My Warlock's backstory is he comes from a human royal family but, as a result of an ancient family pact with a devil from the 2nd level of hell, the 3rd born of each monarch is born as a Fire-Genasi.
Nominally his alignment is Neutral - he's gone travelling the lands as an adventurer to 'discover himself', however last session he accepted an offer from an unreliable object that granted him extra powers but has shifted his alignment to NE. The rest of his fellow adventurers are between Neutral and Good, but don't know about this new development [unless they're reading this thread, in which case, oops - Spoilers!].
His motives of acquiring magics and wealth aren't going to change, and also we're currently stranded in an unknown location,and until we save the locals there's no way home, so my goals haven't particularly changed either. And not being chaotic, randomly attacking the other players doesn't seem likely without good reason (even villains have mates!).
So... Any suggestions or experience as to how to play as Evil?!
So... Any suggestions or experience as to how to play as Evil?!
Two things:
1) Never betray the party. an NE can understand that and play his role. 2) never go the murder hobo route. (A well played NE can appear the saint.
Pick an evil goal like like usurping the throne. start to lay the ground work. It may not come up a lot in the game but making friendly contact with poisoners is commonplace for evil nobles with relatives in the way.
Basically this; evil doesn't mean you have to be a cackling maniac who wants to darken the suns and have devils rule the land or anything, though you might if you think you'll get something out of it.
As a general rule though you want to be purely self-motivated, but that doesn't mean your goals and the party's won't align most of the time; firstly, having allies is classic self-preservation, as is helping them in order to earn goodwill and favours. If you let a party member die then the rest of the party aren't going to be so quick to come to your aid, but if you help the party then they should be willing to help you; while they might be doing it for selfless reasons, for you it's mutual self-interest.
You're probably not going to go out of your way to save someone in trouble if it would mean risking your neck to do so, but again it depends on the circumstances; if you're looking to ingratiate yourself with, or earn the trust, of a local leader, guild etc. then helping them out is in your interest to do-so. You might also have other reasons for doing the right thing in spite of being evil.
I'm currently playing a Neutral Evil character in a campaign who is very much self-interested; while his primary goal in life is to gain knowledge (he is obsessed with this pursuit) he was cursed as a result of prying into the secrets of the powerful, so his current short term goal is to end that curse, and the current party is a good means towards that end. He doesn't care about helping anyone as a rule, yet has done so multiple times. He was confronted by the group's mostly good paladin, and rejected the accusation of being evil, instead describing himself as a "rational apathetic pragmatist". He is calculating and ruthless; he is not incapable of empathy, he just doesn't act upon it.
One time we found lost children in an abandoned fortress, he helped them not for their sakes, but because they could be taught to maintain the fortress' magical defences in case he wanted to return later. Another time we found someone frozen in a kind of stasis a moment before a noose broke their neck, so he conjured up a platform to prevent this using creation so that once we found a way to break the spell he could find out who they were, as it's often easier to satisfy your curiosity when the person is still alive, and you can always just kill them later if they become a problem.
Basically you can do the right thing so long as you do it for all the wrong reasons. 😈
I would also suggest; consider whether you might be willing for your character to have an out from the party. While there was a possibility of playing my Neutral Evil character long term, I also considered that it may no longer be logical for him to remain with the party (especially if he managed to lift his curse) but that it could still be satisfying to have an end to his arc, which is actually something that may be happening soon (if we can actually get the dang players together to run some more sessions, it's been nearly six weeks!). It can be fun to have a character in the group that isn't an ideal fit, but depending upon how different you play them it may make sense for them to eventually leave, but obviously that depends how attached you are.
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
Been playing a LE Warlock for the last couple years in a monthly campaign. As others noted; all this means is that character is self-serving. If that means at the expense of oppression, extortion, bribery; so be it. But it does *not* mean the PC murders without care, or is out to screw over the party. In fact, you should always find the rationale why your character needs the party and has shared goals. Otherwise, why are they even in a group? There is plenty of fun things your (now) evil warlock can do. But be mindful not to take from the rest of the table enjoying their time. My suggestion is to consider what self serving goals the PC has, and how they can pursue them as ruthlessly as needed. But temper that against making sure your character can work with the rest of the group. Then you will find that an evil can be absolutely workable in a group.
