Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Thief_of_Hope 10-13-07, 07:19 PM	Hey, so it seems to me that a lot of players, at one point or another, want to try a character whose story features the character, at some point, converting from an evil alignment to a good, or at least neutral, alignment. Evil people seeking redemption. I was wondering what some of the more creative backstories people here have seen or come up with that explain why an individual decided to leave their evil ways behind them. I mean, we've all heard the "I met a paladin who made me realize I was being a jerk", or the "I killed boatloads of people, and then this one time I'm stabbing this guy in the eye for overcharging me on my ice cream cone and I realize oh, my gods, I'm KILLING people Pelor's beard, how could I have not realized it before?? I took seven levels in ASSASSIN! How could I have killed so many people?!? From this day forward, the abilities I learned while serving the forces of darkness will be aimed not at baskets of kittens, but at baskets of goblins, of demons, and of other icky-poo-not-very-nice-thingies-of-darkness!" .... Well, maybe we haven't all heard them quite like THAT, but the fact remains, there should be more complicated and diverse reasons for evil individuals putting the bloodshed of their pasts behind them than meeting a paladin or spontaneous conversion. What are some of the good and original storylines you all have created?
Master_Vega 10-13-07, 10:28 PM	I haven't made any characters of that kind in D&D, but in a freeform (and holy-crap-overpowered) RPG I played an ancient former-villain that history forgot. Disclaimer: I was fifteen when I wrote this character up... and I really wasn't going for original. In fact I'm pretty sure I unconsciously stole just about every piece of this story from one story or another (one source I can identify after thinking about it is The Earthsea Cycle.) His mother was a demon masquerading as a human, and brainwashed him and all of the rest of her children into thinking the world took their father and freedom away (she really murdered their father [a dragon], and as a demon simply hated mankind). So for the first hundred years of his life he and his siblings killed... and killed. At some point an archon decided to put an end to the murderous family. The angel managed to kill the siblings, and imprison my character for untold amounts of time... time where his mind was in a dream-like state and he could review his actions. At first he did not care at all about his past; he saw nothing wrong and simply enjoyed the show while he waited for his sentence to end... but then the children began to look like his siblings, his fallen brothers ands sisters before they were filled with wrath. The fathers who stood up first to take his assault for their families reminded him of his own, who had been taken by... He realized he never knew how his father died, never asked. Eventually the character went insane inside his prison, contemplating and questioning everything (his feelings from the past, his current feelings, even what he thought would think in the future; the thought pattern became an endless ring). He never knew how long this period of insanity lasted. Eventually his personality split down the middle. One half was his overzealous mentality of the past, and the other was a more passive -though still begrudging- incarnation of himself. The two halves warred for another unknown number of years until the prison finally broke, and the two entities were forced out of his original body. Each personality formed a physical vessel so that he could travel the world and reclaim the original, more powerful body he once possessed. After getting attached to a family of humans, the passive entity was forced to confront his zealot counterpart in their defense. The passive version was able to defeat his other half, but unable to banish him the first time. In order to keep his new family safe, he was forced to hunt down the evil incarnation and banish him to the hells or destroy him outright if possible. He managed the former, reclaimed his old body and spent the time up until the adventure started with/guarding his adopted family. I suppose he started the adventure as true neutral (or perhaps chaotic neutral) with good tendencies. Eventually the friends he made in the party were able to convert him to neutral (possibly chaotic) good... Though he's still not a fan of archons; tortured insanity wasn't fun. Sorry about how convoluted that was; it kinda just fell out of my head into the post. >_> - One more note is that I never decided why the archon chose to seal him rather than obliterate him. Perhaps the character was too powerful to destroy, or maybe so much weaker than the others that the archon saw an opportunity. *shrugs*
Terjon of the Blue Rose 10-13-07, 11:30 PM	Haven't actually played him but I had come up with a dwarven arachnomancer. He was made a drow slave early in his life and turned evil trying to find a way to escape. Eventually killed his master stole a tome and taught himself magic. Used spiders to slaughter large numbers of drow but then left the underdark to escape their vengeance. Simple freedom and exposure to less extreme(ly evil) forms of life started him on the path to nuetrality. I have a Nar Demonbinder coming up in the future of the campaign I currently run who made a bad deal with a fiend. Got his immortality but got it in chains. Eventually he was uncovered by Thay and was key in the creation of Eltabar. After his life in fiend filled Nar he now wants only simple escape. He'll be more than willing to help the PCs destroy my campaign's villians in exchange for freedom and peace.
