I mean certainly there would be a lot of trouble or fun to be had with a character who is incapable of lying. I bring this up because I was recently struck with the idea of creating such a character and I wanted to get some ideas from others on what they thought of such a concept.
Would you find this type of character annoying? Entertaining? How would you as the DM handle this kind of character.
Personally I think this character would be a very entertaining challenge to manage. Both as a player and as a DM. Of course there are some simple and cheeky workarounds for such a concept. What are some fun ones to use that come to mind?
A person who can never lie just tends to stand a lot!!! lol
For real there are lots of great ways to go with this. Think of classic movies.
The Breakfast Club, the criminal never once lies the entire time but is almost never believed, while the more normalized kids and teacher are caught in multiple lies. This trope is actually used a lot for certain villains, or even what causes some to become villains.
Cassandra from Greek Mythology was cursed by Apollo to tell true prophecies which nobody ever believes, and was driven mad by it.
In some cases in literature some authors will come up with characters with Aspergers Syndrome where the character either has a hard time lying, or is actually incapable of lying.
Forgotten Realms NPC Malik el Sami yn Nasser suffers from truth-spell cast by goddess of magic personally, so it looks like he's not going to recover any time soon. By the way, he was given a title "Seraph of Lies" soon after that incident. Also throughout the various editions there have been spells that create zones of truth.
It sounds like you are going to have fun with it, so flesh it out in your vision and it should be a great experience!
Remember, there's a distinction between never lying and always telling the truth. It's perfectly possible to deceive someone by saying things that are technically true but misleading. Or by responding to questions with hypothetical scenarios so long as you don't actually say they're true.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
I think they'd work well. Were I to make one, the spell text of Zone of Truth would be inspiring: "An affected creature is aware of the spell and can thus avoid answering questions to which it would normally respond with a lie. Such a creature can be evasive in its answers as long as it remains within the boundaries of the truth." They can simply refuse to answer, and there is such a thing as 'lying by omission'.
I'd also think of D&D's Asmodeus where a Faustian bargain is made with total disclosure: he and his devils never break the law when sealing a deal. Similarly is Netflix's Lucifer (I don't know what he's like in the DC Comics), who cannot tell a lie no matter how comforting it would be.
Were I DM for a character such as this, I'd love to see how the character responds, if indeed they choose to. Sometimes no answer is an answer in and of itself. However, a character such as this might struggle to get their voice heard - or not - in a group environment, which may become irksome as time goes on. At the very least such a character would make a great NPC.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Zero is the most important number in D&D: Session Zero sets the boundaries and the tone; Rule Zero dictates the Dungeon Master (DM) is the final arbiter; and Zero D&D is better than Bad D&D.
"Let us speak plainly now, and in earnest, for words mean little without the weight of conviction."
I think they'd work well. Were I to make one, the spell text of Zone of Truth would be inspiring: "An affected creature is aware of the spell and can thus avoid answering questions to which it would normally respond with a lie. Such a creature can be evasive in its answers as long as it remains within the boundaries of the truth." They can simply refuse to answer, and there is such a thing as 'lying by omission'.
I'd also think of D&D's Asmodeus where a Faustian bargain is made with total disclosure: he and his devils never break the law when sealing a deal. Similarly is Netflix's Lucifer (I don't know what he's like in the DC Comics), who cannot tell a lie no matter how comforting it would be.
Lucifer actually can lie on the show, he simply refuses to on principle. The Fair Folk in the Dresden Files or Mercy Thompson novels are an example of beings who are physically unable to lie.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Lucifer actually can lie on the show, he simply refuses to on principle. The Fair Folk in the Dresden Files or Mercy Thompson novels are an example of beings who are physically unable to lie.
I watched this show through at least twice, and the whole plot hook of Lucifer is his "Inability to lie" even though few people actually believe him. It is very possible that you picked up on something that I missed. Now there are tons of fan sites who explore this inability since the writers never fully explain it in the show. But most have resolved to explain it away as a choice Lucifer made a long time ago. After all, Lucifer did say it was a moral point for him once or twice. The only times I remember he could possibly be close to lying is times he omits information. Not to mention the quote, "...because telling the truth is much more fun!" I can hear his smug laugh in my mind when I repeat that quote in my head. (Tom Ellis was the perfect pick!!!)
