No nothin' man. Super sad, there's NO games runnin on either of the forums I frequent.
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Originally Posted by kingcobweb I don't understand the purpose of gimmick accounts.
-Harkius
edit: crap wrong account sorry
"I went to the park and saw this kid flying a kite. The kid was really excited. I don't know why, that's what they're supposed to do. Now if he had had a chair on the other end of that string, I would have been impressed." - Mitch Hedberg
If it's of any help I am hoping that I can convince one of the Dungeon Master's on this site to run a Dragonlance D&D campaign. See the General Campaign Interest Thread's last page for more information at the moment.
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"As the size of an explosion increases, the number of social situations it is incapable of solving approaches zero." -- Varsuvius, Order of the Stick
Originally Posted by kingcobweb I don't understand the purpose of gimmick accounts.
-Harkius
edit: crap wrong account sorry
"I went to the park and saw this kid flying a kite. The kid was really excited. I don't know why, that's what they're supposed to do. Now if he had had a chair on the other end of that string, I would have been impressed." - Mitch Hedberg
Being the most powerful figures in the world certainly has its benefits. Gold, influence, connections, respect, and knowledge are just a few of the many perks of being mighty. When you move with purpose, cities crumble. High dragons fall. Evil vanishes. And treasure piles up.
But, it isn't always easy. Celebrity and might means enemies. Spies and assassins. Politicians attempting manipulation and bribery. People always asking for favors and help. Uppity adventurers seeking glory by slaying you.
Mysterious messages promising you power beyond anything your world has ever known.
The messenger arrived one week ago. The bald man dressed in regal robes delivered a spoken request for your presence at a castle you've never heard of.
"My lord, my masters humbly request your presence at an event to be held in your honor. In the Spire in the Farlands, at this very hour, one week hence. My masters will be present to offer you something no mortal in your realm has ever known. This thing will provide the power to shake the foundations of the world, to throw down all who oppose you, and pull the world over the precipice which it has been perched upon for millenia. I will return in one week. If you agree, I will take you to the Spire, and to my masters."
Everything scares me... kitties scare me... squirrels scare me... corpses....corpses bring forth a pletora of confusing feeling which i prefer not to dwell on...:p
Anyone want to see what got cooked up for my other campaign? Go take a peek at the NPC I created to be the main villian in Yukora's other game. It's in the Campaign Notes section. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside when I make unstoppable villians.
Guess you'll have to wait and see, Halinn/Beardy McAxebeard
Everything scares me... kitties scare me... squirrels scare me... corpses....corpses bring forth a pletora of confusing feeling which i prefer not to dwell on...:p
Also, I've decided to add in a new house rule to the game. It might affect some spells and class abilities, but not to the point where they're radically different.
Basically this:
No alignments.
Spells and abilities that are alignment-based will work like this: If the character or NPC is currently acting in an aligned way or is on a quest with obvious good/evil law/chaos themes (Doing a good deed, killing civilians, rallying against the government, staying out of an argument, arresting an outlaw, etc), spells and abilities that affect those alignments will work.
So, for example, if you encounter a known bad guy, but he's not doing anything but riding a horse down a street and isn't on some kind of evil-related mission, spells like Protection Against Evil or Smite Evil won't work. Similarly, a Detect Evil spell won't reveal alignment unless the subject is actively being evil.
Alignment-related items will work a little differently. They don't care what you are currently doing, but they gage your past actions. If you've constantly been a bastard who kills innocents or slaughters prisoners without trial, your evil-aligned items will work normally, while your good aligned-items will impose their standard penalties.
I think this adds depth to the game, because the world isn't nearly as black-and-white as it normally is. Shades of grey add more RPing potential and emotional investment.
Everything scares me... kitties scare me... squirrels scare me... corpses....corpses bring forth a pletora of confusing feeling which i prefer not to dwell on...:p
Don't worry, the nature of the campaign basically means you're guaranteed to face down lots of evil stuff. I wouldn't just throw this in without having considered any goodsauce characters.
