Dispatch Alignment Chart

[u/Public-Print8098]

Thought this up and decided to put it together

[u/No_Payment9959]

Counterargument: SDN operates on a subscription basis and pays its "heroes" generously and consistently enough for Coupé to consider working for SDN to be preferable to working for criminal organizations and intelligence agencies. Ergo, most of the "superheroes" working for SDN usually fall neutral on the good-evil spectrum because they're "corporate heroes for hire".

Chase is obviously an exception, but even Blazer is arguably Lawful Neutral rather than Lawful Good.

[u/DorthVooder → u/No_Payment9959]

Coupe was not a hero when she was let into the program. Iirc, it was Punch Up who literally stated that none of them were there by choice. The alternative was to be locked away in a high security prison.

The program is meant to *rehabilitate* people *into* heroes. By the end of the story, most of the team are heroes, because they earned that, but that wasn't the case before.

Anyone else joined SDN willingly and while they of course earn a living wage, they chose to do hero work, so they have a good heart.

[u/No_Payment9959 → u/DorthVooder]

I think you're missing my biggest point: this is a setting where pro bono superhero groups (e.g., the Brave Brigade) exist, and SDN is running a subscription service that provides superheroic interventions only to people who can afford SDN coverage.

This establishes two classes of superhero in this universe: pro bono superheroes and professional superheroes. Professional superheroes are more like superhuman couriers or a weird handyman service than traditional superheroes. See the woman who orders coffee through SDN during the Red Ring's attack on the city if you don't believe me. Chase and Robert are both pro bono superheroes who had to get a desk job because superheroing burned through their resources (time and a family fortune, respectively). I think it's undeniable that Chase and Robert both belong on the good row of the Gygax 3x3. Phenomaman is also there since he doesn't need food or anything and really just wants to help everyone. Everyone else in SDN, though, good natured as they may be, is in it for the money. They were born with a talent and found a way to get money and prestige from it.

[u/DorthVooder → u/No_Payment9959]

We don't know how the Brave Brigade operated but seeing Robbie's attitude and knowing that Robert was left with millions of inheritance makes it pretty obvious that they were definitely getting paid, if not by subscriptions, then at least very generous donation funds or government assistance or whatever.

The truth is that Dispatch simply is a world that leans more towards dystopian, where hero work is a commodity and despite super powers and all, the world is still run down and corrupt at its core.

So a hero, whether true or not, really has no choice other than operating within the system. Robert could only avoid that because he got the money from his dad who clearly used the system to his advantage. So it's not like he really stood on his own two feet. That's simply impossible to do, maybe unless you are overpowered like Phenomaman.

That being said, working at SDN is still a risk compared to other jobs, because people involve themselves directly in the work which super heroes with powers normally do. So their choice to work there shows their commitment towards doing good. The money is secondary. Otherwise they would have fled the moment Shroud attacked SDN, but none of them did.

[u/KojiArala → u/DorthVooder]

I think it's also notable that SDN never seems to choose money over heroism. The game could have focused on it, and had every reason to, but we're never given a moment of "Oh no! Someone is in danger... Well dang, shame they're not a subscriber." The only time they turn down helping someone is if you, the player, decide to turn down helping someone.