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This is an experiment I'm considering, to deal with questions like "are orcs inherently evil, the "orc baby" question, and a way to integrate alignment more closely into everyday life, an
I had an idea a while back, while thinking about the "orc baby" question: this question being, "what should a paladin do with noncombatants of "evil" humanoid races, specifically orc babies?" None of the responses really satisfied me, since humanoids are too human-like to really treat as animals (not to mention that if one can interbread with a humanoid, it should be considered human). The usual solution of making humanoids more alien didn't suit me; not only is it really difficult to make and depict alien mindsets, it closes off a lot of inter-group roleplaying. While thinking that train of thought, it occured to me to go the opposite direction: "Well, what if humanoids, ARE humans, all of them? Or rather, what if they all originate from humans?"
This lead to the idea that the inner nature of a human (read: extreme alignment), if expressed deeply and intensely enough, will cause a person to gradually transform into a humanoid of an appropriate type . So an unnaturally militaristic and wrathful person, if his nature continues long enough, may eventually transform into an orc or hobgoblin; a covetous, sneaky bastard may become a goblin; an extremely fickle, freedom and nature loving person may become an elf. And DON"T ask what sort of nature may result in a person becoming an ogre. If using an alignment system, you could even chart the types of humanoids according to the alignments they typically show: act in accordance to the precepts of a given alignment, and you begin to change away from humanity. Moderation is humanity, and being immoderate enough aligns you with inhuman natures.
Normally this wouldn't give large tribes of humanoids, but if you kidnap a human child, it's much easier to bring them up in a way that they will become a humanoid. Likewise, children of those humanoids have a much larger chance of becoming one of them. But ultimately, they're all human of a sort.
I like this idea, because it has a hell of a lot of story resonance: the ugly woodsman with unnatural habits, who transforms into an ogre; the old woman in the forest who becomes a hag; the girl who loves the woods so much more than people that one day she disappears, and you can only hear her voice singing in the deep forest, every now and then. And of course, the elves who spirit away a child because he looks to be the right type to become an elf.
And how about if people transform inwardly, taking on the traits of a humanoid, long before they become one outwardly? What if they only show their "true nature" if they admit it to others, or are confronted? This can get you into tales of changelings and wondering about that mean old man down the road...
I had an idea a while back, while thinking about the "orc baby" question: this question being, "what should a paladin do with noncombatants of "evil" humanoid races, specifically orc babies?" None of the responses really satisfied me, since humanoids are too human-like to really treat as animals (not to mention that if one can interbread with a humanoid, it should be considered human). The usual solution of making humanoids more alien didn't suit me; not only is it really difficult to make and depict alien mindsets, it closes off a lot of inter-group roleplaying. While thinking that train of thought, it occured to me to go the opposite direction: "Well, what if humanoids, ARE humans, all of them? Or rather, what if they all originate from humans?"
This lead to the idea that the inner nature of a human (read: extreme alignment), if expressed deeply and intensely enough, will cause a person to gradually transform into a humanoid of an appropriate type . So an unnaturally militaristic and wrathful person, if his nature continues long enough, may eventually transform into an orc or hobgoblin; a covetous, sneaky bastard may become a goblin; an extremely fickle, freedom and nature loving person may become an elf. And DON"T ask what sort of nature may result in a person becoming an ogre. If using an alignment system, you could even chart the types of humanoids according to the alignments they typically show: act in accordance to the precepts of a given alignment, and you begin to change away from humanity. Moderation is humanity, and being immoderate enough aligns you with inhuman natures.
Normally this wouldn't give large tribes of humanoids, but if you kidnap a human child, it's much easier to bring them up in a way that they will become a humanoid. Likewise, children of those humanoids have a much larger chance of becoming one of them. But ultimately, they're all human of a sort.
I like this idea, because it has a hell of a lot of story resonance: the ugly woodsman with unnatural habits, who transforms into an ogre; the old woman in the forest who becomes a hag; the girl who loves the woods so much more than people that one day she disappears, and you can only hear her voice singing in the deep forest, every now and then. And of course, the elves who spirit away a child because he looks to be the right type to become an elf.
And how about if people transform inwardly, taking on the traits of a humanoid, long before they become one outwardly? What if they only show their "true nature" if they admit it to others, or are confronted? This can get you into tales of changelings and wondering about that mean old man down the road...