Paladins, as long as they still act within their code and act good, don't lose abilities or anything.
There is also nature vs. nurture. You're not gonna meet any demons or chromatic dragons or devils who aren't doing something evil. It's just their nature to have schemes or plots going, and those count as quests in my book.
Besides, it actually gives you more opportunity to use your abilities. Using normal alignment rules, you couldn't smite a good or neutral character, even if he was in the middle of doing something bad for whatever reason. Now you can deal goodsauce justice to anyone who is doing something wrong. Basically, you trade consistency for flexibility.
Everything scares me... kitties scare me... squirrels scare me... corpses....corpses bring forth a pletora of confusing feeling which i prefer not to dwell on...:p
Just use Detect Evil first! It's a free action, so feel free to spam it all you want.
If someone is doing something they aren't supposed to do, it'll let you know, and you can smite the hell out of them (literally).
EDIT: Just remember that not everything that your character might personally consider evil will show up. Attacking the party, for example, is not an automatically evil action. It would depend on the motivation of the creature involved.
And it won't tell you the kind of evil involved either. A mayor and a random civilian might both show up as evil. What you don't know is which one is stealing money from the locals and which is the serial killer hunting his next victim. And randomly accusing or accosting them could get you in serious trouble. Basically: Don't be Lawful Stupid. Use your brain when you detect evil, instead of just whipping out your sword and unleashing holy beatdowns on any evil you detect.
Everything scares me... kitties scare me... squirrels scare me... corpses....corpses bring forth a pletora of confusing feeling which i prefer not to dwell on...:p
I think what he is trying to depict is a more "Real to Life" view of the moral compass of a character.
As far as a Paladin is concerned, while he may not technically be lawful good anymore, he still has to follow a specific code of conduct that defines his behavior as rigidly as if he were still lawful good.
On the other hand, a Red Dragon while technically not chaotic evil, will typically have been raised and fostered by forces and environments that will lend it towards performing evil acts.
I would actually be interested in the philosophical questions of nature versus nurture in such a campaign. I mean would it be possible to have a Chromatic Dragon who has vowed never to take the life of an innocent but who still manipulates those around it like puppets? Or a Metallic Dragon who will ruthlessly slaughter anyone it perceives as doing something "Evil" regardless of whether that person is guilty of any actual crime.
Moral questions such as these would be something very interesting to examine in a campaign such as this in my opinion.
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"As the size of an explosion increases, the number of social situations it is incapable of solving approaches zero." -- Varsuvius, Order of the Stick
How so? Mechanics-wise, you're losing detect evil in most situations, RP-wise you will still have to be good to be a paladin, but that didn't change.
Not really. It actually gives you less of a "Find evil and kill it" feel and more of an anti-evil lie detector.
For example, if a vampire offered to team up with you to fight monster X, you could detect evil on him. If he was planning from the start to betray you or use the monster's death for some evil benefit, he'd show up as evil and you'd have some kind of forewarning. If he was on the level about it, he wouldn't show up as evil and you'd know you weren't going to be betrayed.
Using normal rules, you'd automatically detect he was evil, even if he was genuine in his desire to team up, and you'd probably just kill him instead of working together for mutual benefit.
I think what he is trying to depict is a more "Real to Life" view of the moral compass of a character.
As far as a Paladin is concerned, while he may not technically be lawful good anymore, he still has to follow a specific code of conduct that defines his behavior as rigidly as if he were still lawful good.
On the other hand, a Red Dragon while technically not chaotic evil, will typically have been raised and fostered by forces and environments that will lend it towards performing evil acts.
I would actually be interested in the philosophical questions of nature versus nurture in such a campaign. I mean would it be possible to have a Chromatic Dragon who has vowed never to take the life of an innocent but who still manipulates those around it like puppets? Or a Metallic Dragon who will ruthlessly slaughter anyone it perceives as doing something "Evil" regardless of whether that person is guilty of any actual crime.
