Good or Evil? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Good or Evil? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
thalious
08-19-03, 07:47 PM Which do you prefer to play or DM?
Serkaith
08-19-03, 07:54 PM I would have to say both actually, having your own world and stories to tell is fun, but not knowing the outcome of the campaigns is cool also as a player. We like to rotate between DM's in the same campaign, you never know what you'll end up with or how many bad guys you'll discover in the end. :D
Gotrex
08-19-03, 08:03 PM dont really prefer either

Dwarves are my favorite race so i guess i slightly prefer good

but i hate really good characters (like paladins) i prefer the more normal good character

though if you take it in the other direction i have no problem with pure evil characters :)
Serkaith
08-19-03, 08:04 PM To complete my post, good, evil, doesn't matter to me, as long as it's fun :cool:
thalious
08-19-03, 08:18 PM As a DM I like it when both can be played. So far it is working out well and the players like both good and evil campaigns. already some of the good characters have come into conflict which has been fun and well received by the players.
Serkaith
08-19-03, 08:43 PM Conflicts between characters can be fun, as long as they do not overdo it. I had a player who was killed by another PC and made it his life quest to try to kill that other PC with every other characters he made after that... We had to ban him because he was bringing his grudges out of game into real life a bit too much :rolleyes:
kedi
08-20-03, 09:42 AM always evil :devil:
good is not law, law is not neutral, neutral isn't chaotic, chaotic isn't evil, evil is the best
Masakado
08-20-03, 09:56 AM Good guys.

Villains are not worthy enough to lace my boots.
Gez
08-20-03, 03:37 PM It's easier to play somewhat good characters. But when I DM, few are the genuinely good-aligned NPC. And villains are indeed evil, and not in a comic-book sense of "I am the bad guy, bwahahahah!"
Xae'an
08-20-03, 08:06 PM I agree with Gez, good characters are indeed easier to play and good campaigns are way easier to DM. As far as NPCs go, I often try to create NPCs that are not strictly good or evil. That forces to players to rely on their own judgement and fequently puts them in moral dilemma, which makes the story more interessting. For many of my NPCs I couldn't clearly tell what their alignment is.

My favorite NPC of that kind was a tiefling, who loved a human woman and was a worshipper of Sune a few years of his life. As a tiefling he was of course an outcast to human society, to most of the people in his village he was just 'the freak', they didn't even ask for his name. Needless to say, that his lover's family wasn't happy about their romance, especially since she was supposed to marry the Baron's son. She couldn't refuse her parents' commands and he in turn got desperate. He cursed his goddess, studied the dark arts and poisend their wine on their wedding day. He raised the Baron and his family members as zombies while he kept the body of his love intact, planning to raise her some day as a lich. In a fury he killed all the other inhabitants of his home village, raising many of them as his undead army later on to guide the Baron's castle which he then called his necropolis. He commited some horrible deeds, but only because society forced him into the role of the villain, not because he was inherently evil himself.
Unfortunatly the PCs killed him...
Herr Doktor
08-20-03, 08:19 PM I prefer to DM for PCs that are part of the forces of good. That being said, I've run several all evil, or partially evil campaigns that were all rather short-lived.

It's challenging to keep a group of evil folk together, ecspecially when they're all ran as CE despite the N and L that appears under alignment on some of their character sheets. Evil to my players means bloodshed and lots of it in any and all ways imaginable.

The most succesful evil campaign I've ever run was a 2nd Edition campaign where the PCs were all Zhentarim agents who worked below Sememmon. After the first display of his power (the death of a hapless NPC agent who failed in his latest task) the PCs realized that they'd better stick to their orders and not slit the throats of their fellow party members.

This, as you may have noticed, is heavy railroading. That used to be how I ran all of my campaigns, and forcing the PCs to stay within the guidelines caused me so much stress ye couldn't imagine!

Anyway... the PC cleric of Cyric became the chosen of the prince of lies. The campaign was far too centered around him, but the other players didn't seem to mind. They enjoyed the theatrics when their fellow agent mysteriously began to float above the battlefield and chant in defeaning tones and incantation that soon left the enemy forces scattered and horribly bloodied.

