Robert Ranting
First Post
Does anyone else feel that 4e may be putting too much of an emphasis on evil, even diabolical character options in the initial PHB? Tieflings, infernal-pact warlocks, clerics and even paladins of Asmodeus...it seems perfectly feasible to have an entire party composed of people who sold their souls to the powers of Hell. Sure, D&D has had evil parties before, but generally even evil PC clerics were just worshipping fictional villains like Vecna, not demons who some people genuinely believe exist(ed) like Asmodeus. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asmodai )
D&D has had a long history of bad press and opposition from groups who associate the hobby with devil worship, and over the years, the brand has taken steps to distance itself from such accusations (such as by renaming things in 2nd Ed.). Now it seems to be moving in the other direction, and I'm afraid that this will only add fuel to the fires and bring about a renewed era of controversy. I live in an area with a fair number of such people, and in my experience, they have made it more difficult to recruit new players into the hobby, and have protested local libraries which promote fantasy gaming events, such as Magic tournaments or D&D games. While I don't agree with their interpretation of our hobby, putting warlocks, tieflings and the worship of Asmodeus into the PHB is ony going to give these people more ammunition for their attacks on the hobby and more directly, on myself and other gamers.
Real-world social dynamics aside, it also just seems that there is less of a balance between the forces of good and evil in 4e. The Points of Light setting makes it seem as if Good is losing. The presence of Tieflings without their Aasimar counterparts seems to suggest that being of demonic ancestry is more acceptable or desirable than being angelic. While Warlocks have been added to the roster of classes to represent the forces of darkness (because let's face it, baby-stealing fey aren't any more friendly than soul-eating demons from a Midieval European perspective...), Paladins have slipped from their high horse and are now available to all alignments, even Chaotic Evil. All of this in the midst of losing the middle ground...from what we can tell the forces of Neutrality and Nature are being marginalized or saved for a later book.
I always got the impression that D&D was supposed to at least make an attempt at heroic themes, of saving the world from the forces of darkness. The Point of Light idea even serves to emphasize the idea that the PCs are the only hope of good people in a world gone bad. Yet here our PCs deck themselves out in the accoutrements of devil worship and call upon the powers of hellfire...to help save peasant villages from trolls? Wait-a-minute, shouldn't these guys be the ones the PCs are killing, not the PCs themselves? I understand that there is more than one way to play the game, but IMHO there's a difference between a player deciding that he's going to use his roguish skills, strong sword-arm, or study of wizardry for evil, and a guy who only has powers *because* he made a pact with an evil entity or worships one.
I'll concede that evil games have their place, but I would much rather that such material be kept in the DMG, Monster Manual, or supplements like The Book of Vile Darkness or the Fiendish Codex I and II, rather than in the core PHB, the book which virtually every 4e player is going to need in order to play this game of ours.
I'm not going to condemn WotC for this choice, nor has it turned me against 4e, I'm just curious if anyone else is uncomfortable with this sort of thing.
Robert "Or Maybe I'm Just Sore Because There's No Druid, Bard, or Monk" Ranting
D&D has had a long history of bad press and opposition from groups who associate the hobby with devil worship, and over the years, the brand has taken steps to distance itself from such accusations (such as by renaming things in 2nd Ed.). Now it seems to be moving in the other direction, and I'm afraid that this will only add fuel to the fires and bring about a renewed era of controversy. I live in an area with a fair number of such people, and in my experience, they have made it more difficult to recruit new players into the hobby, and have protested local libraries which promote fantasy gaming events, such as Magic tournaments or D&D games. While I don't agree with their interpretation of our hobby, putting warlocks, tieflings and the worship of Asmodeus into the PHB is ony going to give these people more ammunition for their attacks on the hobby and more directly, on myself and other gamers.
Real-world social dynamics aside, it also just seems that there is less of a balance between the forces of good and evil in 4e. The Points of Light setting makes it seem as if Good is losing. The presence of Tieflings without their Aasimar counterparts seems to suggest that being of demonic ancestry is more acceptable or desirable than being angelic. While Warlocks have been added to the roster of classes to represent the forces of darkness (because let's face it, baby-stealing fey aren't any more friendly than soul-eating demons from a Midieval European perspective...), Paladins have slipped from their high horse and are now available to all alignments, even Chaotic Evil. All of this in the midst of losing the middle ground...from what we can tell the forces of Neutrality and Nature are being marginalized or saved for a later book.
I always got the impression that D&D was supposed to at least make an attempt at heroic themes, of saving the world from the forces of darkness. The Point of Light idea even serves to emphasize the idea that the PCs are the only hope of good people in a world gone bad. Yet here our PCs deck themselves out in the accoutrements of devil worship and call upon the powers of hellfire...to help save peasant villages from trolls? Wait-a-minute, shouldn't these guys be the ones the PCs are killing, not the PCs themselves? I understand that there is more than one way to play the game, but IMHO there's a difference between a player deciding that he's going to use his roguish skills, strong sword-arm, or study of wizardry for evil, and a guy who only has powers *because* he made a pact with an evil entity or worships one.
I'll concede that evil games have their place, but I would much rather that such material be kept in the DMG, Monster Manual, or supplements like The Book of Vile Darkness or the Fiendish Codex I and II, rather than in the core PHB, the book which virtually every 4e player is going to need in order to play this game of ours.
I'm not going to condemn WotC for this choice, nor has it turned me against 4e, I'm just curious if anyone else is uncomfortable with this sort of thing.
Robert "Or Maybe I'm Just Sore Because There's No Druid, Bard, or Monk" Ranting