Moral questions such as these would be something very interesting to examine in a campaign such as this in my opinion.
^^^Pretty much this.
Moral grey areas are more interesting than "There's evil, let's smash it".
If a generally good NPC was sacrificing civilians to a deity to prevent a planar gate from opening to the Abyss, the act would still count as evil. Then the party would have to decide if he should be punished for doing what he percieved as right.
Is his sacrifice of ten women justified if he saved thousands? Does he still deserve punishment if he single-handedly averted the end of the world by preventing Asmodeus from rising, at the cost of the lives of hundreds of innocent lives? He's done serious evil, and the taint of it would still linger. If good items no longer work for him because of those actions, does that automatically mean he should be considered evil?
Everything scares me... kitties scare me... squirrels scare me... corpses....corpses bring forth a pletora of confusing feeling which i prefer not to dwell on...:p
For example, if a vampire offered to team up with you to fight monster X, you could detect evil on him. If he was planning from the start to betray you or use the monster's death for some evil benefit, he'd show up as evil and you'd have some kind of forewarning. If he was on the level about it, he wouldn't show up as evil and you'd know you weren't going to be betrayed.
Using normal rules, you'd automatically detect he was evil, even if he was genuine in his desire to team up, and you'd probably just kill him instead of working together for mutual benefit.
Actually, being undead, I think that he might still show under detect evil. Even good undead do, because they are powered by negative energy. Which, of course, is for no apparent reason, evil.
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The Sage is occupied with the unspoken
and acts without effort.
Teaching without verbosity,
producing without possessing,
creating without regard to result,
claiming nothing,
the Sage has nothing to lose.
This brings up an interesting question. Who defines what is good in this system? In standard D&D, alignment seems to be based around lawful good, with the paladin code the specific example. Evil is then doing the counterpart to the actions thusly defined as good, and chaotic is saying that the ends justify the means. This works to form a system of absolute morality, which says that the paladin code is lawful good, achieving a result that the paladin code finds a good one, through means not allowed by it is neutral or chaotic good, and achieving results that the code finds non-good are, well, not good.
Who defines in this system what is good and evil? Keeping the alignment system while adding a layer of fuzziness on what is the baseline seems to result in an even more arbitrary system.
That's kind of the point. Fuzziness is what I was aiming for. You don't know if what one culture considers "evil" is considered that in another.
But for the purposes of the game evil actions you'd expect the normal system to use (murder, rape, torture, enslavement, betrayal, etc) are considered evil for those purposes. There are several grey areas, of course. But again, that's kind of the point.
Even if a culture doesn't believe them to be, they count as evil actions. Same goes for good, neutrality, chaos, and law. Basically, any D&D action that could be equated with an alignment is still related. But creatures or NPCs or PCs, just because they commit such acts, aren't automatically pigeonholed into being that alignment. They're just people. People do good, evil, lawful things, and act chaotically. They don't always act one way all the time. That's what I'm aiming for.
Actually, being undead, I think that he might still show under detect evil. Even good undead do, because they are powered by negative energy. Which, of course, is for no apparent reason, evil.
I've never really considered negative energy evil. Just a counterpart to positive energy. Like day and night. Neither of them is evil, but one of them is more scary than the other if you're lost in a forest. In any of my campaigns if there was a good undead, it would show up as good.
Everything scares me... kitties scare me... squirrels scare me... corpses....corpses bring forth a pletora of confusing feeling which i prefer not to dwell on...:p
I think that interposing present-day morality on a pseudo-medieval setting is not necessarily beneficial. Particularly in two of your mentioned cases, torture and enslavement. Even ignoring the vague wording (putting a criminal in prison is evil?), slavery was common in the real world until not that long ago. It was only as recently as 1981 that the last country outlawed the practice.
