Alignment Inquisition: What is this guy?

[Duboris]

So, there is a character I've conducted through plenty of play by posts in different forms. I've put him through plenty of trials, and have had him show up as a bit of an ally/enemy in various situations in my own self-ran campaigns.

With that being said, I have no idea what alignment he is, as he teeters between Neutral Evil and Chaotic Evil

The problem I have with him, is that as he teeters on this little proper imbalance, and I believe he might actually be Chaotically Evil. Now, there's a problem with that, as, even with this fact other players seem to find him... bearable. That's the only reason I suspect that he's not CE, but then again, I think he might still be.

Fact 1: In the case of Religion, he is stupendously religious. He worships the Chaotic Evil deity Zura, Demon lord, and Vampire queen. Worshiped primarily by Cannibals, Vampires, and Succubi.

Fact 2: He is not a Cannibal, and actually dislikes the idea of feasting on the flesh of a fellow human being, or humanoid.

Fact 3: He doesn't like people that aren't religious at all, such as Atheists. He has a strong belief in his faith and it's teachings and believes that people with no faith have no reason for being, and as such, considers them expendable if necessary as "They're not going to go anywhere."

Fact 4: The character respects the values of his allies, in any form, and typically avoids getting in the way of those values. It doesn't effect him, as he worships primarily alone, and even then, only in places that support his lifestyle.

Fact 5: The character heavily respects those that respect his personal views, even if they don't necessarily agree with them. This does not apply to Atheists.

Fact 6:The character in questions frequently doesn't consider his own safety until he knows he could definitely die. (If he had 100 health, he wouldn't retreat till he had 15) Even then, if he has typically enjoyed an equal exchange of blows, he will continue to fight. (This explains the Diehard and Endurance feats)

Fact 7: The character will not harm women, unless given permission to do so, or unless that woman harms another more beautiful/likable woman. Zuran faith teaches that women are temples to Zura, and he respects them as religious figures and sex idols alike.

Fact 8: The character believes that women are ranked via beauty, and is remarkably blunt about the fact unless he knows that insulting the looks of a woman would inconvenience him significantly.

Fact 9: Despite the fact that women are temples in his religion, he tends to avoid flirting with those that are good aligned, as he knows that they would use him with no reward in mind. He much prefers those of CN alignment or any evil.

Fact 10: In the case of any task involving saving a woman, all objectives take a back seat, provided that the main task could assist in the rescue.

Fact 11: The character in question is Sadistic, typically enjoying slicing enemies to ribbons with a scythe. He takes great joy in this, seeing it as partial blood offerings to his deity. He is extremely open about his sadism, but speaks lightly of it outside of combat, simply saying "He enjoys fighting too much."

Fact 12: The character is also Masochistic, taking pleasure in pain. When saner men would fall over and be unconcious, he would simply fall into a state of pure bliss as the blood trickled off of every gaping wound on his person. He also considers this open worship of his deity.

Fact 13: Outside of combat, and with no women in the area, the character is extremely polite, though words things involving human nature rather morbidly. After all, we're all just balls of temptation, aren't we?

Fact 14: He avoids inter-group conflict with a passion. He is a charmer in the group that acts as a wonderful face, but occasionally his rumors can catch up to him and cause questions. He does, of course, agree to the truthfulness of every single one of them. He usually dismisses the questions with :
"You don't see me questioning any of you about your personal experiences with the beast of 2 backs, do you?"

Fact 15: If at any point a woman falls in combat for any reason in the presence of him, he flies into a fit of carnal fury, properly, and gruesomely taking glorious painful revenge on anyone who may have had a part in it. (Even if she wasn't pretty)

Fact 16: He has a soft spot for Succubi, as they were the prime speakers of his church.

Alright so that's all of that. Any questions to properly narrow down his alignment would be great, but, as far as I can tell, he's NE or CN.
With all of his rules involving women he might even be a LE worshipper of a CN deity, but, the laws might just mean he's NE instead.

Help me out?

Oh and the Character's name is "Dmitri Mavis"


For most men that exist, women are a lot of things. Conduits of the future, pleasure centers, friends, mothers, role models, and just so many other things.

For Dmitri, they were literally everything. Growing up, Dmitri knew no other man, as he was a sacred child in the Church of Zura. He was surrounded on all ends, at almost all times, by Women of humble make. Succubi tended to him in his younger years, but at the time he didn't know what they were.

Growing up in a church to the god of pleasure and all things hedonistic had surprising ramifications on his mental state and his outlook on life.
For starters, he didn't immediately become a pervert. At the age of 16 he became curious.
He inquired as to the different methods, and the reasons behind their gallivanting.

