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Thread: Goblin alignment source
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2021-04-18, 06:59 AM (ISO 8601)
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Goblin alignment source
This question is about older D&D in general, but I can't pinpoint how old exactly, but I think it was around the 2nd edition. I'd like to ask for your help in finding the source but at this point, I'd be happy if somebody could even just confirm if something like this really existed and it isn't just the creation of my failing mind. :)
In the far past, I remember reading in a sourcebook, although it might have been a dragon magazine maybe but I think it was a sourcebook, about alignment and an experiment performed by a mage on goblins. I think this part was about paladins (so I think it was something after they came into existence) maybe not exclusively but at least in part. In this section of the book, they claimed that some races do have predetermined alignment and as an example they invoked the experiment performed by the mage. It was written in a single section, few paragraphs long, I think around half a page total.
The experiment described a mage (maybe a wizard?) who have been wondering whether monster alignment, a goblin's, in this case, is predetermined (could be an orc maybe, but I'm almost 100% sure they were goblins). In the paragraph, it was described that he took a very young goblin (I think they mentioned something about adventurers' goblin slaying tendencies :) ) and tried to rise it surrounded by love and care to see if he can get a goblin with a different alignment but after reaching a certain age the goblin turned to evil. In this paragraph, it is said that he performed this experiment multiple times always with the same result. The conclusion reached was that monsters/goblins do have a predetermined character and good players can indeed slay them without remorse - I think this was written in the context of whether the paladins can slay monsters without remorse and with no questions asked - and the conclusion reached was yes.
I searched many books in which I could have seen this section but with no success (mostly those that had some degree of focus about paladins). I think it was 2nd edition book, but could also be 3rd although I doubt it (maybe a dragon magazine?) due to political climate change.
As I said, I'd be grateful if you could help me with a search but if somebody could just confirm/deny if something like this existed I'd be obliged too and it could maybe help me find the strength to search for it once more. I'd also be thankful for help in pinpointing where exactly I could have read it - I searched some monsters compendiums but with no success (but I wasn't thorough with those). If you knew of a forum with diehard old edition fans who could also help I wouldn't mind hearing about them either :)Last edited by Ubak; 2021-04-18 at 07:06 AM.
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2021-04-18, 01:32 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Goblin alignment source
I'm reasonably certain it was not in original D&D or any issue of The Strategic Review or The Dragon #1-30 or so. I read *all* official D&D material then, and I'm pretty sure I never read this.
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2021-04-18, 03:31 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Goblin alignment source
I have never read such a thing. I know it's a common opinion among grognards that goblinoids and other humanoids have fixed alignments (i.e. you can kill them because they're always evil), but I have never seen any support for it beyond "Well, that's their alignment in the Monster Manual." If there were a more authoritative source, I think someone would have cited it by now.
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2021-04-18, 07:59 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Goblin alignment source
Thank you two for your answer, I wouldn't mind finding someone who knows where I could have read that but at least I know now where not to look if I decide to pursue my search. Once again thanks!