Author: Levekius (---.sympatico.ca)
Date: 08-29-2001 07:26
. Every orc had a mother. Make that understood, don't let 'evil' races become faceless slaughter victims. In fact, that is one of the troubles with fantasy games, ‘evil’ races. Find motivations for them, goblins don’t just exist to slaughter and be scumbags. They have a reason for what they do, they do what the ‘light’ races see as horrific. Part of horror is horror of motivation (disassociation) make those paladins see the consequences, make those lawful good mages see the results, hell make them all see that killing has a price.
I don't exactly agree with this. IMO, Orcs and other "eeeeevil races" are misused in many campaigns. An *evil race* is not canon fodder, as they are often used. They're not "bad guys". They are EVIL GUYS. (That's if you choose to make them an evil race in your campaign, of course.)
To me, a race of intelligent beings who are BORN evil is *truly* horrifying. And making them faceless CAN be scary. Take "Enemy At The Gates", for instance (or most movies featuring a sniper-bad guy). The TRUE HORROR of Vassili is not being able to see the enemy sniper. The true horror for him is knowing he's up against an almost robotic/perfect sniper, while HE considers HIMSELF only human, flawed, and scared.
Don't even get me started on the Alien movies. The scariest one is definitly the first one, and THAT one features the most "faceless" Alien of all. (And Aliens might not even qualify as truly evil creatures).
In "The 13th Warrior" (I know, not exactly a classic movie), the "bad guys" are truly scary and horrifying UNTIL the heroes get to their "lair", where we finally realize they ARE flawed.
I *rarely* use orcs in my games. And EVERY time heroes hear of orcish presence, they literally sh*t in their pants because they know what they are up against. Orcs will kill, will torture. They will slaughter children slowly. They are AN EVIL RACE, as opposed to humans *doing* evil things. It means they LIKE IT, as opposed to just following orders. They enjoy the whole thing. Their very nature is evil. It permeates their own culture and the way they interact socially between themselves and with other races.
Think about nazis without ANY remorse or doubts.
Although I fully agree that putting faces on enemies CAN be horriying and scary, the opposite can be too. It's just that "evil" has not been used properly by most folks. Think about D&D.
Now, think about alignment-related powers and spells. Think about "protection from evil" for instance. Don't you think in order for such a very clear-cut type of power to work, an opponent would have to be REALLY, REALLY evil?
I do. For a creature to be affected, he must not only do evil things. He must BE evil. That's where the alignment system of D&D can create problems. Most of us do good things and bad things throughout our lives. The alignment system of D&D (which forces every creature to choose an aligment) has diluted what "evil" really means.
Hannibal Lector is evil. Truly evil. The generic bad guy who robs a bank and tries to kill his arc enemy-cop probably isn't.
The exact same reasonment also applies to "Goodness". Only a few people are truly "good" at their very core. People who cannot play a truly benevolent folks or evil at their core beings should stick to neutrality. In a perfect world, only the most consumate people should get a good or evil tag.
Your examples feauturing goblin etc having mothers is an interesting one, but only one side of things. Eating your own mother is evil too. Maybe these creatures cannot love. After all, they are an evil race (again, unless you choose for them not to be such a thing). The way these races are played these days is as lesser intelligent life forms with destructive and conquering attitude. That's not evil. That's bad guys.
An orc clan who would mourn their leader when he is killed is a good way to create inner-conflicts. But the opposite could be a scary experience. What if they don't give a rat's ass? What if they do not know fear? Pity? Isn't that scary?
Just food for thoughts :)
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