I am wanting to make a character who is a misunderstood criminal who wants to change their ways. I want them to look evil, and make regular comments about "evil" thoughts such as just killing people for convenience, and for their powers to seem evil, but I want to play them as neutral with a goal to become good.
I am considering taking 3 levels of paladin for oath of redemption, for the theme, but I want the rest of their powers and abilities to appear characteristically evil and sinister.
The character is going to be for a suicide squad based game where the characters are pulled out of eprison to help save the world. I would like my character to really give off evil vibes, but they genuinely want to reform and help save the world, and become a good guy. I think it would be a really fun character to roleplay!
So far as appearance and backstory is concerned, I am thinking a warforged with a skull for a head. The skull was that of a lich who turned demilich, then was used to build a warforged. I am contemplating warlock, with the soul of the lich as the patron - any ideas?
Given the description you mentioned, I'm thinking of HK47 from Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic (https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/HK-47) so go for Rogue Assassin, flavour it as created from the parts of a lich to give it sentience and then go about hunting down 'evil' spell casters.
To quote HK from the wiki...
"Recitation: Yes, as I said, I am an assassin droid. It is my primary function to burn holes through meatbags that you wish removed from the galaxy…"
Given the description you mentioned, I'm thinking of HK47 from Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic (https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/HK-47) so go for Rogue Assassin, flavour it as created from the parts of a lich to give it sentience and then go about hunting down 'evil' spell casters.
To quote HK from the wiki...
"Recitation: Yes, as I said, I am an assassin droid. It is my primary function to burn holes through meatbags that you wish removed from the galaxy…"
It's been ages since I've played KOTOR but isn't HK47 functionally built (stat-wise) more like a straight up fighter/soldier type?
That being said the idea of a Rogue/Assassin who is an actual assassin seeking to use their skills for the good of the world instead of just murders for hire would be a solid choice for the OP's question. Not exactly the most original idea but some concepts are popular because they're easy to work into a game's greater story and also flexible enough to have plenty of ways to still develop a unique character from the "common" starting point (I play a rogue in one of my games that has a slightly less edgy version of the same concept, being a burglar rather than an assassin which I guess makes him kind of like Ant Man without the cool suit).
But you don't need to go specifically with Rogue to have a "dark and troubled past." You can really take just about anything and dress it up like a high school mall goth for that. Any kind of spellcaster can have "powers that seem evil" if you describe them the right way, though as mentioned by Paguescarred necromancy is an obvious indicator of nefariousness for most folks. A Death Cleric going for a reaper vibe would fit into the niche rather easily as well. Shadow Magic Sorcerer is also tailor made for instant creepy edge vibes and while it isn't mechanically super impressive the Strength of the Grave feature could very easily save your life at low levels as a squishy PC.
Fathomless warlock would raise a lot of eyebrows with its central mechanic involving summoning tentacles. If they're menacing looking enough I think that could serve as a pretty 'obviously evil' aesthetic. But that may not be a class/angle you'd want to go for specifically.
I would go Rogue Assassin myself. Although the Bard College of Whispers is also a great choice for an evil PC.
Any Warlock whose patron is evil who wants to use the Warlock as a gate or portal to gain access to this plane would also be great. Imagine the formerly selfish PC waking up and realizing that he’s being used to unleash a demon or a devil onto the world and freaking out.
Anything that adds necrotic damage to attacks can be easily presented as evil -- even something like a Path of the Zealot barb
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
So he has a bit of a rogue and fighter vibe, KOTOR was a Star Wars themed version of 3.5e I think and taking a look at skills he had the equivalent of: Stealth, Persuasion, Thieves tools and Medicine (and a few others with no real 5e conparison) but he did have feats that were certainly more fighterish such as Tough and proficiency with Ranged Weapons, having said that, a Artificer with a big gun could be a fun way to take him, its a shame the Warsmith/Thunder Monger from the UA didn't make it into the official version of artificer because I thnk that would have been amazing for an HK47 build.
Edit: Fighter/Gunslinger could also work if you don;t mind the occasional misfire
Hello all!
