NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Neonchameleon" data-source="post: 8019968" data-attributes="member: 87792">What I find interesting is that "heritage" is often made to stand in for unquestioning heritage remaining unchallenged.For example nine point alignment. If we go back to the earliest days of D&D there aren't nine alignments but a mere three; Lawful-Neutral-Chaotic representing the clash of civilization vs nature. And this I find far more conducive to interesting gameplay than nine point alignment that doesn't really fit together and has some really weird legacy effects like all druids being neutral (which makes sense on the Lawful-Chaotic access but not when you throw in Good-Evil). And the True Neutral Balance Keepers are a perfectly sensible position on the Lawful-Chaotic alignment but terrible philosophy on Good vs Evil.I also think that inclusivity isn't so much an acceptance of anything but a "no kicking" sign that can and sometimes should be enforced.I don't see heritage as inherently valuable. I see it as useful to help answer the question "How can we have better games". I'm far from an OSR supporter - but they definitely brought back useful parts of the gaming heritage for richer and more interesting games.I believe heritage is something to be explored because people in the past weren't idiots and will have done things well we've currently forgotten. I don't believe that it's something to specifically be nourished so much as preserved and explored to make sure we haven't thrown the baby out with the bathwater (the way IMO we did with XP for GP). Inclusivity on the other hand is something worth nurturing.First, I'd question whether the Cardassians are evil. Is Garak? (Paragraphs could be written in answer to that simple question). The Cardassian government is evil and the society that it controls is. But I don't think we can say the Cardassians themselves are evil any more than we can say the Germans are no matter how evil a certain mid 20th Century German government and society has become a deserved watchword of evil. But the Cardassians are much more interesting because they aren't inherently evil.I could make a very strong case for the Borg being Lawful Good on the D&D alignment chart, seeking to help everyone. They are definitely hostile and are an excellent "dark mirror" of the TNG Federation, but they are interesting precisely because they have their own morality and coherent worldview. And like the Federation want to assimilate everyone - and aren't bound by that pesky Prime Directive or anything like it.Even the Dominion? The Great Link was definitely evil, seeking control and domination. Was Odo? Were even the Jem'Hadar?</blockquote>

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