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<blockquote data-quote="fearsomepirate" data-source="post: 7962299" data-attributes="member: 7021420">Executing captives is generally considered evil in Western warfare, and yes, that includes all the Axis belligerents and Al Qaeda. In fact, one of the main reasons we considered the Japanese evil was because of how they'd torture and execute POWs and civilians. We don't kill people who follow bad principles or evil religions, because we believe that is in itself evil.But D&amp;D isn't real life. It's mythic...and it depends on your setting. Traditionally, they aren't just really ugly humanoids who follow a bad religion and an incompatible morality. They're the spawn of Gruumsh's blood, shed in his battle with Corellon. They don't just worship Gruumsh; they're living incarnations of his malevolence; they are the means by which Gruumsh extends his orgy of cruelty to the Prime Material.You don't kill orcs &quot;because they're like Nazis.&quot; You kill them because they're the embodiment of the god of cruelty. Of course, you might be Neutral and believe that even orcs have their place in the cosmos, bringing balance to all things. You might even be Good and conclude that killing them would have negative consequences (perhaps this orc tribe is warring with some ogres in the mountains and keeping them at bay).&nbsp; But it's not an Evil act to kill them. It's Good.I guess the point I'm trying to make is that your morality has to be framed within the cosmos of the setting. If the gods are real, if they create this race and that monstrosity in their eternal wars over the spokes of the Great Wheel, morality is fundamentally different than in our modern world.But in Eberron, sure, massacring orcs that haven't done anything is evil, because in that setting, goblins and orcs are more just &quot;ugly, uncivilized humanoids.&quot; But Greyhawk and the FR? Nah, cut 'em down.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="fearsomepirate, post: 7962299, member: 7021420"] Executing captives is generally considered evil in Western warfare, and yes, that includes all the Axis belligerents and Al Qaeda. In fact, one of the main reasons we considered the Japanese evil was because of how they'd torture and execute POWs and civilians. We don't kill people who follow bad principles or evil religions, because we believe that is in itself evil. But D&D isn't real life. It's mythic...and it depends on your setting. Traditionally, they aren't just really ugly humanoids who follow a bad religion and an incompatible morality. They're the spawn of Gruumsh's blood, shed in his battle with Corellon. They don't just [I]worship [/I]Gruumsh; they're living incarnations of his malevolence; they are the means by which Gruumsh extends his orgy of cruelty to the Prime Material. You don't kill orcs "because they're like Nazis." You kill them because they're the embodiment of the god of cruelty. Of course, you might be Neutral and believe that even orcs have their place in the cosmos, bringing balance to all things. You might even be Good and conclude that killing them would have negative consequences (perhaps this orc tribe is warring with some ogres in the mountains and keeping them at bay). But it's not an Evil act to kill them. It's Good. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that your morality has to be framed within the cosmos of the setting. If the gods are real, if they create this race and that monstrosity in their eternal wars over the spokes of the Great Wheel, morality is fundamentally different than in our modern world. But in Eberron, sure, massacring orcs that haven't done anything is evil, because in that setting, goblins and orcs are more just "ugly, uncivilized humanoids." But Greyhawk and the FR? Nah, cut 'em down. [/QUOTE]

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