Jim Kline @xalith · 4h@TheEdVerse A question I haven't been able to find an answer to: in the Forgotten Realms, what has a soul and what doesn't? Do plants, animals, etc?
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) February 10, 2020
I’m playing a Kelemvorite acolyte in Tomb of Annihilation, who doesn’t want to contribute to the destruction of souls, if possible1)
As per the game rules, all living things have an animating spirit. Sentient beings also have souls. Even intelligent creatures can no longer learn if they lose their souls. (Instinct is different from learned experience.) …#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) February 10, 2020
2)
…So a soul and sentience are inextricably linked.
As a DM, I would rule that the moment you have full self-awareness, defined as the ability to “put yourself in another being’s boots” or see other points of view/appreciate the… 3)
…world-view of others, you have a soul. Which means plants and lower-intellect animals (value judgment implicit, but if an animal is incapable of training by sentients, or loyalty to a species other than its own, it’s ‘lower’)…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) February 10, 2020
4)
…have animating spirits, but not souls. Your acolyte PC will have to wrestle lifelong with where, when it comes to animals, the line is, and may decide to err on the side of caution. Horses, oxen, dogs, cats, and other 5)
…non-magically-coerced animal companions all have souls, but an animal companion (squirrel, bat, lizard) acquired by a druid through use of spells or class abilities may or may not have a soul.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) February 10, 2020