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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 8022276" data-attributes="member: 42582">On this I agree with [USER=6906155]@Paul Farquhar[/USER]. A setting in which the divine is, per se, good, may still have opposition. LotR gives a fantasy example.JRRT has no evil gods. It's a monotheistic setting.Morgoth is a fallen angel. He has no power to create. He can corrupt, lure and dominate. It seems likely - in D&amp;D terms - that he can cast spells, but not ones that create or conjure forth forces or beings. We know, for instance, that Melkor could not himself make the Silmarils. When Sauron makes the ring, he has to power it with his own essence (he can't create new power). The Black Captain can destroy things by speaking words of power and terror - but I don't think he can create.I think this can all be done in D&amp;D, if one wants to, without too much trouble.Of course alternative approaches are possible that give evil gods a particular role - eg broadly Manichaean (eg Dragonlance); or law/from vs chaos/matter (eg 4e). But on those approaches it would still make sense to consider how evil gods relate to demons and devils. In a Manichaean setting, for instance, it doesn't make much sense to treat them as distinct metaphysical categories.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 8022276, member: 42582"] On this I agree with [USER=6906155]@Paul Farquhar[/USER]. A setting in which the divine is, per se, good, may still have opposition. LotR gives a fantasy example. JRRT has no evil gods. It's a monotheistic setting. Morgoth is a fallen angel. He has no power to create. He can corrupt, lure and dominate. It seems likely - in D&D terms - that he can cast spells, but not ones that create or conjure forth forces or beings. We know, for instance, that Melkor could not himself make the Silmarils. When Sauron makes the ring, he has to power it with his own essence (he can't create new power). The Black Captain can destroy things by speaking words of power and terror - but I don't think he can create. I think this can all be done in D&D, if one wants to, without too much trouble. Of course alternative approaches are possible that give evil gods a particular role - eg broadly Manichaean (eg Dragonlance); or law/from vs chaos/matter (eg 4e). But on those approaches it would still make sense to consider how evil gods relate to demons and devils. In a Manichaean setting, for instance, it doesn't make much sense to treat them as distinct metaphysical categories. [/QUOTE]

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