Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="EP" data-source="post: 3687920" data-attributes="member: 41744">Hmm, maybe "traditional fantasy" doesn't work this way, but there is and can be fantasy worlds that exist with truly deep, emotional characters walking a blurred line of good and evil.  While I haven't read much, LOTR stands out because while the major baddie is truly evil, his influence through the ring is what blurs the line.  It causes good people to feel temptation and greed without truly forcing their hand.  The power of the ring and the fear of its abilities is what made it so awed and dreaded.Fantasy worlds with gray areas are probably more fantastic and engaging than your standard Harry Potter fantasy passing around these days.  If science fiction is able to be engaging by asking readers tough questions using a "what if" future scenario, then why can't fantasy offer the same thing?  Without being based on a realistic possibility required in sci-fi, fantasy can over a more fantastical viewpoint of the human condition without having the worry about how something can come to pass.  If we could see into the afterlife and find out what our fate would be, why would we worship the gods, particularly evil ones?  Why should we carry on if we know what the end result will be anyways?  I think looking at why evil clerics would serve an evil deity is a perfect example of this and could add many deep layers to a game.And to answer the original question, perhaps evil clerics serve for the same reason as people would sell their souls to the Devil in Christian mythology.  The need for something in their current life in exchange for servitude in the afterlife, later believing they can cheat their fate by keeping their fingers crossed behind their back.What's more frightening is this: if an evil cleric knows the fate awaiting him when he dies and proceeds anyways without any hesitation, does that make him more frightening?</blockquote>

Verification