If I actually lived in Mundus, then it would be no to all of them.

But I also don't believe in murdering, yet I do that in the game.

That's like saying gas in your car is trapped only for a brief time... and we know this is not true, it is consumed to progress entropy forwards,,,, it does not return as more gas.

Souls are not gas.



Shut it.

You missed the point, utilizing energy changes the composition of the consumed source. So how does a soul "get used" if it just sits there in the same state?

My Character will be based off John Parry from the His Dark Materials trilogy and as such no soul trapping for me

Well my first charcter is going to be good deathknight so I might dabble in the soul trapping business. Maybe I'll trap some animals and evil people or some type of undead/Dadrea.

You didn't have a "yes, because it's just a video game and the developers said we could" answer. My ethics don't apply to things that don't exist, so why would I force my character to use my idea of ethics?

If they're a irremediably evil human or mer then yeah, they deserve to live in a black soul gem until I need to refuel my [censored].

animals or humonoids/ sentient things that are from this plane, no. Evil daedra, yes

Considering I don't use black soul gems, I'm gonna say no for that one.

how can you trap which has no soul?? just kidding just making a southpark reference not trying to insult redheads

i like your thread. its very ethical and gets me thinking. ...... thank you

Great thread man! Definitely makes me think in terms of RP. I'll not be using so many black soul gems though(only if I find some and only for the worst of enemies I encounter). Like someone else stated, I don't really use soul trap to begin with...but from time to time when I've played my char for quite awhile I like to dabble in different things...again, great thread man. :biggrin:

It's okay to trap any soul. I don't care if it's greater good, goals or otherwise. This is Skyrim, not a tree hugging dirty hippie contest. do whatever you want. screw ethics.

Black soul gem use is messed up, but using the essence of non-sentient beings or deadra ain't that bad. Most of the abominations that attack you have it coming. I doubt anyone will seriously weep for the soul of a Flame Atronach.

Whatever makes my enchanted weapon work

Unless I'm playing a philosopher/scholarly character (which I have doen) I don't think any of my characters would understand it enough to even care. Unless I was a Paladin or something that understood such aspects of life.

You know, I had always thought of soul-trapping a a game mechanic.

But this changed my perspective on it, and may just provide me with some juicy roleplaying opportunities.

I thank you my good man! :icecream:

My only worry about using black soul gems is that when you touch them, they take a small essence of your own soul.

This universe isn't like ours, with it's laws of conservation. Mundus is constantly being washed with the magical energy radiating from the sun, which is just a hole to Aetherius. It is always possible the soul itself it not used, but is needed to contain, control and harness minute amounts of creatia, in which case the soul would be more like the jettisoned fuel pods on aeroplanes, rather than the fuel inside them. This is in no way lore, just my musings, but it makes a kind of sense.

I can't really see myself wielding a sword filled with the essence of something really evil, like a lich,
it might corrupt the weapon itself or me. but someone willing? like a guard that was badly injured in
combat? hell it would be kinda cool if i was dying and someone was like, hey you wanna help me kill
the guy who killed you? :thumbsup:

Great thread! Since I limit my morality to real life, I will do some things I wouldn't normally do to get ahead in a fictional world. Mostly, soul trapping humans in particular will just depend upon how pissed off I am when I get home from work. Soul trapping animals...who cares. BTW, I love animals and firmly support animal rights, but considering the time in which Skyrim is taking place, I just think animals are screwed either way because they are lower on the food chain.

To anyone who says ethical dilemmas like this don't matter because it's just a game...seriously, come on. These are exactly the sort of things you're supposed to take into consideration when playing such a deep, extensive and immersive RPG like an Elderscrolls title. It's not just hack-and-slash, you're supposed to feel like you're a part of the world, it's supposed to matter to you. So anyway, I'm glad this question was asked, it's a really good one.

I've never been one to make use of soul trap on living creatures, humanoid or animal. The idea of a soul is all the same to me, no matter who it comes from, and whatever you or the game may consider a soul to be, you're essentially bending the vital essence of a living thing to your will which, no matter how you spin it, seems incredibly unethical. That said, I don't have a problem using it on non-living things like ghosts and undead, since they've already lived and died and as the poll suggests, it's probably granting them peace. I doubt they *want* to exist in such a state, so they wouldn't mind lending the last of their energy to the one who frees them from their torment.

Daedra are another exception, as long as they're entirely malevolent. I suspect their souls just go back to Oblivion after being expended anyway, where they'll eventually be reborn. And I kinda like to think they'd have a touch more respect for the mortal with the balls to do such a thing, lol

I think it would be outlawed in real life.

It's also just a fun thought experiment, which philosophers consider when developing moral philosophy. I suppose I should think about this more. It's a great question and one that shouldn't be ridiculed because this question lends itself to the morality of manipulating others to accomplish a particular goal.