TheAlkaizer
Game Designer
So, lately I've been slowly digging through the Elven section of the Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. I've honestly never really been really into elves, but I was pleasantly surprised by some of the cool ideas described in the book. I'll come back to this.
I tend not to be really fond of fiction that's very Manichean. I rarely like white or black characters and I prefer grey characters. A villain whose motives you can understand, a mentor whose philosophy goes a little bit too far for you, etc. My DMing style reflects this and even though I also have my share of unidimensional characters or factions, I often try to lure my players in to have them discover a situation or character that's much more nuanced than it seemed. I like my characters having a moment where they're unsure of what's the right call.
Back to Mordenkainen's. The opening paragraphs about Lolth's betrayal and all that jazz really depicted her and the drow as the bad guys. But I also felt a hint of something about Corellon. Maybe it's me reading into it, but I had a feeling the author wanted us to feel like Corellon was maybe not so just in his adamant justice and judgment. It made me wonder how cool it would be to rework or add to this part of 5th edition's content to maybe make the whole thing a little bit greyer.
Some of the things that Lolth did seem unforgivable. But literature already uses the mechanism of unreliable narrator or of varying point of views so much, this seem like a great situation to do so.
Some examples:
I tend not to be really fond of fiction that's very Manichean. I rarely like white or black characters and I prefer grey characters. A villain whose motives you can understand, a mentor whose philosophy goes a little bit too far for you, etc. My DMing style reflects this and even though I also have my share of unidimensional characters or factions, I often try to lure my players in to have them discover a situation or character that's much more nuanced than it seemed. I like my characters having a moment where they're unsure of what's the right call.
Back to Mordenkainen's. The opening paragraphs about Lolth's betrayal and all that jazz really depicted her and the drow as the bad guys. But I also felt a hint of something about Corellon. Maybe it's me reading into it, but I had a feeling the author wanted us to feel like Corellon was maybe not so just in his adamant justice and judgment. It made me wonder how cool it would be to rework or add to this part of 5th edition's content to maybe make the whole thing a little bit greyer.
Some of the things that Lolth did seem unforgivable. But literature already uses the mechanism of unreliable narrator or of varying point of views so much, this seem like a great situation to do so.
Some examples:
- Lolth sneakily tries to end Corellon when he faces her for leading the Primal Elves astray. I immediately thought of the Luke Skywalker/Kylo Ren that they toyed so much with in Star Wars' new trilogy (which I hate). In my opinion, his was one of the few interesting element they brought. Very simple changes, or a change in perspective greatly affects how the events are perceived.
- The book also depicts Lolth philosophy as abandoning some individual freedoms to achieve greatness as a group. So, logically would Corellon advocate for the opposite? Individual freedom at all cost? If so, it seems a bit contradictory to advocate for that and then resent your children for choosing a different path. I would totally explore this fallacy to maybe suggest to my players that even though he's a Greater Deity, Corellon might be wrong and unjust in this.