D&D General D&D doesn't need Evil

[GuyBoy]

Hey all, as we discuss the nature of EVIL, as the OP can I request we leave out Real World Examples as much as possible? That way we can avoid bringing politics or religion into the discussion.

Fair point. Sorry.

 

[Krachek]

But to answer more closely to the OP, we don’t need the evil cliche or trope in DnD.
Just keep the basic search for power, wealth by any means is sufficient to drive most vilain in an adventure.
The classic trope of the evil guy sitting in a skulls made throne is optional!

 

[J.Quondam]

I discovered long ago that D&D works at least as well if you replace the Alignment Axes with the Food Pyramid.
It made my gaming so much more rewarding when my characters could just remorselessly eradicate any and all beings aligned with brussels sprouts.

 

[Charlaquin]

That's why I like to break my settings' deities into different "pantheons" that different peoples and cultures worship. In my world, the people that worship Vecna also worships his evil "pantheon" of demigod followers (including an Arcana-Domain Cleric Lich, an Allip with demigod powers, a Fallen-Solar Necromancer, and a Fallen Archon Death Knight.)

Yeah, I prefer to have multiple religions in my setting - some polytheist, some monotheist, some pantheist, etc. I even have some that I describe as “thanotheist,” where it’s believed that there was one true god, but that god is dead. But the thing is, for this to work, interventionist gods can’t objectively exist. They have to be a matter of faith, or else you end up with Elder Scrolls where it’s like “yeah, I guess it’s cool that the Khajit have their own religion, but I’ve talked to Sheogorath and he definitely isn’t a cat, so… I guess they’re wrong?”

 

[BookTenTiger]

But to answer more closely to the OP, we don’t need the evil cliche or trope in DnD.
Just keep the basic search for power, wealth by any means is sufficient to drive most vilain in an adventure.
The classic trope of the evil guy sitting in a skulls made throne is optional!

The Skull Furniture Union has some issues with the perpetuation of skull thrones as evil signifiers.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

The Skull Furniture Union has some issues with the perpetuation of skull thrones as evil signifiers.

Blood for the Blood God?

 

[BookTenTiger]

Blood for the Blood God?

"Hey, we hear you got your Blood for the Blood God from a non-union Blood Source. Expect picketing outside your Evil Temple until you sign a contract with the Blood Union."

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Yeah, I prefer to have multiple religions in my setting - some polytheist, some monotheist, some pantheist, etc. I even have some that I describe as “thanotheist,” where it’s believed that there was one true god, but that god is dead. But the thing is, for this to work, interventionist gods can’t objectively exist. They have to be a matter of faith, or else you end up with Elder Scrolls where it’s like “yeah, I guess it’s cool that the Khajit have their own religion, but I’ve talked to Sheogorath and he definitely isn’t a cat, so… I guess they’re wrong?”

Yeah. I really don't like fantasy religions that make absolutely no sense. I have a religion in my setting that's a bunch of Surface-Dwelling Drow (the Sürdrae) that just made up a religion about the stars being the souls of unborn gods that would be born and save the world if they got enough worshippers. They just completely made it up out of nowhere, but there was actually a bit of truth to it in my world (one of the stars was actually Sharaea, the ex-fiance of the Prince of Frost, who was waiting for him to get over her in stasis, and due to the Sürdrae worshipping her, she got more power and is practically a god now). In my settings, if I have a "this religion is fake" religion, it always is at least a bit true, and typically also ironic.

 

[Mort]

It would be funny to have a group of "TRUE NEUTRAL" characters who are always trying to restore perfect balance between forces of Good and Evil, sometimes slaying an evil tyrant, and sometimes going Unicorn Hunting when Good becomes too powerful

If I recall correctly, that's essentially what Gygax had Mordenkainen's view being back in the "original" Greyhawk campaign. It's been brought out in a few of the supplements.

Of course, that's not how good and evil work - but it's a game so maybe they do!

 

[Lanefan]

Continuing with the idea of Capital E Evil, I even think the idea of "evil gods" could be excised from D&D.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but historically in polytheistic mythology (such as Ancient Greece and Ancient Egypt), there aren't really "evil" gods. There are gods in conflict, and trickster gods, and gods of war, but as far as I know there wasn't an Ancient Greek God of Evil.

To me, it's much more useful to have Gods with Motivations. What does Gruumsh want? What does Vecna want? Most likely they want things that are antithetical to the desires of the heroes and the cultures they come from. To me, that's enough, and far more interesting than just labeling them (and those who worship them) as Evil.

And a combination of those motivations and how they get acted upon is gonna make some of 'em Evil, others of 'em Good, and leave others somewhere in between as Neutral; and thaty's what they'll be called and-or known as.