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Baator - Lawful Evil
He who lives must fight. He
who does not wish to fight in this world where permanent struggle is the law of life has
not the right to exist.
-- Hitler
| Imagine Baator as a reflection of
all of our world's most effective organizations, but where love is considered a weakness
and a sham. The cities are clean and orderly, the architecture is magnificent, and the
goods and services are of extraordinary quality. In fact, the finest luxury goods in the
multiverse are produced here -- and the most effective advertising campaigns. The locals
are perfectly polite, and proud of their honor. They possess a dark integrity. Probably
they keep their word -- both letter and spirit. (This is much more interesting for game
purposes. Cheating by twisting language isn't law, but the stuff of chaos.) The locals are
enormously vain, and status symbols are of overwhelming importance to them. Another vision
of Baator is presented by the heartless corporation. Whatever big business is like in real
life, fiction is filled with corporations that actively and cynically work against the
public interest for their own aggrandizement, and where the backbiting and politics is
vicious but completely internal. Although right-living and the question of the afterlife
are of far greater importance than any game, it seems to me that a good
"Planescape" campaign, with its college-bull-session focus on the mysteries of
life, is not irreverent or trivial. The denizens of Baator will tempt visiting adventurers
with the chance of taking part in an effective organization dedicated to universal
conquest and the satisfaction of personal and group superiority. They are very articulate.
They will state clearly that all apparent kindness is really stupid or fake, and that
superior folk will band together to create wealth and opportunity and to get what they're
entitled to. Because evil is so powerful here, the locals lack even the ordinary loves of
our world -- family, friendship, romance. These instead become ways in which a stronger
being preys on a weaker being. The locals will talk a lot about cruelty as a way of
"building character." The idea of altruism and unselfish love disgusts the
people of Baator. Open-faced evil is poor politics. Instead, the locals will present
themselves to outsiders as a cohesive, efficient, hard-working, highly disciplined group
dedicated to promoting and providing excellence. Perhaps evil deeds, or any use of death
magic or necromancer's spells will tend to transform the character progressively. In some
liturgies, worshippers renounce, or reaffirm their renunciation of, "the glamour of
evil." On Baator, the glamour of evil is the focus on quality and efficiency, and
giving up your individuality to be part of a group that deserves to have the best. In our
own world, some people think this is what they really want. Public portals into the layers
of Baator are heavily guarded, and don't expect to be allowed to leave by way of them.
Again, I believe that when the issues are presented clearly, most people (those who
believe in an afterlife, and those who simply want to live well in this world) will make
the right choices, and resist both the temptations of Baator and the other dark visions of
cruel people. |
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Anti
Matter
Dark Matter
Mana
Ki
Chrono
Necro
Psionics |