I admit I didn't read most of the comics, but it would seem that Lucifer is perfectly capable of lying but he chooses not to because it’s a matter of honor, and his honor is the most important thing for him (which could be construed as an inability even if by pure choice or hubris).
I would love to hear your thoughts on this, my mind isn't made up and I definitely miss things in shows that I watched back during my drunken days.
I've actually played with a character like this, and it worked well. Lying and deceit may be similar, but they are not synonyms, and you can still trick people without directly talking. Also, if your party is in a situation where they have to lie, you don't have to. Your character can just stand there in the background twiddling their thumbs.
Or... You can always be a murderhobo who kills everyone and doesn't bother to bandy words or spend the time and energy lying. (This is what my player did.)
I've actually played with a character like this, and it worked well. Lying and deceit may be similar, but they are not synonyms, and you can still trick people without directly talking. Also, if your party is in a situation where they have to lie, you don't have to. Your character can just stand there in the background twiddling their thumbs.
Or... You can always be a murderhobo who kills everyone and doesn't bother to bandy words or spend the time and energy lying. (This is what my player did.)
pffft that last bit
but what do you do, if you have a character that just...refuses to lie or be a part of any lies?
There's nothing particularly strange or annoying about the idea of a person who doesn't lie. I've been playing an aasimar light cleric for the last few years, and he has never lied. To anyone. Granted, he's a rather quiet person with a great deal of social anxiety, but the fact that he's honest has just never been a problem. Heck, it's a trait barely worthy of mentioning. And as far as I know, it has rarely caused our party anything more than an occasional odd glance.
Keep in mind that there's "what you say" and then there's "how you say it". Sometimes the truth can be a difficult thing to hear. But if you say it softly and politely, with no hint of malice or derision, then even an enemy will have no choice but to confront it and maybe even respect it.
Refusing to be a part of a lie is substantially different from refusing to lie yourself. It's dramatically more disruptive: if someone else in the party tries to use deception to convince an NPC of something that isn't true for some reason, are you going to blurt out the truth every time? Even in situations where telling the truth would be dangerous? That's problem player behavior there. I'd recommend thinking very hard about whether or not you really want to do that before committing to such a thing.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Works fine. Your classic knights-of-the-round-table paladin. From Lancelot to Faramir ("I would not ensare even an orc with a falsehood"), fantasy literature and its antecedents are filled with characters who take their honor seriously. As a GM this is a gift, because there are a lot of interesting roleplaying scenarios where you can test the character's honor because the easy thing might be to lie, but a hero won't, and must resist the temptation to take the easy way out. Especially if the honor to be saved is not your own (the Queen's classically, of course!). From a storytelling perspective, characters who always do the expedient thing are boring. As pointed out, though, just because you don't lie doesn't mean you don't mislead people - "Seven at one blow!" is a famous fairytale story element for this reason. It is the sort of thing, though, that you might want to discuss in a "session zero" at character creation; if you are interested in playing a character straight out of Arthurian romance and everyone else wants to play rogues and thieves straight out of the Conan playbook, you are going to have conflicts, and everyone may not have a good time. It may or may not fit in with the flavor the DM has in mind: an honorable knight or samurai won't fit into a game built around theft, heists, espionage, and skullduggery. Of course, even in a "thieves and rogues" story, the character who cannot lie convincingly is a stereotype unto itself.
Shouldn't be a problem, but it is indeed a challenge. 😄
A few thoughts.
You cannot tell a deliberate lie but you are also not forced to tell the truth. This difference is your foundation. There is a long way from not telling the truth to lying. So you can refuse to talk about things altogether, tell half-truths as in say something true but not conclusive so witholding some crucial information, be incoherent when asked. If people learn that you can't lie, it might even make deceiving easier.
Someome: "Alright. Who killed Arthur that night? And where is Tommy"
You: "The whole thing is a big mess. I did see Tommy there that night. (Truth) Tommy was wielding a sword and was covered in blood. (Truth). He wasn't alone. He had some pretty nasty looking crooks with him. I was there too. I argued with Arthur quite a bit, but I didn't lay a finger on him. (Truth) I had a pretty intense argument with Tommy too. Then I left. (Truth) Next time I saw Tommy, he was covered in blood. (Truth) Then later back home I heard from you that Arthur was killed. (Truth) I have to say, Tommy did seem agitated. (Truth) He didn't speak about the blood and definitely said nothing about killing Arthur either. But he was clearly shaken and scared (Truth). Then Tommy ran away. Haven't seen him since. (Truth)
(What I left out is that Tommy owed me quite a bit of money. I had him get rid of Arthur. I met Tommy afterwards all bloodied. He didn't say much, I just told him to get to the hideout. I then sent an assassin to kill Tommy too just in case.)
