Times where somebody is punished for not picking a side in Tabletop Games.
- Dungeons & Dragons:
- In the Greyhawk setting, Snow Elves are despised and shunned by all the other elven races because, during the great war between the elves and the drow, the snow elves allowed a drow army to pass through their territory unimpeded after the drow paid them, which in turn let the drow achieve some major tactical victories before their ultimate defeat. The snow elves' protestation that they had no idea at the time that the drow and the elves were at war is generally ignored by the other elves... perhaps in no small part because the snow elves are major jerkasses. Even by elfin standards.
- In the Nentir Vale setting, "Dusk Elves" are an elven sub-race that tried to stay neutral during the big war between Corellon and Lolth that created the Elves (from Eladrin that were stranded in the mortal world) and the Drow (the Eladrin who sided with Lolth). No sooner was the war over than Eladrin and Elves alike turned their hands against the Dusk Elves, blaming them for the cost of the war, with full support of Corellon. If it wasn't for the goddess Sehanine deciding to shield them because they had, technically, been loyal to her teachings, they would have been wiped out.
- Historically a problem for the Independent Sidereal Exalted. The Sidereals are politically divided between the ruling Bronze Faction and the opposition Gold Faction. As factional politics almost completely supersede the official duties of the Sidereals, the few Sidereal Exalted who refuse to get involved and instead do their official jobs got politically dumped on by both factions. However, this is breaking down in the Time of Tumult, and more and more Sidereals are refusing to play their elders' games.
- This happened in Mage: The Ascension with the various magical Crafts, during the Ascension War. While some ancient magical groups formed together into the Traditions, against the rising Technocracy, others refused to join. Usually this was a result of either a particular craft being long-time enemies of a particular tradition, or because the craft was steeped in a particular local and culture, and didn't think the Ascension War affected them. Jump ahead to present day, and the Technocracy has eroded almost all belief in magic, the Traditions lost their most powerful elders, and the Ascension War was basically over. Guess who the Technocracy set their sights on then? One source book directly stated that the Crafts - such that survived without being picked off over the years - had the choice between being absorbed by specific Traditions or dying off completely.
- Because Warhammer 40,000 is a crapsack universe, this trope is rarely in play. Most Imperial citizens don't get the option of staying neutral or even picking a side. If someone does stay neutral in a conflict, the best outcome they can expect is summary execution once the fighting is over. Generally everyone knows this and is not stupid enough to tempt fate. Of course there have been exceptions.
- During the early days of the Horus Heresy, the planet Bastion declared itself neutral and invited representatives from Horus and the Emperor to make a case for which side the planet should join. Horus's representative blew up Bastion as an example to any other neutral planets: Ally with the Imperium and die.
- Some suspect the Dark Angels stayed out of the Horus Heresy to wait and see which side won. The truth is more complicated, but it's one of many things that have raised suspicions about the Chapter's motives.
- This gets elaborated on in the book Angels of Caliban. Luther and his renegade Dark Angels try to turn Caliban into a truly neutral planet ruled by neither Horus nor the Imperium. Dark Angels players know how well this ends for Caliban.
- The planet Vostroya managed to pull this successfully during the Horus Heresy, declining to send troops to fight Horus in order to continue producing weapons. They paid for this voluntarily by giving their firstborn sons to the Imperial Guard.