Just because it was legal and/or common doesn't mean it's right. Slavery is an evil action in the game, even if it's legal. Like I said, even though a society might consider something lawful, it doesn't mean it isn't evil or good.
Prison isn't enslavement, it's imprisonment. Enslavement is forcing another creature to do your will without its consent (slavery). Prison is preventing a criminal from committing crimes for a certain duration (restraint) and teaching him a lesson (punishment).
Torture I do not believe to be inherently evil either, and I think that intentions or whether or not the torturer was merely following orders have to be taken into consideration in this case.
While torture may or may not be justified, the act of torture is considered evil no matter who does it for what reasons.
But we're talking serious torture, with physical maiming, permanent damage, or pointy objects. Just punching a guy in the face for information or threatening him isn't really considered torture. Beating him mercilessly or slicing off fingers until he talks is. Again, grey areas are where I'm treading in this game.
As for murder, when do you take that definition upon you? You mentioned that they are evil, even if culturally appropriate, and as such, would a lawful execution, a casualty of war or the ritual sacrifice of a willing follower be evil?
In order of scenario posed:
1) Technically yes (but it's a grey area)
2) No
3) And no
No matter if it's lawful or not, the act of killing a helpless humanoid not in self-defense and against that creature's will (the game world doesn't really give a damn about monsters, but that's another issue entirely) is evil. So yes, execution is considered an evil action, but a lawful action that wouldn't be punished because it's accepted.
War is different, because those soldiers are willing to fight. Two willing combatants doing battle to the death knowing the risks is not evil, nor is it good. It's a neutral action, and may be lawful or chaotic depending on the culture. It also may be punishable by imprisonment if the culture has outlawed duels, but being for or against the law isn't a gauge of good or evil.
A willing follower letting another take his life as a sacrifice is more akin to suicide than murder. He knew what was coming and agreed to it.
I think you're confusing Law/Chaos with Good/Evil. An evil action may be Lawful or Chaotic, but it doesn't mean it's not evil. Similarly, a good action may be good or chaotic, but that doesn't mean it's not a good action.
(Please note that these are not my personal beliefs that I'm imposing on this game. These are purely for the purpose of the game world.)
Everything scares me... kitties scare me... squirrels scare me... corpses....corpses bring forth a pletora of confusing feeling which i prefer not to dwell on...:p
Any non-humanoid standard race, plus any races specifically designed to be PCs from some 3.5 materials (Basically, anything from "Races of" books excluding all those annoying sub-races from Races of Faerun).
Others that can be PCs but aren't, such as Minotaurs or Liches or Scorpionfolk or Catfolk etc., are treated with overt suspicion and mistrust at least, outright slavery and genocide at the most.
Anything else is pretty much slaughtered on sight, no matter if it's sentient or mindless. Animals aren't considered monsters, even the really mean ones like dire animals. And bears.
Halfbreeds generally distrusted but grudgingly accepted if they're useful to the community.
Everything scares me... kitties scare me... squirrels scare me... corpses....corpses bring forth a pletora of confusing feeling which i prefer not to dwell on...:p
As monsters, mostly. Exceptions exist, as they do with just about everything, but basically it boils down to pure racism. People of the world, as a general rule, hate monsters and want them away from the "civilized" world.
But there are several ways to get around the hatred.
If the creature has been known to do good deed or has benefitted the town in an impressive way, it might be tolerated, respected, or even welcomed into the community depending on the scope of the deed.
If someone (usually a sufficiently respected Cleric or Paladin, but it can be any character who is viewed positively by a community) vouches for them, they're accepted but not really trusted.
Everything scares me... kitties scare me... squirrels scare me... corpses....corpses bring forth a pletora of confusing feeling which i prefer not to dwell on...:p
out of curiousity, how does this new ruling affect a Paladin's association restrictions (the whole thing about Paladins being able to freely associate with Good, and Neutral Characters, but unable to knowingly associate with evil characters)?
