How to roleplay a redemption

[zenon]

Long story short. I'm currently playing an evil-aligned half-fiend, who is soon going to start moving towards good (or at least neutral). Thing is, I'm a bit unsure about how exactly to do it, besides questioning evil acts.

The thing that sets it off is a meeting with the parents, it should be said that my character does not remember her parents, as she has never met them before.

[Lentrax]

I had a character once that had a moral quandry. She was an evil drow cleric who found herself fighting with a group of heroes in a return to the temple of elemental evil campaign.

Long story short,she was given a vision of what exactly, the evil she had done and the evil that would be done here was affecting the world.

Redemption is a very slow process, and not easy. But you first have to have a reason to change. And bear in mind that failure is always one misstep away. Even after you move from evil to neutral, it is not easy. You still have the chance of messing everything up and going evil again.

My drow died shortly after beginning to try and redeem herself. She had lost her domains and spells, and was in essence, a really bad fighter. Every choice has consequences, and consider them when your chracter makes those choices.

[Craft (Cheese)]

Three important questions I think need to be answered here first:

Is the change in her behavior a conscious decision, or an unconscious reaction to something?

Why does she begin this change?

What, exactly, is the change in her behavior?

[Kalmarvho]

If you start making overtures towards non-evil actions, your DM (if he/she is worth their salt) might well notice and plan accordingly, inasmuch as a redemption can be planned.

I'm going to add one thing to Craft (Cheese)'s questions:

Exactly how evil has your character been acting previously?

[Craft (Cheese)]

If you start making overtures towards non-evil actions, your DM (if he/she is worth their salt) might well notice and plan accordingly, inasmuch as a redemption can be planned.

...or you could just tell your DM that you'd like them to work a personal redemption plot into the story as part of your character arc, that way they don't have to try to figure that out on their own. Be kind to your DM, they have enough problems.


I'm going to add one thing to Craft (Cheese)'s questions:

Exactly how evil has your character been acting previously?

I'd count that as a part of my third question, but I'll agree it's something important to consider: An alcoholic is not a kleptomaniac is not an abusive parent/lover is not a mass-murdering lunatic.

[Kalmarvho]

...or you could just tell your DM that you'd like them to work a personal redemption plot into the story as part of your character arc, that way they don't have to try to figure that out on their own. Be kind to your DM, they have enough problems.

That also.

DMs aren't psychic, even though we'd like for that to be true.

[zenon]

Three important questions I think need to be answered here first:

Is the change in her behavior a conscious decision, or an unconscious reaction to something?

Why does she begin this change?

What, exactly, is the change in her behavior?



I'm going to add one thing to Craft (Cheese)'s questions:

Exactly how evil has your character been acting previously?

To answer the first question:
As I said the meeting with the parents sets it off. This can be one of two things, either it can be a meeting with the elvish parent, which can give my character a perspective on how her life is, meaning a conscious change. It can also be a meeting with the daemonic parent, which creates a sort of shock treatment. Which can mean both a conscious and unconscious change.

As to why the change begins, it comes both from question 1, and from one of the other characters. Said character is one of the very few persons who is genuinely good and trusting. This characcter is one of the few people who have been nice to my character (most aren't due to my background). Because of this my character would prefer not to let him down.

The exact change is what I'm unsure about.

When it comes to how evil my character is, she has no problem with murder, when it serves a purpose. She works as an assassin, meaning that a contract counts as a purpose. She is, however, not just a cold hearted killer, as she had great moral issues when on one job, when she discovered her target was an old priest.

It should be said that it was my GMs idea that I should start on the path of redemption, so my character would fit better into the party. Since I like playing out moral downfalls, I decided it might be fun, and went with it.

[Craft (Cheese)]

As to why the change begins, it comes both from question 1, and from one of the other characters. Said character is one of the very few persons who is genuinely good and trusting. This characcter is one of the few people who have been nice to my character (most aren't due to my background). Because of this my character would prefer not to let him down.

The exact change is what I'm unsure about.

When it comes to how evil my character is, she has no problem with murder, when it serves a purpose. She works as an assassin, meaning that a contract counts as a purpose. She is, however, not just a cold hearted killer, as she had great moral issues when on one job, when she discovered her target was an old priest.

It sounds to me like her redemption is already underway. An obvious route is to use this other character as her Morality Pet (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MoralityPet), though this approach might be too ship-ish, either for you, the other player, or perhaps the tone of the campaign itself. If this sounds like an attractive option to you, talk it over with the others.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

As to why the change begins, it comes both from question 1, and from one of the other characters. Said character is one of the very few persons who is genuinely good and trusting. This characcter is one of the few people who have been nice to my character (most aren't due to my background). Because of this my character would prefer not to let him down.

The exact change is what I'm unsure about.
Don't worry about having a defined moment of change. Just start changing things about the character, little things, stuff that they used to react to one way, but now react to differently, because their outlook is changing. All of a sudden, you'll realize that the character has started being good.

