The Importance of Being Evil - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

The Importance of Being Evil

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
james_sate
May 30, 2008 6:20:12 First some history, then my problem.

My character is an 8th level female human Bard. The campaign I play in consists of myself, and another player who plays a male halfling rogue/assasin/were-rat of one level lower than myself. We have run this campaign with our great DM for a while now, and it's one filled with horrible acts to humanity, great heists, etc. It's an evil campaign, and I love it.

My issue comes with the dawn of 4e. Our DM has devised a way to "transport" our characters into the current setting (Forgotten Realms is the setting we play in now), but my issue is how should a character who has done such unspeakable acts to NPCs view such a jump. As I understand it, there's something of a 100 year gap in the continuity between 3.5e and 4e? Is this correct? I'm just struggling with a logical way for an evil character to regard such a leap forward without playing the standard "Muahaha, new lands to **** and villagers to pillage" angle a la Demolition Man, Blade 3, any movie with a resurrected villain.

Help me be evil, but not cliche!
#2
entropy_judge
May 30, 2008 9:51:26 The 'cliche evil' you noted seems to me to be more of a partially deranged Chaotic Evil - someone who lives only to blow stuff up, basically. An evil character can be just as confused as a good or neutral one, and you might spend the first few sessions going undercover, masquerading as a neutral character perhaps. Once you've determined the local powers and how you can fit in, what you do will depend on your alignment:

A Lawful Evil will tend to align with the strongest local power, with an aim to become the next leader (perhaps). Will probably not upset the status quo intentionally.

A Chaotic Evil will probably go to each of the powers and kick the doors in, trying to show the locals that there's a new big bad in town and respect needs to be shown. Possible variation would be along the NE line:

A Neutral Evil will attempt to subvert the local powers to his/her own end. Take control of mid- and high-level leaders within the most powerful organizations and destroy the groups from within (have them make war with each other, perhaps?) and then step in to pick up the pieces and bring peace to the area - use the survivors of the fallen groups to build up your own forces.

Of course, these might not fit in with your character concept, but the basic thing to remember is that just because your character is evil doesn't mean that she is stupid/crazy - if Darth Vader or the Emperor were transported to a universe without the Force, do you think they'd just try to destroy stuff? No, they're both intelligent and they do have skills besides their Sith abilities.
#3
aberzanzorax
May 30, 2008 10:04:11 The first thing most people would do would probably lay low and get oriented.

Following that, you could find your old treasures, look up previous enemies and see if they've grown old and weak or incredibly powerful. If old and weak...well you know.

The other thing you could do is "try to turn over a new leaf" (with the out of game idea that you are truly evil at heart and will fail). This could provide many sessions of roleplaying, mysteries and greyness about who is really allied with who and so on...

You could take an adventure to help the villagers, and then be too tempted to betray them after all...
#4
doomsought
May 30, 2008 10:56:51 Or you could not. 4ed will be an entirely new game, so you shouldn't risk ruining your favorite characters over it. You can keep on playing 3ed.

Your best bet is to lay low, and charm some local officials (dominate is better if you have it already). Then you brutally kill them and declare your now rule that locality.

Also the last I hear there wasn't a gap in continuity. Its just a change in game physics. As such I wouldn't think there is a reliable way to transfer your character and keep the same feel.
#5
i_roll_ones
May 30, 2008 12:49:49 Law enforcement is sure as heck not looking for you anymore. However, advances in magical items might have been made, and you don't really know the lay of the land or who is in charge just yet.

Maybe lay low for a bit, waiting for a good opportunity. Or even join up with bounty hunters and the like, gaining a reputation for being a nice person, some cash and maybe gear before you use your position to kill as many people as possible.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 james_sate May 30, 2008 6:20:12	First some history, then my problem. My character is an 8th level female human Bard. The campaign I play in consists of myself, and another player who plays a male halfling rogue/assasin/were-rat of one level lower than myself. We have run this campaign with our great DM for a while now, and it's one filled with horrible acts to humanity, great heists, etc. It's an evil campaign, and I love it. My issue comes with the dawn of 4e. Our DM has devised a way to "transport" our characters into the current setting (Forgotten Realms is the setting we play in now), but my issue is how should a character who has done such unspeakable acts to NPCs view such a jump. As I understand it, there's something of a 100 year gap in the continuity between 3.5e and 4e? Is this correct? I'm just struggling with a logical way for an evil character to regard such a leap forward without playing the standard "Muahaha, new lands to *** and villagers to pillage*" angle a la Demolition Man, Blade 3, any movie with a resurrected villain. Help me be evil, but not cliche!
#2 entropy_judge May 30, 2008 9:51:26	The 'cliche evil' you noted seems to me to be more of a partially deranged Chaotic Evil - someone who lives only to blow stuff up, basically. An evil character can be just as confused as a good or neutral one, and you might spend the first few sessions going undercover, masquerading as a neutral character perhaps. Once you've determined the local powers and how you can fit in, what you do will depend on your alignment: A Lawful Evil will tend to align with the strongest local power, with an aim to become the next leader (perhaps). Will probably not upset the status quo intentionally. A Chaotic Evil will probably go to each of the powers and kick the doors in, trying to show the locals that there's a new big bad in town and respect needs to be shown. Possible variation would be along the NE line: A Neutral Evil will attempt to subvert the local powers to his/her own end. Take control of mid- and high-level leaders within the most powerful organizations and destroy the groups from within (have them make war with each other, perhaps?) and then step in to pick up the pieces and bring peace to the area - use the survivors of the fallen groups to build up your own forces. Of course, these might not fit in with your character concept, but the basic thing to remember is that just because your character is evil doesn't mean that she is stupid/crazy - if Darth Vader or the Emperor were transported to a universe without the Force, do you think they'd just try to destroy stuff? No, they're both intelligent and they do have skills besides their Sith abilities.
#3 aberzanzorax May 30, 2008 10:04:11	The first thing most people would do would probably lay low and get oriented. Following that, you could find your old treasures, look up previous enemies and see if they've grown old and weak or incredibly powerful. If old and weak...well you know. The other thing you could do is "try to turn over a new leaf" (with the out of game idea that you are truly evil at heart and will fail). This could provide many sessions of roleplaying, mysteries and greyness about who is really allied with who and so on... You could take an adventure to help the villagers, and then be too tempted to betray them after all...
#4 doomsought May 30, 2008 10:56:51	Or you could not. 4ed will be an entirely new game, so you shouldn't risk ruining your favorite characters over it. You can keep on playing 3ed. Your best bet is to lay low, and charm some local officials (dominate is better if you have it already). Then you brutally kill them and declare your now rule that locality. Also the last I hear there wasn't a gap in continuity. Its just a change in game physics. As such I wouldn't think there is a reliable way to transfer your character and keep the same feel.
#5 i_roll_ones May 30, 2008 12:49:49	Law enforcement is sure as heck not looking for you anymore. However, advances in magical items might have been made, and you don't really know the lay of the land or who is in charge just yet. Maybe lay low for a bit, waiting for a good opportunity. Or even join up with bounty hunters and the like, gaining a reputation for being a nice person, some cash and maybe gear before you use your position to kill as many people as possible.