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Message: <blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 9447485" data-attributes="member: 6790260">Not only that, but I find that "don't speak ill of the dead" is a tool frequently used by those who, innocently or not, wish to keep a silence over the questionable or harmful things the deceased did before their death. It is, of course, quite true that the dead can no longer "fight back," so to speak, and thus one should take extra care to be scrupulous. But if someone really did demonstrably do or say something particularly deserving of negative recognition, I'm going to take a pretty dim view of being told, "No, you aren't allowed to talk about that ever again."There is a time and a place for respect for the dead. And there is a time and a place to call the dead to account--as an example to the living of what not to do. Blanket statements can't capture that kind of thing. Sometimes, it is in fact best to let questionable choices and deeds fade into the mist. Other times, that's precisely what you cannot do.Though if we're going down that path, the sword cuts both ways, and it cuts the DM deeper...or, at least, it should because the DM is the one claiming sweeping authority over others. I find, all too often, that there is a distinctive emphasis on DM "absolute power" (using quotes for a reason, multiple posters on this very forum have explicitly and repeatedly insisted upon it) and essentially zero emphasis on DM responsibility.And that, I feel, is where a lot of Gygax's DM instructions/advice/guidance goes wrong. He recommends taking on great power, and using it in deeply irresponsible, often actively detrimental ways. Turning players against one other. Punishing/rewarding out-of-game behaviors with in-game results, and in-game behaviors with out-of-game results. Actively overriding player interests and treating their input at best as foolish flights of fancy, and at worst as nefarious, active meddling in the DM's world (because in the ultimate Gygaxian style, it is the DM's world--you just happen to play in it...or more often, you just happen to be given the opportunity to witness it.)</blockquote>

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