Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Is This Evil? D&D Morality.
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Mercurius" data-source="post: 8759396" data-attributes="member: 59082"><p>Ahh, a big subject: What is "evil?" Does it even exist? Is it subjective?</p><p></p><p>I don't think there's a right answer, except maybe in a specific context. I mean, if we're talking about D&D, it is whatever the rules say (e.g. Alignment) and/or what the DM says, as far as their campaign is concerned.</p><p></p><p>So I tend to think it is on us to decide, whether as individuals or DMs. We can look to literature and film for different perspectives. For instance, for Tolkien evil was mostly about domination - enforcing one's will over others. That was the "fall" of both Morgoth and Sauron. Morgoth actually wanted to subvert Iluvatar's creation itself - to mold the Song of the Ainur to his will, and in his own image (rather than Iluvatar's vision). Sauron was a bit more down to earth in that he seemed "only" to dominate earthly life -that is, Middle-earth. I think Tolkien said something in <em>The Silmarillion </em>about Sauron only being less evil than Morgoth in that he served another - but this changed with Morgoth was cast into the Void and Sauron became the big bad guy.</p><p></p><p>But for Tolkien, domination is key - especially with regards to "free peoples." Not sure how he felt about domination over animals, and beings of (supposedly) "lesser sentience." I would think the nature of free will and sentience would be crucial. Meaning, regardless of whether or not it is evil to dominate a cow, Tolkien would probably believe it is, at least, <em>more </em>evil to dominate a human, elf, dwarf, or hobbit. I would also guess that he would think factory farming and such were "evil."</p><p></p><p>Now in the case of your alien species, maybe they see humans in a similar way that we see cows. Maybe humans lack something that makes them--to this alien species--"not people." I would play with the hivemind angle...that they view this as the threshold for being a true people, and thus worth of ethical behavior.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Mercurius, post: 8759396, member: 59082"] Ahh, a big subject: What is "evil?" Does it even exist? Is it subjective? I don't think there's a right answer, except maybe in a specific context. I mean, if we're talking about D&D, it is whatever the rules say (e.g. Alignment) and/or what the DM says, as far as their campaign is concerned. So I tend to think it is on us to decide, whether as individuals or DMs. We can look to literature and film for different perspectives. For instance, for Tolkien evil was mostly about domination - enforcing one's will over others. That was the "fall" of both Morgoth and Sauron. Morgoth actually wanted to subvert Iluvatar's creation itself - to mold the Song of the Ainur to his will, and in his own image (rather than Iluvatar's vision). Sauron was a bit more down to earth in that he seemed "only" to dominate earthly life -that is, Middle-earth. I think Tolkien said something in [I]The Silmarillion [/I]about Sauron only being less evil than Morgoth in that he served another - but this changed with Morgoth was cast into the Void and Sauron became the big bad guy. But for Tolkien, domination is key - especially with regards to "free peoples." Not sure how he felt about domination over animals, and beings of (supposedly) "lesser sentience." I would think the nature of free will and sentience would be crucial. Meaning, regardless of whether or not it is evil to dominate a cow, Tolkien would probably believe it is, at least, [I]more [/I]evil to dominate a human, elf, dwarf, or hobbit. I would also guess that he would think factory farming and such were "evil." Now in the case of your alien species, maybe they see humans in a similar way that we see cows. Maybe humans lack something that makes them--to this alien species--"not people." I would play with the hivemind angle...that they view this as the threshold for being a true people, and thus worth of ethical behavior. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Is This Evil? D&D Morality.
Top