Not a single lie. 😉
This works best if you are usually known as an honest person. If you always tell these half-truths and avoid answering or answer with a question, then people will start suspecting. But if you have a lot of credit and you are known to be honest, then you can quite easilly deceive too if need be.
I want to play a character like that. One could be that they used to be a dishonorable thief or charlatan who never told the truth. But eventually they changed their ways and are now unwilling to lie, no matter how easy or natural it is.
Or be connected to the feywild and speak in rhyme and verse, so that what you say is so confusing that no one can understand what you are saying.
Or be a barbarian or fighter who always tells the truth and if no one likes it then that is when you use the greataxe.
Another option, is to avoid any reasons to deceive. Avoid thievery, murder and all the other crimes that would "require" you to lie to save your hide. In your downtime, prove that you are an honorable character. Being considered honest, is valuable, you become trustworthy, and it can save your hide. Your enemies will have trouble framing you for crimes and authorities may give you power. They want someone who they can trust. If you have a secret that you must keep, then tell the truth, don't cover it in a lie. Say that you cannot reveal the secret, don't deny the fact that you have one. Or say that if they ask, you will lie. That way, they know you can't tell them the truth, and so your lie ain't a real one because they know it is one.
It really does depend on the players that you play with and the campaign you are in. If you play with murder hobo maniacs, then your truthful character probably wouldn't be hanging around them and the other players would be telling so many lies that your truthfulness would be wasted.
Honestly, it would be refreshing to see a truthful character. So many characters in stories these days are deceitful, often unneccesarily and against their own good. Having a character who values truth would be awesome.
Them: "so you had nothing to do with Arthur's death?
You: "I loved him. (Truth, as f*cked up as it may be) He was like a brother to me and I know how close you two were too. Frankie, hey, how long have we known? 30 years, 31? You need to trust me. You know I never lie."
Frankie: "Yeah. 30 years. Well what did you all argue about?"
You: "Arthur was pissed at me for the wedding thing. It seemed like a heat of the moment kinda argument. He made more claims about me and Rosalie too. (Truth) But enough about that, I don't want to ruin our memory of Arthur with this kind of talk. Arthur may have had his flaws, but he was well respected. (Truth)"
Frankie: "You're right. Let bygones be bygones, that's what I like about you. What about Tommy?"
You: "Poor lad. Neck deep in debts all over town. (Truth) I have to say I was pretty harsh on him. I told him to get his sh*t together and fix his problems before he ruins all of our lives. (Truth, just not the whole truth) Do you think that could have pushed him over the edge and kill Arthur? Do you think Tommy had some trouble with Arthur too?"
Frankie: "We'll need to find Tommy to find out. He has a lot of explaining to do. Thank you. We'll figure this all out."
I actually think a character like that would work pretty well. Technically withholding information isn’t lying, so you could just have another party member do it. It’ll also make for some really tense moments when the question can only be answered by the one unable to lie, or if nobody else in the party is present there.
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Call me Zeg.
I enjoy making homebew, and making characters in hero forge. Shoot me a message if you want your character created at no charge.
Shame they didn’t add this to their new lore, but Firbolgs are unable to tell lies, even by omission. They get nervous and break out into a sweat. I’d consider that the “hardcore Dante must die” difficulty of playing this kind of character, because usually the solution is to just have them keep quiet most of the time. Of course this isn’t limited to firbolgs because I’m pretty sure it’s a cultural thing for them. I could see a number of characters having an interesting dynamic with this limitation (maybe even a thief who’s guilty conscience gets them almost caught way too much?).
Maybe you could combine it with the changeling species to make it easier? You'd still get into tricky situations, but being a changeling prevents this quirk from being too limiting in the long run.
How would a changling work? Aren't they trying to deceive every time they shape-change?
It's a matter of interpretation and character creation, I think. I have a changeling who has practically fully abandoned his changeling form and identity and hates his true form. He is never in his true form and never uses his birth name, even when he's alone. And he has been wearing a fake mask since birth.
