tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1770953028795276715.post556831820360787578..comments2016-03-18T13:35:15.170-07:00Comments on Redefining Nerds: No, Really Really, Morality is Not SubjectiveAuspicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17137059384548162475noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1770953028795276715.post-57115855707890802802009-08-20T00:37:08.736-07:002009-08-20T00:37:08.736-07:00The difference between an illusion of life-threate...The difference between an illusion of life-threatening monsters and a town of hypothetically demon possessed people is pretty wide.<br /><br />In the illusory scenario, you actually perceive 'good guys' as hostile threats bent on taking your life. It is a neutral act, maybe not a good aligned one, to use lethal force in self defense if the situation warrants it - and you perceive it to be hostile monsters who are using lethal force against you. <br /><br />In the town act, the perpetrator is acting on a tip or hint, and hasn't done the necessary legwork to determine whether or not the town is full of demons. Furthermore, even if the town is full of demons, the perpetrator doesn't know whether the town actually threatens anyone. It goes back to the point that slaying a red dragon that isn't going out to snack on the nearby village is probably not a good act or even a neutral one. Murder is murder regardless of who you are killing, and murder is evil. Fighting in self defense is not evil.<br /><br />Simply because we have an alignment system (of whatever kind, not just D&D) does not mean that there aren't shades of grey between the lines. This mainly occurs with true neutral, neutral good, chaotic good, and lawful evil types of characters. If we were to use Palladium's systems instead, I'd use all of the scrupulous through aberrant alignments. All of these alignments have gradients. A neutral good character might be closer to lawful good ('mostly' follow the rules) or he might spit at the cops with the chaotic good types, but plays the system when he can. Obviously true neutral can go a lot of ways. <br /><br />Lawful evil is interesting because it's a character who thrives on rules, but evil describes a character who will do whatever he wants to get what he wants. He can lean more towards the honorable villain or the deceptive criminal who exploits all the rules and laws of the land.<br /><br />The reason why evil characters do evil things is because it gets them places. This is why evil people in the real world do things. If one were to read the description of neutral evil (or miscreant, in any Palladium book), the character is not bound by any rules at all. They are completely free to act as they please. Doing good things is usually distasteful, and doing good things only because it is a good thing is not a part of their code. However, while a chaotic good character might enjoy seeing people with a smile, a neutral evil character enjoys the power and respect those people give him when he makes them smile. <br /><br />Doing evil things 'just because' isn't evil, it's stupid. No one in real life does things 'just because'. We all have goals or motivations. An evil character, traveling along the same goals or motivations, will choose the most effective directions he can think of to achieve these things. If an evil character wants to take over the world, the last thing he would do (assuming he was sort of smart) would be to create an oppressive kingdom of 'bad guys' that everyone hates. Instead, he might create a 'firm but fair' kingdom that has a strong military and that other nations often look to for military aid. Then he could use spies and infiltrate other countries, and look for ways to insert dummy politicians in the ruling body.<br /><br />If a bad guy is looking for ways to complete some uber magic ritual and become godlike, he might do some of the gathering of components and knowledge above board - hopefully as much as he is able to do without arousing suspicion. Then, if he was smart, he would use minions to do the 'bad' things that might implicate him.<br /><br />The problem is, evil people in most campaigns just don't know what they actually are doing or why they are doing it. A smart evil guy will do whatever needs to be done, and if that means helping old ladies across the street, then that's the way it's gotta be.<br /><br />He might gag afterwards though.Auspicehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17137059384548162475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1770953028795276715.post-86146186813103360932009-08-19T19:43:47.076-07:002009-08-19T19:43:47.076-07:00first off:
how is a person's insanity leading ...first off:<br />how is a person's insanity leading them to believe a village of peasants are actually demons and slaughtering them at all different from a person being deceived by illusions and doing the same thing? I say it isn't. In both cases, the person's perception is being altered, not his intentions, which means that in both examples the person is arguably good.<br /><br />Secondly:<br />especially in a universe like 3rd ed. dnd, where evil and good are equally powerful, equally meaningful forces, not just abstract concepts, there is no reason that a person couldn't be devoted to causing misery rather than happiness and be, say, "paladin sane." If you take away the inherent positiveness we give "good" actions, there's something very insane about a person who is willing to sacrifice anything in pursuit of a specific set of ideals. You don't think that a chaotic good character who spends his life trying to make other people happy is "wacky", so why does a character who wants to cause suffering have to be wacky or unreasonable or have to act without motivations?<br /><br />DnD's great wheel cosmology absolutely does not carry the same moral laws that the real world does. Good is equal to evil, the same way law is equal to chaos. A character doesn't have to be chaotic good to do good things just because they're good, and a character doesn't have to be chaotic evil to do evil things just because they're evil.[c]https://www.blogger.com/profile/06229659456236614298noreply@blogger.com