Having Trouble Playing Evil
-
So two of my most successful and (from what I've been told) well liked characters have been on the evil or evilish side of the line. A couple of my good characters have been popular but it is mainly my evil ones that have success. My current character is obviously on the darker side of the line but I keep having second thoughts about running a "redemption" path where I don't necessarily work to become lawful good but I try to pull myself out of the depths of darkness.
Here is the issue I have with this… his personality and actions put him on the NWN side of evil. IE: he is a spy type, a sneaky type, and willing to get his hands dirty to achieve his goals. However, he has never wanted to harm an innocent, he has never wanted to steal from anyone unless it was necessary, and his grand goals aren't really destructive or selfish. Overall he is a ends justify the means kind of character but he doesn't mind doing dirty work such as lying, cheating, stealing, or killing in order to do what he thinks is right. In essence he still wants to kill the bad guy or the great evils but he sees not problem doing things like poisoning them or working with lesser evils in order to succeed.
From what I understand this still makes him "Evil" by Forgotten Realms standards. So what I'm trying to get at is does a redemption path make sense or does it make more sense to put a harsher focus on my "Targets" while leaving my methods the same? I'm just looking for input because if I can't think of a good path to stick with I'm likely to retire Tael and start something new. I don't really want to keep playing this ambiguous jumping around game anymore because it makes me feel like I can barely play with any current "extreme" characters.
The other problem is that I don't have any desire to play a villain as many people keep trying to push Tael to be. "Evil" is one thing but I still want to be more of an adventurer than a destroyer if that makes sense.
-
So your asking should your evil monster character become a good guy now his allies are dead?
Sure whatever your wish to do it's your character.
-
"Means justify ends" sounds more like a CN concept to me. Not inherently malicious, but selfish and utilitarian.
-
@Amy:
So your asking should your evil monster character become a good guy now his allies are dead?
Sure whatever your wish to do it's your character.
He never really was a villain, he just sort of worked with them to achieve an end that has kinda already happened. He was using the corruption running rampant in Arabel to restore balance and order while simultaneously killing off the chaotic elements. One of the reasons he had a huge falling out with the criminal element is they went from wanting to control crime and restore order to the slums, to wanting to overthrow the government and cause havoc and chaos. Now there is a stable government and order (albeit not really how he would have liked) and the criminal element is headless. He's sort of lost his purpose of "bringing order and balance from chaos" but since his goals ended in a slow completion that he didn't really bring about, they just sorta happened, it doesn't feel right ending him until I've found something for him to do.
I'll never really be a "good-guy" but it would be nice to actually be able to play with my "good guy" allies without having the other half of team good want to lynch me. Right now I'm kinda stuck, the current Team evil wants nothing to do with me because I hunted them before Gentles fell and the current team good wants nothing to do with me because I am a monster. Its really a pickle and I'm still lost on how to handle it. I'm pretty crappy at making effective leaders IG and when I am successful its accidental so starting something new from where I am seems a bit hard.
-
Come on IRC, and I will gladly help you out along with others! I am sure a DM could be useful help for you as well.
-
Make a new character, best advise I can give.
-
Nothing to do with whether you keep him, ro what to do with him, but in general…
Don't let the alignment dictate the actions.
Let the character drives and wants dictate the actions, and let the alignment be a result. -
My character was kind of where your character is. He put a lot of effort into redeeming the slums by trying to redeem the villain who stood out as being in control there. Most of Team Good was mad my character wasn't trying to kill him, so there aren't a lot of allies there. Now something worse has risen to take the old Team Evil's place, so there aren't any allies there. Plus, I heard the slums are gone anyway. There isn't a lot to do but, as Mr. Moloch said, retire the character and come up with something new. I understand feeling like you didn't get to go out with the bang you wanted. I feel the same way, and just disappearing is hard after you spent so much time on a character. You want to feel like you "got somewhere." You want to feel like, "Yes, this is the end." It is what it is, though; time to move on.
-
i always find that having a break means that i lose touch with what is happening. Then when i return with the same character events have moved on, new characters are about and i have lost any and all focus i had.
i usually end up treading water for a while then retire the character and make a new one.
-
If you have a real hard time letting your character fade away into history without any acomplishments etc. Then I suggest you talk something out with dms of how to end the character quickly with something grant or second; you talk with the dms on how to merge your char (who has been on break for a month?) with the current story-line. But the story has taken big steps recently. IMO it would be very hard to incorperate your character into the current story but I wouldn't say impossible :)
-
I was looking at the monk subsets and had a huge urge to make a super-campy Way of the Viper monk called Scorpio.
Random D00d: Does anyone want to help Nada?
Scorpio: I will aid her! Hahahaha! Fools, soon I will be powerful beyond imagination, striking fear into the hearts of all who oppose me! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA!!! (wicked witch voice, or power ranger-evil witch voice)
Random D00d: Ok….. so, can you tank? -
A little thread Resurrection there. lol
-
I think for making an "evil" character it's impossible to be evil :P Which makes no sense huh? That's cause the evil person never considers themself evil (Unless they are just down right insane). All kinds of movies have bad guys in them that truly think their cause is good and just and that the other people deserve what they are getting.
Sooo if you make a new character and wana be ebol I'd think around those lines.
-
Always have a internal logic that makes sense. Maybe your Banite really does think free will is a curse. Also feel free to abuse the FR faith system. I played NE greedy, pyromaniac Druidess, but because she followed a TN deity and went about her druidic duties rather seriously (admittedly with bias towards purge) , she actually made it to halfling heaven!
-
winners never quit, quitters never win…so just smoke forever?
if at first you don't succeed, quit again
-
I think for making an "evil" character it's impossible to be evil :P Which makes no sense huh? That's cause the evil person never considers themself evil (Unless they are just down right insane). All kinds of movies have bad guys in them that truly think their cause is good and just and that the other people deserve what they are getting.
Sooo if you make a new character and wana be ebol I'd think around those lines.
Absolutely incorrect for this setting.
Evil characters know they are evil, unless they are insane. Because in the Realms, evil is real and people know what it is, the gods ordain what it is, and it is really difficult not to know evil when you see or do it.
So only the actually insane think they're not evil when they are.
-
Moloch just beat me to it …
What he said. -
Really? I mean, I knew that Evil and Good are absolute in the Forgotten Realms, but I didn't know the ability for mortals to perceive Evil and Good was absolute. Why have a Detect Evil ability if humankind's (and the other races') moral compass is so attuned to what is Evil and what is Good that they automatically know it when they see it or do it? Also, how is Evil and Good known by mortals, based on what the gods decree, when there is next to no way for the average mortal to know what gods have Evil alignments and what gods have Good alignments?
-
Fzoul Chembryl, and Manshoon knew they were evil. Those guys like, started up the Zhentarim or something. Thayan wizards know slavery is evil, they still love it.
-
!