Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="hong" data-source="post: 91716" data-attributes="member: 537">In the myth-and-legend-oriented campaign which you appear to have in mind, killing monsters (if not necessarily taking their treasure) _is_ a focal point of the game. A campaign designed to emulate myth and legend treats evil monsters as psychological metaphors. A dragon represents the cruelty of tyrants and unjust kings, and so has to be confronted and destroyed. A horde of orcs represents the rapaciousness and destructive side of humankind, and must similarly be defeated. And so on.These foes are inherently evil, because they are us -- they represent our own dark side. You do not negotiate or come to terms with orcs, just as you don't try to excuse killing someone because you covet his property. If you want a race of orcs that has human motivations, or are tragic anti-heroes, or have cultures based on historical parallels, you are not playing a mythical game. Such a game, where &quot;evil&quot; races are _cultural_ as opposed to psychological metaphors, is based in modern fantasy/SF as opposed to myth.Fine. YOU play the facilitator then.Being a plot element is a DM's prerogative. A character who stays back and minds the castle while the other PCs go off and slay dragons is not, by any stretch of the imagination, playing an active role in the party. Conversely, a character who wields godlike power and uses it to steer the party along is at best a patron, at worst an Elminster-clone.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="hong, post: 91716, member: 537"] [B][/b] In the myth-and-legend-oriented campaign which you appear to have in mind, killing monsters (if not necessarily taking their treasure) _is_ a focal point of the game. A campaign designed to emulate myth and legend treats evil monsters as psychological metaphors. A dragon represents the cruelty of tyrants and unjust kings, and so has to be confronted and destroyed. A horde of orcs represents the rapaciousness and destructive side of humankind, and must similarly be defeated. And so on. These foes are inherently evil, because they are us -- they represent our own dark side. You do not negotiate or come to terms with orcs, just as you don't try to excuse killing someone because you covet his property. If you want a race of orcs that has human motivations, or are tragic anti-heroes, or have cultures based on historical parallels, you are not playing a mythical game. Such a game, where "evil" races are _cultural_ as opposed to psychological metaphors, is based in modern fantasy/SF as opposed to myth. Fine. YOU play the facilitator then. Being a plot element is a DM's prerogative. A character who stays back and minds the castle while the other PCs go off and slay dragons is not, by any stretch of the imagination, playing an active role in the party. Conversely, a character who wields godlike power and uses it to steer the party along is at best a patron, at worst an Elminster-clone. [/QUOTE]

Verification