Mark Lawrence: "The bastard may or may not possess a moral compass. The key ingredient here is that they take no notice of it whatsoever, except when wishing to pretend they're not really such a bastard after all.

The bastard is free to journey where they like on the map, unhampered by guidance of any sort. It's the goal that matters. In many ways it's the bastard who still has their compass that's the worst, since they retain a sense of right and wrong but choose to ignore it.

In Prince of Thorns we see that Jorg definitely has a moral compass. He surgically detached himself from it at age ten, put it in a drawer, nailed that shut, then buried the desk in a very deep hole."

Other notable bastards: Tyrion Lannister definitely has a compass...Ser Gregor Clegane doesn't...Gollum gave his compass to Smeagol then walled him up.