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"As the size of an explosion increases, the number of social situations it is incapable of solving approaches zero." -- Varsuvius, Order of the Stick
It's basically the same. If someone is toting around an obviously evil item, you can assume they've done enough in their past to be considered "evil". If someone does an evil act in your presence, you're probably gonna get pissed. However, if the character has many past good actions, you could conceivably forgive them.
Heck, let's create a new spell to specifically detect the past actions of a creature.
Detect Past
Divination
Level: Brd 4, Clr 4, Knowledge 4, Pal 4
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 full-round action
Range: Close (25 ft. +5 ft/2 levels)
Targets: One creature
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: No
You determine which of the following actions the targeted creature has performed most of in its life: Lawful, Neutral, or Chaotic; and Good, Neutral, and Evil. You recieve an answer based on both the Law-Chaos axis and the Good-Evil axis.
You know which he has done most of, but you don't recieve any information about the nature of those actions nor the amount, just where the majority of its actions fall on the good-evil and law-chaos axis.
If the target passes its save, you recieve no information.
Everything scares me... kitties scare me... squirrels scare me... corpses....corpses bring forth a pletora of confusing feeling which i prefer not to dwell on...:p
I am sorry but I might have to drop out of this, for various reasons. Mostly because I don't feel like I can make the character fit within the world that well, without re-imagining him fairly hard. That, and I'm fairly certain the current version of him is fairly overpowered compared to some of the other characters and I can't be arsed/don't have time to re-make him from scratch.
So yeah, I'm stepping out here. I hope this isn't going to be an issue since you were looking for two players originally, and you've still got three left.
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The Sage is occupied with the unspoken
and acts without effort.
Teaching without verbosity,
producing without possessing,
creating without regard to result,
claiming nothing,
the Sage has nothing to lose.
Alright, folks. This is the official one-week deadline warning. This game will be starting next tuesday. If your character isn't completed by then, we'll start without you.
Please make sure you include the following:
-A bio. Your character is one of the most powerful beings in the game world. They have done at least three things to make them famous and rich. So please include a quick summary of your characters' upbringings, influences, and three previous quests they've been a part of.
-Friends and Family. Your character has them. They haven't been living alone their whole life. They've met people, adventured with other characters, might still have living family. Please include at least three allies your character has.
-Enemies and Rivals. In the same vein, your character has pissed off some people in his or her life. Doesn't have to be people who want to kill them. Maybe they got on the wrong side of a local baron while questing. Maybe they killed the evil father of a child who is now seeking revenge. Please include at least three enemies or rivals.
Characters without those things will also be left behind when the game starts.
*Glances at Halinn
Sorry for the delay on this. I'm still very interested in running it, because this story is one I've been working on for several months. Hopefully you guys are still as interested as I am.
Everything scares me... kitties scare me... squirrels scare me... corpses....corpses bring forth a pletora of confusing feeling which i prefer not to dwell on...:p
I am kind of at a loss as far as the enemies goes because I don't really know what kinds of people, or background the cultures in the game happen to have. Nor do I want to god mod any characters / NPC's in the campaign.
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"As the size of an explosion increases, the number of social situations it is incapable of solving approaches zero." -- Varsuvius, Order of the Stick
Feel free to invent something, if you want. The game world is pretty huge, so there are a couple hundred different cultures and/or kingdoms. You can just make stuff up and I'll incorporate it in there at some point.
And please feel free to invent a few NPCs for your enemies/allies lists. Just give them names and explain how your character knows them, and I'll create them if necessary.
Everything scares me... kitties scare me... squirrels scare me... corpses....corpses bring forth a pletora of confusing feeling which i prefer not to dwell on...:p
Everything scares me... kitties scare me... squirrels scare me... corpses....corpses bring forth a pletora of confusing feeling which i prefer not to dwell on...:p
Originally Posted by kingcobweb
I don't understand the purpose of gimmick accounts.
