Dungeons and Dragons--a strange progression
It's funny because in the beginning, there was room 14 and there were 8 goblins in it, and you killed them. Why? Because they were evil. Why were they there? Who knows. But that's the point. They were evil. They represented the lowest echelon of a cosmic force of badness that needed to be stopped because...well...because it was evil.
Since that time, Dungeons and Dragons has done a lot of work attempting to explain why there are 8 goblins in room 14. They've given the goblins motivations, and in giving them motivations, they've described the evil, and now you know why you're killing goblins.
The problem is that these motivations are inherently based around human stuff. Goblins have cities, they have armies, there are goblin merchants and goblin farmers, and so now, the main reason that you're killing goblins in room 14 isn't because they're there but because they're in your turf. There evil is directly related to their being at cross purposes with you.
To make matters worse, the creatures that you don't kill because they're good guys have become swelled, due to the influence of anime, mangan, and steam punk, with creatures that I'm not so sure about. So, now, you kill the 8 goblins in room 14, but not the 8 half-demons. See the problem? The designation of evil seems to be arbitrary and based off of turf.
I mean, when Vampires and Beholders have cities where they keep law and order, then what the hell does it even mean to be evil? And here's what's disturbing me. Evil seems to be a designation of race rather than attitude. Moreover, it seems to be attached to nationalism. The goblin kingdom is bad, so goblins are bad. Which looks to me a lot like racism and war mongering.
I suppose my big problem is that I don't want to kill people because of their race even in my fantasies, even when they're disguised as Orcs or when Afghanistan is called the Pomarj. In essence, I liked it better when the goblins didn't have cities and were the lower echelons of a cosmic force and hung out in room 14 for no good reason for all of eternity waiting for the players to show up and defeat them. I want magic to be mysterious and to not resemble trendy technology--a magic bard-in-a-box is an Ipod, people.
But I think something larger is being said here. Dungeons and Dragons, in its attempt to pit good against evil, has found that, even in fantasy land, it has no stable definition for evil. Talk about failing at the extremes. D and D has demons and devils you can meet and defeat. Surely here, evil should be recognizable as a thing, but no, the desire to rationalize evil has, as it always done, created an ethical system where descriptions of morality are actually impossible. I have no idea why the goblins in room 14 deserve to die. What if they're like the goblins that sell swords in the city down the road? What if the goblins are like Bob the half-dragon over there. I mean, he's part f'ing dragon and he's okay. So, they're raiding the dungeon for treasure, so are we.
Since that time, Dungeons and Dragons has done a lot of work attempting to explain why there are 8 goblins in room 14. They've given the goblins motivations, and in giving them motivations, they've described the evil, and now you know why you're killing goblins.
The problem is that these motivations are inherently based around human stuff. Goblins have cities, they have armies, there are goblin merchants and goblin farmers, and so now, the main reason that you're killing goblins in room 14 isn't because they're there but because they're in your turf. There evil is directly related to their being at cross purposes with you.
To make matters worse, the creatures that you don't kill because they're good guys have become swelled, due to the influence of anime, mangan, and steam punk, with creatures that I'm not so sure about. So, now, you kill the 8 goblins in room 14, but not the 8 half-demons. See the problem? The designation of evil seems to be arbitrary and based off of turf.
I mean, when Vampires and Beholders have cities where they keep law and order, then what the hell does it even mean to be evil? And here's what's disturbing me. Evil seems to be a designation of race rather than attitude. Moreover, it seems to be attached to nationalism. The goblin kingdom is bad, so goblins are bad. Which looks to me a lot like racism and war mongering.
I suppose my big problem is that I don't want to kill people because of their race even in my fantasies, even when they're disguised as Orcs or when Afghanistan is called the Pomarj. In essence, I liked it better when the goblins didn't have cities and were the lower echelons of a cosmic force and hung out in room 14 for no good reason for all of eternity waiting for the players to show up and defeat them. I want magic to be mysterious and to not resemble trendy technology--a magic bard-in-a-box is an Ipod, people.
But I think something larger is being said here. Dungeons and Dragons, in its attempt to pit good against evil, has found that, even in fantasy land, it has no stable definition for evil. Talk about failing at the extremes. D and D has demons and devils you can meet and defeat. Surely here, evil should be recognizable as a thing, but no, the desire to rationalize evil has, as it always done, created an ethical system where descriptions of morality are actually impossible. I have no idea why the goblins in room 14 deserve to die. What if they're like the goblins that sell swords in the city down the road? What if the goblins are like Bob the half-dragon over there. I mean, he's part f'ing dragon and he's okay. So, they're raiding the dungeon for treasure, so are we.
posted by Monstro D. Whale at
8:03 AM
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