Operation_Shoestring 10-14-07, 07:49 AM	To make it really interesting, start the character out as fairly decent, followed by a slow but gradually accelerating spiral into dakrness... and a long, ponderous climb back to morality, replete with backsliding. Verra Macagre was the slightly spoiled but kind and loyal daughter of a minor noble lineage. She longed for a bit of adventure, chafing under the social limitations of he station. Her father indulged her, allowing her relative free reign under the guidance of his trusted servant Anthe Ludso, a foreigner whose life he had saved, and who had sworn to serves his family unto death. Verra's world was shattered at the young age of 16. She had already been induced all to soon to the harsh reality of the world when her mother had died two years prior, but now enemies of her father arranged for him to be assassinated, leaving the noble house without a heir to it's lands under the patriarchal inheritance laws of that land. Determined not to be forced into an arranged marriage, Verra fled her home, accompanied soley by Anthe and with only a meager amount of supplies and money. The young girl found herself thrust into true hardship. Anthe reveled that he had been associated with the criminal underground before entering her father service (rogue levels), and his connections helped the two to establish themselves. A very intelligent lass, Verra had already been studying the arcane arts, but had only a casual attitude towards her studies. Now, humbled and slightly bitter, she threw herself into those studies with a passion that frightened even Anthe, staying up late nights to gain the power that would allow her to seek vengeance for her family. Working part time as a bar-maid had taught Verra how easily manipulated men were with simple natural charm, and she had profited handily from the simple thieving skills imparted to her by Anthe. She began down the path of the Beguiler. She started simply, using her skills only to enhance her natural beauty, wit and magnetism, infiltrating the social gatherings of the higher class merchants and minor nobles in her city, gathering information, and earning not a few favors. She learned to cloak herself in webs of half-illusion half-truth, walking the precarious line between great gain and fatal discovery. In truth, she could easily have sought out an assassin with the wealth and influence she had gained by the time she sought out her father's killers for a final reckoning, but she hungered for the feel of the blade beneath her hands as she fulfilled that long held vow. In a single night one feastday, she flitted through the richer districts of the city, and slew the enemies that had long since dismissed or forgotten her. Anthe begged her not to sully herself with such and act, offering even to do the deed in her place, but she was determined to see to it personally. She returned to her apartment, where a worried Anthe had prepared a meal in anticipation of her return. Clumsily, for he had never been gifted with Verra's sharp wit, Anthe inquired after her health. Verra, after exhausting Anthe's limited euphemisms, forced him to explain that he wanted to know ho killing made her feel. His reassurance that it was natural to feel horrible and disgusted were in vain. Verra had felt only exhilaration, a fact which Anthe realized with disquiet. Verra, her greatest motivation now a thing of the past, funneled her efforts into solidifying her social status. Favors called in, wealth invested, ventures forged, all allowed her to establish her own house, and reclaim her family name. Favorable courts and a costly lawyer won back her family's lands, but in truth they were little more than a conceit to her now. Her true wealth was in semi-licit trade and her growing magical ability. Anthe became more distant, in part because she had grown into her own as a woman and no longer needed his counsel, but also because he was finding that he could no longer see the carefree but compassionate child he had loved in Verra's beautiful, sculpted visage. Verra, who had once loved people, and sat in the town square merely to enjoy the atmosphere, was now an aloof and manipulative figure, laking real friends, and burying herself in power and empty, transient pleasures. He eventually expressed his concerns, leading to a screaming fight in which he told her that her father would be disappointed at her vapid behavior, and she threw him out, telling him he was no longer needed. They two would not meet again for years. There ya go. Set up for descent into darkness, as well as a mentor who could serve as a bridge back to the light.