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My Warlock's backstory is he comes from a human royal family but, as a result of an ancient family pact with a devil from the 2nd level of hell, the 3rd born of each monarch is born as a Fire-Genasi.
Nominally his alignment is Neutral - he's gone travelling the lands as an adventurer to 'discover himself', however last session he accepted an offer from an unreliable object that granted him extra powers but has shifted his alignment to NE. The rest of his fellow adventurers are between Neutral and Good, but don't know about this new development [unless they're reading this thread, in which case, oops - Spoilers!].
His motives of acquiring magics and wealth aren't going to change, and also we're currently stranded in an unknown location,and until we save the locals there's no way home, so my goals haven't particularly changed either. And not being chaotic, randomly attacking the other players doesn't seem likely without good reason (even villains have mates!).
So... Any suggestions or experience as to how to play as Evil?!
Two things:
1) Never betray the party. an NE can understand that and play his role. 2) never go the murder hobo route. (A well played NE can appear the saint.
Pick an evil goal like like usurping the throne. start to lay the ground work. It may not come up a lot in the game but making friendly contact with poisoners is commonplace for evil nobles with relatives in the way.
Basically this; evil doesn't mean you have to be a cackling maniac who wants to darken the suns and have devils rule the land or anything, though you might if you think you'll get something out of it.
As a general rule though you want to be purely self-motivated, but that doesn't mean your goals and the party's won't align most of the time; firstly, having allies is classic self-preservation, as is helping them in order to earn goodwill and favours. If you let a party member die then the rest of the party aren't going to be so quick to come to your aid, but if you help the party then they should be willing to help you; while they might be doing it for selfless reasons, for you it's mutual self-interest.
You're probably not going to go out of your way to save someone in trouble if it would mean risking your neck to do so, but again it depends on the circumstances; if you're looking to ingratiate yourself with, or earn the trust, of a local leader, guild etc. then helping them out is in your interest to do-so. You might also have other reasons for doing the right thing in spite of being evil.
I'm currently playing a Neutral Evil character in a campaign who is very much self-interested; while his primary goal in life is to gain knowledge (he is obsessed with this pursuit) he was cursed as a result of prying into the secrets of the powerful, so his current short term goal is to end that curse, and the current party is a good means towards that end. He doesn't care about helping anyone as a rule, yet has done so multiple times. He was confronted by the group's mostly good paladin, and rejected the accusation of being evil, instead describing himself as a "rational apathetic pragmatist". He is calculating and ruthless; he is not incapable of empathy, he just doesn't act upon it.
One time we found lost children in an abandoned fortress, he helped them not for their sakes, but because they could be taught to maintain the fortress' magical defences in case he wanted to return later. Another time we found someone frozen in a kind of stasis a moment before a noose broke their neck, so he conjured up a platform to prevent this using creation so that once we found a way to break the spell he could find out who they were, as it's often easier to satisfy your curiosity when the person is still alive, and you can always just kill them later if they become a problem.
Basically you can do the right thing so long as you do it for all the wrong reasons. 😈
I would also suggest; consider whether you might be willing for your character to have an out from the party. While there was a possibility of playing my Neutral Evil character long term, I also considered that it may no longer be logical for him to remain with the party (especially if he managed to lift his curse) but that it could still be satisfying to have an end to his arc, which is actually something that may be happening soon (if we can actually get the dang players together to run some more sessions, it's been nearly six weeks!). It can be fun to have a character in the group that isn't an ideal fit, but depending upon how different you play them it may make sense for them to eventually leave, but obviously that depends how attached you are.
Just some things to think about!
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
Been playing a LE Warlock for the last couple years in a monthly campaign. As others noted; all this means is that character is self-serving. If that means at the expense of oppression, extortion, bribery; so be it. But it does *not* mean the PC murders without care, or is out to screw over the party. In fact, you should always find the rationale why your character needs the party and has shared goals. Otherwise, why are they even in a group? There is plenty of fun things your (now) evil warlock can do. But be mindful not to take from the rest of the table enjoying their time. My suggestion is to consider what self serving goals the PC has, and how they can pursue them as ruthlessly as needed. But temper that against making sure your character can work with the rest of the group. Then you will find that an evil can be absolutely workable in a group.