I am wanting to make a character who is a misunderstood criminal who wants to change their ways. I want them to look evil, and make regular comments about "evil" thoughts such as just killing people for convenience, and for their powers to seem evil, but I want to play them as neutral with a goal to become good.
I am considering taking 3 levels of paladin for oath of redemption, for the theme, but I want the rest of their powers and abilities to appear characteristically evil and sinister.
The character is going to be for a suicide squad based game where the characters are pulled out of eprison to help save the world. I would like my character to really give off evil vibes, but they genuinely want to reform and help save the world, and become a good guy. I think it would be a really fun character to roleplay!
So far as appearance and backstory is concerned, I am thinking a warforged with a skull for a head. The skull was that of a lich who turned demilich, then was used to build a warforged. I am contemplating warlock, with the soul of the lich as the patron - any ideas?
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
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A tiefling wizard necromancer could be one of the most seemingly evil combo to me.
Given the description you mentioned, I'm thinking of HK47 from Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic (https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/HK-47) so go for Rogue Assassin, flavour it as created from the parts of a lich to give it sentience and then go about hunting down 'evil' spell casters.
To quote HK from the wiki...
"Recitation: Yes, as I said, I am an assassin droid. It is my primary function to burn holes through meatbags that you wish removed from the galaxy…"
It's been ages since I've played KOTOR but isn't HK47 functionally built (stat-wise) more like a straight up fighter/soldier type?
That being said the idea of a Rogue/Assassin who is an actual assassin seeking to use their skills for the good of the world instead of just murders for hire would be a solid choice for the OP's question. Not exactly the most original idea but some concepts are popular because they're easy to work into a game's greater story and also flexible enough to have plenty of ways to still develop a unique character from the "common" starting point (I play a rogue in one of my games that has a slightly less edgy version of the same concept, being a burglar rather than an assassin which I guess makes him kind of like Ant Man without the cool suit).
But you don't need to go specifically with Rogue to have a "dark and troubled past." You can really take just about anything and dress it up like a high school mall goth for that. Any kind of spellcaster can have "powers that seem evil" if you describe them the right way, though as mentioned by Paguescarred necromancy is an obvious indicator of nefariousness for most folks. A Death Cleric going for a reaper vibe would fit into the niche rather easily as well. Shadow Magic Sorcerer is also tailor made for instant creepy edge vibes and while it isn't mechanically super impressive the Strength of the Grave feature could very easily save your life at low levels as a squishy PC.
Fathomless warlock would raise a lot of eyebrows with its central mechanic involving summoning tentacles. If they're menacing looking enough I think that could serve as a pretty 'obviously evil' aesthetic. But that may not be a class/angle you'd want to go for specifically.
I would go Rogue Assassin myself. Although the Bard College of Whispers is also a great choice for an evil PC.
Any Warlock whose patron is evil who wants to use the Warlock as a gate or portal to gain access to this plane would also be great. Imagine the formerly selfish PC waking up and realizing that he’s being used to unleash a demon or a devil onto the world and freaking out.
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Anything that adds necrotic damage to attacks can be easily presented as evil -- even something like a Path of the Zealot barb
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
A reborn made of parts of a bunch of different creatures, that is a shadow sorcerer.
re post 3 &4 and apologies for side tracking the thread a tad:
based on what I can find for HK47 his stats were:
At Level 6 : Strength 16, Dexterity 14, Constitution 10, Intelligence 14, Wisdom 12, Charisma 10
At Level 20: Strength 16, Dexterity 18, Constitution 10, Intelligence 14, Wisdom 12, Charisma 10
So he has a bit of a rogue and fighter vibe, KOTOR was a Star Wars themed version of 3.5e I think and taking a look at skills he had the equivalent of: Stealth, Persuasion, Thieves tools and Medicine (and a few others with no real 5e conparison) but he did have feats that were certainly more fighterish such as Tough and proficiency with Ranged Weapons, having said that, a Artificer with a big gun could be a fun way to take him, its a shame the Warsmith/Thunder Monger from the UA didn't make it into the official version of artificer because I thnk that would have been amazing for an HK47 build.
Edit: Fighter/Gunslinger could also work if you don;t mind the occasional misfire