D&D (2024) Heroes of the Borderlands

[dead]

Is this one set in the Realms or Greyhawk?

 

[GreyLord]

So you prefer flat out murder then?

It depends on how you see them.

If you see them how they were originally and found in certain fairy tales from previously (little demon monsters spawned from the minds of evil..and truly and unredeemably evil themselves...sort of like other monsters and animals, but these had no sense of good, only a desire to destroy, murder, and cause mayhem...and normally only brought into any sort of order by a very strong leader...) then...maybe.

I mean, If you had a Tiger that was shown to attack and try to kill on site...and it had little kits (oh...so cute), and knowing tendencies of parents passed onto their progeny...would you let the kitties live and let them be around your infant to while it grew (so, by the time it's 2, the Tigers are now full grown and likely to eventually eat your 2 year old)?

Now, add a little more rudimentary intelligence....your answer may be...give it to a Zoo...is that really any better for an Orc...life long torture in a cage..or put it out of it's misery to begin with?

Orcs were NOT seen as much as a racial item as they are today. Orcs were evil and terrible enough, just being somewhat looking like them (A Half-Orc for example, one of the 10% that actually could meld into other societies) were seen as very hated by everyone else in many instances, and Orcs themselves were killed on site in most intelligent society (as were other creatures such as Dark Elves...refer to the early Drizzt books to see why....or Mindflayers, or Demons, or Undead...etc). These were creatures of darkness and as such...acted in accordance with their alignment...but worse in many instances.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Is this one set in the Realms or Greyhawk?

Both. Neither.

 

[DEFCON 1]

It depends on how you see them.

If you see them how they were originally and found in certain fairy tales from previously (little demon monsters spawned from the minds of evil..and truly and unredeemably evil themselves...sort of like other monsters and animals, but these had no sense of good, only a desire to destroy, murder, and cause mayhem...and normally only brought into any sort of order by a very strong leader...) then...maybe.

I mean, If you had a Tiger that was shown to attack and try to kill on site...and it had little kits (oh...so cute), and knowing tendencies of parents passed onto their progeny...would you let the kitties live and let them be around your infant to while it grew (so, by the time it's 2, the Tigers are now full grown and likely to eventually eat your 2 year old)?

Now, add a little more rudimentary intelligence....your answer may be...give it to a Zoo...is that really any better for an Orc...life long torture in a cage..or put it out of it's misery to begin with?

Orcs were NOT seen as much as a racial item as they are today. Orcs were evil and terrible enough, just being somewhat looking like them (A Half-Orc for example, one of the 10% that actually could meld into other societies) were seen as very hated by everyone else in many instances, and Orcs themselves were killed on site in most intelligent society (as were other creatures such as Dark Elves...refer to the early Drizzt books to see why....or Mindflayers, or Demons, or Undead...etc). These were creatures of darkness and as such...acted in accordance with their alignment...but worse in many instances.

Yup, agree! In the olden days all of these were considered nightmare creatures, just like zombies and vampires and such. And thus protection and self-defense against them was the standard operating procedure.

But as time goes on and more and more stories and ideas about all manner of these things goes on... someone gets the idea of "nightmare creature but GOOD!". And thus we get the era of adding "humanity" to nightmare creatures. Vampires that aren't horrific monsters but just misunderstood. Zombies that don't want to eat living creatures. Orcs that rebel against their clans' ideals. After all... if "good" Humans can include some of the most evil scum in their ranks, there's no reason why an "evil" intelligent species wouldn't include some good ones as well. And people will make up stories about them... slowly turning these species away from just being "monsters" and into fully-realized cultures with people on all sides of it.

Some players don't want to add "humanity" to nightmare creatures and instead keep them all just violence and death incarnate to be destroyed at the whims of the players and their PCs. Which is fine if that's what they personally want in their own game. But they just can't expect every other player and the game's designers to go along with those ideas necessarily. It's not their job to make the game that those players want. So instead, those players who want to keep orcs and goblins as nightmare creatures will just have to adjust their personal game themselves. And I know that gets a lot of them bent out of shape... having to do their own work on their game rather than it being handed to them exactly as they want it to be... but that's the way things go sometimes.

