D&D General Is This Evil? D&D Morality.

Zardnaar said:

Also trying to be not to graphic . We want you gone/reduced because reasons.

MCU kinds did it with the Eternals and Thanos for example. Thanos actions slows down the emergence of a new Celestial which is an extinction level event but without the actions of the celestials humans don't exist in the first place.

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I understand what you’re going for, but whether it’s evil or not depends entirely on what ethical framework we’re assuming. What may be considered good under a utilitarian framework may be evil under a deontological one, for example. You’re asking for a judgment without first defining the standards by which you’re asking us to judge the subject.

Again, since these are the D&D forums, I propose we use the alignment system as defined in the 5e rulebooks as our framework, and I posit that under said framework, your hypothetical species is not evil.

Why does it matter?

At the core, (in my humble opinion) the alignments are meant to create opposing factions, not to judge particular behavior. So, it's the relative difference in behavior between factions that is relevant.

As such, the story of the OP creates two factions that have opposing interests and will therefore both consider each other evil. Both sides will have arguments (and propaganda) in which the other side is painted as a direct threat to life as they know it. They both consider their own side as righteous and correct and have a lot of arguments to back it up.

We all consider our lifestyles as "good", because we all agree we are the good guys. History may judge our polluting lifestyles quite differently. We may be the generations that destroyed the earth, and we may be seen as the most evil era in history 4 centuries from now. It's all relevant.

Now, to bring this philosophical post back to D&D: You may want to check in with your players during a session zero (or a pint in the pub) which side they are on. The BBEG only needs to have opposing world views and you have the basis for a campaign. What I am saying is that the players may want to join the tree-hugging insectiods and destroy the blight that is humanity. After that, all you may want to do is adjust the races (make the tree huggers human?) recognizable and the enemy (planet destroying insectoids) something you can destroy lightheartedly.

Yes, I think it's definitely evil for humans to deprive these poor aliens of their food source.

Yaarel said:

There are ethical altruistic ways to agree to how best use a limited resource.

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Not if there is not enough for everyone to survive.

(Rhetorical)
Who decides who doesn't get enough and dies? A lottery? The oldest lose out first?

Survival of the fittest (strongest, most intelligent, whatever metric...) is nature's rule--it is neither evil nor good.

Yaarel said:

Violence against other humans over a limited resource is inherently evil.

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This is a HARD disagree. Please don't respond further about it and thank you.

DND_Reborn said:

Survival of the fittest (strongest, most intelligent, whatever metric...) is nature's rule--it is neither evil nor good.

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Reallife N*zi racists made the above argument precisely: "survival of the fittest (strongest, most intelligent)", etcetera.

Rather, the survival-of-the-fittest ideology is evil.

It is wrong to apply such an argument to fellow humans.

Yaarel said:

Reallife N*zi racists made the above argument precisely: "survival of the fittest (strongest, most intelligent)", etcetera.

Rather, the survival-of-the-fittest ideology is evil.

It is wrong to apply such an argument to fellow humans.

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DND_Reborn said:

Please don't respond further about it and thank you.

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Given that there is no mechanical impact for alignment in D&D currently, what is the purpose of the question? I mean, it is kind of interesting to talk about how prey views the predator or how victims view the plague, but from a D&D game perspective the question seems moot. It's not like the paladin can lose his powers for wiping out the hive anymore.

It is ok to fight back when someone is trying to kill you and yours.


Every movie with robot AI has them trying to kill us and we need to kill it.


Even if they do not want to destroy us, they may realize we need saving.


As far as us tasting like chicken.

If Slaad can reproduce through killing sentient beings and not be evil, then I'm sure you could have a non-evil race that is actively hostile to humans.