Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Remathilis" data-source="post: 9733086" data-attributes="member: 7635">So this is D&D's take on it in 2024, using the Realms as the example.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Humanoid's have no defined alignment tendencies. They can be as good or as evil as their society and morals allow. A drow from Mezzobaranzan has the same odds of being evil as a human from Thay has. But they also have the same odds of being good if they were both raised in Cormyr instead.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Some creatures that were previously humanoids aren't. They are monsters, and monsters have alignment tendencies written in pencil, not ink. Goblins are fey and as such embodies the fey penchant for mischief, trickery and cruelty. Kobolds are dragon and embodies dragon pride and greed. Gnolls are fiends and embodies fiendish bloodlust and hunger. Exceptions can exist, but they do trend certain ways because they are "monsters"</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Some groups of monsters live close enough to other humanoids to lose their monstrous traits and actually become humanoids. Goblins living in Waterdeep for generations lost their fey connections and became humanoids, capable of moral choice and unbound by their innate heritages alignment. Hence a goblin baker in Waterdeep is as complex as a human or halfling baker and no longer bound to the mischievous cruelty of the fey goblins. (They also coincidentally become balanced for pc play, but I digress)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Large cultural diverse areas like Waterdeep and Neverwinter would be full of various species living in relative peace with no larger societal prejudice against humanoids (or near humanoids) but not necessarily against evil monsters. A dwarf barkeep may harbor personal grudges against the drow, but that's not going to reflect a wider societal prejudice in the whole of Neverwinter. They same may not be true if a mind flayer walked though the streets of Neverwinter.</li> </ul>What this does is afford both styles of play some opportunities without fully committing to either. You want slay on sight goblins? The fey type in the MM work like this always have. Want a more nuanced goblin type? Humanoid goblins (using MotM PC stats and NPC stat blocks) fill the role. It's not perfect (especially with the idea of creatures evolving into humanoids if spending enough time away from their monstrous origins) but it's the best compromise we're going to get between "all orcs are evil (some exceptions apply)" and "everything in the MM is protected under the Geneva convention"Ymmv, of course</blockquote>

Verification