-Harkius
edit: crap wrong account sorry
"I went to the park and saw this kid flying a kite. The kid was really excited. I don't know why, that's what they're supposed to do. Now if he had had a chair on the other end of that string, I would have been impressed." - Mitch Hedberg
Originally Posted by kingcobweb
I don't understand the purpose of gimmick accounts.
-Harkius
edit: crap wrong account sorry
"I went to the park and saw this kid flying a kite. The kid was really excited. I don't know why, that's what they're supposed to do. Now if he had had a chair on the other end of that string, I would have been impressed." - Mitch Hedberg
Being the most powerful figures in the world certainly has its benefits. Gold, influence, connections, respect, and knowledge are just a few of the many perks of being mighty. When you move with purpose, cities crumble. High dragons fall. Evil vanishes. And treasure piles up.
But, it isn't always easy. Celebrity and might means enemies. Spies and assassins. Politicians attempting manipulation and bribery. People always asking for favors and help. Uppity adventurers seeking glory by slaying you.
Mysterious messages promising you power beyond anything your world has ever known.
The messenger arrived one week ago. The bald man dressed in regal robes delivered a spoken request for your presence at a castle you've never heard of.
{Magic: The RPG}
Anyone want to see what got cooked up for my other campaign? Go take a peek at the NPC I created to be the main villian in Yukora's other game. It's in the Campaign Notes section. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside when I make unstoppable villians.
Guess you'll have to wait and see, Halinn/Beardy McAxebeard
{Magic: The RPG}
Also, I've decided to add in a new house rule to the game. It might affect some spells and class abilities, but not to the point where they're radically different.
Basically this:
No alignments.
Spells and abilities that are alignment-based will work like this: If the character or NPC is currently acting in an aligned way or is on a quest with obvious good/evil law/chaos themes (Doing a good deed, killing civilians, rallying against the government, staying out of an argument, arresting an outlaw, etc), spells and abilities that affect those alignments will work.
So, for example, if you encounter a known bad guy, but he's not doing anything but riding a horse down a street and isn't on some kind of evil-related mission, spells like Protection Against Evil or Smite Evil won't work. Similarly, a Detect Evil spell won't reveal alignment unless the subject is actively being evil.
Alignment-related items will work a little differently. They don't care what you are currently doing, but they gage your past actions. If you've constantly been a bastard who kills innocents or slaughters prisoners without trial, your evil-aligned items will work normally, while your good aligned-items will impose their standard penalties.
I think this adds depth to the game, because the world isn't nearly as black-and-white as it normally is. Shades of grey add more RPing potential and emotional investment.
{Magic: The RPG}
Paladins, as long as they still act within their code and act good, don't lose abilities or anything.
There is also nature vs. nurture. You're not gonna meet any demons or chromatic dragons or devils who aren't doing something evil. It's just their nature to have schemes or plots going, and those count as quests in my book.
Besides, it actually gives you more opportunity to use your abilities. Using normal alignment rules, you couldn't smite a good or neutral character, even if he was in the middle of doing something bad for whatever reason. Now you can deal goodsauce justice to anyone who is doing something wrong. Basically, you trade consistency for flexibility.
{Magic: The RPG}
If someone is doing something they aren't supposed to do, it'll let you know, and you can smite the hell out of them (literally).
EDIT: Just remember that not everything that your character might personally consider evil will show up. Attacking the party, for example, is not an automatically evil action. It would depend on the motivation of the creature involved.
And it won't tell you the kind of evil involved either. A mayor and a random civilian might both show up as evil. What you don't know is which one is stealing money from the locals and which is the serial killer hunting his next victim. And randomly accusing or accosting them could get you in serious trouble. Basically: Don't be Lawful Stupid. Use your brain when you detect evil, instead of just whipping out your sword and unleashing holy beatdowns on any evil you detect.
