Was V's act evil? (Probable spoilers!)

[UngainlyTitan]

I voted evil. It is highly likly that the spell is evil and since it goes farther than pure dragons its going to catch creatures on non evil alignment so I would go for evil.
Also I would agree that it is mind blowing stupid. There is no knowing who might have part black dragon lineage. V might even have black dragon linage or fiends or family.

 

[DreadPirateMurphy]

Would casting familicide on the Manson Family be evil?

 

[BryonD]

Even if all are evil, blindly killing them all is also evil.

Killing other mobsters did not make Al Capone a good guy.
Killing everyone with ties to the mob with no clue what they had or had not actually done is "more baderer" than targeting a particular mobster.

So yes.
However, I'd still put it on a pretty small number on the 1 - 10 scale of EVIL.

I also agree that it probably serves vastly more good than evil overall. But an evil means to a good ends is still an evil means. And that doesn't even question whether the ends justified the means. The matter at hand is purely with regard to the means itself.

 

[Corathon]

On the one hand, if all black dragons are utterly and irredeemably evil, exterminating them is a good thing.

Of course Varsuvius also eliminated lots of half-dragons. Were all of them evil also?

On the other hand, even if all those slain were evil, Varusivius' motives count. IMO, his/her actual motives were revenge and sadism, with the safety of her/his family a distant third.

So I voted "evil".

 

[ProfessorCirno]

The Blood War must make millions of demons and devils good aligned, according to some people in this thread/poll

It's EVILE. Yes, it's a combination of evil and vile.

 

[RefinedBean]

This dragon toyed with with me and my family, broke the legs of my children, tied my spouse up to a tree to watch them die.

All because why? It was stupid enough to leave its kid guarding a ton of treasure in a world where it's PATENTLY CLEAR that adventurers will go after said treasure?

Since I cast the disintegrate spell, I am the one that's getting blamed for the entirety of my group's actions? And therefore, my family must be tortured?

C'mon now. The black dragon parent took this to another level, and V is now making sure that no other member of this family will take it upon themselves to exact revenge on V and his/her family.

What if that stupid half-dragon centaur was GOOD? Who cares? It could just as easily find out about V's actions and try to kill V, leaving V's children with only one parent. Just because it's good doesn't mean it's going to go down every other peaceful avenue, figuring out what its cousin did to deserve this, etc.

It was, at worst, a neutral act as far as D&D goes.

 

[Nymrohd]

The Blood War must make millions of demons and devils good aligned, according to some people in this thread/poll

It's EVILE. Yes, it's a combination of evil and vile.

Well considering that several celestials of all races are doing the best they can so the blood war can continue, sure it is a good act (Simplification is the death of reason. Simplification of morality may well be the reason behind the majority of the atrocities mankind has commited).

 

[Relique du Madde]

Committing Genocide no matter what the alignment's race/species is, is an evil act. To say that genocide, no matter how little, is a "good" act gives the megalomaniacs of the world the benefit of the doubt since they could argue that the people they wiped off the world were "evil."


Since the Bloodwar was mentioned what V's action did was tipped the balance in favor of LE (assuming all black dragon spawn are evil), thus allowing them hoards of Devils the ability to gain a sizable foothold in the lower planes (since NE tends to side with the stronger side).

 

[Ktulu]

I voted yes. Not because of killing evil dragons, but because one in there is clearly a half-dragon, which is not, by the rules, inherently evil.

 

[Nymrohd]

This dragon toyed with with me and my family, broke the legs of my children, tied my spouse up to a tree to watch them die.

All because why? It was stupid enough to leave its kid guarding a ton of treasure in a world where it's PATENTLY CLEAR that adventurers will go after said treasure?

Since I cast the disintegrate spell, I am the one that's getting blamed for the entirety of my group's actions? And therefore, my family must be tortured?

C'mon now. The black dragon parent took this to another level, and V is now making sure that no other member of this family will take it upon themselves to exact revenge on V and his/her family.

What if that stupid half-dragon centaur was GOOD? Who cares? It could just as easily find out about V's actions and try to kill V, leaving V's children with only one parent. Just because it's good doesn't mean it's going to go down every other peaceful avenue, figuring out what its cousin did to deserve this, etc.

It was, at worst, a neutral act as far as D&D goes.

So you are saying, revenge against a creature that is inherently evil, has a predispotion towards evil and is raised in a society that exalts evil and therefore has far less choice in aligning itself with good or any inherent inhibition against evil acts who commited an evil act by a creature who is raised in a society that exalts choice and respect for others (as elven society supposedly does since it is CG), and chooses to exercise such revenge on an extremely disproportional scale, is justified.