alignment
	0-9	10-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50-59	60-69	70-79	80-89	90-99	100
Light side	+75%	+50%	+50%	+25%	+25%	100%	-10%	-15%	-20%	-30%	-50%
Dark side	-50%	-30%	-20%	-15%	-10%	100%	+25%	+25%	+50%	+50%	+75%

The alignment value thresholds in the manual are not entirely accurate (those above are derived from the game itself). Light side power costs increase the further to the dark side a character is (and vice versa):

Force powers	Alignment
	0-9	10-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50-59	60-69	70-79	80-89	90-99	100
	44	38	38	31	31	25	22	21	20	17	13
	26	23	23	19	19	15	13	13	12	10	8
	35	30	30	25	25	20	18	17	16	14	10
	35	30	30	25	25	20	18	17	16	14	10
	18	15	15	13	13	10	9	9	8	7	5
	8	10	12	13	13	15	19	19	23	23	26
	8	10	12	13	13	15	19	19	23	23	26
	5	7	8	9	9	10	13	13	15	15	18
	10	14	16	17	18	20	25	25	30	30	35
	10	14	16	17	18	20	25	25	30	30	35

Use of Force powers of opposing alignment doesn't normally affect a character's alignment.

Mastery

Mastery bonuses vary according to Jedi class and alignment:

Mastery	Jedi class
	Jedi Guardian	Jedi Sentinel	Jedi Consular
Light side	Strength: +3	Constitution: +3	Charisma: +3
Dark side	Damage: Physical, 1-8	Immunity: Poison	+50 Force points

These bonuses are only granted to the main player character unless on Xbox. They're not permanent, but only granted when alignment is at either extreme of 0 (dark side) or 100 (light side): a dark side action results in a light side mastery bonus being lost (and vice versa), although it can be regained with appropriate action.

The dark side mastery bonus for a Jedi Guardian doesn't apply when unarmed, but it does apply when equipping any kind of weapon (whether ranged, melee or lightsaber).

Party

Alignment of party members doesn't change as a result of their own actions or those of the main player character.

Trask	Carth	Mission	Zaalbar	Bastila	T3-M4	Canderous	Juhani	Jolee	HK-47
50	75	75	60	70	50	30	70	55	20

However, comments on the choices of the main player character differ depending on the alignment of the party member, and some light side party members may actually intervene to prevent some dark side actions.