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Message: <blockquote data-quote="mhacdebhandia" data-source="post: 1643254" data-attributes="member: 18832">Since orcs aren't, like demons, made of the metaphysical substance of Evil in the standard D&D world, then it's inappropriate to kill orcish children.I say "children" specifically because I don't believe that D&D orcish women would be any less inclined to learn how to fight than D&D human women - I don't really believe that the standard D&D world would distinguish much between women and men, because the rules don't.Anyway, forget that. Orcs are evil because their culture is evil; orcs not brought up in that culture, or those rare specimens (sigh, like a certain scimitar-wielding drow ranger) who arrive at a conscious objection to their culture, would not be evil, and even an orc brought up in that culture all her life is theoretically redeemable.Given that, this hoary old chestnut can be safely dealt with. Truly good characters - whether of exalted status (or closest equivalent) or not - will do all they can to make sure that the orcish children survive and turn from the path of evil that their culture would set them on.Those characters who are neutral or not exemplars of moral conduct can probably get away with making sure the orcish children won't starve to death, administer a threatening admonition against going evil, and be on their way.If you're a very moral character and you're making the decision to completely devastate an orcish tribe, you have a responsibility to do it, well, responsibly, and that means cleaning up afterward - including making sure that the largely neutral human villagers on whose behalf you're likely to be fighting don't mistreat or enslave the orcish children if your solution involves leaving them even temporarily in the village's care.That would make an interesting follow-up for a campaign interested in exploring moral questions - what do you do upon returning from your travels to find the orcish youths being brutally worked in the fields under the eye of whip-wielding human farmers? No easy way out when you decide to wipe out an entire tribe.Of course, arguably, you shouldn't be wiping out the whole tribe if you're that good - it's preferable to only kill as many of them as you need to make them agree to negotiate their withdrawal from the area and their promise not to simply go and ravage the fourth village over, then you have the responsibility of making sure somehow that they keep the deal . . .</blockquote>

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