Is cannibalism (or rather, eating the flesh of sentient beings) inherently evil?

[randcortin]

The bodies of the dead enemies of the tribe are usually disposed of by the most convenient means possible. Usually, burning them. No special attention is paid to them, because typically the enemies of the Tribe (Gnolls, Orcs, Goblins, bandits, etc.) are not deserving of any special honors. On the other hand, if (for some reason) they fought and killed a great, honorable warrior, who died valiantly in battle, whose bravery, acts and so on were acknowledged and admired by the tribal members, then there probably would be some great ceremony. However, the Tribe takes measures to avoid conflicts with other areas of civilization - scouts and spies usually infiltrate the towns, countries, etc. that they come across, determine the ruling parties' opinions and stance (and intel) on the Tribe; if there is hostility, they avoid the area, if they are met with apathy (or ignorance, for they do not advertise their beliefs to everyone they meet), then they will come to town and trade, buy and sell goods. To most other peoples, they are another tribe of wandering nomads, with their quaint beliefs that every nomadic tribe has.

 

[Artimoff]

" I like to eat my friends. I make no bones about it." Is the first like to my favorite B-side from the band The Police, writen and sung by Andy Summers.


Is canabalism evil? it depends how it's pepaired.

 

[randcortin]

I should point out that this was discussed between myself and the DM; he agreed to everything I've written about it.

What we haven't discussed, however, is what level of detail he will provide when the time to prepare the body is here; I don't know if he will just say, "You cook and eat the Paladin", or if he gives a more, how would you say... flavorful description of how she tastes, how she's prepared, what parts are tasty, what parts are tough and stringy, and so on. I haven't brought this up with my DM, I will tomorrow, and see what he says.

 

[cptg1481]

Not Evil but....

I once had a CN 1/2 Orc character who ate part of the heart of a fallen friend to honor him...it was a tribal thing too. He wanted to take in some of the "heart" (the metaphorical bravery) lf this freind so that he could be more like him and that part of his friend could live on.

The DM gave me a one time rage (as BARB) for this act, which was done in private and unbeknownst tot he group/party. I doubt our paladin would have looked too kindly on it.

Canibalism like all things good and evil are subjective and solely within the realm of DM interpritation as to thier impact. I like the explaination about the desired outcome of the act being the framework for the decision.

Eat me out of need....
or to honor my life and times....
then your intentions and this deed must truly be fine.

Eat me out of greed....
or to gain more personal power...
then your intentions and this deed must truly be sour.

 

[Hand of Evil]

No, it can be part of a ritual, taking on the soul of the dead to be reborn or to gather strenght from your foe.

You and the DM need to set up what is evil in your games, what you think does not matter if the DM has set up his world myth and says it is.

 

[Mark Chance]

I don't think cannibalism should be viewed as inherently evil but I neither think that anyone (I mean characters in the world) have ever been exposed to "positive" cannibalism.

Remove the qualifier about characters, and you've hit the nail on the head. Not that I've done an exhaustive study, but cannabilism IRL always occurs hand-in-hand with either murder or soccer teams lost in the Andes Mountains.

 

[Bagpuss]

Remove the qualifier about characters, and you've hit the nail on the head. Not that I've done an exhaustive study, but cannabilism IRL always occurs hand-in-hand with either murder or soccer teams lost in the Andes Mountains.

Actually I think nearly everone in a Western society knows of one example of positive cannibalism. Namely the Catholic sacriments, the are meant to be actually transformed into the body and blood of Christ.

If you had done a little Google-fu. You would have found that for generations, the Fore tribe in the remote mountains of Papua New Guinea held lavish mortuary feasts to commemorate the death of one of their relatives. It was a cannibalistic ritual born out of love and respect. Unfortunately it nearly lead to the extiction of the tribe because of a form of CJD that spread rapidly among them from eating the brains and spinal tissue of the dead.

 

[Aaron L]

Cannibalism causes mad cow disease, however, so stay away from it.

It's called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans, but about the same thing. You get crystals in your brain and lose motor control and die.

 

[mmu1]

Remove the qualifier about characters, and you've hit the nail on the head. Not that I've done an exhaustive study, but cannabilism IRL always occurs hand-in-hand with either murder or soccer teams lost in the Andes Mountains.

Rugby teams.

I don't really like that story, I played the same position in college as the guy who got eaten first.

 

[ForceUser]

I don't think cannibalism inherently evil. There are modern-day pacific islander tribes that practice ritual cannibalism. When a loved one dies, they symbolically eat portions of the remains as a way of saying they'll never forget and the deceased is a part of them.