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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Remathilis" data-source="post: 1926380" data-attributes="member: 7635">Uh... threads like this make my head hurt....1.) The current system of generics in regards (at least in humans, which I'll focus on) on race and gender is mostly one of PCness. For much the same reason as we've argued here, D&D avoids giving gender or human ethnicity different racial traits. Pretty much so that an african woman wouldn't look at some artificial score modifers and say "these don't represent me." Much like hp not representing broken bones, this is an abstraction for ease of play.  2.) Women and Children are the classic "non-combatants." While there may not be any measurable difference between males and females (as in ability score), they do have different cultural importance. Assuming a fairly typical pseudo-midieval setting, males worked the fields or performed a craft, females tended to home and offspring. Males would be the ones sent to form local militia so that women could raise the kids. Now, even if our D&D females COULD (by virtue of ability scores) serve JUST as well as their male counterparts, they would still probably be left to tend the homefront. Of course, you COULD create a different society, but more of these logicistcal ideas would need to be worked out. Again for simplicity, the males would fight, the females tend to home. 3.) Elite females, such as PCs, break rule two wide open. However, PCs are never described as typical, so... 4.) Slaughtering females (the carriers of future generations) and children (said future) would result in loss of the entire culture. Slaying the males would mean the culture is (at best) diffused into another neighboring culture (as was the historical case.) At worst, it ment one or two generations til extinction. 5.) The Absolute Alignment System states that while orcs are evil, they have a "right to life." There is no real "first strike" doctorine in D&D, you fight orcs because the orcs are threatening your farmlands. If the orcs move, you don't need to crusade to hunt them, you thank your lucky stars they're gone. If the orcs retreat to the moutains, you keep vigil til they come again to attack. The endless cycle. Only a few things (undead, demons) are so irrivocably evil that they warrant no mercy at any cost. Neither though, produce mostly defenseless women or children though. Moral: Its just a game. Don't kill babies, do kill raiding orcs, and follow your heart when you find orc babies.</blockquote>

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