Have you ever created a Neutral Good BBEG or a Lawful Evil DMPC? What are some weird alignments to give to NPC heroes and what are the weird alignments to give to the NPC villains?
I'll go first.
Mriak ao Qayn - Chaotic Neutral
A member of the elusive Kingfishers organization, which doesn't officially exist, but unofficially, it does. It is composed of bored nobles who enter a life of adventure for the thrill of it but also to contribute to the stability of society as a way to give back and support the prosperous peace.
A peacock-feathered aarakocra male, probably pansexual. Expert duelist and slippery rogue. He moves in the same circles as the wealthy, powerful, and beautiful, but he's on the B list, being a bastard son. But he's got a silvered tongue that's talked him into a better station in life than he was born in.
He's made it his mission to track trafficking in phoenix eggs. He advises the Circle of the Four Corners, a druid circle that is tracking the family tree of all known phoenixes in the world, in order to predict the pairings in any particular generation that could lead to the resurrection of the next Elder Phoenix. If all three Elder Phoenixes (or was it four) are resurrected at the same time, the world will end. Mriak makes sure that eggs sufficient to breed the next Elder Phoenix don't fall into the same hands, starting a war to prevent it if need be.
Just make a Lawful Neutral NPC who follows the law in an evil kingdom to the letter. Have him state as he's whipping the players "I take no satisfaction in this Sir Beat A Lot, however the law States that the lord of the County must Administer 40 lashes remove your three left digits for feeding the local halflings the kingdom is trying to exterminate, due to the Evil Lords code Section 9 sub paragraph 2.1.A." Who knows, the way to beat him could be to read up on the laws of the land.
Just make a Lawful Neutral NPC who follows the law in an evil kingdom to the letter. Have him state as he's whipping the players "I take no satisfaction in this Sir Beat A Lot, however the law States that the lord of the County must Administer 40 lashes remove your three left digits for feeding the local halflings the kingdom is trying to exterminate, due to the Evil Lords code Section 9 sub paragraph 2.1.A." Who knows, the way to beat him could be to read up on the laws of the land.
Nice. You could rip off the plot of My Cousin Vinny for this.
I've avoided DMPC's thus far, often because I feel I have enough to be doing without also trying to play a character who's not supposed to have the knowledge I have of what is happening!
so far as NPC's are concerned, I feel that alignment is one of the least influential things - I have an NPC who is neutral good, but is currently enacting a plot which could kill a lot of people, for reasons which are inherantly selfish but which she has twisted through grief to fit her beliefs that she is helping the world. She's swinging from good to neutral, as she realises the impact of her work and the potential for destruction, but her drive to complete it is only increasing as her motivations swing from a noble cause to one of revenge, to outright mad obsession! At no point is she becoming evil, but her obsession with her work and achieving her goal is blinding her to its destructive potential. I'm hoping she will become a very deep and impactful part of the story!
for interesting ones, I have a bandit captain who is in fact a mastermind of strategy, and will become infuriatingly difficult to finally deal with. Thus far he has thrown himself and the PC (solo campaign) into an underground river by capsizing the boat and escaping underwater. He's intended to keep coming back (she killed his brother) and trying to get revenge - and every chance I get, I'll give him a surprising and unexpected escape.
If I were to have a BBEG that were Neutral Good, let's say, I would make them the anti-villain the PCs maybe chase down and frustrate which might make the PCs the anti-heroes of the campaign.
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“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
Have you ever created a Neutral Good BBEG or a Lawful Evil DMPC? What are some weird alignments to give to NPC heroes and what are the weird alignments to give to the NPC villains?
I'll go first.
Mriak ao Qayn - Chaotic Neutral
A member of the elusive Kingfishers organization, which doesn't officially exist, but unofficially, it does. It is composed of bored nobles who enter a life of adventure for the thrill of it but also to contribute to the stability of society as a way to give back and support the prosperous peace.
A peacock-feathered aarakocra male, probably pansexual. Expert duelist and slippery rogue. He moves in the same circles as the wealthy, powerful, and beautiful, but he's on the B list, being a bastard son. But he's got a silvered tongue that's talked him into a better station in life than he was born in.
He's made it his mission to track trafficking in phoenix eggs. He advises the Circle of the Four Corners, a druid circle that is tracking the family tree of all known phoenixes in the world, in order to predict the pairings in any particular generation that could lead to the resurrection of the next Elder Phoenix. If all three Elder Phoenixes (or was it four) are resurrected at the same time, the world will end. Mriak makes sure that eggs sufficient to breed the next Elder Phoenix don't fall into the same hands, starting a war to prevent it if need be.
Never make a DMPC, everyone hates it but the DM.
Just make a Lawful Neutral NPC who follows the law in an evil kingdom to the letter. Have him state as he's whipping the players "I take no satisfaction in this Sir Beat A Lot, however the law States that the lord of the County must Administer 40 lashes remove your three left digits for feeding the local halflings the kingdom is trying to exterminate, due to the Evil Lords code Section 9 sub paragraph 2.1.A." Who knows, the way to beat him could be to read up on the laws of the land.
Nice. You could rip off the plot of My Cousin Vinny for this.
I've avoided DMPC's thus far, often because I feel I have enough to be doing without also trying to play a character who's not supposed to have the knowledge I have of what is happening!
so far as NPC's are concerned, I feel that alignment is one of the least influential things - I have an NPC who is neutral good, but is currently enacting a plot which could kill a lot of people, for reasons which are inherantly selfish but which she has twisted through grief to fit her beliefs that she is helping the world. She's swinging from good to neutral, as she realises the impact of her work and the potential for destruction, but her drive to complete it is only increasing as her motivations swing from a noble cause to one of revenge, to outright mad obsession! At no point is she becoming evil, but her obsession with her work and achieving her goal is blinding her to its destructive potential. I'm hoping she will become a very deep and impactful part of the story!
for interesting ones, I have a bandit captain who is in fact a mastermind of strategy, and will become infuriatingly difficult to finally deal with. Thus far he has thrown himself and the PC (solo campaign) into an underground river by capsizing the boat and escaping underwater. He's intended to keep coming back (she killed his brother) and trying to get revenge - and every chance I get, I'll give him a surprising and unexpected escape.
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
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2nd the motion to abolish the DMPC.
If I were to have a BBEG that were Neutral Good, let's say, I would make them the anti-villain the PCs maybe chase down and frustrate which might make the PCs the anti-heroes of the campaign.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
Everyone is making too much of a throw-away DMPC reference, but coming up with good cast against type villains.
It doesn't have to be a chaotic or evil DMPC, it can be any NPC who helps the PCs. A lawful evil questgiver, for example. Or a chaotic neutral mentor.