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WotC's Jeremy Crawford Talks D&D Alignment Changes
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<blockquote data-quote="Oofta" data-source="post: 8033568" data-attributes="member: 6801845"><p>I think monsters serve a purpose in the game. I think the shape and form of intelligent monsters should not matter, they can still be monsters. In my mind there's no difference in the consciousness, self awareness or option to have freedom of will (or not) between an orc, an aboleth, a ghoul or a balor. It's debated whether or not humans in the real world truly have freedom of will and actually make choices. People's personalities can change overnight because of disease and strokes. I have no problem with an orc being hard wired for evil in a fantasy setting where they were created for the sole purpose of warfare and destruction.</p><p></p><p>I would consider stressing that while it varies from campaign to campaign the reason orcs are evil is because of the supernatural influence of Gruumsh who created them to carry out his personal vendetta. In a way, while orcs are evil, they are also victims. I even suggested that an alternative mythology would be a coming of age ceremony (similar to a bat mitsvah or similar ceremonies) where young orcs dedicate themselves to Gruumsh. It could lead to some interesting stories.</p><p></p><p>I think blaming evil on region and religion is like saying people from the middle east who follow a specific religion are all evil radical terrorists. It's just as bad if not worse. Saying that orcs have aggressive tendencies <em>without specifying a supernatural cause</em> is the similar to the words used to describe so called "super predators".</p><p></p><p>It's not that I haven't thought about this, I have. I made a choice on what I think makes sense. I think it should remain a supported option because has worked and by all indications continues to work for most people. On the other hand if you want to follow Eberron's lead where they are free to be different feel free. I just find it kind of funny though, Baker still summarizes the personalities of all orcs up in a few sentences. There's nothing wrong with it IMHO, but he's still stereotyping orcs as having very similar personalities. Just like all the non human races in the PHB for that matter.</p><p></p><p>But I've probably typed this up a few dozen times now. I hate to be rude and not answer questions but I'm done. Have a good one.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Oofta, post: 8033568, member: 6801845"] I think monsters serve a purpose in the game. I think the shape and form of intelligent monsters should not matter, they can still be monsters. In my mind there's no difference in the consciousness, self awareness or option to have freedom of will (or not) between an orc, an aboleth, a ghoul or a balor. It's debated whether or not humans in the real world truly have freedom of will and actually make choices. People's personalities can change overnight because of disease and strokes. I have no problem with an orc being hard wired for evil in a fantasy setting where they were created for the sole purpose of warfare and destruction. I would consider stressing that while it varies from campaign to campaign the reason orcs are evil is because of the supernatural influence of Gruumsh who created them to carry out his personal vendetta. In a way, while orcs are evil, they are also victims. I even suggested that an alternative mythology would be a coming of age ceremony (similar to a bat mitsvah or similar ceremonies) where young orcs dedicate themselves to Gruumsh. It could lead to some interesting stories. I think blaming evil on region and religion is like saying people from the middle east who follow a specific religion are all evil radical terrorists. It's just as bad if not worse. Saying that orcs have aggressive tendencies [I]without specifying a supernatural cause[/I] is the similar to the words used to describe so called "super predators". It's not that I haven't thought about this, I have. I made a choice on what I think makes sense. I think it should remain a supported option because has worked and by all indications continues to work for most people. On the other hand if you want to follow Eberron's lead where they are free to be different feel free. I just find it kind of funny though, Baker still summarizes the personalities of all orcs up in a few sentences. There's nothing wrong with it IMHO, but he's still stereotyping orcs as having very similar personalities. Just like all the non human races in the PHB for that matter. But I've probably typed this up a few dozen times now. I hate to be rude and not answer questions but I'm done. Have a good one. [/QUOTE]
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