How evil is evil?

[Xath]

The thread "Is Chaotic Evil more evil than Lawful Evil" sparked this question in my mind.

How evil is evil in your campaign? Is it a broad term that encompasses 1/3 of the population, or is that alignment reserved for those who are true pioneers in foul deeds? I've been in several different campaigns with different views on the subject.

One says that 1/3 of the world's population is evil, 1/3 is neutral, and 1/3 is good. In accordance with that, 1/3 of the population is lawful, 1/3 is neutral, and 1/3 is chaotic. Alignments are broad enough that CE can be slapped on a chauvanistic jerk, and most who involve themselves in any sort of shady dealings have an E alignment slapped on.

Another view says that Good, Evil, Law, and Chaos are reserved for a specific few who really epitimize those concepts. So maybe 5% of the population would be good, leaving that descriptor to heros and worldly benefactors.

This subject can change the lay of power in a game. How does this change the role of the Paladin? I've seen paladins who are out to exterminate all evil, but how does that change when it encompasses 1/3 of the population?
Do abilities like Smite evil, Axiomatic, etc. become obsolete when the percentage of polar alignments is smaller?

-Xath

 

[Mouseferatu]

I'd have to say that in most of my campaigns--and, I believe, in the real world--people tend toward Neutral. Good and Evil, as alignments, only refer to people at both ends of the bell curve.

That doens't mean that most people don't commit good or evil acts. They do, all the time. But to actually be Good or Evil, I believe those acts/urges have to represent a substantial portion of the person's psychological make-up. Then again, I also see the whole thing as a continuum, not a trinary set. Someone can be "a little bit good," for instance.

IOW, Good and Evil acts are common far out of proportion to the number of truly Good or Evil people, and the majority of Good or Evil people are "a little bit" Good or Evil. Only the very rare few are very Good or Evil.

 

[Serps]

I saw a poster a while back who had the idea that a good alignment followed from a Good destiny and vice versa. The idea was that someone who was good enough to set off a Detect Good spell was (at that point in time) destined to do more good things than evil things in the balance of their life. It was an interesting concept that will probably surface in a future campaign.

Over all, though, the number of truly Good or Evil people in my campaigns generally mirror that in real life; that is to say, most people are Neutral Apathetic or Neutral Selfish, with the occasional dip into human-sacrificing, daemonic-pacting, outwardly-noble consummate evil being a shocking change from the ennui of brigands, pirates, tax collectors and mutants.

 

[shilsen]

IMC, most people are neutral, but there's still a fair proportion of good and evil. Maybe 20% of the population is good, 20% evil, and 60% neutral. The same would hold true for law, chaos and neutral.

What this means is that while alignment is a real, measurable (with magic) factor, it's not the be-all and the end-all to judging people. If a paladin walks into a crowded bar and detects evil, there's a fair number of people who'll show up that way, as will happen at any other gathering of people, like a busy marketplace, the royal court, etc.

 

[Zappo]

I don't require 1/9th of the population to fit each alignment. I assume that most people in any given place will follow the local "national alignment", with different alignments being more or less present depending on how far it is from the "norm". However, everyone can be Chaotic Evil (or whatever) in a different way; some are very, very evil, some aren't.

 

[Sammael]

Alignment depends on cultural influences. If people are brought up thinking that might makes right, they'll have a tendency towards CE. Likewise, a society of backstabbing and Machievellian politics (even among commoners) produces many more LE types than a "normal" society.

Since I usually DM Forgotten Realms, I'd say that most people in the Heartlands are neutral (LN, N, or CN), with only 5% of the population being truly good or evil. In Thay, on the other hand, most of the human population is LN, but as much as 20% of people can be characterized as evil (dominantly LE).

 

[Hand of Evil]

I think evil is evil, we can justify, we can spin it, we can talk about, think about it all we want but if it sends you to hell, if it turns society against you, if it makes you an outcast, it all is equal. Yes, belief does come into it somewhere but so do cultural taboos, you just have to know what is evil and what happens as a result of it.

 

[reanjr]

The thread "Is Chaotic Evil more evil than Lawful Evil" sparked this question in my mind.

How evil is evil in your campaign? Is it a broad term that encompasses 1/3 of the population, or is that alignment reserved for those who are true pioneers in foul deeds? I've been in several different campaigns with different views on the subject.

About even split, with leanings toward Neutral Good. Paladins better wise up and realize that there are people that don't fit their ideal and subjugating them to their ideal is in itself, evil.

 

[FreeTheSlaves]

[note]This is not a personal snipe at anyone.

I sometimes wonder if some players read the detect [alignment] spell descriptions. It clearly rates evil from a very faint minor existence to the horrific mind blowing presence.[/note]

Off hand, we use the national alignment trait as the most commonly occuring alignment but if a theoretical nation had a neutral alignment, then yes about 1/3 would be evil.

Of this 1/3, the vast bult of evil doers would be the minor grudge holding, petty evil that detects as faint, unsavoury characters but hardly villains. The very small percentage left would occupy the stronger evil alignments.

 

[Zweischneid]

Paladins better wise up and realize that there are people that don't fit their ideal and subjugating them to their ideal is in itself, evil.

They don't!

Intolerance of other people's believes would make you an ex-paladin faster than you could draw a sword and kill and innocent.