(I put in a little personal feature that changeling mothers can use a kind of maternal suggestion to have their newborn adopt the same species skin that their mother is using. Useful when the father is unaware of the mother's true nature. 😅)
When he takes a new persona, he is only acting and lying in his burner personas and when mimicking another person.
Usually when he creates a new long-time persona for himself, he really becomes the person in all aspects. In all personas there is always a certain degree of his core persona in the mix, but he is fully immersed in the new persona. They are all con artists though. 😅
But basically with this approach, I'd say the burner personas involve direct lying about who they are. But when he truly adopts a new form for himself, he isn't really lying. It is in fact his new identity - name, species and all. There is a large degree of personality disorder type of behaviour involved, but I reflected that it's not really a disorder when it's a changeling. It's more of a different kind of brain function and neuropsychological feature altogether, being able to become a whole new person very quickly.
My char -was able- to lie and oh boy did he. Pathologically. But I'd say with this view, it's not necessary to be a liar if you don't use those burner skins but instead just change skins when you feel threatened enough to abandon the old. 😄 And I think they could easily have a few real personas/skins that they don't lie about when wearing.
Basically it's like when an actual irl person goes through a big change like their full name. They don't lie about their name, it's actually their real name now.
Personally, if I was running a character like this, I would make them a roguish type cursed to be unable to lie by a powerful mage they swindled. They wouldn’t be not lying because of morality, so they would always try to twist the truth as far as they can. It would become a point of personal challenge for them to twist words to convey opposite meaning.
I think if I was playing an entirely honest character motivated by the cause of truth, it would have more potential to get on the nerves of other party members. The rogue wouldn’t have the opportunity to do their thing when I’m around, or I would have to compromise my principles to ignore the lie. It could be done well, but it would be more difficult.
I think that the other option would be a fun challenge- a character that wants to lie but can’t. Another addition could be that the character always has to keep their word, no matter what they promised. That could lead to some fun, as the character tries as hard as they can to never make promises, while at the same time trying to get others to trust them.
I mean certainly there would be a lot of trouble or fun to be had with a character who is incapable of lying. I bring this up because I was recently struck with the idea of creating such a character and I wanted to get some ideas from others on what they thought of such a concept.
Would you find this type of character annoying? Entertaining? How would you as the DM handle this kind of character.
Personally I think this character would be a very entertaining challenge to manage. Both as a player and as a DM. Of course there are some simple and cheeky workarounds for such a concept. What are some fun ones to use that come to mind?
A person who can never lie just tends to stand a lot!!! lol
For real there are lots of great ways to go with this. Think of classic movies.
The Breakfast Club, the criminal never once lies the entire time but is almost never believed, while the more normalized kids and teacher are caught in multiple lies. This trope is actually used a lot for certain villains, or even what causes some to become villains.
Cassandra from Greek Mythology was cursed by Apollo to tell true prophecies which nobody ever believes, and was driven mad by it.
In some cases in literature some authors will come up with characters with Aspergers Syndrome where the character either has a hard time lying, or is actually incapable of lying.
Forgotten Realms NPC Malik el Sami yn Nasser suffers from truth-spell cast by goddess of magic personally, so it looks like he's not going to recover any time soon. By the way, he was given a title "Seraph of Lies" soon after that incident. Also throughout the various editions there have been spells that create zones of truth.
It sounds like you are going to have fun with it, so flesh it out in your vision and it should be a great experience!
I am not sure what my Spirit Animal is. But whatever that thing is, I am pretty sure it has rabies!
Remember, there's a distinction between never lying and always telling the truth. It's perfectly possible to deceive someone by saying things that are technically true but misleading. Or by responding to questions with hypothetical scenarios so long as you don't actually say they're true.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
I think they'd work well. Were I to make one, the spell text of Zone of Truth would be inspiring: "An affected creature is aware of the spell and can thus avoid answering questions to which it would normally respond with a lie. Such a creature can be evasive in its answers as long as it remains within the boundaries of the truth." They can simply refuse to answer, and there is such a thing as 'lying by omission'.
I'd also think of D&D's Asmodeus where a Faustian bargain is made with total disclosure: he and his devils never break the law when sealing a deal. Similarly is Netflix's Lucifer (I don't know what he's like in the DC Comics), who cannot tell a lie no matter how comforting it would be.
