You can tear AD&D2e rules out my cold, dead hands 😆

Tbf, the reworked versions are better.

I'm CN, btw.

"Evil" is just a shitty term and/or axis.

Everyone is the hero of their own story. Almost nobody thinks of themselves as evil. Often the most evil acts are the ones done by people who have convinced themselves that what they're doing is for the best. Take the Great Leap Forward in China or other similar disasters. Tens of millions of people dying because the leader thought they had identified the true problem.

I'd much prefer a "selfishness" or "size of group that matters" axis. On one side of that axis you'd have tree-hugging environmentalists who think every life matters and are willing to make personal sacrifices to make a better world for people they've never met and never will meet. On the other side you'd have selfish people who want what's best for themselves and are willing to make their close family members suffer if they personally can benefit. Somewhere in the middle are people like NIMBYs who agree access to affordable housing is important, but don't want a tall building going up in their neighbourhood because it will ruin its character.

This can also lead to "dark paladins" that make sense. Instead of an evil paladin crusading on behalf of evil, you get a very selfless paladin who is willing to put his life on the line for a cause he believes in. It's just that that cause conflicts with the belief system of the adventurer's party.