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<blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 8406437" data-attributes="member: 177">No.&nbsp; I do not forget when folks start reading weird stuff into what's being said.&nbsp; It is an indication that someone is responding to some strawman in their head rather than what's written, and that bears remembering.To the question of whether the game overall needs capital-E Evil, the personal likes of any individual are not terribly relevant.&nbsp; We are instead talking about what works mechanically, and in the broader market.For example, mechanically, the game does really require that players have an easy way to generate a mostly random number between 1 and 20, with a flat probability distribution.&nbsp; Anything else mucks with many game assumptions, and will do weird and unpredictable things to game balance.Mechanically, 5e does not require Evil to exist, and the few places where it might still be mechanically relevant are rare, and easily reinterpreted without breaking anything major in the engine as a whole.And, as for the broader market - the success of 5e, which has eliminated Evil from most of the text, again speaks to how it isn't necessary to ensconce Evil in the published game rules.&nbsp; Maybe, in the 1970s, when it was strongly wired into the rules, it was necessary to have it for the game to claw its way to popularity - that's a separate, speculative discussion.&nbsp; But if so, the world has changed, and it seems to no longer be required for the game to be successful.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Umbran, post: 8406437, member: 177"] No. I do not forget when folks start reading weird stuff into what's being said. It is an indication that someone is responding to some strawman in their head rather than what's written, and that bears remembering. To the question of whether the game overall needs capital-E Evil, the [I]personal[/I] likes of any [I]individual[/I] are not terribly relevant. We are instead talking about what works mechanically, and in the broader market. For example, mechanically, the game does really require that players have an easy way to generate a mostly random number between 1 and 20, with a flat probability distribution. Anything else mucks with many game assumptions, and will do weird and unpredictable things to game balance. Mechanically, 5e does not require Evil to exist, and the few places where it might still be mechanically relevant are rare, and easily reinterpreted without breaking anything major in the engine as a whole. And, as for the broader market - the success of 5e, which has eliminated [I]Evil[/I] from most of the text, again speaks to how it isn't necessary to ensconce Evil in the published game rules. Maybe, in the 1970s, when it was strongly wired into the rules, it was necessary to have it for the game to claw its way to popularity - that's a separate, speculative discussion. But if so, the world has changed, and it seems to no longer be required for the game to be successful. [/QUOTE]

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