{Magic: The RPG}
As far as a Paladin is concerned, while he may not technically be lawful good anymore, he still has to follow a specific code of conduct that defines his behavior as rigidly as if he were still lawful good.
On the other hand, a Red Dragon while technically not chaotic evil, will typically have been raised and fostered by forces and environments that will lend it towards performing evil acts.
I would actually be interested in the philosophical questions of nature versus nurture in such a campaign. I mean would it be possible to have a Chromatic Dragon who has vowed never to take the life of an innocent but who still manipulates those around it like puppets? Or a Metallic Dragon who will ruthlessly slaughter anyone it perceives as doing something "Evil" regardless of whether that person is guilty of any actual crime.
Moral questions such as these would be something very interesting to examine in a campaign such as this in my opinion.
Not really. It actually gives you less of a "Find evil and kill it" feel and more of an anti-evil lie detector.
For example, if a vampire offered to team up with you to fight monster X, you could detect evil on him. If he was planning from the start to betray you or use the monster's death for some evil benefit, he'd show up as evil and you'd have some kind of forewarning. If he was on the level about it, he wouldn't show up as evil and you'd know you weren't going to be betrayed.
Using normal rules, you'd automatically detect he was evil, even if he was genuine in his desire to team up, and you'd probably just kill him instead of working together for mutual benefit.
^^^Pretty much this.
Moral grey areas are more interesting than "There's evil, let's smash it".
If a generally good NPC was sacrificing civilians to a deity to prevent a planar gate from opening to the Abyss, the act would still count as evil. Then the party would have to decide if he should be punished for doing what he percieved as right.
Is his sacrifice of ten women justified if he saved thousands? Does he still deserve punishment if he single-handedly averted the end of the world by preventing Asmodeus from rising, at the cost of the lives of hundreds of innocent lives? He's done serious evil, and the taint of it would still linger. If good items no longer work for him because of those actions, does that automatically mean he should be considered evil?
{Magic: The RPG}
Actually, being undead, I think that he might still show under detect evil. Even good undead do, because they are powered by negative energy. Which, of course, is for no apparent reason, evil.
and acts without effort.
Teaching without verbosity,
producing without possessing,
creating without regard to result,
claiming nothing,
the Sage has nothing to lose.
That's kind of the point. Fuzziness is what I was aiming for. You don't know if what one culture considers "evil" is considered that in another.
But for the purposes of the game evil actions you'd expect the normal system to use (murder, rape, torture, enslavement, betrayal, etc) are considered evil for those purposes. There are several grey areas, of course. But again, that's kind of the point.
Even if a culture doesn't believe them to be, they count as evil actions. Same goes for good, neutrality, chaos, and law. Basically, any D&D action that could be equated with an alignment is still related. But creatures or NPCs or PCs, just because they commit such acts, aren't automatically pigeonholed into being that alignment. They're just people. People do good, evil, lawful things, and act chaotically. They don't always act one way all the time. That's what I'm aiming for.
I've never really considered negative energy evil. Just a counterpart to positive energy. Like day and night. Neither of them is evil, but one of them is more scary than the other if you're lost in a forest. In any of my campaigns if there was a good undead, it would show up as good.
{Magic: The RPG}
Just because it was legal and/or common doesn't mean it's right. Slavery is an evil action in the game, even if it's legal. Like I said, even though a society might consider something lawful, it doesn't mean it isn't evil or good.
Prison isn't enslavement, it's imprisonment. Enslavement is forcing another creature to do your will without its consent (slavery). Prison is preventing a criminal from committing crimes for a certain duration (restraint) and teaching him a lesson (punishment).
While torture may or may not be justified, the act of torture is considered evil no matter who does it for what reasons.
But we're talking serious torture, with physical maiming, permanent damage, or pointy objects. Just punching a guy in the face for information or threatening him isn't really considered torture. Beating him mercilessly or slicing off fingers until he talks is. Again, grey areas are where I'm treading in this game.