Stormbrand 10-14-07, 08:51 AM	One character I played began as a Risen Demon Paladin (reverse of a fallen angel). Later on, when we realised the game was going out of control with all the bizarre races and such I rewrote him as a Tiefling. The character story was a blackguard/demonologist, who converted a group of githyanki who feared unholy tests and eventual soul-devouring from the lich queen, then led them on raides from the astral plane gathering slaves and blood sacrifices. Later on, he had to claim a dark artifact from a rival sect of evil, destroying the sect in the process. In doing so, he won the gratitude of all the people who had been oppressed by this sect, and for once was treated with true warmth and affection. There were far greater things than to be feared. With various icons gathered, there was a ceremony to be performed that would earn him high favour with his diety. It required many blood sacrifices, demon minions gathered them. Many of them were from the town which had shown such warmth to him. As the time for the sacrifices begun, one of the victims was a girl-child, who pleaded - not for mercy, but for rescue - she honestly believed the character would protect her and make everything right again. She believed in him. The dark priest beside her announced it was her turn to be sacrificed. As the blackguard hesitated, the cleric pushed his demands further. Dark sword swung down, severing the neck and bringing death. The evil cleric was silenced. And so, he battled the priests and fiends in the temple to protect those taken for sacrifice, then led the survivors away to a paladin order where they would be protected. Every item of dark power, every foul blessing from which he drew strength, all his unholy might from evil favour, deserted him at that moment. Rather than face his crimes before the paladin order, he travelled to attempt suicide-by-gold dragon. When he found the great dragon lord, the dragon was heavily wounded by a recent battle with dragonslayers. Were he to do battle then, it would have been the dragon who died. To survive the next battle with dragonslayers, the scaled lord needed help. So the Forsaken One helped prepare for the next battle, and healed the dragon using items from his hoard. A fact which the dragon questioned - if he could use those items why did he not have healing magic of his own. The character said he was out of favour with the diety he once served. The dragon asked why. "Because I don't want to be a murderer anymore." Better prepared for the next battle with the dragonslayers, the foes were wiped out and the dragon saved. From then on, the dragon became his mentor and gave him quests. On his first quest, he needed to defend a moderate sized village against some of the unholy hordes which he once commanded. Ready to die, he prepared a heroic stand against the corrupted legions so the townsfolk could escape. Then his heart stopped beating. Finding himself in the Halls of the Triad, he met Torm. At first, the ex-blackguard assumed he was here to be punished, and was asking that his punishment be postponed until he had protected the townsfolk. Torm told him the truth of the matter - that the Blackguard Pact bound his soul to the Goddess of Spite, no matter how much good he does, no matter how much he makes up for, he is still going to Gehenna! To the domain of the evil goddess who he renounced. Goddess of Spite people, Goddess of Spite. You can imagine the true enormity of what he would suffer at her hands, or rather, you can't. Subject to the whims of spite incarnate. And it will never, ever, end. Such heroic sacrifice at that moment had enabled Torm to draw him to his own realm, and grant an afterlife safe from the Goddess of Spite. Torm did this as an act of mercy, but it could not be delayed, it had to be done then to save him from his natural fate. "But what of the people?" That was the price of mercy, he would not be able to fight for them. "Send me back." Torm said no, because he could not bring him back afterwards. This was Torm's one chance to intervene, to save him from that dark fate agead of him. "Send me back." Thankfully, having set up wards and protections to slow down the attackers was successful, and a number of fall-back positions were prepared. This enabled him to last until a surprise rescue from the Knights of the Loyal Fury... Torm was not about to do nothing. Suffice to say, this character is now a paladin, whose knowledge of demonology now deals more with wards and bindings - Paladin/Sorcerer/Abjurant Champion/Demonwrecker.