Shocking everyone with the inquisition, the leader of the church, a Succubus by the name of Avalni, took a great amount of interest in him. Usually seen as conduits of sex and contracts, Dmitri saw the Succubus as a basin of knowledge and insight into the feminine heart.

Avalni taught him how to truly love a person, and many ways to pay his respects to Zura in various Acts. Plenty of things came into play at around this time. He was, at first, taught directly by Avalni ways of persuasion and how to carry himself, as well as how to please both the minds and sexual desires of the opposite sex. By the time he was ready to go on his pilgrimage, he was oozing with charisma.

Prior to the journey, Avalni's final teaching was a secret. She told unto him that Zura didn't need a church, and that she simply enjoyed the bounty of carnal desire in the populace of the world itself. As such, at the age of 24 Dmitri left the cathedral, coming into the world as a conduit of pure carnal desire, while at the same time, truly respectful.

Zura could be worshiped via the drawing of blood, no matter who's.
Sexual acts also worked. Simply causing another person to give into their carnal desires willingly and smoothly was enough to do so. Forcing someone to do it was wrong, as the more willing, the better.

Though looking at him now provides the depiction of an "off" person, Dmitri knows plenty about himself and everything that he enjoys partaking of, and simply lives for the happiness of himself, and the worship of his most beloved deity.

[Rahdjan]

Sounds LE to me

[ArcturusV]

Okay... now this is going to sound, weird perhaps?

But by his behavior I'd tag him as Lawful Neutral.

The only thing tying him to Evil or Chaos seems to be the fact that he worships a Chaotic Evil being. Outside of that? Nothing really comes to mind.

Now, the trick is, Lawful alignments are about codes, honor, etc, not about "I follow all the local statues and never commit a misdemeanor" as is often thought of it. Your character, as you describe, does have a very specific code, and follows it to the best of their ability when and where they can. There's nothing really in the facts given that lead to thinking the character really leans towards Good or Evil in and of itself.

Excepting, again, the religious dogma and consorting with Succubi. But there is just as much that can be considered Good actions like protecting women and avenging them.

*shrug*

I'd peg him as Lawful Neutral. Even though that's about a country mile from his God's alignment. But it fits the facts. Possibly due to how poorly alignments and/or Gods typically are written, if you want to take that view. I know most deities I consider poorly written on the Goals/Dogma vs Alignment of the Deity thing. May not be the case here. But the lack of cannibalism really does remove the taint of "Evil" off things.

[Krobar]

Honestly, that sounds more Lawful Evil than anything else to me.

He definitely follows a code. Typical CE don't, and typical NE only do when it benefits them personally, and ignore it when it doesn't. And the only things really pushing him into toward evil is his penchant for sadism and consorting with succubi.

[Duboris]

I'll attest to the fact that removing cannibalism from the equation from the equation certainly removes some of the evil.

I would think that Sadism and Masochism would be considered evil acts, however.

[ArcturusV]

It all depends.

I mean sadism as you described it? Not really in "evil" territory. For it to be "Evil" territory, you'd have to be doing things like kidnapping people just to torture them so you could get your rocks off.

The fact that you enjoy inflicting pain, in and of itself, is not evil.

Similarly with Masochism. Except that it's even less likely to be "Evil" on its own as it depends on you being a victim, of a sorts. I mean the only way you could really get Evil out of it is by doing things like Mindjacking people into giving you want you want out of them.

It's not like people look at flagellants of good gods as "evil", after all. Even though they are definitely masochistic.

[Duboris]

The primary reason I'm worried about this is because I want this character to go into PF games with good/neutral characters as a bit of "Spice"

I'm not sure if he'll even get considered as a CE though.

[ArcturusV]

Yeah, as is I see nothing at all that pegs him as Chaotic Evil short of "I worship a Chaotic Evil god".

[Deophaun]

I peg him as N. The fact that he's a go along to get along type of guy precludes him from being Lawful in my opinion (law isn't simply a personal code; law is something that binds a society together).

The sadism doesn't trip the evil meter, because while he enjoys inflicting pain, nothing you've written shows that he goes out of his way to cause it. His weapon, while it might conjure a fearsome image, is no more an implement of torture than a sword. If his weapon was designed to draw out his target's suffering, then that would move him towards evil.

[Slipperychicken]

Lawful Evil.

Lawful- He has a consistent, well-defined moral code. Although largely horrifying, sexist, and intolerant, it is a code to which he adheres. Trying to keep peace among his teammates is another indicator.

Evil- He disrespects life whenever it gets in his way and worships an Evil god, which is enough to make him Evil on its own. The extreme sexism and intolerance toward infidels (Atheists and Good-aligned) are strong indicators toward evil.