In order of scenario posed:
1) Technically yes (but it's a grey area)
2) No
3) And no
No matter if it's lawful or not, the act of killing a helpless humanoid not in self-defense and against that creature's will (the game world doesn't really give a damn about monsters, but that's another issue entirely) is evil. So yes, execution is considered an evil action, but a lawful action that wouldn't be punished because it's accepted.
War is different, because those soldiers are willing to fight. Two willing combatants doing battle to the death knowing the risks is not evil, nor is it good. It's a neutral action, and may be lawful or chaotic depending on the culture. It also may be punishable by imprisonment if the culture has outlawed duels, but being for or against the law isn't a gauge of good or evil.
A willing follower letting another take his life as a sacrifice is more akin to suicide than murder. He knew what was coming and agreed to it.
I think you're confusing Law/Chaos with Good/Evil. An evil action may be Lawful or Chaotic, but it doesn't mean it's not evil. Similarly, a good action may be good or chaotic, but that doesn't mean it's not a good action.
(Please note that these are not my personal beliefs that I'm imposing on this game. These are purely for the purpose of the game world.)
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Others that can be PCs but aren't, such as Minotaurs or Liches or Scorpionfolk or Catfolk etc., are treated with overt suspicion and mistrust at least, outright slavery and genocide at the most.
Anything else is pretty much slaughtered on sight, no matter if it's sentient or mindless. Animals aren't considered monsters, even the really mean ones like dire animals. And bears.
Halfbreeds generally distrusted but grudgingly accepted if they're useful to the community.
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But there are several ways to get around the hatred.
If the creature has been known to do good deed or has benefitted the town in an impressive way, it might be tolerated, respected, or even welcomed into the community depending on the scope of the deed.
If someone (usually a sufficiently respected Cleric or Paladin, but it can be any character who is viewed positively by a community) vouches for them, they're accepted but not really trusted.
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Heck, let's create a new spell to specifically detect the past actions of a creature.
Detect Past
Divination
Level: Brd 4, Clr 4, Knowledge 4, Pal 4
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 full-round action
Range: Close (25 ft. +5 ft/2 levels)
Targets: One creature
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: No
You determine which of the following actions the targeted creature has performed most of in its life: Lawful, Neutral, or Chaotic; and Good, Neutral, and Evil. You recieve an answer based on both the Law-Chaos axis and the Good-Evil axis.
You know which he has done most of, but you don't recieve any information about the nature of those actions nor the amount, just where the majority of its actions fall on the good-evil and law-chaos axis.
If the target passes its save, you recieve no information.
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So yeah, I'm stepping out here. I hope this isn't going to be an issue since you were looking for two players originally, and you've still got three left.
and acts without effort.
Teaching without verbosity,
producing without possessing,
creating without regard to result,
claiming nothing,
the Sage has nothing to lose.
Please make sure you include the following:
-A bio. Your character is one of the most powerful beings in the game world. They have done at least three things to make them famous and rich. So please include a quick summary of your characters' upbringings, influences, and three previous quests they've been a part of.
-Friends and Family. Your character has them. They haven't been living alone their whole life. They've met people, adventured with other characters, might still have living family. Please include at least three allies your character has.
-Enemies and Rivals. In the same vein, your character has pissed off some people in his or her life. Doesn't have to be people who want to kill them. Maybe they got on the wrong side of a local baron while questing. Maybe they killed the evil father of a child who is now seeking revenge. Please include at least three enemies or rivals.
Characters without those things will also be left behind when the game starts.
*Glances at Halinn
Sorry for the delay on this. I'm still very interested in running it, because this story is one I've been working on for several months. Hopefully you guys are still as interested as I am.
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And please feel free to invent a few NPCs for your enemies/allies lists. Just give them names and explain how your character knows them, and I'll create them if necessary.
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