I have had a bit of trouble roleplaying, because I am not sure how to approach it.
Right now I am a halfling rogue, and in a few levels I plan to go assassin.. So I was thinking about making my personality A bit mysterious yet troublesome. Right now I am neutral, and i decided before I turn assassin I would go neutral evil (since it is a requirement to be evil) I tried looking at my assassins alignment to help as well. And it brought up in the phb about looking after number 1(myself) and not neccessarily caring about anyone else.
I was thinking that before being evil, I would somewhat hint that I was going evil with some of my actions in game... Being what I am now, I generally want to help people, but i figure my personality will alter little by little.
So I am having difficulty trying to express my character, so if anyone could possibly help me when it comes to roleplaying, or give me some pointers on how to express these little quirks in my personality, it would be greatly appreciated!!
Going the heavy mercenary route (I fight for your gold) both allows you to have a reason to help the party (paycheck) but still be uninterested in doing good or even being all that helpful to your employer (Hey, you said free the captives not free the captives and escort them back here/make sure they are safe).
You might also think on goals for your character beyond class levels. Sure you want to be an assassin, but what then? Look for ways to insert yourself into the game. Do you want to join/take over the local thieves or assassin guild, do such guilds even exist? Will said guilds hunt you down if you freelance? Can you start your own guild (leadership feat) and perhaps rival others?
Edit: Obligatory Disclaimer
Be sure both your DM and your group are OK with evil alignments.
Btw: There is a Halfling assassin PrC in the book Races of the Wild that doesn't require you to be evil.
Just pretend you are a bad guy, and you like to steal and kill.
Pretend you are in a movie where killing and stealing is the only way to survive, balanced with you don't want to kill the party, because they outnumber you.
Every time something happens in game, ask yourself, how can i woprk this to my PC's advantage...
Take bigger treasure shares.
Ask for more treasure or extra treasure.
Look for chances to ambush the enemy and then rob them.
Look for chances to steal anything not nailed down and sell it for profit, then refuse to split it because "I took it all by myself, and I'm gonna spend it all by myself, too!"
Basically, thing about how a boy scout "Neutral Good" would handle things, and do the opposite.
Don't escort a little old lady across the street...
Instead escort her across the street, let her get hit by a carriage, leap out of the way, take her purse, then run "to get help." Just don't come back.
If accosted, allow as to how you were running to get a healer, and you were "keeping her money safe from thieves."
If arrested, deny everything, and start counter-accusations, such as the carriage driver, it's his fault, he's a murderer...well, maybe it was an accident, but she's dead! etc. then hit them in the stomach, and run.
Hide out in the woods, get a disguise.
it's simple.
hahaOh I have a second question, I have a VERY narrow minded person playing on my team, he believes that if you are evil, then you cannot exist on a good aligned team.. Because you 'have to' hurt people and what not (which i don't believe is true in the least). So in your opinion, can an evil character exist in a good aligned team? Because your evil, should you 'go out of your way' to kill someone? I personally don't think so, I feel that as an evil character, I may be more selfish and not neccessarily CARE if someone gets hurt, but that doesn't mean I am going to go on a random killing spree of innocent people...
Thinking about what motivates you're character and why they are who they are really helps roleplay well
As for an evil character in a mixed alignment group: sure it can work fine. Last time I ran an evil character in a good group, I took the outlook that they were my minions. Yes, perhaps I was too lenient in my treatment of them, but they did a good job of keeping me alive and taking care of my problems. After all, competent lieutenants are hard to find, no need to mercilessly slaughter the ones I have in my employ already (at least not before I find better ones).
dirtyfrank also makes a good point about the appearance of good. If you act like a good person and are traveling with a similar crowd, others will overlook you. You might be able to gain access to places more easily, and when a theft or assassination occurs you may not even make the suspect list.
The fighter, the wizard, the pally and the pally/cleric are all Lawful Good.
Then there's a Lawful Neutral hobgoblin, a Lawful Evil kobold, and the rogue/swashbuckler is Chaotic Neutral...
The rogue is often the moral compass of the party because he considers himself a philosopher and enjoys calling bullsh
on the paladin (the party leader) when he gets overly self-righteous.As a Neutral Evil character, focus on the Neutral element of your alignment. If given a choice, you only get involved with things that will profit you. Being an assassin is a career choice. You're an efficient, professional killer. Morons and amateurs go around randomly slaughtering civilians. You only kill people when there's profit in it or it becomes necessary/unavoidable.
