Post originally by Darrin O'Connor at 2004-01-13 23:25:43
Converted from Phorums BB System

My opinion: The Book of Vile Darkness isn't condemning BDSM or real-world alternative sexual lifestyles. It's just a game blah blah overblown fantasy blah blah the bad guys have to be evil blah blah readers should already know what makes certain things evil blah blah.

But to draw a distinction between 'Evil sexual deviancy' and 'contemporary alternative sex practices' is pretty simple. In the real world consenting adults tie each other up and do weird things in a protective environment with a whole bunch of safe words and measures to ensure nothing gets out of hand... whereas the evil stuff mentioned in the Book of Vile Darkness involves none of that, just abuse. So if your 5th Level Elf likes to get kinky in a humane way don't despair that WotC has deemed your PC 'Vile'. Not all Sadism is BDSM-Kosher.

Cannibalism, like drugs, is a dangerous act. There are many deadly diseases that are only transmitted this way (like Mad Cow or the human equivalent, Cruesfeld(?)-Jakob Disease). Cannibalism also breaks down the food chain which can lead to ecological damage. While murder by itself is wrong Cannibalism adds an extra dash of ickyness to an already-wrong act and thus it goes in the 'Evil' pile.

And sex with dead things is Evil. I don't need a whole chapter to tell me that. Nor does it need to tell me why. If I couldn't do it at gunpoint it's gotta be wrong.

As a final note, it's been my experience that RPGs that invest heavily in examining the reasoning behind the villains' actions invariably lose focus on the point of why they are villains. WoD is the perfect example where every single opposition group (the Sabbat, the Wyrm, the Technocracy) is analyzed to the point where their positions are justified and the supplements begin to work counter to the themes of the core game itself. Yes, it's great to have shades of grey but too much makes the image murky; sometimes it's best to remind the Players that the bad guys are bad 'just because'.

'Coming Soon to the Lord of the Rings RPG -- Mordor: the Apocalypse. Rage against the coming of the light!'