D&D General Inherently Evil?

[Stormonu]

Used to be that the orcs of my world were ”born evil”, as part of a curse laid upon their race. They carried a (supernatural) stain of the sins of their forebearers and a predilection to evil acts. Given no outside influence, they’d grow up to be “evil” - you could say they had “an evil voice” in their head that whispered bad things, or a biological bend to favor evil actions and thoughts. To be otherwise would take conscious effort - and it would be easy for them to slip into evil ways if they didn’t stay vigilant.

No real-world equivalent, but I had gotten the idea from old stories and myths of the “bad seed” - a deep-rooted core that is evil, giving predilection to evil acts and growing the more it is fed.

Beyond orcs,I used it for the basis of many undead (especially vampires), lycanthropes and other nasties whom I had no interest (or very little) in ever being player characters; simply eternal enemies whom I didn’t have to worry about the PCs doing any hand-wringing over whether to “kill” them or not.

 

[Maxperson]

Anything that has Free Will is not inherently anything.
Anything that doesn't have Free Will can't be morally judged.

If all goblins have no choice but to kill and eat any human baby they see, because of a deific design in goblin brains, the goblin has no control over that action and the God is the one that is evil. Though killing goblins when they see a human baby would also not be evil, since regardless of the goblin's intent you're saving a baby.

"Supernaturally forced to be Evil" is just Unaligned.

Even demons, who are supernaturally forced to be evil, have a measure free will. They're evil, but have a choice in how they go about their lives. They may not be evil to everyone they come across, or they might. Their choice. Perhaps they murder the PCs, which is pretty evil. Or maybe they just take one of each pair of the PCs socks, which is incredibly evil.

If you don't view that as free will, because part if it is determined for the demons, then humans in real life have no free will. Our biology influences a lot of our behaviors and thought processes.

The biology of behaviour: scientific and ethical implications - PMC

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Is Human Behavior Genetic or Learned? | National University

Read our "Ask an Expert" blog post to learn about the factors that go into the research of determining whether human behavior is genetic or learned.

www.nu.edu

Behavior’s Influence on Biology

One of the basic tenets of psychological science holds that the biology of our brains heavily influences our actions, behaviors, judgments, and more. But what if we reverse that premise and examine an opposite supposition: …

www.psychologicalscience.org

 

[Filthy Lucre]

How would you design a biological race that is Inherently Evil?

I wouldn't. I think what you're proposing is incoherent on it's face. If something is inherently evil then it has no ability to do good or to do otherwise. Because it has no ability to do otherwise or to be good it cannot be held responsible for being evil. If it cannot be held responsible for being evil, then it cannot said to be evil in any sort of moral sense. It could be inherently dangerous/violent/destructive, but it could not be said to be evil.

 

[Filthy Lucre]

Even demons, who are supernaturally forced to be evil, have a measure free will. They're evil, but have a choice in how they go about their lives. They may not be evil to everyone they come across, or they might. Their choice. Perhaps they murder the PCs, which is pretty evil. Or maybe they just take one of each pair of the PCs socks, which is incredibly evil.

If you don't view that as free will, because part if it is determined for the demons, then humans in real life have no free will. Our biology influences a lot of our behaviors and thought processes.

The issue isn't the scope of their free will, it's their being specificly precluded from doing anything good. Thats a lot different than saying that certain behaviors are highly influenced by outside factors. Even if demons have strong libertarian free will, if they don't have enough free will to do good in any context or situation then they cannot be held responsible for their evil. They could not do otherwise in the relevant sense.

 

[Professor Murder]

In DnD, a being does not to be completely devoid of any redeeming qualities to be categorized as evil. A torturer who goes home to their children, who they care for deeply, is still evil I would argue.

 

[Steampunkette]

Even demons, who are supernaturally forced to be evil, have a measure free will. They're evil, but have a choice in how they go about their lives. They may not be evil to everyone they come across, or they might. Their choice. Perhaps they murder the PCs, which is pretty evil. Or maybe they just take one of each pair of the PCs socks, which is incredibly evil.

If you don't view that as free will, because part if it is determined for the demons, then humans in real life have no free will. Our biology influences a lot of our behaviors and thought processes.

