This has been a long time coming.
Jun. 25th, 2020 02:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gridloreDungeons & Dragons Removes Concept of Inherently Evil Races From the Game
Excellent news! To be honest, alignment is such a tired game mechanic I'm hoping to see it quietly sent to a farm in the country where it can play with THAC0 and all the other retired game concepts.
Because races and people don't fit into nice little boxes, and sometimes the truth is defined by the perspective of the person involved. To use an extreme example, the Nazis believed they were right. They believed they were saving Germany. They believed that they were beset by enemies who must be destroyed. They were utterly wrong, and while the world rightly judged them as evil, at the time of the Third Reich the Germans saw themselves as good.
History is filled with examples like this. Shit, American Manifest Destiny, our God-given mandate to occupy North America with good (white) Protestants was held up as the highest pinnacle of our national dream. The fact that in required slavery, genocide, and beating up on Mexico gets swept under the carpet. We are America! We are now, and always have been, the Good Guys!
Bullshit.
But what of our nice, clean fantasy worlds? Can they survive losing these black and white categorizations of morality? Of course they can. I own half a dozen games that do high fantasy just fine without it. And you don't need good and evil to explain hated, bias, or competition over resources. You just need better storytelling.
Even before I owned Volo's Guide to Monsters, which does an amazing job on Orcs, I had my own explanation for why they were so aggressive and greedy. Male orcs outnumber females 3:1. Breeding rights are earned through prowess in battle and bringing shiny treasures back to the tribe. Warbands are out to prove themselves and earn status. Orcs also reproduce fast, so every few generations, either a massive inter-tribal war breaks out, or a mass migration begins. Neither is good news for nearby communities.
Of course, orc bands can be bribed. Just like the Romans paid off migrating barbarian states, local leaders can make peace with the orcs, pay them to direct their energies elsewhere, even hire them as mercenaries. The point is, they are no longer just monsters, but a people with motivations that go beyond being adventure chow. The orc guarding a chest in a 10x10 room is there because that's his offering at the tribe moot! Of course, he's going to defend it!
There are exceptions, things tied to evil deities or creatures from afoul planes will be evil. Gnolls, as an example, are tied to the Demon Lord Yeenoughu and share his endless hunger. A Holy Avenger will only agree to be wielded by a worth champion. But those cases can be adjudicated as needed.
So here's to the end of racial alignments!
Excellent news! To be honest, alignment is such a tired game mechanic I'm hoping to see it quietly sent to a farm in the country where it can play with THAC0 and all the other retired game concepts.
Because races and people don't fit into nice little boxes, and sometimes the truth is defined by the perspective of the person involved. To use an extreme example, the Nazis believed they were right. They believed they were saving Germany. They believed that they were beset by enemies who must be destroyed. They were utterly wrong, and while the world rightly judged them as evil, at the time of the Third Reich the Germans saw themselves as good.
History is filled with examples like this. Shit, American Manifest Destiny, our God-given mandate to occupy North America with good (white) Protestants was held up as the highest pinnacle of our national dream. The fact that in required slavery, genocide, and beating up on Mexico gets swept under the carpet. We are America! We are now, and always have been, the Good Guys!
Bullshit.
But what of our nice, clean fantasy worlds? Can they survive losing these black and white categorizations of morality? Of course they can. I own half a dozen games that do high fantasy just fine without it. And you don't need good and evil to explain hated, bias, or competition over resources. You just need better storytelling.
Even before I owned Volo's Guide to Monsters, which does an amazing job on Orcs, I had my own explanation for why they were so aggressive and greedy. Male orcs outnumber females 3:1. Breeding rights are earned through prowess in battle and bringing shiny treasures back to the tribe. Warbands are out to prove themselves and earn status. Orcs also reproduce fast, so every few generations, either a massive inter-tribal war breaks out, or a mass migration begins. Neither is good news for nearby communities.
Of course, orc bands can be bribed. Just like the Romans paid off migrating barbarian states, local leaders can make peace with the orcs, pay them to direct their energies elsewhere, even hire them as mercenaries. The point is, they are no longer just monsters, but a people with motivations that go beyond being adventure chow. The orc guarding a chest in a 10x10 room is there because that's his offering at the tribe moot! Of course, he's going to defend it!
There are exceptions, things tied to evil deities or creatures from afoul planes will be evil. Gnolls, as an example, are tied to the Demon Lord Yeenoughu and share his endless hunger. A Holy Avenger will only agree to be wielded by a worth champion. But those cases can be adjudicated as needed.
So here's to the end of racial alignments!
no subject
Date: 30 Jun 2020 06:01 (UTC)no subject
Date: 30 Jun 2020 17:28 (UTC)I thought to comment on this - to mention Michael Moorcock, Babylon 5 and The Empire of the Petal Throne -
But I think I’ve been ‘shadowbanned’ here. I see my comments, but I don’t think you or anyone else ever does!
So it goes.
no subject
Date: 30 Jun 2020 18:06 (UTC)