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Was V's act evil? (Probable spoilers!)
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<blockquote data-quote="merelycompetent" data-source="post: 4730783" data-attributes="member: 33830"><p>IMC, extremely. Perhaps irredeemably.</p><p></p><p>See, when I start a campaign, I hand players a little handout that gives advice, lists house rules, and tries to set the expectations for the game.</p><p></p><p>One of those expectations is that the players are playing HEROES.</p><p></p><p>Heroes don't kill other intelligent beings because of their alignment. There are plenty of other reasons to kill them. One of the greatest victories a Hero can achieve is converting someone else's evil alignment to good.</p><p></p><p>Heroes sometimes (maybe often) take the dirty, pointy end of the stick in the face so that innocent bystanders (NPCs) don't have to.</p><p></p><p>Heroes don't kill other intelligent beings because of what they *might* do.</p><p> Heroes can kill other intelligent beings because of that creature's stated intentions and plans.</p><p> </p><p>Heroes take prisoners.</p><p></p><p>Heroes accept surrender of their opponents.</p><p></p><p>Heroes aren't required to be idiots.</p><p></p><p>Heroes aren't required to commit pointless suicide.</p><p></p><p>V didn't just kill that dragon.</p><p>S/He brought her back as an undead dragon head to torture.</p><p>S/He brought her back to wipe out her entire family.</p><p> Only one of whom had ever expressed any hostility to him/her.</p><p> A family that contained members that were not REQUIRED to be evil by RAW (the half-dragons).</p><p> A family that contained members who were incapable of harming V in any way (the eggs).</p><p> A family that contained members who had never expressed any hostility to V, ever.</p><p>S/He made a deal with ALL THREE epitomes of absolute evil - demons, daemons, and devils - to accomplish this goal.</p><p>S/He used protecting his/her family as an excuse, where only ONE dragon, defeated and slain, had ever attacked them. A quick disintegrate + gust of wind (or even a Wish, in V's current state) would have rendered that dragon as near to absolutely unable to come back, and harm him/her in any way, as it is possible to achieve within the game system.</p><p>S/He did it after the dragon was defeated, slain, brought back as an undead, and surrendered completely.</p><p></p><p>The good guys don't kill non-threatening creatures half a world away because they *might* pose a threat in the future.</p><p></p><p>The good guys don't wipe out an entire bloodline because they *might* seek vengeance.</p><p></p><p>The good guys, their families, and loved ones have to live with some risks. (Just like the bad guys, their families, and loved ones have to live with some risks.) A "might" isn't enough risk to justify mass killing, and remain morally or ethically good within the game system.</p><p></p><p>What V did is one step short of genocide. </p><p></p><p>It should be treated as such.</p><p></p><p>IMC, the player would get several warnings - "Are you sure you want to do this? You do know that creating undead is an evil act? You do know that you have no idea if this dragon's family contains any non-evil members, like a half-dragon paladin? If your spell kills any innocent bystanders, your alignment will go evil. Innocent bystanders includes dragons still in the egg shell, because they can't threaten you or your family."</p><p></p><p>If the player's character does it, instant evil. Soul successfully tempted, doomed to the lower planes. PC is now at the #1 Most Wanted spot for many good temples... and evil temples. Heck, they'll actually work together to end the threat.</p><p></p><p>I look forward to seeing how Mr. Burlew handles this story. I'm especially looking forward to Roy's reaction, and his actions. I mean, I didn't think any of the characters could surpass Belkar for outright bloody, murderous, uncaring evil. Nothing like a little Faustian corruption to prove me wrong! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="merelycompetent, post: 4730783, member: 33830"] IMC, extremely. Perhaps irredeemably. See, when I start a campaign, I hand players a little handout that gives advice, lists house rules, and tries to set the expectations for the game. One of those expectations is that the players are playing HEROES. Heroes don't kill other intelligent beings because of their alignment. There are plenty of other reasons to kill them. One of the greatest victories a Hero can achieve is converting someone else's evil alignment to good. Heroes sometimes (maybe often) take the dirty, pointy end of the stick in the face so that innocent bystanders (NPCs) don't have to. Heroes don't kill other intelligent beings because of what they *might* do. Heroes can kill other intelligent beings because of that creature's stated intentions and plans. Heroes take prisoners. Heroes accept surrender of their opponents. Heroes aren't required to be idiots. Heroes aren't required to commit pointless suicide. V didn't just kill that dragon. S/He brought her back as an undead dragon head to torture. S/He brought her back to wipe out her entire family. Only one of whom had ever expressed any hostility to him/her. A family that contained members that were not REQUIRED to be evil by RAW (the half-dragons). A family that contained members who were incapable of harming V in any way (the eggs). A family that contained members who had never expressed any hostility to V, ever. S/He made a deal with ALL THREE epitomes of absolute evil - demons, daemons, and devils - to accomplish this goal. S/He used protecting his/her family as an excuse, where only ONE dragon, defeated and slain, had ever attacked them. A quick disintegrate + gust of wind (or even a Wish, in V's current state) would have rendered that dragon as near to absolutely unable to come back, and harm him/her in any way, as it is possible to achieve within the game system. S/He did it after the dragon was defeated, slain, brought back as an undead, and surrendered completely. The good guys don't kill non-threatening creatures half a world away because they *might* pose a threat in the future. The good guys don't wipe out an entire bloodline because they *might* seek vengeance. The good guys, their families, and loved ones have to live with some risks. (Just like the bad guys, their families, and loved ones have to live with some risks.) A "might" isn't enough risk to justify mass killing, and remain morally or ethically good within the game system. What V did is one step short of genocide. It should be treated as such. IMC, the player would get several warnings - "Are you sure you want to do this? You do know that creating undead is an evil act? You do know that you have no idea if this dragon's family contains any non-evil members, like a half-dragon paladin? If your spell kills any innocent bystanders, your alignment will go evil. Innocent bystanders includes dragons still in the egg shell, because they can't threaten you or your family." If the player's character does it, instant evil. Soul successfully tempted, doomed to the lower planes. PC is now at the #1 Most Wanted spot for many good temples... and evil temples. Heck, they'll actually work together to end the threat. I look forward to seeing how Mr. Burlew handles this story. I'm especially looking forward to Roy's reaction, and his actions. I mean, I didn't think any of the characters could surpass Belkar for outright bloody, murderous, uncaring evil. Nothing like a little Faustian corruption to prove me wrong! :) [/QUOTE]
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