I can't even talk about how that campaign ended it is so incredibly shameful! Let's just say... I learned my lesson ten fold.

Edit: As long as the evil PC or PCs have a good reason to stick together and not put blades in each others backsides at the first oppurtunity I'll DM for them.

Otherwise you can expect a skeleton campaign without much fleshing out or too much work put into it at all, because I don't like putting effort toward things I know for a fact will not last a session or two.
thalious
08-20-03, 08:28 PM I find it beyond easy to DM evil PCs. Evil PCs tend to create their own adventures and plot hooks, IME.
Amoun
08-20-03, 08:57 PM I love to play evil characters... because they can fullfill great conquests... and create their own stories... and they dont have to be always like "What, you are being raided by orcs, I'll help!" (its an exaggeration I realize)... I like DMing both good and evil... and when evil parties are made, I make sure that they have some good reason for sticking together. In good campaigns... my npcs are really evil... not the "I slaughter all goodness" evil... but the really annoying... Realistic self-centered evil... where villians dont tell their plots to the pcs in the final showdown... and each villan has a certain quirk... example... My current party is good aligned, currently first level... and they met a special little quasit... who has hounded them down for 4 days so far... Because of the quasits invisibility and poison... he's been slowly making every pc lose nearly all of their dexterity.... and why not kill em? Cause he likes to keep them up all night, scared in their pants... lol the ranger has vowed that if he lives, he shalt hunt down all demons! The actual people playing the characters hate the quasit now... now thats a true villian lol
Quicknickel
10-23-03, 11:59 AM I prefer playing and DMing good characters and parties. I never attempt to raise an evil party member ( I know they wouldnt do it for me). I like to rid the party of evil members when Im playing and the evil characters always make it sooooo easy to do...theyre evil...they screw the party over. I also find most people who like to play evil characters are terrible roleplayers. When DMing, evil party members tend to make things difficult in every play session. That said, playing evil can be a blast. They DO make storylines during play. I only recommend playing evil for experienced players and DMs. Newbies always botch the job.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
thalious 08-19-03, 07:47 PM	Which do you prefer to play or DM?
Serkaith 08-19-03, 07:54 PM	I would have to say both actually, having your own world and stories to tell is fun, but not knowing the outcome of the campaigns is cool also as a player. We like to rotate between DM's in the same campaign, you never know what you'll end up with or how many bad guys you'll discover in the end. :D
Gotrex 08-19-03, 08:03 PM	dont really prefer either Dwarves are my favorite race so i guess i slightly prefer good but i hate really good characters (like paladins) i prefer the more normal good character though if you take it in the other direction i have no problem with pure evil characters :)
Serkaith 08-19-03, 08:04 PM	To complete my post, good, evil, doesn't matter to me, as long as it's fun :cool:
thalious 08-19-03, 08:18 PM	As a DM I like it when both can be played. So far it is working out well and the players like both good and evil campaigns. already some of the good characters have come into conflict which has been fun and well received by the players.
Serkaith 08-19-03, 08:43 PM	Conflicts between characters can be fun, as long as they do not overdo it. I had a player who was killed by another PC and made it his life quest to try to kill that other PC with every other characters he made after that... We had to ban him because he was bringing his grudges out of game into real life a bit too much :rolleyes:
kedi 08-20-03, 09:42 AM	always evil :devil: good is not law, law is not neutral, neutral isn't chaotic, chaotic isn't evil, evil is the best
Masakado 08-20-03, 09:56 AM	Good guys. Villains are not worthy enough to lace my boots.
Gez 08-20-03, 03:37 PM	It's easier to play somewhat good characters. But when I DM, few are the genuinely good-aligned NPC. And villains are indeed evil, and not in a comic-book sense of "I am the bad guy, bwahahahah!"
