Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
WTF is "cold iron", and why's it so special?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 7481291" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>Artificial things are, by definition, unnatural in some sense.</p><p></p><p>But artifical things clearly exist in the world, and are produced by beings that exist in the world. Hence there is some sense in which things can exist in and as part of the world, yet not be natural.</p><p></p><p>What's the relevant sense, and where are the boundaries to be found? The most pithy treatment I know of in the D&D context is found in Gygax's AD&D books, particularly the discussin of True Neutral alignment:</p><p></p><p style="margin-left: 20px">The "true" neutral looks upon all other alignments as facets of the system of things. Thus, each aspect - evil and good, chaos and law - of things must be retained in balance to maintain the status quo; for things as they are cannot be improved upon except temporarily, and even then but superficially. Nature will prevail and keep things as they were meant to be, provided the "wheel" surrounding the hub of nature does not become unbalanced due to the work of unnatural forces - such as human and other intelligent creatures interfering with what is meant to be. (PHB p 33)</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">Absolute, or true, neutral creatures view everything which exists as an integral, necessary port or function of the entire cosmos. Each thing exists as a part of the whole, one as a check or balance to the other, with life necessary for death, happiness for suffering, good for evil, order far chaos, and vice versa. Nothing must ever become predominant or out of balance. Within this noturalistic ethos, humankind serves a role also, just as all other creatures do. They may be more or less important, but the neutral does not concern himself or herself with these considerations except where it is positively determined that the balance is threatened. (DMG p 33)</p><p></p><p>Nature is "the cosmos" that is in a state of balance as a result of the interaction of its constituent elements and processes. Intelligent beings are a risk to that balance, as they bring their own goals and purposes which are not necessarily integrated into the balance of natural elements and processes. It's easy to see how this idea relates to certain real world religious and philosophical positions (eg Stoicism; some forms of Taoism and Taoist-influenced Buddhism; some strands of contemporary environmentalism). And it helps us see the difference between natural and unnatural human activity - the latter consists in purposive activity undertaken with indifference to its impact upon the balance of natural elements and processes. Building a small homestead or even village probably doesn't count; raising an army and mining the ore and then forging the arms and armour to equip them almost certainly does!</p><p></p><p>How exactly this fits into our understanding of "cold" iron and faeries I'll leave for others to work out.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 7481291, member: 42582"] Artificial things are, by definition, unnatural in some sense. But artifical things clearly exist in the world, and are produced by beings that exist in the world. Hence there is some sense in which things can exist in and as part of the world, yet not be natural. What's the relevant sense, and where are the boundaries to be found? The most pithy treatment I know of in the D&D context is found in Gygax's AD&D books, particularly the discussin of True Neutral alignment: [indent]The "true" neutral looks upon all other alignments as facets of the system of things. Thus, each aspect - evil and good, chaos and law - of things must be retained in balance to maintain the status quo; for things as they are cannot be improved upon except temporarily, and even then but superficially. Nature will prevail and keep things as they were meant to be, provided the "wheel" surrounding the hub of nature does not become unbalanced due to the work of unnatural forces - such as human and other intelligent creatures interfering with what is meant to be. (PHB p 33) Absolute, or true, neutral creatures view everything which exists as an integral, necessary port or function of the entire cosmos. Each thing exists as a part of the whole, one as a check or balance to the other, with life necessary for death, happiness for suffering, good for evil, order far chaos, and vice versa. Nothing must ever become predominant or out of balance. Within this noturalistic ethos, humankind serves a role also, just as all other creatures do. They may be more or less important, but the neutral does not concern himself or herself with these considerations except where it is positively determined that the balance is threatened. (DMG p 33)[/indent] Nature is "the cosmos" that is in a state of balance as a result of the interaction of its constituent elements and processes. Intelligent beings are a risk to that balance, as they bring their own goals and purposes which are not necessarily integrated into the balance of natural elements and processes. It's easy to see how this idea relates to certain real world religious and philosophical positions (eg Stoicism; some forms of Taoism and Taoist-influenced Buddhism; some strands of contemporary environmentalism). And it helps us see the difference between natural and unnatural human activity - the latter consists in purposive activity undertaken with indifference to its impact upon the balance of natural elements and processes. Building a small homestead or even village probably doesn't count; raising an army and mining the ore and then forging the arms and armour to equip them almost certainly does! How exactly this fits into our understanding of "cold" iron and faeries I'll leave for others to work out. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
WTF is "cold iron", and why's it so special?
Top