D&D 5E Tomb of Annihilation - Moral Question

[JacktheRabbit]

Reading through the Tomb of Annihilation and several thoughts occurred to me beyond general thoughts about the overall design of the module.

1. Rich getting richer - Overall this module is about savings the 1% and helping them stay the 1%. Even in a magic heavy world like the Forgotten Realms it is really only 1% of the top 1% that benefit from resurrection magic. So the party is not doing anything noble or brave. They are helping Elon Musk and Bill Gates get even richer.

2. Wrong Goal - At some point the party should figure out that the Soulmonger is also depriving Lich's of the souls they need to feed their jars which is necessary to stay "unalive". Now other than a very small number of previous edition Elf Lich the Lich is a universally evil and dangerous "race" of beings. Their complete destruction would absolutely be a positive to the Realms as a whole.

Now the souls are being used to create a new evil god. Not that big a deal really , the Realms are dirty with gods both big and small. One more god created by the Soulmonger is not going to shift the balance of power in the Outer Planes.

So what happens if a party decides to heck with stopping the Soulmonger but instead decide to protect it and keep it running until every Lich in the Realm drops dead permanently. Sure it means a certain number of resurrected people will die, but the destruction of every Lich from Sass on down is a far greater triumph and well worth the death of people who should already be dead.

Opinions? The module is of course written with the thought that of course the device must be destroyed. The conclusion gives no other options and even confirms how the party did not really do anything heroic that saved the world as the rewards gained are rich elites granting them gifts and laurels for saving them from the death they had already avoided at least once.

 

[Warmaster Horus]

It's not about the 1% (who, by the way, are just as worthy of living as anyone else). It's about preventing the creation of a new evil god.

As for eradicating liches, well good luck 'defending' the Soulmonger from a horde of liches hell-bent on destroying and/or co-opting it. I think it's just sheer luck that the PCs get to the thing before Larloch does.

 

[CapnZapp]

Reading through the Tomb of Annihilation and several thoughts occurred to me beyond general thoughts about the overall design of the module.

1. Rich getting richer - Overall this module is about savings the 1% and helping them stay the 1%. Even in a magic heavy world like the Forgotten Realms it is really only 1% of the top 1% that benefit from resurrection magic. So the party is not doing anything noble or brave. They are helping Elon Musk and Bill Gates get even richer.

I'm sorry to say D&D isn't exactly socialist... the purpose of any D&D module is to become as rich and powerful as Elon Gates yourself

 

[JacktheRabbit]

Is one more evil god among the Realms that big of a deal? The damn things are everywhere already.

Yes holding the Soulmonger long enough to kill all the Lich would be very difficult.

As for the 1%, who cares quite simply. Just because you happen to be rich and powerful doesnt give someone the right to live however many lives they can by being resurrected. Indirectly helping several of the Lords of Waterdeep remain in power by keeping their resurrected lives going is not heroic. Im not saying saving them is evil, just saying it is not heroic.

 

[JacktheRabbit]

I'm sorry to say D&D isn't exactly socialist... the purpose of any D&D module is to become as rich and powerful as Elon Gates yourself

Point taken and very true. ;-)

 

[Warmaster Horus]

Is one more evil god among the Realms that big of a deal? The damn things are everywhere already.

Yes holding the Soulmonger long enough to kill all the Lich would be very difficult.

As for the 1%, who cares quite simply. Just because you happen to be rich and powerful doesnt give someone the right to live however many lives they can by being resurrected. Indirectly helping several of the Lords of Waterdeep remain in power by keeping their resurrected lives going is not heroic. Im not saying saving them is evil, just saying it is not heroic.

So you start a thread on morals and then handwave the creation of an evil god?

While the PCs are being compensated by a high-level mage for their work (Syndra Silvane) it may in fact be in their own best interest, as adventurer's, to destroy the Soul Monger. Death comes easily to those who adventure for a living, after all, and abilities like undead HP draining, which are a common occupational hazard, is a concern, too. Lastly, it's not just those who have received resurrection magic that are at risk. EVERYONE'S soul is devoured, not allowed to progress to the afterlife that would otherwise be available.

 

[Charlaquin]

So what happens if a party decides to heck with stopping the Soulmonger

I wouldn’t worry too much about that. For the vast majority of players, the fact that they’ll never be able to resurrect their characters again unless the Soulmonger is stopped will be motivation enough. There’s also the fact that the players are here to play D&D, which generally means taking on the quests when they present themselves. Some players enjoy doing the “what’s in it for me?” bit, but that’s all just in-character posturing. At the end of the day, the player wants to do the quest, whatever it may be. That’s what they came to the table for.

 

[JacktheRabbit]

EVERYONE'S soul is devoured, not allowed to progress to the afterlife that would otherwise be available.

Yes there is that, but honestly it is a HUGE hole in the story. You are telling me an insanely powerful archlich shows up and starts up a device that devours and destroys the immortal soul of every single person that dies and not a single deity of death cares in the least?

Besides someone could make the break some eggs to make an omelette argument that destroying some souls now in the process of destroying all Lich will save more over time as Lich have to feed on souls to survive.

I just find this to be interesting in the moral gray areas that can exist in this module more than any other Wizards has released for 5E. Everything else has been a straightforward see evil kill evil.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

Is one more evil god among the Realms that big of a deal? The damn things are everywhere already.

A new god manifest on the mortal plane note. The current evil gods are bound by the restrictions laid on them that requires them to work through mortal agencies and suchlike. There are no guarantees that a newly created god that isn't inheriting the place of a previous one would have any such restrictions on them.

As for the 1%, who cares quite simply. Just because you happen to be rich and powerful doesnt give someone the right to live however many lives they can by being resurrected. Indirectly helping several of the Lords of Waterdeep remain in power by keeping their resurrected lives going is not heroic. Im not saying saving them is evil, just saying it is not heroic.

Remember that resurrection can't bring you back to life if you die of old age. Also that most of the people with access to resurrection are motivated more by faith than money.
You'd wipe out a large proportion of the adventuring community that keeps liches and other evil threats in check before you start making a dent in the lich population.

 

[Warmaster Horus]

Yes there is that, but honestly it is a HUGE hole in the story. You are telling me an insanely powerful archlich shows up and starts up a device that devours and destroys the immortal soul of every single person that dies and not a single deity of death cares in the least? ...

No deities care? Who do you think got hordes of adventurers to Chult, sustained them through the jungles and kept them hearty & hale through a killer dungeon to destroy the thing?