MadGreenSon wrote:Killer Cyborg wrote:RMB 49
[Emperor Prosek] and his advisors are cruel manipulators and exploiters of the people. They are as evil and demonic as anything that crawled out of a rift.
Howeer, this does not mean that every person who is a member or citizen of the Coalition is just as evil. Most have no idea about the government's indiscretions and lies. The majority believe their propaganda and think of their lives as fruitful, good, and happy. Sure, everybody has their complaints and concerns (especially the poor), but few think of the CS as evil or maniacal.
The Coalition soldier is no different. He or she is just one of the concerned citizens who believes in, and loves, their emperor, life, and country. Being in the army will frequently mean the character is a little more militant, gung-ho, and pro-government than the average citizen, but that doesn't make them evil either. In fact, most of them see themselves as heroes.
And this was expanded on in SB1 17-19:
Generally, the average citizen is of a good or selfish alignment.
And
The majority are well-meaning people who try to eke out fruitful, happy lives without ever hurting anybody.
And
The average soldier is not much different than the average citizen. These men and women are not inherently evil, but often the unwitting tools of the emperor and the government. Their alignments range the full gamut of good, selfish, and evil.
And so on, and so forth.
This is what I mean about the narrative for the Coalition being a bunch of milquetoast backpedaling. This isn't "shades of grey" this is talking out of both sides of the mouth. We see them committing wholesale atrocities,
including actual death camps, most named and stat'ed out Coalition characters are at least evil, if not actual megalomaniacal psychopaths, and we still get this weaksauce flung at us about #NotAllDeadBoys.
Most named Coalition characters are top-level, at least in the early books.
And the thing you should probably understand about death camps is that not everybody involved need be evil; that's one thing that makes them terrifying.
If you would kill anybody for any reason, or participate in killing anybody for any reason, then in the right circumstances you could participate no matter how
good you are, IF the information you received was manipulated enough.
I know I'd certainly commit genocide in certain cases. I fully supported Ripley nuking the only known colony of xenomorphs in Aliens, and if I had the power I'd engage in genocide against the Daleks in Dr. Who.
Just for two exceptions off the top of my head.
I don't think that would make me Evil.
Do you?
The trick comes in when somebody fully believes they're simply exterminating xenomorphs or Daleks, but they've been carefully manipulated into actually exterminating another species that doesn't post as much threat.
That's where one's philosophical approach to "evil" comes in. In many/most philosophies, one need KNOW what one is doing in order to be Evil.
A delusional man who kills his fellow citizens because he honestly believes they're demons, or because he honestly doesn't understand that he's killing people, is typically considered to be insane, not Evil.
And that's the kind of way Palladium's alignment system seems to function; it's about how one sees oneself and one's actions, as it is about the effects, quite probably more.
Most CS citizens don't know what their government is up to. Most CS soldiers don't really know what their government is up to.
All they know is that there are very real threats out there that can mind-control you, possess you, and otherwise take over your mind, body, and soul, if they get the opportunity, and the Coalition military protects them from such threats.
Everything most of them ever see supports the idea that the Coalition is Good, and their enemies are relentless, remorseless EVIL, and they act reasonably
based on those premises.
Is that Evil?
Not by most standards. It's akin to somebody shooting an intruder in self-defense, unaware that the intruder only SEEMED to pose a deadly threat to them, and the actual situation was something else.
Tragic, yes.
But Evil?
No. Not by any standards that would not damn most of the human population of the planet both in modern times and in all history.
Demons and alien intelligences and all that stuff is fine, but it doesn't have the same visceral punch as human evil done by human hands. You can make that hit way harder at the tabletop than trying to be scary while describing another portal full of tentacles, screaming faces, a bunch of demons, or whatever.
To me, it's a lot more visceral and hard-hitting to show that evil deeds need not be committed by evil people, that the misguided goodhearted people can be just as bad in effect, if they're guided by evil men.
And no, most of them wouldn't be serial killers or relishing the misery they inflict, or any of that over the top stuff. They'd just be... doing their jobs. Following orders. Because the real horror of mass human evil like this isn't the shrieking gearboys of Immortan Joe throwing themselves into hideous violence with mad abandon. It's workmanlike men and women doing monstrous things with with little real interest because it's not personal, it's just their job, it's what they're told to do. They go about it with the same bland efficiency as an accountant doing taxes. Evil on this scale is very banal on the individual level.
When among themselves they wouldn't come off as particularly evil either. They'd have families, go to bars, all that normal stuff. Atrocities aren't their mission in life, it's just their job. Their entire society is set up to portray anyone outside it as not even a person. You don't need to be a serial killer to wipe out dangerous animals, after all.
Now look at the Palladium alignment system.
IF a man:
-always keeps his word
-avoids lies
-never kills or attacks what they perceive as an unarmed foe
-never harms anybody that they believe is innocent
-never tortures for any reason
-Never kills for pleasure
-Always helps other people (as they understand the term "people" to apply)
-Works well in a group
-Respects authority, law, self-discipline, and honor
-Never betrays a friend
-Never breaks the law unless conditions are desperate
What Evil alignment does that fit?