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Grim Portent
2013-12-09, 05:23 AM
What ideas do you have for evil characters you'd like to play at some point? Doesn't matter what system, just the basics of their motives and personality, what darker aspects of alignment do you want to explore with the character and so forth.

I for example really want to get a chance to play a Chaotic Evil Half Red Dragon who truly and deeply believes that his draconic parent is something to be admired and emulated. All the character would want is to amass wealth and power, indulge in cruelty and spitefulness when convenient and try to become a true dragon somehow. All in an attempt to be like his father. He wouldn't harm his allies as they're too useful and powerful, but he would gladly visit his wrath upon his servants and enemies, and vehemently defend his rights to do so from protest, though not to the point of violence.

Another concept I have is a Lawful Evil Werewolf who thinks that his curse is a punishment for being undisciplined and weak, and who wants to conquer a vast territory to enforce discipline and law upon it to ensure that things like his lycanthropic curse don't get a chance to set in and cause harm. His motivating event would have been him slaughtering his home village during his first change, since when he has sought to stamp down and crush the animal within. To do so, and to prevent something similar from happening again, he feels that he and all of mankind need iron discipline, rigorous control and an iron will to do what is necessary. Loyal to a fault, respectful of strength and compassion but utterly without mercy and unwilling to spare those who opposed him due to the risk of them being destabilizing elements later.

ShadowFighter15
2013-12-09, 06:13 AM
Had an idea for ages now of a character who got an unwanted reincarnation and ended up as a kobold.

He was once a powerful bandit lord, the kind that inspired loyalty in his men while managing the heat their activities would draw. A psion, he was constantly researching and enhancing his power while grooming his second-in-command, a young woman and psychic warrior, to take his place upon his retirement or death. Sadly, he had failed to instil the patience the role required in her and she slit his throat while he was sleeping and lain low with a strong infection (he would've been in his 80s or so by this point, a relatively short-term lack of healing magic would've been enough for him to catch something like pneumonia at that age and in those living conditions).

A mad druid found his corpse and brought him back, believing him to be critical to some grand event that would happen [insert vague references to campaign's plot here]. While less than amused about his new body being that of a kobold, he was still grateful for being brought back to life (possibly from the natural euphoria of not having arthritis for the first time in a decade) so let the druid be.

While travelling with the PCs (who he'd have no reason to harm), he'd keep an eye out both for any of his scattered research caches and for his former gang while regaining and increasing his own psionic power. Occasionally, that might mean breaking off from the rest of the group to have a... 'chat' with someone.

Careful, methodical and basically Neutral Evil with plenty of raw intelligence and common sense. He doesn't kill anyone for the fun of it, only when killing them will benefit him more than leaving them alive. Think classy, Affably Evil but also utterly ruthless and perfectly capable of leveraging his reputation to his advantage. Just as an example, this is what he'd say if a good PC he's working with implied that he was helping them save people out of the goodness of his heart. I've had the guy in my head so long his personality has sort-of crystallised already and I can write this off the top of my head, even though I've never played him.
"You're under the impression that I do this out of some altruistic desire or a recently-kindled version of the same. Let me disabuse you of that notion - I do not do this for them. I do not care if these people live or die and if killing them would bring me the power I need then I would personally slit each one's throat to the last man, woman and child.
"They are a means to an end, nothing more. Do not delude yourself into thinking I am changing my ways. And if you believe that means I should be killed; then might I suggest, for the sake of the people your protecting, to wait until I am more liability than asset. And since I am certain the rest of you working together could kill me far more thoroughly and readily than anything else, it behooves me to stay in your good graces, wouldn't you say?
"If that means helping these people, fine. But I am not going to pretend to be something I am not nor will I let you continue with the fool notion of my 'redemption'. I am the same feared bandit lord the stories tell of, only my body has changed since then.
"Speak to me of this again," he said as he walked off, "and I may not be quite so cordial about it."

Grim Portent
2013-12-09, 06:19 AM
That is a good neutral evil character right there. I'd actually quite like to see something like that in a campaign sometime.

VariSami
2013-12-09, 06:39 AM
A noble scion Paladin of Tyranny who specializes in social skills and only wears his full-plate - a shining armor of superficial goodness - when it is time to punish knaves and scoundrels. Inside his cloak, the symbol of Focalor is embroidered since the man is a dabbler in the satanist arts of binding and the vestige both helps him seem less like a sociopath and makes his enemies even weaker before his tactics.

He would fight using every dirty trick in the book but nothing that would stand out and brand him as anything more than a shining beacon of paladinous virtue. Poisoned weapons? Check. Contact poison on armor's surface? Check. Paralyzing or otherwise crippling enhancement on weapon? Check.

TheDarkSaint
2013-12-09, 01:33 PM
In the mid-90's, I was really into Multi-User Dungeons (MUDs) which were text based, large chat rooms where you could rp and fight things. I was one of the few guys willing to play someone evil (everyone had hero fever or if they were a villain, were "undercover")

I was brazen and bold, playing a nobleman with political power and an army to back him up. I was sly and meticulous, sinister and completely depraved. He attacked his enemies by proxy, using poisons and disease to bring his foes low. He was a sensualist, luring others into a den of depravity that I found myself as a player shocked and revolted at times.

By far, he was the most popular villian on the MUD and tons of people wanted to interact with him because he was so vile and wonderfully evil that they got a chance to be the White Knight when he collided with them.