The biology of behaviour: scientific and ethical implications - PMC

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Is Human Behavior Genetic or Learned? | National University

Read our "Ask an Expert" blog post to learn about the factors that go into the research of determining whether human behavior is genetic or learned.

www.nu.edu

Behavior’s Influence on Biology

One of the basic tenets of psychological science holds that the biology of our brains heavily influences our actions, behaviors, judgments, and more. But what if we reverse that premise and examine an opposite supposition: …

www.psychologicalscience.org

All human thought processes are based upon the start-state of the universe, according to science. Every atom and electron, every mote of energy, is flying across space-time in the exact configuration it is currently in because that is the only configuration it -could- be in based on it's initial trajectory during the Big Bang... 'Cause we live in a Deterministic Universe where Free Will is just an interesting idea.

Or not. Depending on what your belief system is. (Though in a Deterministic Universe that belief is also hard-wired into reality)

All that outta the way:

Biology affecting thought processes and such is all well and good, but morality isn't based on your thought processes. It's based on an external judgement of your actions and statements relative to the current moral baseline of your society. And even psychopaths, real world psychopaths not movie versions thereof, can learn to act in a manner which doesn't disturb the baseline. Regardless of what they might think or do not feel.

If you have an "Inherently Evil" creature that does not perform evil acts then you have a creature that isn't evil.

And if you've got an "Inherently Evil" creature that performs evil acts because it can't -not- perform evil acts (Like a Rabbit) you don't judge it as being evil 'cause it can't help the fact that it commits infanticide-cannibalism.

 

[Oofta]

When it comes to the nature of an evil species, I think in most cases evil is similar to real world psycopaths, or as it would be clinically diagnosed as a conduct disorder with callous and unemotional traits. There was an interesting article - When your child is a psychopath that discusses this.

In other words, there are people who simply have no empathy, often enjoy hurting others and feel no compassion. In many cases, they can't even recognize emotions. One particularly violent criminal was shown pictures with different emotions. When the prisoner came to a fearful face, he said, “I don’t know what you call this emotion, but it’s what people look like just before you stab them.”

In most cases, psycopaths only look at others as objects, potential resources or obstacles. Frequently they enjoy harming others gives them great enjoyment. On the other hand, they don't really care about punishment although they tend to be very reward oriented. Some can learn to function well in society by understanding that acceptable behavior is more rewarding.

Personally? I would say these people are the closest analog we have to evil creatures in D&D. Is it their fault that their brains are simply wired differently than most peoples? Perhaps not, it doesn't change that I would label their unchecked behavior as evil.

There are also creatures that are evil because they choose to commit evil acts, but that's different from being inherently evil.

 

[Maxperson]

The issue isn't the scope of their free will, it's their being specificly precluded from doing anything good.

That really has never been the case, though. Exceptions to "always evil" have existed in all editions. 2e had at least one CG demon that I know of in Planescape. 1e was all about making exceptions to rules. The 3e MM alignment section says alignment is just the alignment that a creature is most likely to have, and specifically says that those with "always" alignments can have rare individuals of other alignments. 4e I don't know, but doubt it was different. 5e MM alignment says the DM should be free to change creature alignments.

Not only that, but even if the demon is CE, alignment has never in any edition been a straightjacket. You've always been free to act against your alignment.

No edition has ever precluded even the always evil creatures from doing anything good.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

I am still not convinced that you need free will to be "d&d evil" as much as you need it to be "real world evil". I don't find anything in the definition that eliminates it totally.

Most creatures that lack the capacity for rational thought do not have alignments — they are unaligned. Such a creature is incapable of making a moral or ethical choice and acts according to its bestial nature. Sharks are savage predators, for example, but they are not evil; they have no alignment.

If most creates that lack rational thought do not have alignments, that mean that some of them are both lacking free will and have an alignment. If not, it would be written as "Creatures that lack the capacity... do not have alignment".

 

[Slit518]

How would you design a biological race that is Inherently Evil?

First I would identify what "good" is in your world/setting, and through whose definition. I would assume the humans as we are all human and the point-of-view would be through what is assumed good through a universal lens that is human.

Second, I would create a being that although intelligent as it may be, have instincts that also drive it (much like humans have instincts) that conflict with the human's "good" ways/life.

An example of this would be a predator being that has to hunt/kill humans because perhaps humans have a special protein in their blood that is only found within them. Even though it is nature the humans wouldn't see it as such and may deem such a creature evil.