Cosmology: Tolkien's Redeemable Evil vs. Manichean Dualism

So the classic question, "What about the hobgoblin women and whelps" came up in our 2E AD&D game last night.

We were going back into the dungeon to clear out the hobgoblins who had been raiding the local miners. We figured there were at best a handful of warriors and then the women and the whelps.

And so, my character -- a "Neutral Mercenary" elven mage/thief who'd as soon slit a throat as kiss it, asked the party cleric -- a Lawful Good dwarf cleric of the God of Justice -- "What do we do with the hobgoblin women and whelps -- you know, if they are non-combatant?"

After all, I did not want to lose the healing talents of said cleric if his god was going to be pissed at him!

And the cleric's player thought a moment, turned to the DM, and said, "What does my god think?"

And we stumped the DM, who had to delve into his cosmology and debate with himself and us a bit.

Most (European/Western-based) cosmologies basically come down to one of two major types -- either you are dealing with Evil being "Fallen but (usually) Redeemable" (Tolkien's Catholicism, essentially) or Manichean Dualism, in which Good and Evil have always been essentially equal(ish) and utterly opposed, winner-take-all.

Even Tolkien worried over this subject, as he essentially condemned all the warped and (originally) unwilling "followers" of Morgoth and Sauron -- orcs, trolls, etc. -- to Evil, even though they were originally born with Free Will and should have been able to be redeemed (the Valar sure thought they could redeem Morgoth and even Sauron).

If you are in a Tolkienesque setting, killing non-combatants, especially children, and even of an "Evil/Chaos-inclined" race/culture, would needs be EVIL, as you are taking away any chance of their expressing their Free Will and choosing Good. Doesn't matter what "necessity" or "politics" or "expediency" might require, it is still EVIL, and your soul would thusly be stained.

In a setting where the gods are real and "heaven" and "hell" are manifest and not essentially theoretical, this is not a question to be taken lightly.

But if you are in a Manichean Dualist campaign, where there can never be any quarter between Cosmic Law/Good and Cosmic Chaos/Evil, well, slay away.

The DM decided that essentially, their campaign was Manichean more-or-less, though certain factions of the Law/Good side hope to someday redeem a member of a Chaotic/Evil race such as hobgoblins (mostly as a victory for Law/Good than out of concern for the being's soul). Humans and most demi-human races are "in the middle," able to choose between Law/Good and Chaos/Evil. Humanoids are innately Chaotic/Evil. Drow, Duergar, and the like are... in a weird, indeterminate place, cosmologically.

So, very Old School in many ways.

[2E AD&D] Elf Mage/Thief Spelljack Kit

So weird thing here, I'm actually playing in the first 2E Advanced Dungeons & Dragons campaign I've played in, in like, 25 years. I am having a good time playing an elf mage/thief named Indel Silverleaf. 

However, I note that the only kit for elf mage/thieves is the "Spellfilcher" (such an... unfortunate name) which kind of sucks. 

So, I've made an equally poorly named kit, the Spelljack, and am awaiting DM approval. 

It has been so long since I've played 2E I've no idea if it is properly "balanced" or not. Those of you who play 2E please let me know...

Spelljack Kit

An Elven Mage/Thief Kit

Bonus Weapon Proficiencies: Dagger.

Bonus Non-Weapon Proficiencies: Appraising, Reading/Writing, Spellcraft.

Arcane Trapmaster. Unlike normal thieves, your magical talent allows you to use your full find and remove traps skills on magical traps; these skills are not halved for you when you are looking for or disarming magical traps.

These can be trap-like spells (such as explosive runes, fire trap, and so forth) and more esoteric traps that have magical aspects or deal magical damage.

Additionally, you can increase the chance to find a magical trap, and if found remove the magical trap, by expending a memorized spell. You add 10% to your chance of success at each for every level of the expended spell (the bonus applies to both find and remove the same trap).

Spellblade. You are able to enchant a dagger into a spellblade. This requires one hour and the expenditure of 50 gp of magical unguents, oils, and reagents for every level of experience you possess as a mage. You can use the spellblade to spelljack spells from spellcasters (see below).

