Pushing the Limits

[Doughnut Master]

Right now, I'm in a campaign where I'm playing a Lawful Evil character who worships Hextor. My group is filled with a bunch of Chaotic(ish) Good characters.

It's fairly early on, and I don't want to break up the group, but I do want to start exploring my dark side more. What are some ways that I can start spicing things up with a dash of evil without spoiling the stew?

Any advice?

[JeenLeen]

What are the goals of the party and the current mission? Why are you working with CGs and why are they working with you? Do you need to hide either aspect of your alignment from them?

I could see some corrupting or using of corrupt business or government authorities being a subtle way to be evil and gain power in the starting stages of a campaign.

[Gamer Girl]

The first thing a Lawful Evil character can do is mercilessly support the law. They are the type of person who says 'you broke the law, and now you must pay.' Even if it's a mistake or a misunderstanding. A crime is a crime, and no mercy should be shown. For example, if your caught doing something even minor, like jaywalking or trespassing, they will refuse to let you go and will take you in.

They also fall under the 'yes I trapped the door and you would not have been poisoned if you did not touch it' mindset.

Not that LE upholds the law so much..but they do like to see people get hurt by the law. They simply break the law in sneaky ways.

LE also has this out look on society. Bob can't pay his taxes, well that is too bad for him..maybe Bob should work harder.

LE folks just love one sided legal agreements. I'll give you X and you give me X, Y, Z and the rest of the alphabet forever! LE folks print the useless coupons 'Buy two dinners at the normal price and get a free glass of water'.

[Doughnut Master]

What are the goals of the party and the current mission? Why are you working with CGs and why are they working with you? Do you need to hide either aspect of your alignment from them?

I could see some corrupting or using of corrupt business or government authorities being a subtle way to be evil and gain power in the starting stages of a campaign.

Well, my character is part of a church that everyone believes to have died out. So he hides his beliefs anyway in public.

The current goal of the party is to track Tiamat's Talon. A standard MacGuffin that can destroy the world and so forth. We all have different reasons for doing so, though nobody knows the motivations of the rest of the party. For my character, he's seeking the Talon on behalf of the church, although for what purpose, he doesn't know.

My character is hanging out with the CGs mostly for intelligence reasons. They all have connections and resources for researching and tracking the Talon, while my character is pretty much on his own.

As for why they hang out with my character, I'm less sure. He doesn't make a fuss and he hits things hard. They're a pretty trusting group anyway.


Also, this is the first campaign I've ever been in, as well as for much of the group. So we've spent a lot of time just trying to get the hang of things.

[Grelna the Blue]

It's hard to play a longterm character in a party of diametrically opposed alignments, but here are a few suggestions in your specific case:

Start using the coup de grace rules on downed opponents. You might even take the Death Blow feat that allows you to coup de grace as a standard action. Most GMs conveniently ignore the fact that downed opponents aren't actually dead (and not even necessarily unconscious) after they hit the negatives, but that doesn't mean that you have to. Generally, attacking the helpless is considered a nongood act and you can emphasize the brutality of slitting throats, skewering hearts, smashing skulls, etc., but given that your fellow party members are probably not going to be ministering to the fallen enemies, you can make a case that you are simultaneously "putting them out of their misery" and preventing future threats.

Consider feats like Snatch Trophy (http://dnd.savannahsoft.eu/feat-2666-snatch-trophy.html) and Bloodsoaked Intimidate (http://dnd.savannahsoft.eu/feat-238-bloodsoaked-intimidate.html). It will probably disturb your companions to see you scalp enemies or turn their ears into a necklace, but after all, "They didn't need them any more."

If you are a spellcaster, use spells like Cause Blindness and Bestow Curse. They don't have the [Evil] descriptor, but you can certainly make them seem as if they ought to by the way you use them.

Speak disparagingly of some of the good gods in the game world, while avoiding mention of any worshipped by party members. If done right, you get marginal credit for being tactful, while leaving no one in any doubt that you consider the ALL the gods of light to be a fairly weak and useless crew.

If it wouldn't be overkill, you might drop references once or twice to the good times you had as a kid accompanying your dad on his slaving expeditions. Father-son bonding and all that. In that vein, carry a whip and know how to use it.

You're brutal, you're violent, and you may or may not be coarse, but you're effective, and your lawful nature means your companions know they can count on you even as they recoil from your personality and your methods.

[Noedig]

When people say LE to me I think of Judge Dread, but without the good. Thats fun.

[Doughnut Master]

It's hard to play a longterm character in a party of diametrically opposed alignments, but here are a few suggestions in your specific case:

Start using the coup de grace rules on downed opponents. You might even take the Death Blow feat that allows you to coup de grace as a standard action. Most GMs conveniently ignore the fact that downed opponents aren't actually dead (and not even necessarily unconscious) after they hit the negatives, but that doesn't mean that you have to. Generally, attacking the helpless is considered a nongood act and you can emphasize the brutality of slitting throats, skewering hearts, smashing skulls, etc., but given that your fellow party members are probably not going to be ministering to the fallen enemies, you can make a case that you are simultaneously "putting them out of their misery" and preventing future threats.

Consider feats like Snatch Trophy (http://dnd.savannahsoft.eu/feat-2666-snatch-trophy.html) and Bloodsoaked Intimidate (http://dnd.savannahsoft.eu/feat-238-bloodsoaked-intimidate.html). It will probably disturb your companions to see you scalp enemies or turn their ears into a necklace, but after all, "They didn't need them any more."

If you are a spellcaster, use spells like Cause Blindness and Bestow Curse. They don't have the [Evil] descriptor, but you can certainly make them seem as if they ought to by the way you use them.

Speak disparagingly of some of the good gods in the game world, while avoiding mention of any worshipped by party members. If done right, you get marginal credit for being tactful, while leaving no one in any doubt that you consider the ALL the gods of light to be a fairly weak and useless crew.

If it wouldn't be overkill, you might drop references once or twice to the good times you had as a kid accompanying your dad on his slaving expeditions. Father-son bonding and all that. In that vein, carry a whip and know how to use it.

You're brutal, you're violent, and you may or may not be coarse, but you're effective, and your lawful nature means your companions know they can count on you even as they recoil from your personality and your methods.

Interesting. I didn't know about those feats. Although, it's funny, as my character has been taking trophies anyway and using Craft (Taxidermy) to make them into things. For instance, right now, he's crafting the femur of a hill giant into a walking stick.

At this point, my character is a monk, so I've been narrating a lot of his combat moves myself. He's gradually getting more brutal in his tactics, such as ripping off a goblin head and throwing it at other goblins.

Thanks for the tips!