It's not just orcs. Monolithic culture is boring, lazy world-building. Enforcing a quality such as evil on an entire species, even if supernaturally aligned, is boring. With beings who are people, it's just wrong. Culture doesn't work that way. People don't work that way. 1/

It only gets worse if the origins of the fantasy people are steeped in real-world culture, history, or appearances. In real-world othering. (Orcs are.) Worse still when we fail to educate ourselves about these problems and try to do better. We can, and we should. 2/

One way to do better is to make fantasy people complex. Another way to do better is to defy expectations. Still another is to leave no gaps in your world-building that people can fill in with their negative biases. 3/

Also, give heroes a reason to show their quality--mercy, honor, kindness--to "evil" people and monsters. Reward that behavior with chances to turn foes away from the wrong without simply killing them. Play monsters against type. Don't let the assumption of evil take root. 4/

What I'm saying is discovering Asmodeus, the version who murdered his original deific patron, could be redeemed is more interesting than simply fighting and defeating him in Nessus. This story allows for meaningful choices. Go for meaningful and complex. 5/

That's not to say some monsters aren't to be simply faced and destroyed. But people (such as D&D orcs) and thinking beings (including supernatural ones, such as devils) are elements players can and should treat with more nuance. Our designs should do so, too. 6/6