Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Million Dollar TTRPG Crowdfunders
Most Anticipated Tabletop RPGs Of The Year
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Alignment in perspective of medieval moralism?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Niccodaemus" data-source="post: 5779546" data-attributes="member: 6683506"><p>I would say that since the setting is fantasy, any "moral code" you come up with should be fine, as long as there is some consistency for the players to be able to figure out. There might be a small kingdom with an Alice in Wonderland sense of morality as a constantly moving target, which can be fun, but overall, it should be predictable.</p><p></p><p>I also prefer a moral culture that players can relate to. This is a game after all, and supposed to be fun.</p><p></p><p>It is also a world with issues quite different from our own. The very nature of magic and treasure hunting opens up "moral issues" that can be treated quite differently in each game world. Animate Dead, tomb robbing, and even charm can all be looked at through different lenses.</p><p></p><p>I've never liked the alignment descriptions in D&D, and tend to hand wave it away. In my book, the D&D alignment of "Neutral" is actually "Evil". "Evil" in D&D is sociopathy.</p><p>This actually fits with the concept of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_deadly_sins" target="_blank">Seven Deadly Sins.</a>, particularly from a medieval perspective.</p><p></p><p>The entire subject touches on the concept of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banality_of_evil" target="_blank">Banality of Evil</a>. Basically, that when living in an evil society, that people will accept evil as "normal".</p><p></p><p>In the campaign world I'm designing, all magic is accomplished through the summoning of spirits (either spirits of the dead, or elemental and demon/devil types). The very act of magic is fraught with the potential for evil.</p><p></p><p>An interesting approach might be to have demons that thrive on the misfortune of others show up from time to time, in various guises, and goad the PCs into actions which are ok by societal norms. This would be a sort of Faustian type of scenario, where the gloating of the demon could highlight the context of an action.</p><p></p><p>Lets take that Lawful Good Guard. If the PCs try to interfere with his dispensation of Justice, the demon could appear as an old beggar or some such character, who radiates an unnatural aura. He might then provide a perfectly rational argument for the Guard's behavior, but suddenly the PCs might start to question their acceptance of everything they see.</p><p></p><p>I do think an OOC conversation about "what is evil?" would be appropriate in the early stages of any campaign.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Niccodaemus, post: 5779546, member: 6683506"] I would say that since the setting is fantasy, any "moral code" you come up with should be fine, as long as there is some consistency for the players to be able to figure out. There might be a small kingdom with an Alice in Wonderland sense of morality as a constantly moving target, which can be fun, but overall, it should be predictable. I also prefer a moral culture that players can relate to. This is a game after all, and supposed to be fun. It is also a world with issues quite different from our own. The very nature of magic and treasure hunting opens up "moral issues" that can be treated quite differently in each game world. Animate Dead, tomb robbing, and even charm can all be looked at through different lenses. I've never liked the alignment descriptions in D&D, and tend to hand wave it away. In my book, the D&D alignment of "Neutral" is actually "Evil". "Evil" in D&D is sociopathy. This actually fits with the concept of the [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_deadly_sins"]Seven Deadly Sins.[/URL], particularly from a medieval perspective. The entire subject touches on the concept of the [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banality_of_evil"]Banality of Evil[/URL]. Basically, that when living in an evil society, that people will accept evil as "normal". In the campaign world I'm designing, all magic is accomplished through the summoning of spirits (either spirits of the dead, or elemental and demon/devil types). The very act of magic is fraught with the potential for evil. An interesting approach might be to have demons that thrive on the misfortune of others show up from time to time, in various guises, and goad the PCs into actions which are ok by societal norms. This would be a sort of Faustian type of scenario, where the gloating of the demon could highlight the context of an action. Lets take that Lawful Good Guard. If the PCs try to interfere with his dispensation of Justice, the demon could appear as an old beggar or some such character, who radiates an unnatural aura. He might then provide a perfectly rational argument for the Guard's behavior, but suddenly the PCs might start to question their acceptance of everything they see. I do think an OOC conversation about "what is evil?" would be appropriate in the early stages of any campaign. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Alignment in perspective of medieval moralism?
Top