On Fri, 22 Nov 2013, Onno Meyer wrote:
Johannes replied to me:
There also would be the option of a Goa'uld system lord, who is a lot
better then ordinary ones. Subjects get treated better, new hosts are
heinous criminals, does not attack anyone, who does not attack first ect.
When I apply real-world morals to the fictional situation, my answer
is a clear no. Inventing a credible villain is part of the game, but
never forget we're talking about a villain. A less cruel slave owner
is still owning slaves, and controlling the body of an unwilling
sentient being is just unacceptable. Even using volunteers (like the
Tok'ra) is iffy -- I don't think a society should allow people to
sell their kidney, let alone their brain.
No truce with mind-rippers, as one of my characters would say. He
has some flaws, but that is a virtue.
I tend to use more vector based morals. How did the character change the
world he is in (and what changes did he intend). A system lord, who
changes his realm to the better, as much as it is within his abilities,
would still reign over a horrible place, but i would call him good.
And if social mechanics in the setting are similiar, to what i believe
they are in RL, then even absolute rulers can't create paradises on their
own, but need to keep various groups happy, that support them. And
revolutionary changes often fail. Simply removing the old order from one
day to the next, telling everyone raised and conditioned to live under a
system lort they are free, likely leeds to anarchy first and conquest by
an other system lord next. So it would likely make things worse.
You also have to consider, that a system lord propably does not know how a
non slavery society actually works. He'll know how other system lords do
things, he likely knows a couple of primitive societies, that propably are
not all that much better then Goa'uld societies only it's humans who
enslave humans, rather then aliens. Other advanced societies are in
hiding, or in case of the humans are too new to be actually studied, and
they try to prevent Goa'uld to get any intelligence on them.
That all BTW would have to be reviewed, if there is that society that
gives the Goa'uld their technology. Some or all, depending on how that
society and it's connection to the Goa'uld actually look like, would no
longer work.
Such a system lord can bring interesting ethical and strategic decisions
for a SG center party, that do not have obvious and fully satisfactory
answers.
Like he might offer earth/the SG center command some sort of treaties. A
non aggression pakt would be good for earth. He may deliver intelligence
and Goa'uld technology, but he might want earth technology in return. What
is worth what? He may be open to some demands to change the way he reigns,
but how much should the SG center demand for his subject and how much for
earths strategic interests?
There might be some education programs, that will have both terran social
mores and terran knowledge seep into Goa'uld society. Is that a good thing
or not?
He might openly or covertly try to gain intelligence on terran society.
When confronted, he claims, that he want's to copy thoose things, that
work better on earth then in his realm. Do you trust him?
He is in a tight spot, and if he looses, he will be replaced by a much
worse system lord (both for earth and the people in his realm). The SG
center could save him but it would not come totally without cost. Should
they?
Which are situations i like to GM. I would not script how the pcs are
supposed to decide. You can make good arguments for many positions there,
and a well designed campain can keep going, regardless how they decide.
_______________________________________________
GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]>
http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
