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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Remathilis" data-source="post: 4600242" data-attributes="member: 7635">This is why Lord of the Rings should be banned from all discussions involving D&D. Pop quiz: What does Conan, King Arthur, Frodo, and Robin Hood all have in common? They're all heroes. Anything else? Nope. Frodo is a hero for his compassion, self-sacrifice, and sense of duty despite NOT being a great warrior or wizard. This is completely different than Conan, who is a hero by doing good thing while in pursuit of his own ignoble goals. Arthur is an exemplar of righteous piety and chivalry, Robin Hood of vigilantism and justice agains the corruption of society. What role-playing game allows you to have Frodo, Conan, Arthur, and Robin all on the same "party"? In what world would Frodo's compassion amass the same strength as Conan's savage fury? Its not D&D. D&D has not, nor has it ever, rewarded heroic sacrifice and noble chivalry. D&D has reward Conan-esque heroism; PCs go into a dungeon, slay the evil monsters, destroy the evil temples, and walk off with all the gold the evil cultists were hoarding before they died. No noble struggle, no heroic sacrifice, no common-everyman who overcomes by heart and will. D&D doesn't like those traits (well, its never created much in the way of mechanics for them) its rewarded power (be it martial power or magical power) with power; kill things, complete quests, steal treasure, level up, do it again. D&D similarly, has never viewed compassion as a necessary quality. Imagine if Gandalf had cast "Detect Evil" on Gollum and declared Frodo's compassion would fail him and Gollum couldn't be redeemed? D&D does that. D&D makes kobold's Lawful Evil (or Evil in 4e) to allow you to slaughter them without moral quandry. You want moral grayness in D&D, throw some baby kobolds in a nest of them and watch your well-intentioned D&D group degenerate into moral stickiness that will eat up as much time as needed to justify them putting them to the sword. So much for compassion, eh?(The above is doubly fun with a paladin PC. Ever notice paladin's are the proverbial thorn in every other player's side?)Oh sure, I can run a game that rewards heroism and heroic traits beyond power and survival, but the game gives me nothing to it. There is no rules for honor, love, beauty, sacrifice, piety, charity, compassion, or virtue (Book of Exalted Deed's excluded). There ARE rules for accumulating and spending wealth, gaining XP to gain new levels of power, and (formerly) rules on morale, henchmen/retainers, and epic magic items. Says alot about D&D's emphasis, doesn't it?</blockquote>

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