[Duboris]

Posted his back story to give people a view of circumstance. It may help, or it may wildly change their opinions.

[Alroy_Kamenwati]

Hmm I have to agree with SlipperyChicken, he seems more Lawful Evil to me. He has a personal code (Not hurting Women, Defending Women, Being somewhat Truthful to women, etc.) and while he respects others the worship of an Evil Goddess (and making blood sacrifices when he can.) and the fact he is Stupendously zealous (Tries to bring the 'Light' to Good-aligned and Athiests.) makes him seem, honestly, Lawful Evil. Though I can see him as a Neutral Evil as well, just not Chaotic Evil.

[Bakeru]

I peg him as N. The fact that he's a go along to get along type of guy precludes him from being Lawful in my opinion (law isn't simply a personal code; law is something that binds a society together).He tries to keep the group together and avoids infighting, and he is honest about his misdeeds (though that might be because he doesn't see them as "misdeeds"), both rather lawful characteristics. Add to that his single-mindedness about religion and woman... I'd say, definitely not chaotic, and most likely lawful.

Now, neutral or evil is slightly more problematic, and I don't think there's enough information for that. From what I see, the character could be anything from a neutral "Avoids killing unless provoked (but enjoys it once it comes to it)" to an evil "serial killer in the name of faith".

[JusticeZero]

Chaotic Evil. He worships a CE god, and will inherit a lot of his alignment from that. His actions are generally Evil, and his values are a bit on the Chaotic side; he isn't doing anything lawful enough to swing him out of that. Nonetheless, it will mostly come up if someone hits him with divine spells, which will mostly care who he works for and that he's not trying to break the mold.

[Deophaun]

He tries to keep the group together and avoids infighting, and he is honest about his misdeeds (though that might be because he doesn't see them as "misdeeds"), both rather lawful characteristics.
Neutral characteristics, actually. Lawful and chaotic characters will struggle to keep together a party composed of diverse alignments, as the chaotic one won't want to put effort into it, and the lawful one will create a rigid framework (think of the roommate who creates a sign up sheet for chores). It's the neutral character that can compromise.

Add to that his single-mindedness about religion and woman... I'd say, definitely not chaotic, and most likely lawful.
Single mindedness is also more chaotic. There are fewer things keeping you grounded. You will do absolutely anything for the achievement of your goal. If someone can convince you that selling out whatever values you currently have will help in that goal, you'll do it in a heartbeat.

But, this highlights the problem with the alignment system: anyone can be anything depending on how you interpret the requirement.

[JusticeZero]

Which is why I mostly always stop to think of what it is that is going to actually be testing it. Usually "Paladins or Clerical spells" and those care more about "us vs. them" than about fine moral judgement.

[ArcturusV]

Mostly due to RAI and RAW vagaries. I mean, RAW, "Group Concern" stuff is on the Good/Evil axis, rather than the Lawful/Chaotic axis. Though most don't think of it in those terms. The fact that he's willing to work with groups, and aid groups is Neutral/Good territory rather than any impact on Law/Chaos. Least by RAW. Similarly Singlemindedness isn't really related to Law/Chaos, or Good/Evil necessarily. But the "Will do anything for a goal" is closer towards the RAW defined Evil rather than Chaos. The fact that he respects most people's views is closer to defining him as Chaotic (Though the intolerance to what he doesn't, doesn't help matters), as Chaotic is defined as being about freedom, expression, etc.

It's just always a conflict between what people naturally think of as "Good" qualities and "Evil" qualities, versus what the book defines them as, which gets into this murky territory.

For Example: If I was a contemplative, seeking enlightenment and ascension to the Seven Heavens/Celestial Mountain/Mount Olympus or whatever they are calling it lately, who pushed aside all worldly concerns, spending my days doing nothing but attempting to achieve enlightenment and purity for the sake of my ascension?

Most might define that as a Lawful Good type. After all, I'm focused on a Lawful Good religion. I'm dedicated to it, strictly focused on it, and it's a philosophy of Good.

But the way the book defines it? Other than "I follow a Lawful Good philosophy", I'd actually be Lawful Evil (As I'm focused on myself and my own gratifications more than anything else).

[Slipperychicken]

I'll just post the descriptions for LE, NE, and CE, bold some relevant things, then make some arguments about their relevance.

Lawful Evil

Lawful Evil, "Dominator"
A lawful evil villain methodically takes what he wants within the limits of his code of conduct without regard for whom it hurts. He cares about tradition, loyalty, and order but not about freedom, dignity, or life. He plays by the rules but without mercy or compassion. He is comfortable in a hierarchy and would like to rule, but is willing to serve. He condemns others not according to their actions but according to race, religion, homeland, or social rank. He is loath to break laws or promises.