Were I DM for a character such as this, I'd love to see how the character responds, if indeed they choose to. Sometimes no answer is an answer in and of itself. However, a character such as this might struggle to get their voice heard - or not - in a group environment, which may become irksome as time goes on. At the very least such a character would make a great NPC.
Zero is the most important number in D&D: Session Zero sets the boundaries and the tone; Rule Zero dictates the Dungeon Master (DM) is the final arbiter; and Zero D&D is better than Bad D&D.
"Let us speak plainly now, and in earnest, for words mean little without the weight of conviction."
- The Assemblage of Houses, World of Warcraft
Lucifer actually can lie on the show, he simply refuses to on principle. The Fair Folk in the Dresden Files or Mercy Thompson novels are an example of beings who are physically unable to lie.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
I watched this show through at least twice, and the whole plot hook of Lucifer is his "Inability to lie" even though few people actually believe him. It is very possible that you picked up on something that I missed. Now there are tons of fan sites who explore this inability since the writers never fully explain it in the show. But most have resolved to explain it away as a choice Lucifer made a long time ago. After all, Lucifer did say it was a moral point for him once or twice. The only times I remember he could possibly be close to lying is times he omits information. Not to mention the quote, "...because telling the truth is much more fun!" I can hear his smug laugh in my mind when I repeat that quote in my head. (Tom Ellis was the perfect pick!!!)
I admit I didn't read most of the comics, but it would seem that Lucifer is perfectly capable of lying but he chooses not to because it’s a matter of honor, and his honor is the most important thing for him (which could be construed as an inability even if by pure choice or hubris).
I would love to hear your thoughts on this, my mind isn't made up and I definitely miss things in shows that I watched back during my drunken days.
I am not sure what my Spirit Animal is. But whatever that thing is, I am pretty sure it has rabies!
I've actually played with a character like this, and it worked well. Lying and deceit may be similar, but they are not synonyms, and you can still trick people without directly talking. Also, if your party is in a situation where they have to lie, you don't have to. Your character can just stand there in the background twiddling their thumbs.
Or... You can always be a murderhobo who kills everyone and doesn't bother to bandy words or spend the time and energy lying. (This is what my player did.)
BoringBard's long and tedious posts somehow manage to enrapture audiences. How? Because he used Charm Person, the #1 bard spell!
He/him pronouns. Call me Bard. PROUD NERD!
Ever wanted to talk about your parties' worst mistakes? Do so HERE. What's your favorite class, why? Share & explain
HERE.pffft that last bit
but what do you do, if you have a character that just...refuses to lie or be a part of any lies?
There's nothing particularly strange or annoying about the idea of a person who doesn't lie. I've been playing an aasimar light cleric for the last few years, and he has never lied. To anyone. Granted, he's a rather quiet person with a great deal of social anxiety, but the fact that he's honest has just never been a problem. Heck, it's a trait barely worthy of mentioning. And as far as I know, it has rarely caused our party anything more than an occasional odd glance.
Keep in mind that there's "what you say" and then there's "how you say it". Sometimes the truth can be a difficult thing to hear. But if you say it softly and politely, with no hint of malice or derision, then even an enemy will have no choice but to confront it and maybe even respect it.
Anzio Faro. Protector Aasimar light cleric. Lvl 18.
Viktor Gavriil. White dragonborn grave cleric. Lvl 20.
Ikram Sahir ibn-Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad. Brass dragonborn draconic sorcerer Lvl 9. Fire elemental devil.
Wrangler of cats.
Refusing to be a part of a lie is substantially different from refusing to lie yourself. It's dramatically more disruptive: if someone else in the party tries to use deception to convince an NPC of something that isn't true for some reason, are you going to blurt out the truth every time? Even in situations where telling the truth would be dangerous? That's problem player behavior there. I'd recommend thinking very hard about whether or not you really want to do that before committing to such a thing.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Works fine. Your classic knights-of-the-round-table paladin. From Lancelot to Faramir ("I would not ensare even an orc with a falsehood"), fantasy literature and its antecedents are filled with characters who take their honor seriously. As a GM this is a gift, because there are a lot of interesting roleplaying scenarios where you can test the character's honor because the easy thing might be to lie, but a hero won't, and must resist the temptation to take the easy way out. Especially if the honor to be saved is not your own (the Queen's classically, of course!). From a storytelling perspective, characters who always do the expedient thing are boring. As pointed out, though, just because you don't lie doesn't mean you don't mislead people - "Seven at one blow!" is a famous fairytale story element for this reason. It is the sort of thing, though, that you might want to discuss in a "session zero" at character creation; if you are interested in playing a character straight out of Arthurian romance and everyone else wants to play rogues and thieves straight out of the Conan playbook, you are going to have conflicts, and everyone may not have a good time. It may or may not fit in with the flavor the DM has in mind: an honorable knight or samurai won't fit into a game built around theft, heists, espionage, and skullduggery. Of course, even in a "thieves and rogues" story, the character who cannot lie convincingly is a stereotype unto itself.
