It is half past five in the AM and my headache and back are still making it impossible to sleep. So let’s talk about one of the many subjects on my mind.

Let’s talk about evil for a minute.

If this thread abruptly stops it’s because I’ve fallen asleep, which is good.

This isn’t about D&D. I mean, sure, it can be, and I guess I’m gonna talk about alignment because you have to, apparently? But it’s bigger than that, it’s not even something id call “agnostic”, it’s just “generally applicable”.

Right, credentials. How do I know what I’m talking about. Seminary until I couldn’t stomach the discordant theology, years of studying ethics, massive crises of faith which led to desperately interrogating who knows how many options. And I read. A lot. Sorry if that’s not enough.

Oh, yeah, and I’ve been in the line of fire of a whole bunch of evil, and I’m certain I’ve delivered some as well, because I’m still identifying dead angles and theres bound to be harm aplenty. But I’m rambling off topic. Back on track.

So, evil. First off, let’s get something important out of the way.

If you’re using the wretched relic that is the D&D alignment system, do yourself one favor and remember that it’s DESCRIPTIVE, not PRESCRIPTIVE. It reflects how one acts and believes, it does not dictate.

So. Evil.

Obviously there are magnitudes of evil. Some things are “more evil” than others, we just feel it. Which things? Philosophers and ethicists have debated that for literal millennia. I can’t fit it into a tweet. It’s a thrilling ride, I suggest you take it yourself.

There are also three categories of evil, that’s what I want to talk about.

(“Well, actually there are 85, but let’s just focus on the third.” Yes, I know I’m being reductive, you don’t have to point it out unless you’ve got something to add.)

First there’s inherent evil. You know the trope. “Such and such is evil, because it is thus and so”. These things are always, inherent to their being, evil.

If you include people in this category, fuck off into the sun. Thank you.

No being that is
- Sapient
- Capable of altering their circumstances
is inherently evil.

“Evil spirits”, sure.
Ghosts, reflected trauma trapped in endless echoes? Sure.
“Evil” AIs, constrained from altering their programming? Sure.

But they can’t alter their circumstances.

You know what else can be inherently evil, though? Ideologies. Belief frameworks.

I can say with no remorse “the only good nazi is an ex-nazi” because the ideology of genocide is inherently evil. The ideology of oppression is inherently evil.

That neatly brings us to our second category: Deliberate evil.

Ideologies don’t do their own dirty work. A belief system promoting atrocities lacks hands.

Someone has to choose to enact it.

That choice can come from a variety of sources. Maybe it’s hate, envy or greed, those are the “easy” ones, sure.

Maybe it’s insidious, sneaking in and seeming rational, not seeming like a choice at all.

Maybe it’s out of desperation and perceived helplessness.

You know what it’s never from?

Being born.

No one is automatically evil (barring exceptions listed above, if it needs to be said). It’s always a choice.

But what about being raised into evil? Well, you’re in luck, let’s talk about category three.

The third big category of evil is Systemic evil. You could also call this unconscious evil, invisible evil, peer-pressure evil. Maybe even necessary evil. It sure does like to play that card.

When the framework is there to enable evil on a sweeping basis? It feels normal.

These frameworks can be applied in many different ways. Sometimes, they result from an evil ideology being emplaced into law, or broader culture. Sometimes, they stem from other frameworks being subverted by evil actors, even formerly noble frameworks.

Sometimes, a noble or neutral system lapses into evil not because of a single choice or a single actor (or faction), but because of countless small choices, often prioritizing ease and immediate selfish gain over long-term good.

Systemic evil is arguably the most dangerous, in my opinion. It’s what enables people to say “surely I would never do THAT, I could never (insert evil act)” and then, secure in their goodness, sleep soundly while outgroups are beaten and killed in the street.

Systemic evil is the most dangerous, because it infects “good people”. It is undetectable so much of the time, and often only becomes apparent when one suddenly finds themselves part of the outgroup.

Source: hi. It’s me. I was raised evil.

I should stress that my parents weren’t evil. They were doing their best. They were magnificent, loving people.

Or maybe they were evil, because they participated in the borderline-Quiverfull church that I was raised in.

Or maybe they weren’t because they got out.

It gets /complicated/ you see. Because looking back, I can absolutely point to the beliefs I was raised with and rattle off how they are absolutely, definitely, genocidally evil, how predatory they were towards marginalized genders, and worse...

But at the same time, so many truly wonderful people existed in that framework, and some of my strongest ethical beliefs come from seeds planted there.

But also those wonderful people were advocating that the system be followed.

It gets complicated.

But here’s the thing.

Remember that bit about inherent evil, way back up there?

Remember those bits about choice?

A person can choose to stop being evil, too. Leave it behind.

It’s not easy, and it doesn’t erase harm that was done. It takes heavy work. But anyone can do it.

This is part of why the very topic of “evil” gets complicated. This is part of what they don’t tell you, because it’s easier to believe in acceptable targets.

It is the same process to stop being evil as it is to start. It is a choice, then sustained action on that choice.

Absolution and forgiveness are separate topics, for clarity. “I have abandoned my evil ways” is one thing, “I have mended the trauma I caused” is very different.

That won’t fit in tweets. 2500+ years of debate on what absolution looks like.

By the way, this is why category 2, “deliberate evil”, is also the worst. Because these are people who have chosen evil when they could just... not. They could just walk away. They have decided that continuing evil is preferable to facing consequences.

Ok, bringing this back around, wrapping up before I lose focus and my spellcheck slips into incoherence.

“What does any of this diatribe have to do with my games and/or fiction?”

Well firstly, I believe that it’s a subject which is just never really examined. “We all know” what evil is. “We all know” that good fights evil. But when we leave these beliefs unexamined, our dead angles allow toxic assumptions.

Unexamined belief is how I spent my childhood and adolescence simultaneously believing that God is love, and that God condemns all but a handful of souls to eternal suffering, and that God commands us to wipe out and erase “other” peoples. Only one of these is any good, btw.

So if you can’t use the idea of examining closely held and even automatic beliefs to make your games and fiction richer (and ideally, stronger and better and uplifting), here’s one more thing for you, bluntly.

If you buy into the idea that people can be inherently evil,

You paint them as acceptable targets for “good” people,

And you have just deliberately chosen to endorse a greater evil by far, because you are denying them the ability to choose otherwise.

It is now 7 AM and I’m gonna try one more time to see if this headache will let me sleep some. This whole rant has barely even scratched the surface. Ethics is paradoxically simple and complex.

Understanding will make your fictional works much, much richer. And maybe your lives.