When it comes to how evil my character is, she has no problem with murder, when it serves a purpose. She works as an assassin, meaning that a contract counts as a purpose. She is, however, not just a cold hearted killer, as she had great moral issues when on one job, when she discovered her target was an old priest.
This is definitely the seed of redemption. Work into the reasons the character had those moral issues, why the character hesitated? What was it about the old priest? His age? His status? His lack of guilt? Then start working out--might she have some of those same moral quandries about other targets?

From that point, it's about choices. A character's moral framework/alignment don't make choices for you; they color the options available to you. There is a wide spectrum of choice within each moral framework: you can take the average path, or you can push its boundaries in a specific direction. By consistently choosing to push the boundary into "good", you'll move the character one step at a time.

[Sith_Happens]

It sounds to me like her redemption is already underway. An obvious route is to use this other character as her Morality Pet (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MoralityPet), though this approach might be too ship-ish, either for you, the other player, or perhaps the tone of the campaign itself. If this sounds like an attractive option to you, talk it over with the others.

I'd go less with "morality pet" and more with "shoulder angel." Basically, set the other PC up as the person your character goes to when she wants to know how to be good. Encourage him to let you know if something you're about to do would be considered evil, even (or especially) if it seems completely natural to you.

[Incom]

I'm assuming the fiendish parent will do some sort of kick-the-dog thing and then act totally nonchalant about it towards the PC.

The PC then wonders if being only-kinda-evil is really worth it. Should she be going all the way into puppy-kicking territory? Or would it be better to get out entirely if she's not the most cutthroat assassin there is?

In other words: Redcloak's evil-for-a-reason or Xykon's evil-because-I-can?

[SgtCarnage92]

It will be a tough road to redemption. Remember the draw of evil is usually that it is the easiest route to power. Good is hard, and being good when you're so used to being evil is even harder. It has to be a gradual process. Have the character stop themselves now and again and think about what they are about to do. The enemy scout won't give you any information about the BBEG? Have your character move in to give them a brutal beating before stopping themselves from losing control. Essentially, make it look like it takes effort for your character to change and that it is difficult for them to do so. Also, have your character make an effort to do small good things. Things like apologizing for something you did to another PC or NPC, but make it a begrudging apology. It's not something your character wants to do, but it's something they feel they must.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Actually, what I like even better than the idea of almost doing something bad, and then reining oneself in...is doing it, and then having remorse about it, vowing never to do that ever again. It strikes me as more dynamic. Don't have the character stop and think about what they're going to do, have them stop and think about what they just did.

So, in that case above, the character brutalizes the prisoner for information, and then is hit with "What...what did I just do?" They then make a firm resolve never to do anything remotely like that, ever again. You could even make a list of these.

Then encourage the GM to use those resolutions against your character. Put them in situations where the resolutions are constraining the character painfully, see if they'll break under pressure, under the stress of bad things happening.

There's the grist that drama is made of.

[SgtCarnage92]

Actually, what I like even better than the idea of almost doing something bad, and then reining oneself in...is doing it, and then having remorse about it, vowing never to do that ever again. It strikes me as more dynamic. Don't have the character stop and think about what they're going to do, have them stop and think about what they just did.

This actually does work better in a lot of ways. Mix and match to your heart's content. In emotional situations your character will be more likely to cross that line.

[Clistenes]

Long story short. I'm currently playing an evil-aligned half-fiend, who is soon going to start moving towards good (or at least neutral). Thing is, I'm a bit unsure about how exactly to do it, besides questioning evil acts.

The thing that sets it off is a meeting with the parents, it should be said that my character does not remember her parents, as she has never met them before.

You could start by making him care about a thing; somebody or something he wants to save/protect/fix/preserve, and build on that.

In most stories it is usually a girl, but it can also be a friend, his grandma, the person who raised him, a baby, his dog, his kobold sidekick, a beautiful place were he felt happy...etc.

[Craft (Cheese)]

Actually, what I like even better than the idea of almost doing something bad, and then reining oneself in...is doing it, and then having remorse about it, vowing never to do that ever again. It strikes me as more dynamic. Don't have the character stop and think about what they're going to do, have them stop and think about what they just did.

So, in that case above, the character brutalizes the prisoner for information, and then is hit with "What...what did I just do?" They then make a firm resolve never to do anything remotely like that, ever again. You could even make a list of these.

Then encourage the GM to use those resolutions against your character. Put them in situations where the resolutions are constraining the character painfully, see if they'll break under pressure, under the stress of bad things happening.

There's the grist that drama is made of.


This be good advice.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

This be good advice.
Well, it's basically my secondhand interpretation of Luke Crane's GMing philosophies, amongst other things...

This is your game. Own it, live it, bleed it.

[Craft (Cheese)]

Well, it's basically my secondhand interpretation of Luke Crane's GMing philosophies, amongst other things...

Still good advice. I love my Burning Wheel Gold copy; It's basically the only RPG rulebook I've ever seen that's just fun to read in its own right.

[zenon]

Thanks for the advice, I'll try and use the ideas, and see what happens.