Greenfield
Adventurer
I know we've beaten Alignments to death, over and over. This one is a bit different.
There are creatures in the D&D worlds that have an "Always Chaotic Evil" type label, though the alignment referenced may change.
So let's think about what a society would look like for creatures like that.
For example I recently ran an adventure that took place on the Plane of Fire, home of the Efreet. Because I think pure combat adventures are boring as hill, I had to include the City of Brass, and the people that lived there.
Efreet are in the "Always Lawful Evil" category. I had to build a credible backdrop for the people/creatures that lived in that city, and how PC interaction would look.
1) Because the society as a whole is Lawful Evil, even the guys on the bottom of the socio-economic heap will support "the system" that keeps them among the downtrodden. Why? Their dream is to one day climb to the top of that heap, to advance in rank and power. If "the system" is broken or not even there then they can't do that.
2) Nothing is free, not even directions to the corner store. Anything you get for nothing is worth nothing.
3) No one is ever "friendly", unless you have something they want. In fact the very idea of a "friend" is almost completely alien to them. A friend is, when all is said and done, someone you might do nice things for without any arranged payment. They are also someone that you might help out or do nice things for, without receiving or even expecting payment. With that idea in mind I determined (for my game at least) that the word "Friend" doesn't really exist in the Ignan tongue (language of the Plane of Fire). After all, do you invent a word for a concept that doesn't really exist?
Now your take on this sort of thing may be very different from mine, so feel free to pitch in.
Now I titled this as a "Discussion thread", meaning that all of these ideas are open to discussion. So feel free to discuss.
If you haven't got good answers then ask some good questions. If your imagination is taking a break then feel free to try to stir up someone else's.
What have you got?
There are creatures in the D&D worlds that have an "Always Chaotic Evil" type label, though the alignment referenced may change.
So let's think about what a society would look like for creatures like that.
For example I recently ran an adventure that took place on the Plane of Fire, home of the Efreet. Because I think pure combat adventures are boring as hill, I had to include the City of Brass, and the people that lived there.
Efreet are in the "Always Lawful Evil" category. I had to build a credible backdrop for the people/creatures that lived in that city, and how PC interaction would look.
1) Because the society as a whole is Lawful Evil, even the guys on the bottom of the socio-economic heap will support "the system" that keeps them among the downtrodden. Why? Their dream is to one day climb to the top of that heap, to advance in rank and power. If "the system" is broken or not even there then they can't do that.
2) Nothing is free, not even directions to the corner store. Anything you get for nothing is worth nothing.
3) No one is ever "friendly", unless you have something they want. In fact the very idea of a "friend" is almost completely alien to them. A friend is, when all is said and done, someone you might do nice things for without any arranged payment. They are also someone that you might help out or do nice things for, without receiving or even expecting payment. With that idea in mind I determined (for my game at least) that the word "Friend" doesn't really exist in the Ignan tongue (language of the Plane of Fire). After all, do you invent a word for a concept that doesn't really exist?
Now your take on this sort of thing may be very different from mine, so feel free to pitch in.
Now I titled this as a "Discussion thread", meaning that all of these ideas are open to discussion. So feel free to discuss.
If you haven't got good answers then ask some good questions. If your imagination is taking a break then feel free to try to stir up someone else's.
What have you got?