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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Voadam" data-source="post: 9225407" data-attributes="member: 2209">I mostly agree. There are a couple of extreme bad things I consider evil in all circumstances and so inherently evil even when used to do good. I consider torture inherently evil. Narrative circumstances can be twisted to make it appear the best means to stop greater evil (the show 24 worked hard to justify torture) and a lesser evil in some circumstances but I consider actual torture evil in all applications (I don't really consider teasing or consensual exquisite torture types of situations as real torture though).Taboo icky things like animating a dead corpse with a foul mimicry of life does not rise to the level of inherently evil for me.Most D&D though through editions did not actually consider most evil as defined in the games to be inherently evil. In prior editions there was often a description of evil as hurting or killing others but no description of combat as evil or a thing that would cause a paladin to fall even though they lost all paladin powers if they took any evil action.5e though goes out of its way to be vague on alignment and leave it up to individuals in practice, it provides one page on alignment in the PH, page 122, which does not even define good and evil or law and chaos, just a sentence on generalities about the individual nine alignments.The actual 5e description of good and evil is "Alignment is a combination of two factors: one identifies morality (good, evil, or neutral), and the other describes attitudes toward society and order (lawful, chaotic, or neutral)." which does not pin anything down.There are only a few one off magic items that directly interact mechanically with alignment and that is only the type written on the sheet.I think that is a fantastic way to do it. It allows people to take their own views of alignment and morality how they want without putting player and DM into a possible direct conflict over differences in moral judgments. Those who want to use the concepts as roleplay guides can, those who want to ignore it can easily do so.Inherently evil act has no mechanical impact on the game, taboo in most societies is IMO a more useful narrative description.This makes the 5e necromancy school one off statement about not a good act and only evil spellcasters doing it frequently stand out as so odd.</blockquote>

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