What Makes A Great Man?

[Henry]

"Wars not make one great."
-Yoda

War does not determine who is right - only who is left.
Bertrand Russell

I'd say it's a bit of both. A great man is someone who will pursue peace first and foremost, but is skilled at taking arms if peace is not an option. We could argue all day as to, "what is the drawing line?" though.

 

[Dragonhelm]

War does not determine who is right - only who is left.
Bertrand Russell

Sorry, Yoda trumps all.

In all seriousness, I wanted to address the OP a little closer.

What is it that makes a great man?

Is a great man a conqueror?

Or is a great man a peace maker?

Or does he combine elements of both when it's appropriate to do so?

Now, I'm assuming here that you're working on some character and trying to figure out what makes him great. If that assumption is wrong, feel free to correct me.

What makes a D&D character great? The answer is a compelling story. It isn't whether he's a fighter or a lover. It's whether his story is engaging, and keeps bringing you back to the gaming table.

Perhaps his life's path covers both realms. Maybe he wanted a life of peace, but when the Torsian Horde killed his family, he vowed to fight against them until his dying day. Or, maybe he was a soldier, but divine revelation showed another path in his life, and he became a prophet of peace.

Throw in some character flaws and a path for character development, and you're on your way.

Sometimes a great man is one who has followers. Both conquerors and peacemakers have had them. Sometimes, a great man has no recognition. Maybe your character fights an unseen foe, and no one knows about his secret war.

Or maybe, what makes a character great is that he tries to do the right thing, despite insurmountable odds.

Hope that helps.

 

[El Mahdi]

"The will to give and not receive."
"The strength to say what you believe."
"The heart to feel what others feel inside,"
"To see what they can see."


Tom Scholz, Boston

 

[Hand of Evil]

An event, promotion, and CHARISMA - something has to happen to put you in the spotlight, that event has to be brought to people's attention and you have to be liked. If you don't have these, you just are a footnote.

What makes a great man: doing what is right and noble; at the most difficult time.

 

[Plane Sailing]

moved to off-topic

 

[Infiniti2000]

A great father is a great man. All else is secondary.

 

[Aus_Snow]

A great man does the best he possibly can in his life, and the situations that come up in it. That is all.

Greatness is not being "Awesome!!1!", but rather doing the best one can. Might not sound much, but it's more than many bother to do, to put it mildly.

Also, war is never kewl. It's death, pain, suffering, loss. It is never great, and only rarely necessary. And even then, infinitely sadly so.

 

[El Mahdi]

A great father is a great man. All else is secondary.

So, one must be a father to be a great man?

That seems a bit condescending and arrogant...

 

[Morkul]

great men are creative rather than destructive. great men honor love and peace over hate and war and only fight to preserve the former. great men respect and foster nature. great men are kind to man and beast. great men follow their own moral compass, rather than the laws of men. great men teach these things to their children...

 

[Diamond Cross]

Now, I'm assuming here that you're working on some character and trying to figure out what makes him great. If that assumption is wrong, feel free to correct me.

Actually no. I was watching an episode of "Enterprise" that took place in the Mirror Universe. Alt-Archer was looking up the files on his counterpart and was quite dismayed that his counterpart was considered a great man so he says "A great man is not a peacemaker, a great man is a conqueror!".

So i got a little curious to see what people would say about it.



And I do actually disagree with that Yoda quote. When you actually think of it, you will find out that some people would not have been great if it weren't for the opportunity to be a hero of some sort if there had been no war. Three names come to mind, Sergeant Alvin York, Audie Murphy, and MacArthur would not have been heroes if it weren't for the world wars they were in, for example.