The spellblade also counts as a magical weapon for purposes of hitting monsters that require a magical weapon to hit but has no bonuses (you can enchant a magical dagger as your spellblade).

Your spellblade loses this enchantment if you roll a Natural 1 on your saving throw when you make a spelljack attempt; if you roll a Natural 1 on an attack against a creature that requires a magic weapon to hit; if it is subjected to a dispel magic or antimagic field; or if another spellcaster takes the spellblade and holds it for more than 10 minutes.

You begin play with a spellblade already enchanted. You cannot have more than one spellblade enchanted at a time.

Spelljack. You can attempt to siphon a spell away from your target and use it for yourself.

When you hit a spellcasting target with a successful attack with your spellblade, you can choose to forgo dealing damage in order to attempt to steal a memorized spell from the target.

Spelljack has no effect on innate spell-like abilities.

You can choose which spell to steal if you know that the spellcaster has it memorized; otherwise, the DM determines the stolen spell randomly.

You can automatically steal a spell of a level you can cast.

You can attempt to steal a spell of a higher level with a successful saving throw versus Spells, with a penalty equal to the level of the spell. If you roll a Natural 1 on this saving throw, you suffer 1d6 points of damage per level of the spell you attempted to steal via internalization of the magic.

The target of a successful spelljack attack loses the spell from memory; they can memorize the spell and use the spellcasting slot as normal after the usual amount of rest.

You retain a spelljacked spell in your memory for up to 1 hour per level; you can cast the spell once. Once the spell has been cast or the time expires, the spell fades from your memory. You cannot add a spelljacked spell to your spellbook nor scribe it onto a scroll.

At any one time, you can possess a maximum number of stolen spell levels equal to your class level. For instance, at 4th level you can have two stolen 2nd-level spells, or one 2nd-level spell and two 1st-level spells, or any other combination of spells totaling four levels. If you steal a spell that would exceed this limit, you must choose to lose stolen spells sufficient to reduce the total number of stolen spell levels to no more than your maximum.

If your maximum number of stolen spell levels is less than the level of the spell you just stole, you suffer damage from the spell as though you had rolled a Natural 1 on your save, as above.

Spontaneous Casting. You can expend a memorized spell to cast a detect magic or read magic spell. The spell is cast at your level as a mage. You gain no additional benefit if you expend a 2^nd level or higher spell to cast the spell.

Oh... and yes, my character is modeled after this Indel...

Happy New Year! Here's to a New Year of Gaming!

Well, I'm back.

For now, at least.

I'm not one to make New Year's Resolutions, so I'm not going to, but I hope to be present on this blog at least once a week in 2026, maybe even more often.

I've come to the conclusion that I need to focus on game play more, and engagement in gaming as a hobby more, so for now, I'm setting aside James Mishler Games and concentrating on those other aspects of gaming -- though the writing bug strikes me from time to time, so who knows.

Right now, I am playing in two games. It has been a long time since I've just played rather than DM'ed!

Weekly (or thereabouts) I am playing in an online Shadowdark campaign with some old, old friends (some of them the guys I games with in Middle School). It is a weird, alien style fantasy campaign world, so that is totally new.

Twice monthly I am playing in a local, in-person 2E AD&D campaign. I have not played 2E in more than 25 years. The differences between it and 1E/ALL are really minimal, though one surprising difference that bit me in the ass was that multi-classed magic-user/thieves cannot wear normal thief armor, only elven chain! That was a surprise. But it has been a fun game so far, I am really enjoying it.

I plan on playing in more games, if I can finagle it. I would like to avoid DMing for now, as I "recharge" my gaming batteries by playing.

I also got the chance to play some Star Wars - Battle of Hoth by Days of Wonder. I love the Commands & Colors system, and hope to play more Hoth, and maybe Memoir '44 and others, in the new year.

I hope to post here regularly; about the games I am in (with DM permission) and other gaming stuff. I feel the need to engage in gaming qua gaming, so we will see how it goes.

Good gaming in 2026!