This reluctance comes partly from his nature and partly because he depends on order to protect himself from those who oppose him on moral grounds. Some lawful evil villains have particular taboos, such as not killing in cold blood (but having underlings do it) or not letting children come to harm (if it can be helped). They imagine that these compunctions put them above unprincipled villains.

Some lawful evil people and creatures commit themselves to evil with a zeal like that of a crusader committed to good. Beyond being willing to hurt others for their own ends, they take pleasure in spreading evil as an end unto itself. They may also see doing evil as part of a duty to an evil deity or master.

LE has the most in common with the description given in the OP, especially the strict moral taboos, contempt for opposing ideologies, and "stupendous" devotion to his Evil god. Additionally, his condemnation for cannibals and those who harm pretty women gives a pretty clear implication of perceived moral superiority to them.

He does not, however, seem to depend on order. He also worships a CE god, but only Clerics need to be within one alignment step of their dieties. Any person (of any alignment) can worship any diety.


Neutral Evil

Neutral Evil, "Malefactor"
A neutral evil villain does whatever she can get away with. She is out for herself, pure and simple. She sheds no tears for those she kills, whether for profit, sport, or convenience. She has no love of order and holds no illusion that following laws, traditions, or codes would make her any better or more noble. On the other hand, she doesn’t have the restless nature or love of conflict that a chaotic evil villain has.

Some neutral evil villains hold up evil as an ideal, committing evil for its own sake. Most often, such villains are devoted to evil deities or secret societies.

He is devoted to an evil diety, and you can argue that his final teaching dispelled the illusion that codes make him more noble.

However, He's pretty clearly not just "out for himself", given his strong emotions and strict code against lady-killing. And he also does have a love of conflict (resultant from his sadomasochistic urges in battle), which steers him away from this alignment.


Chaotic Evil

Chaotic Evil, "Destroyer"
A chaotic evil character does whatever his greed, hatred, and lust for destruction drive him to do. He is hot-tempered, vicious, arbitrarily violent, and unpredictable. If he is simply out for whatever he can get, he is ruthless and brutal. If he is committed to the spread of evil and chaos, he is even worse. Thankfully, his plans are haphazard, and any groups he joins or forms are poorly organized. Typically, chaotic evil people can be made to work together only by force, and their leader lasts only as long as he can thwart attempts to topple or assassinate him.

He is ruthless and brutal, but not especially hot-tempered or arbitrarily violent. He works together with others, which points him away from CE. His plans are not not notably haphazard, either.

[Jopustopin]

The character is clearly lawful evil. The evil part of his alignment should be obvious. Him adhering to a code even when it's not in his best interest makes him lawful.


Probably the best alignment article ever written. (http://wiki.avlis.org/Alignment)

[Duboris]

By that logic, he's most definitely not Chaotic Evil.

I think we're all a bit off on one thing, here, and it's probably be my fault.

Dmitri might react rather violently to those that directly harm his code, but he's not going to outright kill them for breaking it. He only reacts violently if the woman was injured of some sort, but that's mostly because he sees them as "Defiling a Temple of Zura" which is sacrilege to him.

He doesn't use women as an excuse, he honestly practically worships them. Injuring a woman is like burning a church to him.

In the cases of verbal abuse, he directly confronts the offender(s) and politely asks them to apologize, and afterwards, if they disagree, he asks once more, drawing his scythe and making an intimidation check and bringing along an intimidation check. That sort of thing. He would kill them if they continue to berate her as they see it bothers him.

In another case, he doesn't exactly turn off his Sadism and Masochism outside of combat. He considers them passive things. If he ever stabs someone, he twists it in. If he ever slaps someone for impudence, he's got clawed tipped gloves that are guaranteed to leave a mark. If he's impaling a gnoll with a scythe (Somehow) he'd pull it out along with it's intestinal tract.

Everything he does he does, in the majority, for his deity. This is coupled with his Narcissism and awkwardness around men as a result of having 0 social skills with the same sex.

He's not crazy, he's simply very religious in a strange way. There's plenty to him, and I'd be glad to answer questions, as it would flesh out the character more.

If it makes anyone feel any better, he's depressed because his only vice is "All experience with Lust, and no experience with actual love" and as a result of his Narcissism, he won't tell anyone because it'd make him seem less perfect. This would eventually cause a mental breakdown. This doesn't happen till later after serious character development, however, and when he realizes it, his mental clarity goes down-hill.

He's not a mindless killer, unless someone killed a woman, in which case, they better hope it feels good when he peels them like a banana in lemon water.