 

[GreyLord]

Yup, agree! In the olden days all of these were considered nightmare creatures, just like zombies and vampires and such. And thus protection and self-defense against them was the standard operating procedure.

But as time goes on and more and more stories and ideas about all manner of these things goes on... someone gets the idea of "nightmare creature but GOOD!". And thus we get the era of adding "humanity" to nightmare creatures. Vampires that aren't horrific monsters but just misunderstood. Zombies that don't want to eat living creatures. Orcs that rebel against their clans' ideals. After all... if "good" Humans can include some of the most evil scum in their ranks, there's no reason why an "evil" intelligent species wouldn't include some good ones as well. And people will make up stories about them... slowly turning these species away from just being "monsters" and into fully-realized cultures with people on all sides of it.

Some players don't want to add "humanity" to nightmare creatures and instead keep them all just violence and death incarnate to be destroyed at the whims of the players and their PCs. Which is fine if that's what they personally want in their own game. But they just can't expect every other player and the game's designers to go along with those ideas necessarily. It's not their job to make the game that those players want. So instead, those players who want to keep orcs and goblins as nightmare creatures will just have to adjust their personal game themselves. And I know that gets a lot of them bent out of shape... having to do their own work on their game rather than it being handed to them exactly as they want it to be... but that's the way things go sometimes.

This is true, and kind of made me think of something.

Some people want their horror movies to be like the original Alien, where you have this horrific creature that has no real reason or explanation, but it's going to hunt you down and kill you.

I'ts the horror of the monster that comes after you. Part of the reason it is so horrific is because it has a purpose to HUNT YOU DOWN AND KILL YOU, and you may not even understand what or why it is, or where it even comes from.

Others want to have it more humanized. Instead of Jason being some nightmare creature that is killing teenagers, they want a more human type story where they may be able to actually empathize with him. Perhaps he's just misunderstood.

I suppose, in some ways, it's kind of like what type of horror you prefer. The one where it is just evil incarnate and they are there because they are going to kill you if you don't find a way to stop them...

Or the one where there are two sides of every coin.

 

[FrozenNorth]

Yeah, putting "new" design choices aside, on a thematic basis, I'm interested to see how a party of furry avatars with no human in sight where everyone is an un-killable god at first level marries with Greyhawk.

Hint: I don't think it will.

Back in my day, grognards had actual complaints like « where’s THAC0? » and « how come swinging a maul is as fast as stabbing with a dagger? » instead of resorting to making stuff up.

 

[FrozenNorth]

And you are welcome to feel that way. I want a setting that makes logical sense, and I'll sacrifice a lot to get it.

But the setting doesn’t make logical sense. There are multiple hostile factions living right next to another without problem, and it’s not clear how all the creatures have enough to eat.

Meanwhile, your issue is with the presence of children in a highly dangerous area within walking distance of an owlbear lair.

 

[Parmandur]

Back in my day, grognards had actual complaints like « where’s THAC0? » and « how come swinging a maul is as fast as stabbing with a dagger? » instead of resorting to making stuff up.

This, right here, may be the greatest grognard post if all time.

 

[FrozenNorth]

This time, it's set on the border of Canada.

Wait, so is it from the perspective of brave Canadian Mounties keeping the American hordes out?

 

[GreyLord]

Back in my day, grognards had actual complaints like « where’s THAC0? » and « how come swinging a maul is as fast as stabbing with a dagger? » instead of resorting to making stuff up.

I like the one where I get the Darts from my dart board...and I kill someone with them. Far easier to kill them with those darts I specialized in than that big honkin sword you have!!!

"Why is that?"

Better be careful or you'll get a dart through the eye...you will!!!