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Message: <blockquote data-quote="BookTenTiger" data-source="post: 8033542" data-attributes="member: 6685541">I think this is a really, really easily solvable problem, even if alignment were removed.DM: You see some orcs ahead. They have gnome skulls tied to the handles of their axes.Paladin: Oh, these must be the orcs who have been raiding gnome villages.Fight begins.or:DM: You see some orcs ahead. They are walking next to a wagon.Range: I am going to hide in a tree and look closer.DM: The wagon is full of pigs.Paladin: Oh, these must be those orc pig farmers who live up the road.or:DM: You see some figures up ahead. It looks like a mix of orcs, humans, and goblins. They carry a banner with the symbol of a bloody ax.Wizard: Oh no! that's the symbol of the Bloody Ax Bandits!DM: Roll initiative!Oofta, I have seen you bring this up a few times in various threads. I don't think anyone disagrees with you that having easily identifiable enemies is both a tradition in D&D and a fun part of playing the game. In fact, I would love it if the standard D&D rulebook had more ways to easily identify the bad guys! Maybe under "Orcs" in the Monster Manual, they could give a few different examples of orcs that would serve as "easily identifiable antagonists" to the players!You even identify that this is a separate issue:But maybe it's time to let go of the "how they look represents if they are evil or not" trope. I know you really like this one, and it's pretty deeply embedded in fantasy, but do you see how this idea of judging if something is good or evil based on its appearance alone can be problematic?There are just so many other ways to quickly identify if something is an antagonist or not.</blockquote>

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