[hamishspence]

"Having a subset of peers, loved ones etc, that they respect and won't mistreat" is not incompatible with any kind of Evil.

This character seems to have a very large subset (any females) but that's not a big problem.

[Duboris]

I think that he walks the line of C and L so thoroughly, being lawful when it comes to women, and chaotic when it comes to everything else that isn't, that he should be an NE for simplicity sake.

[Studoku]

Either Lawful or Neutral Evil. I'm leaning towards lawful but could accept him being neutral evil to be within one step of his deity. Is he actually a cleric or just very devout?

Don't worry about the evil being a problem in a good/neutral party. He seems like a well written character who's sane enough to function in society. Unless you're in an immature group where anything that pings as evil is legitimate xp fodder and or contains a paladin, you should be fine.

[Tovec]

Neutral Evil, with Lawful tendencies (especially towards the beginning of the list) balanced against his Chaotic ones (more towards the end).

Support for Law:


Fact 2: He is not a Cannibal, and actually dislikes the idea of feasting on the flesh of a fellow human being, or humanoid.
Might be lawful, so I'll put it here.


Fact 5: The character heavily respects those that respect his personal views, even if they don't necessarily agree with them. This does not apply to Atheists.
Not sure whats with all the atheists talk. Those people are just wrong in DnD cosmology. This fact might be more lawful.


Fact 7: The character will not harm women, unless given permission to do so, or unless that woman harms another more beautiful/likable woman. Zuran faith teaches that women are temples to Zura, and he respects them as religious figures and sex idols alike.
Initially this may seem lawful, but it is a tenant of his religion. He may personally do this as well, even if it weren't for or against his religion. So, putting it here because it echos lawful.


Fact 8: The character believes that women are ranked via beauty, and is remarkably blunt about the fact unless he knows that insulting the looks of a woman would inconvenience him significantly.
I have a hard time pegging this one to any in the spectrum. It is an odd choice for any alignment and I probably would have rolled it in with Fact 7.


Fact 10: In the case of any task involving saving a woman, all objectives take a back seat, provided that the main task could assist in the rescue.
Lawful.

For Chaos:

Fact 9: Despite the fact that women are temples in his religion, he tends to avoid flirting with those that are good aligned, as he knows that they would use him with no reward in mind. He much prefers those of CN alignment or any evil.

Fact 11: The character in question is Sadistic, typically enjoying slicing enemies to ribbons with a scythe. He takes great joy in this, seeing it as partial blood offerings to his deity. He is extremely open about his sadism, but speaks lightly of it outside of combat, simply saying "He enjoys fighting too much."
Bloodlust, not just Chaotic, but good ol' Chaotic-Evil.


Fact 12: The character is also Masochistic, taking pleasure in pain. When saner men would fall over and be unconcious, he would simply fall into a state of pure bliss as the blood trickled off of every gaping wound on his person. He also considers this open worship of his deity.
CE or NE for this one, but "blood trickled off every gaping wound," tipped it more CE for me.


Fact 15: If at any point a woman falls in combat for any reason in the presence of him, he flies into a fit of carnal fury, properly, and gruesomely taking glorious painful revenge on anyone who may have had a part in it. (Even if she wasn't pretty)
Fury? Rage? Non-lawful at least, though I'd personally put it more chaotic than neutral but that is a personal choice and a playstyle difference.

Neutral / either / neither:

Fact 1: In the case of Religion, he is stupendously religious. He worships the Chaotic Evil deity Zura, Demon lord, and Vampire queen. Worshiped primarily by Cannibals, Vampires, and Succubi.
Automatically I would say 1 step from CE in this case, but realistically 'neither' or unsupported is probably the best claim here.


Fact 3: He doesn't like people that aren't religious at all, such as Atheists. He has a strong belief in his faith and it's teachings and believes that people with no faith have no reason for being, and as such, considers them expendable if necessary as "They're not going to go anywhere."
This is a big neither too, as it doesn't really define anything about his character, though it does about his religion.


Fact 4: The character respects the values of his allies, in any form, and typically avoids getting in the way of those values. It doesn't effect him, as he worships primarily alone, and even then, only in places that support his lifestyle.
This one is Good if anything. Probably closer to True Neutral, thus 'neutral'.


Fact 6:The character in questions frequently doesn't consider his own safety until he knows he could definitely die. (If he had 100 health, he wouldn't retreat till he had 15) Even then, if he has typically enjoyed an equal exchange of blows, he will continue to fight. (This explains the Diehard and Endurance feats)
Again, good possibly


Fact 13: Outside of combat, and with no women in the area, the character is extremely polite, though words things involving human nature rather morbidly. After all, we're all just balls of temptation, aren't we?
Neutral (Evil), edging Lawful. Though Chaotic people could do this too.


