D&D (2024) Comeliness and Representation in Recent DnD Art

[Fifth Element]

But the whole shtick of warforged is they have souls and therefore are not just robots .

The idea that without a soul they would be "just robots" is pretty gross TBH.

 

[Thomas Shey]

The idea that without a soul they would be "just robots" is pretty gross TBH.

Eh. Once you take the idea of souls seriously, it tends to go with the territory.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Eh. Once you take the idea of souls seriously, it tends to go with the territory.

If they're still sapient without the soul, I see where the problem lies.

 

[Thomas Shey]

If they're still sapient without the soul, I see where the problem lies.

Probably turns on where you consider the line on "sapient" to lay. I've seen some very odd lines on the self-awareness/free will case in some games and fiction.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

If they're still sapient without the soul, I see where the problem lies.

I think the idea was that they would not be self-aware if souls had not been used in their construction. Like the warforged colossus, which requires a pilot.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

The idea that without a soul they would be "just robots" is pretty gross TBH.

In metaphysics with souls one would imagine the soul would actually do something. And that something could be (and often is assumed to be) sentience.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Probably turns on where you consider the line on "sapient" to lay. I've seen some very odd lines on the self-awareness/free will case in some games and fiction.

The TNG episode "Measure of a Man" tells me what I need to know on that subject.

 

[Micah Sweet]

In metaphysics with souls one would imagine the soul would actually do something. And that something could be (and often is assumed to be) sentience.

Not how I see it. Souls are an extremely fuzzy concept rooted in metaphysics and spirituality. They don't apply IMO to every instance of sentience, thus they can't be the cause if it.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

Not how I see it. Souls are an extremely fuzzy concept rooted in metaphysics and spirituality. They don't apply IMO to every instance of sentience, thus they can't be the cause if it.

I mean it depends on how one designs their metaphysics. And in a world where souls definitely exists and people have magic they might also have relatively coherent understanding of what the souls do. And personally if we have metaphysics with souls, I want the souls to actually have some purpose.

 

[Reef]

Not how I see it. Souls are an extremely fuzzy concept rooted in metaphysics and spirituality. They don't apply IMO to every instance of sentience, thus they can't be the cause if it.

That’s a pretty absolutist statement about a game that can have arcane and divine magic, extra dimensional beings, supernatural capital-letter Good and Evil, and can have spiritual rules which differ greatly setting to setting.

Personally, saying Warforged have souls was probably the easiest way to state that all rules that apply to other living races also apply to them, especially in regards to Raise Dead and Ressurection. I doubt it was meant to be a statement on the nature of souls across the board in other games, settings, or real world theology.