There’s a lot of mileage to be had from PCs seeking the manifestations of their own sins… Reminds me somewhat of the Full Metal Alchemist anime in that regard.

Please reread my post. I redefined the typical enemies as non-sentient magical bad energy which humans themselves created, manifest, back to haunt them. Is that sentient?

Or are you asking do I need enemy types period? D&D is typically a combat focal game. I see a value in having enemy types in D&D, though I’ve always found it deeply problematic how they become coded and overlaid with real world racist tropes.

I’m showing one way to have enemy types and NOT do that.

In other games and settings, I’ve played with the idea that typical enemy races aren’t all evil, have complex alliances and societies, etc. In this game, these are not the moral choices the players will be dealing with. So for that reason, I wanted to keep clear enemy races but not have it be this horrible race war, but instead, this horrible example of humanity facing it’s own evil, over and over until it deals with it correctly.

Much like various isms and injustice – if not resolved, it just keeps biting you in the ass.