- You're with the party because it's to your advantage to be part of a larger group - they provide protection and camouflage. Working against the party (i.e., stealing their stuff, betraying them, p*ssing them off just because "I'm evil."...etc.) is stupid because what hurts the party hurts you.
- You help people because there's some benefit in it for you - most of the time it pays pretty well and gives people the false impression that you're a nice guy which makes it easier to get away with stuff.
- You have a "cover identity", an "average nice-guy adventurer" face that you present to the world, maybe even the rest of the party, but in reality you're a cold-blooded pragmatist. Your evil lies in the fact that you wouldn't give a rat's ass about anyone other than yourself/the party unless they paid you.
- Always figure the "angles" and what will benefit you the most in the current situation. In social situations be forgettable and blend in unless being the center of attention is a better option. In combat, be a visciously efficient bastard.
Etarnon you brought up some really great points, and made me laugh at the same time
Oh I have a second question, I have a VERY narrow minded person playing on my team, he believes that if you are evil, then you cannot exist on a good aligned team.. Because you 'have to' hurt people and what not (which i don't believe is true in the least). So in your opinion, can an evil character exist in a good aligned team? Because your evil, should you 'go out of your way' to kill someone? I personally don't think so, I feel that as an evil character, I may be more selfish and not neccessarily CARE if someone gets hurt, but that doesn't mean I am going to go on a random killing spree of innocent people...
You are right; your friend doesn't understand Evil. But being an Evil PC in a 3e party is a recipe for bad feelings amongst players. Etarnon gave some decent advice...but only if you and your gaming friends are all agreed that Player v. Player conflict is okay. Otherwise, you're just going to p!ss off everyone by playing an Evil character. Even if you were to play a smart team-oriented Evil character, it might end with player vs. player conflict if a Good party member were to cast detect evil with you nearby.
Evil doesn't have to be psychotic, kill-people-for-giving-you-a-dirty-look Evil. Neither does Evil have to be self-centered, steal-as-much-gold-as-you-can-from-your-own-friends Evil. Oh, yes, Evil characters have friends and loved ones just like everyone else! Evil can be a character who is normal in most ways, but is simply willing to be totally amoral when dealing with non-friends and non-family.
Hope that helps,
TS
Pretty much since it is more or less everyone for themself, and the most accessible money is from fellow adventurers.
Why gank a goblin worth a few GP if ambushing an ally is worth a few thousand?
I see this all the time on Neverwinter nights servers.
Evil PCs don't go to the forest to hunt goblins, they lurk in the alleys of towns, and gank new level 1 adventurers (who are typically buying at the market, distracted...worth easily a few hundred GP, sell their stuff, and do it again... which makes them richer, which makes it easier to kill new guys.
City of Arabel being the top of the list for this stuff.
of course you can't just go and kill anyone, even though the prereq specifically states (for no other reason) killing someone at random to gain new powers is also highly chaotic, and I'd say most assassins are calm, cool and anything but chaotic, so the simple solution is:
1. find someone that you think you'd be better off without (someone who wronged you in the past or who you really just hate).
2. study the target, discover his routines and weaknesses.
3. find a dagger, poison, plank of wood with a nail in it etc.
4. introduce weapon to victim.
remember its not just purely your alignment that determines roleplaying, it's also your class, so act like an assassin and you'll have a good reason to become an assassin.
Roleplaying in evil campaigns can be tough, because it usually ends up in sabotage, if not outright homicidal tendencies. I know when I did an evil campaign I very nearly killed another party member the first time I met him. Fortunately, after we had wounded each other significantly enough, our fighting had roused the local plot hook...
I don't see a reason that an evil person can't have friends. Evil people have friends in real life. They're probably also evil, but just because both are evil doesn't mean that they're going to automatically betray each other.
It's that most (80%+?) players of Evil Pcs have no idea how to hang a coherent story on a group, and it rapidly within a few sessions rapidly devolves into "I kill him in his sleep, and take his stuff."
DMs who have been around since the old days have seen this and seen this and seen this, until they just give up trying to run evil games.
Rare is the evil game that doesn't go this way. I've managed to run two in over 30 years that didn't. Dozens that did, that caused friendships to break.
I don't run them, any more. Nowadays, I run games for PCs that are strictly good guys or anti-heroes that do the right thing for the wrong reasons.