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<blockquote data-quote="Fanaelialae" data-source="post: 9724349" data-attributes="member: 53980">I agree that it could be more explicit, but if you know FR lore (which the MM is based on, since it references Gruumsh) it's pretty clearly implied that the MM does not apply to all orcs.FR has had multiple societies of non-evil orcs.<a href="https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Ondonti" target="_blank">Ondonti</a><a href="https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Thesk" target="_blank">Thesk</a><a href="https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Many-Arrows" target="_blank">Many Arrows Kingdom</a>So, clearly, unless the 5e MM was intended to retcon significant established FR lore (which I highly doubt), it isn't intended to be a description of all orcs. Just the orcs that PCs are most likely to come in to conflict with.Similarly, the drow entry only discusses evil drow, even though we know that Drizzt and the Daughter of Eilistraee are good drow who exist in the setting. Clearly, not all drow are evil. It's simply that the majority of drow live in societies devoted to Llolth, so the majority of good drow are likely killed by evil drow.Neither drow nor orcs are inherently evil. It's simply that evil drow and orcs are the ones the PCs are most likely to come into conflict with, and that's the perspective that the MM is written from.Granted, even a brief mention of this would have been a useful and welcome addition.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Fanaelialae, post: 9724349, member: 53980"] I agree that it could be more explicit, but if you know FR lore (which the MM is based on, since it references Gruumsh) it's pretty clearly implied that the MM does not apply to all orcs. FR has had multiple societies of non-evil orcs. [URL='https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Ondonti']Ondonti[/URL] [URL='https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Thesk']Thesk[/URL] [URL='https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Many-Arrows']Many Arrows Kingdom[/URL] So, clearly, unless the 5e MM was intended to retcon significant established FR lore (which I highly doubt), it isn't intended to be a description of all orcs. Just the orcs that PCs are most likely to come in to conflict with. Similarly, the drow entry only discusses evil drow, even though we know that Drizzt and the Daughter of Eilistraee are good drow who exist in the setting. Clearly, not all drow are evil. It's simply that the majority of drow live in societies devoted to Llolth, so the majority of good drow are likely killed by evil drow. Neither drow nor orcs are inherently evil. It's simply that evil drow and orcs are the ones the PCs are most likely to come into conflict with, and that's the perspective that the MM is written from. Granted, even a brief mention of this would have been a useful and welcome addition. [/QUOTE]

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