Fact 14: He avoids inter-group conflict with a passion. He is a charmer in the group that acts as a wonderful face, but occasionally his rumors can catch up to him and cause questions. He does, of course, agree to the truthfulness of every single one of them. He usually dismisses the questions with :
"You don't see me questioning any of you about your personal experiences with the beast of 2 backs, do you?"
True Netural almost for this one. Chaotic side for "do what you want" but lawful in that he tells the truth on this too. Balances out to neutral.


Fact 16: He has a soft spot for Succubi, as they were the prime speakers of his church.
Anybody of nearly any alignment can fall for Succubi. I would probably put someone no further than one step away to have a 'soft spot' for them though.

[Duboris]

Typically, he is a full fighter. He's a bit of a lay priest. He thinks that asking Zura for her favor through magic would be wrong, and therefore "Worships" with his own power.

He's not particularly a hard hitter, but his weapon of choice is a scythe. He's got a nasty habit of toying against enemies that he can make trips against rather easily.

Plus the occassional 8d4 roll is enough to make up for the lack of damage.

I experimented around with the choice of weapon, and honestly, if a spiked chain had reach, I'd use it.

Stat block
Dmitri Mavis
Male Human (Kele****e) Fighter 1
NE Medium Humanoid (human)
Init +1; Senses Perception +1
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 18, touch 11, flat-footed 17 (+6 armor, +1 shield, +1 Dex)
hp 16 (1d10+6)
Fort +5, Ref +1, Will +1
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 20 ft.
Melee Scythe +1 (2d4+1/x4) and
Unarmed strike +2 (1d3+1/x2)
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 12, Dex 12, Con 17, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 16
Base Atk +1; CMB +2 (+4 Tripping); CMD 13 (15 vs. Trip)
Feats Combat Expertise +/-1, Improved Trip, Toughness +3
Traits Charming, Missionary (Knowledge [religion])
Skills Acrobatics -4 (-8 jump), Bluff +3 (+4 vs. characters who could be attracted to you), Climb -4, Diplomacy +4 (+5 vs. characters who could be attracted to you), Escape Artist -4, Fly -4, Intimidate +7, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +6, Knowledge (planes) +3, Knowledge (religion) +7, Ride -4, Sense Motive +2, Stealth -4, Swim -4
Languages Abyssal, Common, Infernal, Kelish
Other Gear Breastplate, Buckler, Scorpion whip, Scythe, Fighter's kit, 9 GP
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Charming +1 Bluff/Diplomacy/save DC for a language-dependent spell vs. targets who could be sexually attracted to you.
Combat Expertise +/-1 Bonus to AC in exchange for an equal penalty to attack.
Improved Trip You don't provoke attacks of opportunity when tripping.

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If I could make AoO with a scorpion whip I'd probably use it instead of anything.

[kardar233]

I'm not really seeing where the Evil component of his alignment is coming from. His god may be Evil, but nothing about your description of his faith comes off that way, and unless he's going out and picking fights with innocent people to satisfy his sadism that's not particularly evil either. Where's the evilness coming in for you people?

[Duboris]

I'm pretty sure PF is one of those games where people tend to typically say:

"Sex is bad. Stop talking about it." Which would explain the evil.

As for reasoning, he doesn't really see other men as people, but that's only because of the sociopathology from being raised in the equivalent of a super-brothel.

Here was his Kingmaker's intro as per recruiting standards:

Upon leaving the church, Dmitri suffered culture shock, for the most part. He had never met other men before, and was rather mistreated, but found solace in the arms of women all the same. He was an alien to the male population, but could be seen as lovable, in many different ways, to the women. Some pitied, some loved, some lusted, and some even envied, but Dmitri was use to this.
In his exploration, he found that there existed adventurers, men of mettle. Women too! It was magnificent. The job description truly appealed to him, but for all the wrong reasons. Thoughts of grandeur filled his mind, more so than normal. He wanted to taste the slain creatures of his crimson scythe. He wanted to draw blood for his deity, his or theirs, it didn't matter. He wanted to meet interesting new women, and men all the same. It was truly a proving ground, and best of all, a way to worship his loving "godmother", Zura.

He left with all haste upon hearing of it, feverish, with excitement so great he could barely contain the thoughts of grandiose ecstasy. He had to stifle back drooling as his sanity waned for a moment. He was so prepared for it mentally that he broke into a sprint for the nearest method of travel there. But, little did he know, he wasn't ready. No. Not in the slightest...

I thought it was nice.

[Slipperychicken]

I'm pretty sure PF is one of those games where people tend to typically say:

"Stop talking about sex at the gaming table. Seriously, this is super awkward."