Shouldn't be a problem, but it is indeed a challenge. 😄
A few thoughts.
You cannot tell a deliberate lie but you are also not forced to tell the truth. This difference is your foundation. There is a long way from not telling the truth to lying. So you can refuse to talk about things altogether, tell half-truths as in say something true but not conclusive so witholding some crucial information, be incoherent when asked. If people learn that you can't lie, it might even make deceiving easier.
Someome: "Alright. Who killed Arthur that night? And where is Tommy"
You: "The whole thing is a big mess. I did see Tommy there that night. (Truth) Tommy was wielding a sword and was covered in blood. (Truth). He wasn't alone. He had some pretty nasty looking crooks with him. I was there too. I argued with Arthur quite a bit, but I didn't lay a finger on him. (Truth) I had a pretty intense argument with Tommy too. Then I left. (Truth) Next time I saw Tommy, he was covered in blood. (Truth) Then later back home I heard from you that Arthur was killed. (Truth) I have to say, Tommy did seem agitated. (Truth) He didn't speak about the blood and definitely said nothing about killing Arthur either. But he was clearly shaken and scared (Truth). Then Tommy ran away. Haven't seen him since. (Truth)
(What I left out is that Tommy owed me quite a bit of money. I had him get rid of Arthur. I met Tommy afterwards all bloodied. He didn't say much, I just told him to get to the hideout. I then sent an assassin to kill Tommy too just in case.)
Not a single lie. 😉
This works best if you are usually known as an honest person. If you always tell these half-truths and avoid answering or answer with a question, then people will start suspecting. But if you have a lot of credit and you are known to be honest, then you can quite easilly deceive too if need be.
Finland GMT/UTC +2
I want to play a character like that. One could be that they used to be a dishonorable thief or charlatan who never told the truth. But eventually they changed their ways and are now unwilling to lie, no matter how easy or natural it is.
Or be connected to the feywild and speak in rhyme and verse, so that what you say is so confusing that no one can understand what you are saying.
Or be a barbarian or fighter who always tells the truth and if no one likes it then that is when you use the greataxe.
Another option, is to avoid any reasons to deceive. Avoid thievery, murder and all the other crimes that would "require" you to lie to save your hide. In your downtime, prove that you are an honorable character. Being considered honest, is valuable, you become trustworthy, and it can save your hide. Your enemies will have trouble framing you for crimes and authorities may give you power. They want someone who they can trust. If you have a secret that you must keep, then tell the truth, don't cover it in a lie. Say that you cannot reveal the secret, don't deny the fact that you have one. Or say that if they ask, you will lie. That way, they know you can't tell them the truth, and so your lie ain't a real one because they know it is one.
It really does depend on the players that you play with and the campaign you are in. If you play with murder hobo maniacs, then your truthful character probably wouldn't be hanging around them and the other players would be telling so many lies that your truthfulness would be wasted.
Honestly, it would be refreshing to see a truthful character. So many characters in stories these days are deceitful, often unneccesarily and against their own good. Having a character who values truth would be awesome.
The Tommy saga continues
Them: "so you had nothing to do with Arthur's death?
You: "I loved him. (Truth, as f*cked up as it may be) He was like a brother to me and I know how close you two were too. Frankie, hey, how long have we known? 30 years, 31? You need to trust me. You know I never lie."
Frankie: "Yeah. 30 years. Well what did you all argue about?"