Xae'an 08-20-03, 08:06 PM	I agree with Gez, good characters are indeed easier to play and good campaigns are way easier to DM. As far as NPCs go, I often try to create NPCs that are not strictly good or evil. That forces to players to rely on their own judgement and fequently puts them in moral dilemma, which makes the story more interessting. For many of my NPCs I couldn't clearly tell what their alignment is. My favorite NPC of that kind was a tiefling, who loved a human woman and was a worshipper of Sune a few years of his life. As a tiefling he was of course an outcast to human society, to most of the people in his village he was just 'the freak', they didn't even ask for his name. Needless to say, that his lover's family wasn't happy about their romance, especially since she was supposed to marry the Baron's son. She couldn't refuse her parents' commands and he in turn got desperate. He cursed his goddess, studied the dark arts and poisend their wine on their wedding day. He raised the Baron and his family members as zombies while he kept the body of his love intact, planning to raise her some day as a lich. In a fury he killed all the other inhabitants of his home village, raising many of them as his undead army later on to guide the Baron's castle which he then called his necropolis. He commited some horrible deeds, but only because society forced him into the role of the villain, not because he was inherently evil himself. Unfortunatly the PCs killed him...
Herr Doktor 08-20-03, 08:19 PM	I prefer to DM for PCs that are part of the forces of good. That being said, I've run several all evil, or partially evil campaigns that were all rather short-lived. It's challenging to keep a group of evil folk together, ecspecially when they're all ran as CE despite the N and L that appears under alignment on some of their character sheets. Evil to my players means bloodshed and lots of it in any and all ways imaginable. The most succesful evil campaign I've ever run was a 2nd Edition campaign where the PCs were all Zhentarim agents who worked below Sememmon. After the first display of his power (the death of a hapless NPC agent who failed in his latest task) the PCs realized that they'd better stick to their orders and not slit the throats of their fellow party members. This, as you may have noticed, is heavy railroading. That used to be how I ran all of my campaigns, and forcing the PCs to stay within the guidelines caused me so much stress ye couldn't imagine! Anyway... the PC cleric of Cyric became the chosen of the prince of lies. The campaign was far too centered around him, but the other players didn't seem to mind. They enjoyed the theatrics when their fellow agent mysteriously began to float above the battlefield and chant in defeaning tones and incantation that soon left the enemy forces scattered and horribly bloodied. I can't even talk about how that campaign ended it is so incredibly shameful! Let's just say... I learned my lesson ten fold. Edit: As long as the evil PC or PCs have a good reason to stick together and not put blades in each others backsides at the first oppurtunity I'll DM for them. Otherwise you can expect a skeleton campaign without much fleshing out or too much work put into it at all, because I don't like putting effort toward things I know for a fact will not last a session or two.
thalious 08-20-03, 08:28 PM	I find it beyond easy to DM evil PCs. Evil PCs tend to create their own adventures and plot hooks, IME.
Amoun 08-20-03, 08:57 PM	I love to play evil characters... because they can fullfill great conquests... and create their own stories... and they dont have to be always like "What, you are being raided by orcs, I'll help!" (its an exaggeration I realize)... I like DMing both good and evil... and when evil parties are made, I make sure that they have some good reason for sticking together. In good campaigns... my npcs are really evil... not the "I slaughter all goodness" evil... but the really annoying... Realistic self-centered evil... where villians dont tell their plots to the pcs in the final showdown... and each villan has a certain quirk... example... My current party is good aligned, currently first level... and they met a special little quasit... who has hounded them down for 4 days so far... Because of the quasits invisibility and poison... he's been slowly making every pc lose nearly all of their dexterity.... and why not kill em? Cause he likes to keep them up all night, scared in their pants... lol the ranger has vowed that if he lives, he shalt hunt down all demons! The actual people playing the characters hate the quasit now... now thats a true villian lol
Quicknickel 10-23-03, 11:59 AM	I prefer playing and DMing good characters and parties. I never attempt to raise an evil party member ( I know they wouldnt do it for me). I like to rid the party of evil members when Im playing and the evil characters always make it sooooo easy to do...theyre evil...they screw the party over. I also find most people who like to play evil characters are terrible roleplayers. When DMing, evil party members tend to make things difficult in every play session. That said, playing evil can be a blast. They DO make storylines during play. I only recommend playing evil for experienced players and DMs. Newbies always botch the job.