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Consequences of playing "EVIL" races
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<blockquote data-quote="Michael Silverbane" data-source="post: 7926956" data-attributes="member: 38016"><p>There are a couple of common threads among some of these creatures. </p><p></p><p>The first is between Mind Flayers, Vargouilles, Ghouls, Shadows, and Vampires. These are creatures whose existence requires them or compels them to eat other sapient beings.</p><p>We (people in the real world) have a very strong aversion to being eaten, and a very strong taboo against eating people. So, people who eat other people are deemed evil. This carries over into our fantasies.</p><p></p><p>Beholders, Mind Flayers, and Vampires are creatures who have the innate ability to override someone else's will. This hits on another of our real-life fears and taboos. That being loss of control of the self, and the deprivation of someone else's agency.</p><p></p><p>A third common thread among creatures that are typically portrayed as intelligent evils are those creatures that have filled that role through tradition and symbolism. Dragons are traditionally described as being creatures of pride, wrath, and avarice. That is, they were designed to symbolize those evils, which we see in ourselves. To an extent, orcs have historically fit into this category of evils. They have been used in fiction to represent our own tendency towards rash action, overconsumption, or whatever.</p><p>It seems to me that this type of creature is the most likely to be de-evil-ed, that is, we see that dragons are prideful, but also know that pride can be overcome, because we experience pride and (sometimes) overcome it ourselves.</p><p></p><p>Demons and Hell Hounds are, of course, made of evil. You can't very well build a house out of matches and be surprised when it burns down, no matter how smart it is.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Michael Silverbane, post: 7926956, member: 38016"] There are a couple of common threads among some of these creatures. The first is between Mind Flayers, Vargouilles, Ghouls, Shadows, and Vampires. These are creatures whose existence requires them or compels them to eat other sapient beings. We (people in the real world) have a very strong aversion to being eaten, and a very strong taboo against eating people. So, people who eat other people are deemed evil. This carries over into our fantasies. Beholders, Mind Flayers, and Vampires are creatures who have the innate ability to override someone else's will. This hits on another of our real-life fears and taboos. That being loss of control of the self, and the deprivation of someone else's agency. A third common thread among creatures that are typically portrayed as intelligent evils are those creatures that have filled that role through tradition and symbolism. Dragons are traditionally described as being creatures of pride, wrath, and avarice. That is, they were designed to symbolize those evils, which we see in ourselves. To an extent, orcs have historically fit into this category of evils. They have been used in fiction to represent our own tendency towards rash action, overconsumption, or whatever. It seems to me that this type of creature is the most likely to be de-evil-ed, that is, we see that dragons are prideful, but also know that pride can be overcome, because we experience pride and (sometimes) overcome it ourselves. Demons and Hell Hounds are, of course, made of evil. You can't very well build a house out of matches and be surprised when it burns down, no matter how smart it is. [/QUOTE]
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