Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Helldritch" data-source="post: 7973799" data-attributes="member: 6855114">It took a long time for me to respond to the quotes and questions about my position. I'll resume it here.You can simply not take into account what we, modern day people, take for good or evil. But why?Simple.D&D is, generally, set at the end of a dark age and early start of renaissance. At least that is what the base game assumes with ruins of ancient empires for the PCs to explore. What was considered good and evil at that time was not what we would expect with today's standard.For example. We all agree that a man is innocent until proven otherwise. Well, small news for you, it is a relatively new mindset as almost every civilizations considered that a man was guilty until proven otherwise. And it was often the family of the victim that would ask for a specific sentence or could give absolution of a crime (by forgiving the convicted). By the standard of the medieval societies, the criminals have it way too easy in our society. We are so evil that the victims are left without justice (according to them). For the medieval society, better 10 innocent men killed in the name of justice than just one killer on the loose. For them, we would be fools and even evil to allow a killer to get away because of an error in the arrest procedure.The death penalty (which is an aberration in my mind) was not only common but often preceded by torture. Executions were public and were attended by children (if only to show them that if you do not follow the rules...). In addition, you were considered an adult by the age of 13 (11 in some cultures). Not fully responsible but you would be accountable for any crime you would commit. Poaching could even lead to your death if it so suited your lord (and if you were a repeated offender).To our modern mindset, a lot of what was happening during medieval times would simply be too much to endure and accept. Just being of the wrong religious belief would be enough to warrant your death or enslavement. The liberty we take so much for granted was not seen as a right but as a civic boon given to people a lord was either fond of or that have helped him so much that they were rewarded with it. Slavery was even seen in some society to be a human way to treat prisoners. There were codes of conducts on how to treat a slave humanly and correctly...I should not go into the bigotry and misogyny that would come with a full essay of medieval societies. But here is one example. On the night of your wedding, a lord could get the first night with your new wife because there was the "droit de cuissage". It was a revolting practice but it was there in some countries. It was not systematically enforced but it was there. Was the lord evil for doing it? For us yes, for the people at that time, it was not so. It was simply a disgusting right that the lords had. This is why I say that we can not apply our modern view of good and evil to a fantasy setting. Too much changed in history to make it logical.So it is safe to assume that we have a blend of medieval and modern mindset (that much I agree). The closer we want to RP the assumed world, the closer to the medieval mindset we have to be. Of course, we do not want to fall into the pit trap where women would be relegated to the kitchen and child raising. That we have equality in our "Fantasy" setting is absolutely necessary and logical. If only because in fantasy, women can become quite powerful in magic and priest(ess)hood. This would have open the mind of even the worst of worst misogynist. And I can not stress enough that this is a good thing. I want my female players to feel as important as any of their male counter parts. This is the only modern day mindset that I won't let go. Other than that, I think that we should try to put ourselves in the shoes of the assumed setting. As I have shown, good and evil were pretty much extreme in these times. A lot of what we assume as evil today would simply be a matter of survival in a fantasy setting.Edit: Why do I know so much about medieval societies? Simple, I'm a fan of history and I discuss about this a lot with my wife. She has a university diploma in history specialized in medieval societies around the world (the evolution of women rights in the society through time was her thesis)</blockquote>

Verification