A Far Out Rant

[Nifft]

Apologies in advance if all this extra detail makes the post too long.

No, no! This was excellent. Thank you!

-- N

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

Excellent story!

 

[paradox42]

Thank you both.

One other detail I'll mention about Uvuudaums in my game is that their mode of "speech" when in their natural form is utterly unique and (to my mind) wonderfully illustrative of the weirdness of the Far Realm. Since they have no mouths, the communication is telepathic, and I describe it to my players thusly: the myriad thoughts of the derivative minds of the being all, simultaneously and inexplicably, think the same word- and it thus stands out from the rest of the mental noise that normally accompanies the creature's presence. Each and every word "spoken" by an Uvuudaum is done this way, so conversation with an Uvuudaum would be a rather disturbing thing to experience even if you have Mind Blank up constantly to keep the insanity effect at bay (as PCs in my Epic game invariably do).

It's one of the details of interaction with the beings that I'm rather proud of coming up with.

 

[jeff37923]

Just a little bit of differing perspective here.

The Far Realm is not inherently evil, but it is malignant to accepted game world reality in the same way that cancer is considered malignant to the human body. The Far Realm is damaging, but not with malicious intent.

The same is conversely true for entrants of the accepted game world reality who venture into the Far Realm. We are a cancer to the Far Realm, from their viewpoint.

 

[Ringan]

Star Control 2, right?

I always think of the Orz when I think about the Far Realm!

 

[Land Outcast]

Actually, I have no problems with the idea of adding a 10th alignment - Amoral. But, in the absence of that, it doesn't matter what the creature thinks it is, it only matters what it does.

...

It doesn't matter that the Far Realms being doesn't understand its actions (which we can't determine either way since their motives are by definition unknowable), all that matters is that when an intelligent Far Realms creature meets a non-FR creature, it ends badly.

If understanding doesn't matter here, Why is intelligence a factor?

Maybe I'm wrong here, but I understand that the reason why creatures of Int 3+ have alignaments is because they can understand their actions.

The Normal Tiger doesn't understand how killing the Normal Human is Evil.
Therefore he isn't evil.

Yes, I'm equating intelligence with understanding.

[sblock=Note on the far Realm, Good, and Evil]
The Seven Heavens offer you this: roll d20 -> 20
The Nine Hells offer you this: roll d20 -> 1
The Far realm has this[/sblock]

 

[Hussar]

If understanding doesn't matter here, Why is intelligence a factor?

Maybe I'm wrong here, but I understand that the reason why creatures of Int 3+ have alignaments is because they can understand their actions.

The Normal Tiger doesn't understand how killing the Normal Human is Evil.
Therefore he isn't evil.

Yes, I'm equating intelligence with understanding.

[sblock=Note on the far Realm, Good, and Evil]
The Seven Heavens offer you this: roll d20 -> 20
The Nine Hells offer you this: roll d20 -> 1
The Far realm has this[/sblock]

You missed the second bit there. Since the thought processes of a Far Realms being are unknowable, we cannot take their comprehension or lack thereof into account. As far as D&D alignments are concerned, as written, any being:

Evil" implies hurting, oppressing, and killing others. Some evil creatures simply have no compassion for others and kill without qualms if doing so is convenient.

is evil. The complete and utter lack of compassion pretty much nails it right there.

As an additional point:

Animals and other creatures incapable of moral action are neutral rather than good or evil. Even deadly vipers and tigers that eat people are neutral because they lack the capacity for morally right or wrong behavior.

Is a FR creature incapable of moral actions? We cannot know since their motives are unknowable. Thus, they don't get a free pass that animals do.

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

When I DM all monsters have alignments. Period. This is Dungeons & Dragons, not Far Realms and Philosophies.

Alright, if I were ever to run a game that did away with alignment completely, that would be different...

 

[hong]

When I DM all monsters have alignments. Period. This is Dungeons & Dragons, not Far Realms and Philosophies.

+735 mindless damage!

 

[Land Outcast]

When I DM all monsters have alignments. Period. This is Dungeons & Dragons, not Far Realms and Philosophies.

Yep, that's fair.

So, in your game, are Far Realm creatures evil? or neutral?