D&D 5E "Evil" options limited to the DMG?
Ruin Explorer
Legend
Hopefully it's the latter, as that would make more sense in the DMG (as it's not a base class, more like a PrC, AND optional).
Remathilis
Legend
Here's my thought.
Assassins and necromancers, while typically evil aligned, don't need to be. You can be more benign necromancer who uses his dark arts to combat undead or an assassin bent of ridding the world of really bad people. Even warlocks don't have to be evil; their patrons aren't always wholesome but they can try to "fight back" against them.
That's not really possible with divinely powered PCs. A cleric with the death domain is going to worship a death god (or not remain a cleric too long) and most death gods are unwholesome. (Kelemvor and Osiris nonwithstanding). Its really hard to "fight back" against your patron (like a warlock) and the class is about serving him. Likewise, while paladin's can be "any" alignment, their oaths really kind of limit them to certain behaviors and I can't see any behaviors listed on the blackguard that screams "plays well with others", if any of the multitudes of evil paladin classes are any indication. Perhaps they felt those two archetypes were a bit too evil-tied due to their divine connection, whereas its much easier to justify a good-ish assassin, necromancer, or warlock.
Li Shenron
Legend
They are a lot debatable. Some people have different ethical standards than others, IMO they just went with drawing the line based on how the majority see those characters, or at least how the majority finds it easy to conceive a non-evil version of them. E.g. I can bet there's a lot of people who have no problems with necromancers who aren't evil "because they see necromancy as a mere tool", or can at least accept the concept of a "good assassin" as long they only assassinate evil people. I don't want to discuss the merits of these views because it's got a lot to do with RL ethics and religion, I'm just saying that in the context of the game at least they are fairly easy to accept.
Non-evil blackguard is almost a nonsense, it takes quite a stretch to imagine that, since the whole blackguard concept comes from a paladin but evil. It's like saying "a good blackguard is a good evil paladin..."
A good Death Cleric I can imagine, there's plenty of death-themed deities in D&D that aren't evil at all (Osiris, Kelemvor, The Raven Queen, maybe even Wee Jas...), but perhaps these are not what WotC had in mind when designing the Death domain specifically?
Zhaleskra
Adventurer
I wasn't going to reply to this, but then I saw the OP mentioned the Death Domain. "Death = Evil" has been to undeath, and it's not true to boot. Because I'm not following 5E, I don't know if the Death domain is going to be a bunch of death-causing spells, but based on the concern I'd wager "yes".
Ruin Explorer
Legend
This is just straight-up false. Most Death Gods in D&D are neutral. UNdeath Gods are the problem ones. Osiris, Kelemvor, The Raven Queen, Hades, etc. are the norm. If anything, Evil *War* gods are more common.
Remathilis
Legend
Notice I didn't say evil, I said unwholesome. Dealing with the dead in most culture's isn't something most people want to associate with.
BUT...
Since you brought it up, I whipped out my On Hallowed Ground (the best 2e guide to deities, regardless of source) and looked up death (or "the dead") gods.
Anubis (Eygpt) LG
Arawan (Celtic) NE
Chronepsis (Dragon) N
Hades (Greek) LN
Hel (Norse) NE
Kali (Indian) CE
The Keeper (Eberron) NE
Kelemvor (Faerun) LN
Nephythys (Eygpt) CG
Nergal (Babylon) NE
Nerull (Oerth) NE
Osiris (Egypt) LG
The Raven Queen (Nerath) Unaligned, so N
Sehanine Moonbow (Elf) CG
Surma (Finnish) NE
Tuonetar (Finnish) CE
Tuoni (Finnish) CN(E)
Urogalan (Halfling) N
Wee Jas (Oerth) LN(E)
Yen-Wang-Yeh (LN)
Yama (Indian) LN
G: 4 N: 8 E: 9
I omitted the goblin and orcish gods since they were naturally going to be evil. Also, these aren't gods of UNdeath, just death/the dead.
So I maintain my stance: death priests have an unwholesome (if not outright evil) persona. Tack on the undead (which will inevitaby be given the death domain due to how broad-encompassing the 5e domains are compared to 3e) and evil has a definite edge on followers of death.
pkt77242
Explorer
Wait, what? You have 12 that are good or neutral and 9 that are evil, yet that proves your point? You are massaging that information to fit your view of death not what you just posted. You can have that view if you want but it definitely doesn't match the numbers that you just posted.
Remathilis
Legend
Well sure, if you lump "good and neutral" together its 12. However, thing about neutrality is that is goes both ways.
So I have 4 good and 17 "neutral or evil" death gods. Want to keep playing semantics?