Fixed that for 'ya.

[Telonius]

Sounds to me like he's skating the line between LN and LE. Definitely lawful, as he has a very specific code that he always tries to keep.

Whether he's neutral or evil would (I think) depend on how far out of the way he's going to inflict pain and death on people. Also, just what the "soft spot" for succubi entails. (If a succubus isn't making sure somebody who's getting her "attentions" is doing horrendously evil acts, she's pretty terrible at being a succubus.)

[Coidzor]

He worships a patron that cares nothing for him for indeterminate reasons and he acknowledges the objective morality of the alignment system in character and yet feels that Good individuals are more likely to use and abuse him both sexually and in other ways than an individual who is Evil.

And he's not crazy like a Deadpool? :smallconfused:

Edit: Ah. So he was raised by succubi and isn't crazy despite appearing to be insane. Weird.

[Duboris]

I wouldn't say he's that level of "Genius Crazy"

He's mostly just a sociopath with an above-average intelligence score.

Smart Chaotic Evils are usually nutjobs. Take Joker, for example. Dmitri is a little off in the head, and while that may be the case, he's still in control. He just looks at the world from a very different perspective from his raising.

He's almost child-like, save for the massive amounts of thrill-seeking. If there were to be a 20 year time skip he'd be lawful evil for certain. He's essentially a bit immature in that sense, though.

[Yahzi]

He worships the Chaotic Evil deity Zura...
...considers them expendable if necessary
...frequently doesn't consider his own safety until he knows he could definitely die
...The character believes that women are ranked via beauty
...is Sadistic
...charmer in the group that acts as a wonderful face, but occasionally his rumors can catch up

He is Chaotic Evil, meaning he only respects strength and the tokens of strength (zeal, beauty, etc.). CE characters don't have to be jerkwads: they could just be fanatically libertarian (i.e "you deserve what you can take, no more and no less"). However, your character is also a jerkwad. Just in case it wasn't clear.

[Duboris]

He is Chaotic Evil, meaning he only respects strength and the tokens of strength (zeal, beauty, etc.). CE characters don't have to be jerkwads: they could just be fanatically libertarian (i.e "you deserve what you can take, no more and no less"). However, your character is also a jerkwad. Just in case it wasn't clear.

He respects beauty more than anything, and isn't that strong himself, despite being sadistic in his fights.

He isn't a jerkwad, but, that depends on what you mean by jerkwad.

He's only rude to men in the case of them being rude to him, otherwise he's indiffierent, but he does have the nagging bit of narcissim going through his head that he's superior to them. He's not just going to outright look at another guy and go "You're not worthy of talking to me." because that'd inconvenience him because it's randomly taunting someone into combat.

Did you read the growing-up story, or did you just go with the facts on the first post and not read the follow up?

From my experiences his predecessors, though not as pure as he is, did well in pbp games.

[Coidzor]

He respects beauty more than anything, and isn't that strong himself, despite being sadistic in his fights.

He isn't a jerkwad, but, that depends on what you mean by jerkwad.

Which raises the question of how he's lived all that long.

Well, most definitions of jerkward include chauvinists and even laying that aside since he's a bizarre permutation thereof, he's a jerkwad for a number of reasons, including but not limited to being a sadistic bastard & insulting women for not being pretty enough for no real reason other than ****s and giggles.

Somewhat understandably a jerkwad, if one can understand how he came into existence and why.

[Duboris]

Which raises the question of how he's lived all that long.

Well, most definitions of jerkward include chauvinists and even laying that aside since he's a bizarre permutation thereof, he's a jerkwad for a number of reasons, including but not limited to being a sadistic bastard & insulting women for not being pretty enough for no real reason other than ****s and giggles.

Somewhat understandably a jerkwad, if one can understand how he came into existence and why.

Oh, my apologies. The last person that said he was a jerkwad said it and explained it as him being heavily-detrimental to a party.

Chauvinist: That one's a definite, but only in the case of men.

He doesn't insult the women, per say. He knows they're not pretty, and he tells them. He doesn't look- wait I just realized I may have worded that extremely poorly. Hold on let me look at something. ... ... ... No I worded it right. It's just poorly misunderstood.

It's not that he blatantly insults them, it's that they get insulted.

He's viciously blunt about their looks and is, surprisingly, a pretty good judge. But after he insults people he usually just stands there waiting for the conversation to keep going with a smile on his face like he didn't do anything wrong. He knows women get offended, of course, but the "Divine ranking" (Genetics) takes pretense, and lieing is wrong.

"Does this dress make my butt look big"
"Yes"

He's just not got a blocker in that sense. When it comes to women and their looks he knows what he says is potentially mean, but he doesn't get any joy out of making fun of women. That'd be sacrilege.

