D&D 5E Next session a character might die. Am I being a jerk?

[Oofta]

Wut?

Any Orc raised in a good aligned society would have just as much inclination to be good aligned as any other species.

Are your Good aligned religions not at all interested in redemption and salvation and mercy?

This is a whole other topic, but honestly I have an issue with "if they just abandoned their religion and culture they'd be good" argument.

It may even be worth it's own thread. But it is a contentious topic, which just got another thread shut down.

 

[Oofta]

Just to be clear: this is a game. It's not the real world.

But I think if you have a creature that is always evil (or even almost always evil) you have 2 choices. Evil by nature, evil by nurture. I think the former is the lesser of 2 evils because otherwise it becomes "if they just believe what I believe they can be good people".

 

[Fenris-77]

Just to be clear: this is a game. It's not the real world.

QFT.

But I think if you have a creature that is always evil (or even almost always evil) you have 2 choices. Evil by nature, evil by nurture. I think the former is the lesser of 2 evils because otherwise it becomes "if they just believe what I believe they can be good people".

That's a difference without consequence. The point is that right now they are evil, they act evilly, think evilly, and when we use our magic powers of ethics detection they are actually evil. That's why smiting them doesn't involve an ethical dilemma. Anything beyond that is being brought to the issue by the player(s).

 

[Mistwell]

You too.

Next time dont make sweeping statements like 'This is how the game is played' like its some sort of objective truth. It may be how your game is played (your Good aligned PCs are totes down with some light genocide) but it isnt the way I play it.

Oh hey, and you end with a misquote of me, with false quotation marks, and then accuse us of being pro-genocide! You're a real winner Flamestrike.

 

[Catulle]

Nope, you left out a crucial element of what I said. I said ARMED. When you come across ARMED goblins and orcs in a DUNGEON, you ASSUME they are evil because they 99.999999% of the time are.

I mean, what if it's a Stand-Your-Ground dungeon?

 

[Umbran]

Mod Note:

@Flamestrike and @Mistwell - Both of you cut it out. Neither one of you is engaging in a mature, respectful manner, and removing both of you from the conversation is ridiculously easy. Easier than giving another warning, in fact. Please consider that as you frame your next posts to this thread.

 

[jgsugden]

Crimany.

Read the MM section on Orcs. Then read the section on Orcs in the Guide to Wildemount.

They demonstrate one simple truth: The Core Rules present a basic template for D&D, and DMs are free to break them as they see fit. DMs build the world, and players explore it. Whether those worlds hold true to the templates in the books or are tweaked to fit the stories, beliefs, and ideals of the DM and players - that is a personal decision for the group.

 

[Lanefan]

Wut?

Any Orc raised in a good aligned society would have just as much inclination to be good aligned as any other species.

Agreed.

However that would be a very rare Orc indeed, and 99.99+ % likely to have been raised in a non-Orcish society. Orcish society on average is rather notably Evil, with the only real variance being how far along the Chaotic side it goes (some are NE, some are CE).

Are your Good aligned religions not at all interested in redemption and salvation and mercy?

Depends on a bunch of factors: how warlkie or peacelike the religion is, whether it chooses to proselytize or not and-or send out missionaries (most don't as it's generally considered poor form), etc.

If an single Orc baby was left on the doorstep of any decent temple, chances are very high they'd take it in and try to raise it as one of their own. But occurrences like that are extremely rare, and don't produce enough Good Orcs to make the slightest difference to the Orcish societal average.

 

[Flamestrike]

Yes. For humans. When it comes to the abominations wrought by Hextor, Yeenoghu, Erythnul, Gruumsh, etc, my good aligned religions are interested largely in smiting.

Ah.. so your Good aligned churches are just as geocidal as the Evil things they fight.

Whats the difference? One wears white and the other black?

 

[Flamestrike]

If an single Orc baby was left on the doorstep of any decent temple, chances are very high they'd take it in and try to raise it as one of their own. But occurrences like that are extremely rare, and don't produce enough Good Orcs to make the slightest difference to the Orcish societal average.

What about Orc prisoners of war, children and non combatants in villages captured by the forces of Good during the (many) defensive wars against the Orcs, Orc outcasts and refugees from conflicts etc.

Any major conflict against Orcs (and there would have been literally dozens at least) would see thousands if not tens of thousands of Orc refugees, non combatants, prisoners of war and so forth captured or fleeing from the conflict.

Do your Goodly nations simply massacre those refugees, non combatants, women and children and POWs? If not (and I certainly hope they dont) I presume (as Good aligned) they treat those thousands of refugees, POWS, non combatants and so forth with mercy, altruism, respect and kindness.

Meaning that even after one sizeable conflict with a neighboring Orc nation, there should be thousands of Orcs refugees, POW's, non combatants and so forth in civilised society. Given enough time, those Orcs reproduce (and at a faster rate than Humans) meaning any sizeable city likely has a fair few Orcs in it, and a lot more Half Orcs.

And what about the Orc settlements? Are your Goodly nations razing them to the ground in an act of absolute Genocide, or are they razing the Churches of Gruumsh to the ground, and trying to set the Orcs on a less warlike path? Surely they actually succeded at least once or twice!