Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Arthur_Pendragon 12-06-03, 10:14 PM	I'm planning on playing a daemon (a kind LE Devil I guess, in a variant homebrew campaign, who rules his own...very very small abyssal realm (in the variant setting the Abyss is just a Neutral Evil realm). Anyway, I've read over Book of Vile Darkness and Armies of the Abyss. I'm planning to play a wizard. But in truth I loathe the kind of gory evil I see of the demons in "Armies of the Abyss" and noticed many of the spells in the Book of Vile Darkness are messy gory spells. In real life I'm probably really close to LG, but I'm really interested for a change in playing an evil campaign and exploring my own darkside a bit (which I think doing so is healthy as it makes one aware of ones faults). I realize I perfer the kind of non-gory type of evil, the kind with clever Faustian contracts (you know, sell your soul to get stuff/power, etc.), clever illusions or twists of words that barely boarder on lies, and the use of enchantment and magic to break wills and make slaves rather than bloody or grusome torture. A kind of evil that borders on neutral almost or makes you wonder anyway? Do you have any suggestions how I could play/create (in terms of items, spell selection, new types of spells, and ways of roleplaying)? (Btw, I posted a similar post on the mature board, for more mature answers, but I hopefully edited this version to be sufficently clean. I don't want to offend anybody.)
nick012000 12-07-03, 05:12 AM	Be a yugoloth. Live on Hades. Profit from manipulating the Blood War.
LiXinjian 12-07-03, 07:18 AM	Why don't you play a sophisticated evil wizard? He enjoys Arborean wine, reads poetry, dresses in the finest silks. He loathes rude behaviour, has nothing but scorn for those who debase themselves by shouting profanity or being needlessly cruel. Of course, he hates soiling his hands or clothing during the course of adventuring. Like Ashemi (from FR) he dislikes evil people who let their evil nature show too much. He likes things beauty, not impaled heads on spikes. He's LE, and he's a schemer using the full extent of the law to get the better of others. He makes contracts with loopholes he can exploit (like the Baatezu), perhaps? As far as spell selection goes, any spell that can allow him to avoid gory messes is fine. He uses Fireball only in the direst of circumstances (he hates the smell of burnt flesh, and he hates the blackened flesh-crust covering the bodies afterwards). Therefore, Enchantment spells are his bag. Transmutation is another "clean" school. Flesh to Stone and Disintegrate don't make gory messes. Protective items never make gory messes. And a good defense means your wizard doesn't have to wash/mend his favourite robes every so often.
Arthur_Pendragon 12-07-03, 06:34 PM	When I think about it, my real problem is that in real life, I'm pretty much LG, so it's hard for me to get into/roleplay certian types of evil. I literally can't stand to play truly heartless evil. *sigh* so how am I suppose to play a fiend. For me the kinda of evil an evil character I have would probably do things like: corrupt pure-hearted lass to lustful deisres, perhaps a little ironic evil (like make a deal with a fair lass, get her the guy she wants, but my price; I steal her heart (literally) making her incapbalbe of romantic feelings), perhaps some mental violation (think detect thoughts, plus victim can feel you entering and going through their mind against their will), Faustian contracts to get souls but not nessecaryially corrupting them. Even his Realm in the after life wouldn't be absolute vileness. He would, if he felt the person was evil enough in life, cause them suffering. But if they were good or neutral and could be trusted, he would probably keep them as servants of variant sorts (not a painful afterlife, not heavenly, but not torturous either.) I know he would be Lawful (something)... hmmm...additionally I see him as a unique daemon, not just another imp, succubi, or balor.
LiXinjian 12-08-03, 08:32 AM	He doesn't have to inflict undue suffering onto others: simply using them without regard to what the consequences will be for them is enough. Read the thoughts of everyone, sell the info you get to the highest bidder. When someone complains, lure them into a devilish and deadly trap or ask for a retributive fee. It's certainly possible to play a villain who doesn't torture or rape or engage in other ghastly behaviour. Not all fiends delight in the suffering of others (their foes, on the other hand, they always like to see suffer). On the other hand, he could pretend to understand one's pain, pretend to actually be pained himself by all this undue suffering, while in truth, he likes the sense of power he gets when he has a minion take the life of a prisoner after a good torture session.
The_Yellow_Dart_Swinger 12-08-03, 11:40 AM	The way it sounds like, the spells in the vile darkness book is more for that black and white kind of evil, you KNOW this person is evil, and you KNOW this person is good, simple fact. The kind of demon your trying to play sounds like a gray kind of person, evil yea, but on maybe not such a blantent being that screams evil evil destroy me. I'd play him as a neutral character until oppertunitys pop up (and they will) that he can take advantage of and manipulate.
Lord of the Ninth 12-08-03, 10:40 PM	Have a goal, have a plan, better still have two. Then use every nonlethal trick you have to twisting all those you meet to your own purposes. Your goals don't have to be evil (although they should be selfish at the very least).
Arthur_Pendragon 12-09-03, 01:43 AM	Actually I had second thoughts on running an evil campaign. And decided to return to playing a good aligned campain. Though I could still use some help. (There's a post here on this board concerning playing a 500 year old ghost I need help on.) :D