You: "Arthur was pissed at me for the wedding thing. It seemed like a heat of the moment kinda argument. He made more claims about me and Rosalie too. (Truth) But enough about that, I don't want to ruin our memory of Arthur with this kind of talk. Arthur may have had his flaws, but he was well respected. (Truth)"
Frankie: "You're right. Let bygones be bygones, that's what I like about you. What about Tommy?"
You: "Poor lad. Neck deep in debts all over town. (Truth) I have to say I was pretty harsh on him. I told him to get his sh*t together and fix his problems before he ruins all of our lives. (Truth, just not the whole truth) Do you think that could have pushed him over the edge and kill Arthur? Do you think Tommy had some trouble with Arthur too?"
Frankie: "We'll need to find Tommy to find out. He has a lot of explaining to do. Thank you. We'll figure this all out."
Finland GMT/UTC +2
I actually think a character like that would work pretty well. Technically withholding information isn’t lying, so you could just have another party member do it. It’ll also make for some really tense moments when the question can only be answered by the one unable to lie, or if nobody else in the party is present there.
Call me Zeg.
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Shame they didn’t add this to their new lore, but Firbolgs are unable to tell lies, even by omission. They get nervous and break out into a sweat. I’d consider that the “hardcore Dante must die” difficulty of playing this kind of character, because usually the solution is to just have them keep quiet most of the time. Of course this isn’t limited to firbolgs because I’m pretty sure it’s a cultural thing for them. I could see a number of characters having an interesting dynamic with this limitation (maybe even a thief who’s guilty conscience gets them almost caught way too much?).
Maybe you could combine it with the changeling species to make it easier? You'd still get into tricky situations, but being a changeling prevents this quirk from being too limiting in the long run.
Finland GMT/UTC +2
How would a changling work? Aren't they trying to deceive every time they shape-change?
It's a matter of interpretation and character creation, I think. I have a changeling who has practically fully abandoned his changeling form and identity and hates his true form. He is never in his true form and never uses his birth name, even when he's alone. And he has been wearing a fake mask since birth.
(I put in a little personal feature that changeling mothers can use a kind of maternal suggestion to have their newborn adopt the same species skin that their mother is using. Useful when the father is unaware of the mother's true nature. 😅)
When he takes a new persona, he is only acting and lying in his burner personas and when mimicking another person.
Usually when he creates a new long-time persona for himself, he really becomes the person in all aspects. In all personas there is always a certain degree of his core persona in the mix, but he is fully immersed in the new persona. They are all con artists though. 😅
But basically with this approach, I'd say the burner personas involve direct lying about who they are. But when he truly adopts a new form for himself, he isn't really lying. It is in fact his new identity - name, species and all. There is a large degree of personality disorder type of behaviour involved, but I reflected that it's not really a disorder when it's a changeling. It's more of a different kind of brain function and neuropsychological feature altogether, being able to become a whole new person very quickly.
My char -was able- to lie and oh boy did he. Pathologically. But I'd say with this view, it's not necessary to be a liar if you don't use those burner skins but instead just change skins when you feel threatened enough to abandon the old. 😄 And I think they could easily have a few real personas/skins that they don't lie about when wearing.
Basically it's like when an actual irl person goes through a big change like their full name. They don't lie about their name, it's actually their real name now.
But yeah. That's just my interpretation. 😄
Finland GMT/UTC +2
Personally, if I was running a character like this, I would make them a roguish type cursed to be unable to lie by a powerful mage they swindled. They wouldn’t be not lying because of morality, so they would always try to twist the truth as far as they can. It would become a point of personal challenge for them to twist words to convey opposite meaning.
I think if I was playing an entirely honest character motivated by the cause of truth, it would have more potential to get on the nerves of other party members. The rogue wouldn’t have the opportunity to do their thing when I’m around, or I would have to compromise my principles to ignore the lie. It could be done well, but it would be more difficult.
I think that the other option would be a fun challenge- a character that wants to lie but can’t. Another addition could be that the character always has to keep their word, no matter what they promised. That could lead to some fun, as the character tries as hard as they can to never make promises, while at the same time trying to get others to trust them.
Only spilt the party if you see something shiny.
Ariendela Sneakerson, Half-elf Rogue (8); Harmony Wolfsbane, Tiefling Bard (10); Agnomally, Gnomish Sorcerer (3); Breeze, Tabaxi Monk (8); Grace, Dragonborn Barbarian (7); DM, Homebrew- The Sequestered Lands/Underwater Explorers; Candlekeep