[ArcturusV]

Now if he WAS a jerkwad, here's how it'd go:

"Does this dress make my butt look big?"
"No, but the one dozen chocolate doughnuts you pound down every morning does."

[Duboris]

Exactly. Hell, I know neutrals that do that.

[Coidzor]

Oh, my apologies. The last person that said he was a jerkwad said it and explained it as him being heavily-detrimental to a party.

Well, none of my characters would ever accept him and a fair number of them would view him as a lunatic that was too much of a liability to bother with aside from maybe putting down as one would a rabid dog if they knew more about him than what manifested early on.

But, *shrug* as far as being objectively detrimental, that's too dependent upon groups and party compositions.


Chauvinist: That one's a definite, but only in the case of men.

And this somehow negates his jerkwadness how?


He doesn't insult the women, per say. He knows they're not pretty, and he tells them. He doesn't look- wait I just realized I may have worded that extremely poorly. Hold on let me look at something. ... ... ... No I worded it right. It's just poorly misunderstood.

It's not that he blatantly insults them, it's that they get insulted.

Either he's a dunce and incapable of understanding human interaction despite his oodles of slimy, oily charisma that he constantly oozes according to his backstory or he's purposefully insulting people.

Simply standing there with a **** eating grin after insulting someone doesn't make it ok. :smallconfused:


He's viciously blunt about their looks and is, surprisingly, a pretty good judge. But after he insults people he usually just stands there waiting for the conversation to keep going with a smile on his face like he didn't do anything wrong. He knows women get offended, of course, but the "Divine ranking" (Genetics) takes pretense, and lieing is wrong.

"Does this dress make my butt look big"
"Yes"

That is not how you presented it initially in the slightest. Your presentation was one of unprovoked insult as a matter of course unless he thought that the woman was actually capable of doing him harm. Which paints him as a bully and the lowest sort of predator.


He's just not got a blocker in that sense. When it comes to women and their looks he knows what he says is potentially mean, but he doesn't get any joy out of making fun of women. That'd be sacrilege.

I'm unfamiliar with the term "blocker" in this context, as the only things I can think of involve sports or **** blocking.

All this is just making me wonder why he's going around insulting women for their appearance in the first place.

[ArcturusV]

Well, intentions matter.

For example, I had a character who would congratulate characters on being fat. Even though it is obviously rude, to our sensibilities. However his culture saw girth as a sign of success and fortune.

aka, you only get fat if you live an easy life. So anyone who is fat, obviously did well for themselves, or are doing well for themselves.

His intention isn't to hurt supposedly. It's "no... really, you don't look okay in that. Here, wear this thing that hides your ugly features instead/accentuates your good features." Which is a lot different, if that is the case.

[Coidzor]

Well, intentions matter.

For example, I had a character who would congratulate characters on being fat. Even though it is obviously rude, to our sensibilities. However his culture saw girth as a sign of success and fortune.

And yet, he'd have that explained to him pretty quickly after the initial debacle barring some kind of series of unfortunate events. As soon as he knew that, it would not only be rude but it'd also be a culturally insensitive/imperialist thing to insist on insulting people by complimenting them.

So his intent has to be modified by this new information that he's in a culture where what he is doing is a faux pas at best.

If he was truly initiated into how women thought and wanted in that backstory, Dmitri wouldn't even have the excuse of your example character's initial experiences with cultural dissonance.

[ArcturusV]

Still came up as a hard wiring thing. Which does happen to someone. I mean, in my real life. I was raised to be the sort of guy who does things like open and hold open doors for women (And other people in general). And most of the time it's fine. Though there are some people who that is Not Okay with. Seriously, I've gotten hit with purses, shin kicked, etc, for doing it. As much as it honestly mystifies me. And while an incident may cause me to stop doing it for a while, I still naturally revert to it.

Similar effects could be at play.

[Duboris]

And yet, he'd have that explained to him pretty quickly after the initial debacle barring some kind of series of unfortunate events. As soon as he knew that, it would not only be rude but it'd also be a culturally insensitive/imperialist thing to insist on insulting people by complimenting them.

So his intent has to be modified by this new information that he's in a culture where what he is doing is a faux pas at best.

If he was truly initiated into how women thought and wanted in that backstory, Dmitri wouldn't even have the excuse of your example character's initial experiences with cultural dissonance.

keep in mind the character is potentially a font of growth.

I mean in every adventure, he's practically just left the church, so he's a sociopath. He may start out like this, but once he's had enough experiences, he stops being alienistic, and grows to be even more charismatic because of that.

He still holds his virtues, however.