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The 'Wonderland'-Inspired Faces of the RAGE OF DEMONS
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<blockquote data-quote="FormerlyHemlock" data-source="post: 7670775" data-attributes="member: 6787650"><p>I don't think these two portraits are entirely mutually exclusive. "Strives to be better" isn't compatible with ultimate evil of course, but self-pity and adverse circumstances are. It doesn't even have to be cynical manipulation: someone who (for example) steals money from the homeless urchins he employs only because he really NEEDS a new jetliner to maintain his social status--that person is contemptibly evil, in a tawdry sort of way, no matter what lies he tells you. Same thing goes if you have a Lucifer who is determined to prove that God was wrong to give Man freedom to choose, by getting Man to abuse that freedom in all the worst ways, thus showing that Lucifer was right all along and that Man should have been forced--that's a relatable reason for being evil, in the sense that you can model such a being's behavior with some accuracy using your own human brain as opposed to Cthulhu's. But at the same time it is a totally incomprehensible, utterly filthy motive because almost nobody on Earth would be willing to persuade people to abuse, enslave, mutilate, and degrade other human beings just to win an argument with a third party who isn't even listening to them. Most people have limits to their spite.</p><p></p><p>TLDR; model evil beings in D&D on real human beings, but take off the psychological brakes. Vendettas that spare no innocents and last hundreds of years; greed that counts no externalities; betrayal without a hint of remorse, only self-justification; power without compassion. And it then stands to reason that evil beings will usually have their biggest grudges against other evil beings, while good ones are usually bystanders in the endless wars of spite and wrath. Not always but usually.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="FormerlyHemlock, post: 7670775, member: 6787650"] I don't think these two portraits are entirely mutually exclusive. "Strives to be better" isn't compatible with ultimate evil of course, but self-pity and adverse circumstances are. It doesn't even have to be cynical manipulation: someone who (for example) steals money from the homeless urchins he employs only because he really NEEDS a new jetliner to maintain his social status--that person is contemptibly evil, in a tawdry sort of way, no matter what lies he tells you. Same thing goes if you have a Lucifer who is determined to prove that God was wrong to give Man freedom to choose, by getting Man to abuse that freedom in all the worst ways, thus showing that Lucifer was right all along and that Man should have been forced--that's a relatable reason for being evil, in the sense that you can model such a being's behavior with some accuracy using your own human brain as opposed to Cthulhu's. But at the same time it is a totally incomprehensible, utterly filthy motive because almost nobody on Earth would be willing to persuade people to abuse, enslave, mutilate, and degrade other human beings just to win an argument with a third party who isn't even listening to them. Most people have limits to their spite. TLDR; model evil beings in D&D on real human beings, but take off the psychological brakes. Vendettas that spare no innocents and last hundreds of years; greed that counts no externalities; betrayal without a hint of remorse, only self-justification; power without compassion. And it then stands to reason that evil beings will usually have their biggest grudges against other evil beings, while good ones are usually bystanders in the endless wars of spite and wrath. Not always but usually. [/QUOTE]
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The 'Wonderland'-Inspired Faces of the RAGE OF DEMONS
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