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Just something I've not been able to get out of my head for the last few day's for some reason. If you lived in a world where you can talk with animals using the right spells/abilities and assuming you had them. Would you become a vegetarian or would you feel comfortable eating meat from something you could have been chatting with earlier in the day?
I can see it going either way, either your uncomfortable eating something that can talk back to you or if your a druid you see it as a circle of life and are fine with consuming meat like a wofl or panther is fine with it?
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Talking with animals isn't that unique, i do it all the time.
It's the part where they answer back that might freak you the hell enough to consider veggies...
It would depend on the character.
It would likely also depend on if the character talks with an animal before that animal is killed for food.
Just like there are vegetarians in the real world that wear leather, there will be characters in the game world that will have varying opinions on eating/using animal products.
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Even if you can talk with animals does not make them sentient. The animal you talk with still has the mind of an animal. Besides Speak with Plants is also a spell, so if talking to animals makes you become vegetation that would mean all druids starve after achieving 5th level.
There are cultures that give thanks to animals before they are eaten. The move Avatar had the aliens doing this, but that was taken from real world cultures. A character that can speak to animals would probably do something similar.
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I mean, many animals have a positive opinion on eating other animals. Like a cat would probably have thoughts about eating *you* while you're talking to it.
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Even if you can talk with animals does not make them sentient. The animal you talk with still has the mind of an animal. Besides Speak with Plants is also a spell, so if talking to animals makes you become vegetation that would mean all druids starve after achieving 5th level.
They live eating goodberries.
Speaking seriously, I would be really starving before I think about eating a cat or a dog, but eating horse meat doesn't faze me (I am not from the US). Horses aren't affection animals, for me.
About eating intelligent and speaking creatures, how many PCs will try dragon flesh? I think a good percentage of the lot.
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About eating intelligent and speaking creatures, how many PCs will try dragon flesh? I think a good percentage of the lot.
Many dragons wouldn't think twice about eating me, so I wouldn't have much issue with using them as a pizza topping.
Most of the classes that get speak with animals are nature focused so understand the cycle of nature. Both bards and Skalds get bardic lore so even though those classes are not necessarily nature focused they also have some understanding of the natural cycle. The only class that gets this spell that does not automatically have some knowledge of nature is the Psychic. Psychics do get knowledge nature as a class skill and are an INT based class, so chances are any Psychic learning this spell will have at least a point in knowledge nature.
Someone casting this spell on an animal would probably not eat that animal but is not likely to avoid eating all animals. More often than not speak with animals is not going to be used to talk to chickens or cows. It is more likely to be used on wild animals or dogs and cats.
Even in the real-world animals can communicate with people. Anyone who has ever owned a dog, or a cat will understand what I am talking about. Most pet owners do not become vegetarians because Fido is happy to see them when they get home.
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Someone casting this spell on an animal would probably not eat that animal but is not likely to avoid eating all animals. More often than not speak with animals is not going to be used to talk to chickens or cows. It is more likely to be used on wild animals or dogs and cats.
Even in the real-world animals can communicate with people. Anyone who has ever owned a dog, or a cat will understand what I am talking about. Most pet owners do not become vegetarians because Fido is happy to see them when they get home.
^This.
I have known people that have raised "food animals" (pigs, rabbits, etc.) as pets and the would have a hard time eating their pet, but would happily eat other non-pet animals of the same type.