Every player has a hidden alignment score. Drop too low and you become a Bandit: exiled from towns, removed from your nation, and marked for everyone to see.
Every player starts with an alignment score of 0. Your choices push it up or down, and your tier shows as an icon next to your name in the tab list and overhead. Scores slowly drift back toward 0 over time, so neither heroism nor banditry is permanent on its own.
Green diamond beside your name.
No icon. The default state.
Yellow eye. People are watching.
Red skull. See below.
The aggressor system is separate from alignment. Throwing the first punch flags you temporarily, regardless of where your alignment score sits.
Your alignment moves up or down based on what you do. Killing players is the biggest swing, but villagers and other nations' livestock count too. Helping people heal nudges it the other way. Aggressors and bandits are always fair game.
Drop below -50 alignment and you're flagged as a Bandit. The mark stays until you're redeemed.