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ShortQuests -- individual adventure modules! An all-new collection of digest-sized D&D adventures designed to plug in to your game.

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="John Morrow" data-source="post: 1916980" data-attributes="member: 27012">I think it's important to remember that just because something isn't Good in D&D does not mean that it's Evil and just because something isn't Evil in D&D does not mean that it's Good.  I would argue, as others have here, that the sort of historical slavery that granted slaves certain rights and protected them is Neutral while the sort of slavery that treats humans as chattel and casually accepts their "loss" as a part of business (e.g., the way slaves where shipped out of Africa to both the Americas and the Middle East) is Evil.  Slavery is clearly not Good in D&D terms, since the SRD/Player's Handbook clearly include a concern for the dignity of sentients as a component of Good.  It's also not Chaotic but could be Neutral or Lawful.  So that leaves you four to five alignments that could allow slavery -- LN, TN, LE, NE, and probably CE in a more ad-hoc way.  Each one would have it's own spin on the subject.As for "the majority of human historical figures", I would argue that most are indeed not Good by D&D standards.  That does not mean that they were Evil, either.  In most cases, I would argue that they are simply Neutral, though some of the "heroes" of mythology and history might very well be Evil by D&D terms.  In fact, I'd argue that the vast majority of humanity, historically and even today, acts out of pragmatic self-interest much of the time rather than altruism or cruelty and is Neutral in terms of the Good and Evil axis.  Heck, I would argue that plenty of D&D players are not Good by D&D standards.  That doesn't make them Evil.  It just means that they don't meet the standard demanded by Good in the standard D&D cosmology.In D&D, "Good characters make personal sacrifices to help others." (SRD)  And I would argue that "others" includes strangers or even enemies, since helping others based on personal relationships alone falls within the SRD definition of Neutral.  If you aren't going out of your way to be good -- making "personal sacrifices to help others" -- then you aren't Good in D&D terms.  That doesn't mean you are Evil.  It just means that you aren't Good.</blockquote>

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