Fithero 10-14-07, 07:56 PM	Damn... sounds like an awsome character Stormbrand. What happens to him, does his soul ever get saved? I gotta know :P
Stormbrand 10-15-07, 12:58 PM	Damn... sounds like an awsome character Stormbrand. What happens to him, does his soul ever get saved? I gotta know :P Thanks. :) And so far, no. In fact, a major theme of the character is doing good with no hope of reward. "When the time comes for me to burn, if the world has become safer for my efforts, I will burn smiling." His story has yet to end, I have simply not wrote more for awhile. Privately, I had an idea... but it is not official because it uses a NWN module (Angel Falls). Preventing a powerful vampiress from corrupting the city requires him to sacrifice his life by entering a sphere of annihilation... in response to his noble sacrifice, a celestial paragon resurrects him - but Divine Law requires the soul of another be sacrificed... a beautiful young bard who is cursed to blind any who look on her. The character had no say in this. Sent back to defeat the vampiress, he discovers that the vampire is an avatar of a demon-goddess who emerges from the destroyed vampire. After slaying the demon-goddess, the character is whisked back up by the Celestial Paragon and is told he can be granted a boon outside of Divine Law. Clearly the Paragon intends for him to save his own soul from the dark fate ahead of him. He says no. Restore the bard to life. And so his boon is spent. As for the bard, she knows he used his boon to save her... only later on does she learn exactly what he gave up to restore her to life. The paladin has said nothing to her on the subject. Presumably she will be rather impressed when she finds out... I haven't given any thought past there. ****** Another plot involves facing the ghosts of his victims demanding vengeance. FYI, the paladin has a new identity and is not known as the villain he once was. These ghosts know the location of a missing high priestess trapped in Gehenna (actually the girl-child he once saved, who has gone off in search of the redeemed blackguard - not knowing of his new life). The ghosts demand the blackguard be brought before them to pay for his crimes. The paladin agrees. Task done, he stays true to his word. "You swore to bring our murderer!" snarled the ghost. "You seek the one stole your lives, who used your deaths as fuel to unleash more pain and death on the world. You seek the Font of Ruin. You seek your murderer. Here. I. am." (new chapter :D - in the book I am writing this comes as a surprise, the reader learns more of this blackguard but only knows the paladin as the paladin thusfar). Reaction from the ghosts is disbelief, but there are plenty who still want revenge. They demand he submit to his punishment. The paladin refuses. "I have just brought back innocents from the depths of Gehenna, from the domain of a dark goddess. You know more than any what fates they would suffer. Yes, I deserve death, I deserve every pain you can bring me. They don't. Nor does any other innocent I protect. If you still seek your vengeance I shall oppose it with all my might." ************ Ironically, he meets an ex-cultist of evil seeking suicide-by-paladin. "You do not get to hide from your crimes so easily." Instead, he captures the cultist and uses her to find the cult and bring it down (not written yet).
Olpolokk 10-17-07, 03:09 PM	I don’t think most evil characters see themselves as being evil but more as having a different perspective on the world than most people. The reason they became evil generally is a consequence of a traumatic experience in their past that make them change and think this way. When the character has been evil for a certain period of time he eventually matures to understand that it’s not necessary for him to remain evil and he can return to his former state of being. Example: I once had a rogue character that was very weak and got almost killed all the time. He was so weak that he once was almost killed by a pair of wolfs who where like 6 lvls lower than him, he had to run away. Anyway one day he got stuck with his party and a soon to be on of the BBEGs of the campaign on a ship. The bad guy had battle the party recently and was defeated shortly before he lost all his powers for a mysterious reason and then it was captured. When the rogue saw the bad guy on battle he was amazed on how strong he was and how he could single-handed match his group strength. So he seeks the bad guy and started questioning him about his powers, etc, etc. Long story short he persuaded the bad guy to initiate him in his dark ways. As a result the rogue became some kind of demon eldritch knight. The catch was that to progress in the class he needed the bad guy to remaine alive so he went behind the party’s back and freed him and do a lot of other bad stuff. Eventually the day came when he realized that he didn’t need the bad guy to be strong because he was strong already so he killed the bad guy and redeem himself turning in some sort of demon hunter.