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From: ncg@ukc.UUCP (N.C.Gale)
Newsgroups: net.games.frp
Subject: Re: Ruthless Paladins
Message-ID: <5108@ukc.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 7-May-85 06:34:43 EDT
Article-I.D.: ukc.5108
Posted: Tue May  7 06:34:43 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 9-May-85 02:30:02 EDT
References: <222@tektools.UUCP>
Reply-To: ncg@ukc.UUCP (Nigel Gale)
Distribution: net
Organization: Computing Laboratory, U of Kent at Canterbury, UK
Lines: 37


So why are orcs and hobgoblins evil?
I see a number of possibilities:
i)	they are intrinsically evil, and like being evil
ii)	they were brought up from the cradle to be evil
iii)	they are under some sort of pressure to be evil from a greater
power (if the god who takes their souls when they are dead is evil, then
orcs are going to do their best to please him)

For case (i), Paladins should do their utmost to kill as many of the
little B*****ds as he can.
For case (iii), probably the same - unless he can alter their afterlife
prospects.

But for case (ii)...
Then they can undergo alignment changes.
I've picked my brains for parallels in real life, but I can't think of
one example of a hobgoblin changing alignment.
But Atilla the Hun was persuaded not to sack Rome.
And James Brooke, the White Raja of Sarawak, persuaded all the canabalistic
pygmies to fight for him against the swarms of Borneo pirates.

Remember, killing its carriers is not the only way of destroying evil -
they could instead be cured of it.
Especially if we take a Paladin to be a Christian, 'love thine enemy',
and 'turn the other cheek' etc, were all directed at trying to get
nasty people to have alignment changes.

This is the approach I have taken in my campaign.
Now whenever my players meet a goblin, they have to make sure which
tribe he is from before using threatening behaviour
( there is no paladin in the party, so if the goblin is from the wrong
tribe, then they'll cut his throat fast enough).
I call the goblin 'he' and 'his', because female goblins are golddust
for when they are dealling with the friendly tribe.

-Nigel Gale