Pex
2013-12-09, 01:51 PM
A lawful evil cleric of Vengeance. Towards the party and NPCs in general he's a trustworthy friendly fellow in every manner you expect a "normal" PC to be. He understands why a paladin couldn't associate with him, but he likes them. He really, really likes them. However, against the BBEGs, their lieutenants, and their minions, Vengeance is his. They will not only die, they will suffer before death. They will suffer after death. They will be brutally punished for their evil deeds. No mercy. No quarter. They will suffer tenfold the suffering they have inflicted upon others. He is Righteous Fury.

Spore
2013-12-09, 01:51 PM
CE halfling bard. Manipulating the group into doing his bidding. Bonus points for tricking a paladin for several weeks (having the DM resort to divine intervention). I am not one for PvP but I would really love the challenge of introducing a secretly evil character into a good group.

Honest Tiefling
2013-12-09, 02:30 PM
Lawful Evil cleric, who fully believes that committing evil actions is a sin he will pay for in the afterlife, but that good is not fully capable of defending the innocent. Malcontents and dabblers in forbidden knowledge are not afraid of the law, because the law is restrained by good intent.

So he would feel that he needs to take on the burden of sin in order to fully eradicate other forms of evil. What he does is not pleasant, and he takes no enjoyment from it. He would of course, have to refuse any honors or rewards given to him other then what is needed to complete his mission. He does this so that others do not have to.

Of course, he would respect paladins and other Lawful Good types for being examples of honor and righteousness, and wish no harm upon them, only fighting in self-defense, and preferably, not eliminating them from the struggle. This wouldn't mean that such types would look upon him favorably, however.

ComatosePhoenix
2013-12-09, 03:14 PM
I always kinda wanted to be an ignoble knight. Calm, collected, very interested in his personal appearance to the world and never caught in a misdeed. But in a serious situation the gloves come off and he will lie, murder, and blackmail to keep his status.

Just to throw a perspective in here, if anyone ever watched/read fullmetal alchemist there was a character named Greed who has an enjoyable personality.

Clearly evil, but evil in a way that it is hard to distinguish from good.

DSmaster21
2013-12-09, 03:24 PM
I had a chaotic evil sorcerer that was secretly an assassin (profession not class) in a good/neutral campaign.

Style/Personality
by combining all his skills in illusion and enchantment (compulsion) (PF Fey-Bloodline) he would cause the deaths of anyone who crossed him. He coup-de-graced 4 consecutive rulers of a city and had a (non-monster or evil stuff) body count well into the 60's (put lots of points in stealth used invis (seemed to take forever to get that) and disguise, lies and whatever else he had to do to corner targets (He sat in a man's (rich fantasy millionaire's private) bathroom for 4 days and then locked them in and knocked the guy out and then coup-de graced him with a scythe he carried just for murders.) (A scythe does 8d4 on a crit (Forcing a DC 30 Fort Save or death to my unconscious targets on average) and with a coup-de-grace I autohit and crit so non-proficiency did nothing.) I believe that I destabilized seven different cities. Although he got paid for some of these jobs the reason he did them was that he liked the challenge and hated rules.

Relationships with good/neutral people
I actually wrote up a mini-composition book of the other players' weaknesses that they made up and any thing I could use to kill them. (He actually considered them good, if occasionally annoying and in-the-way-of-his-schemes, friends though and would not attack them unless they truly chose to become his foes.)

Goals
His endgame would have been similar to Nuclear Dan's evil wilder character in Another Gaming Comic. (Create a cult and gain ultimate power as a diety and then kill the other gods and smite anyone who refuses to worship him thus creating a world of psychosis and trickery.) We stopped before we got to this point but I would like to finish this guy's story someday.

Raine_Sage
2013-12-09, 06:41 PM
God the half dragon sounds like he'd be frustrating fun to adventure with.

I actually got to briefly play mine but would like to revisit her if I ever get the chance to play in a long term campaign.

Mine is a human warlock who sold herself into the service of Levistus in order to exact revenge on the people who killed her brother, only to later discover that her brother's death had been entirely just and that maybe making decisions in a haze of grief and rage is not the best life choice.

Now she's stuck as an unwitting servant of the arch devil and bitterly regrets her past short sightedness. However time has made her numb to guilt, she wore herself out kicking herself and feels like if she's damned beyond redemption she might as well go for broke.

More than anything she wants to break her contract and severe her ties with Levistus for good. Unfortunately this means freeing the archdevil from his prison which is a good thing for exactly no one. She's really beyond caring at this point.

She's not actively malicious or spiteful but she is cold and sarcastic and when presented with the option for delicacy or the option for force she leans towards the latter. She doesn't enjoy hurting others and generally gets along with party members, but sometimes you need to torch a village to get stuff done. She also has a dislike for paladins, ironic because I think she wound up in a brief caustic romance with the paladin PC in the party.

Jakodee
2013-12-09, 07:00 PM
I've always had this idea for a LE wizard. I would try to get my DM in on it or play in a group without anyone with detect evil. I would act good for a few levels and try to learn the settings cosmology. I would attempt to gain planar travel or and go exploring without the other PC's and see what made the multiverse tick. Then I could start "Redecorating".

Grim Portent
2013-12-10, 08:15 AM
Some quite nice character concepts here. A few ideas on the lower end of functioning evil as well though in my opinion. :smallsmile:

valadil
2013-12-10, 09:13 AM
I don't have a build in mind, but I want to play a religious zealot whose only motivation in life is entering heaven. He does good deeds but for strictly selfish reasons.

ReaderAt2046
2013-12-10, 01:23 PM
I had this idea for an almost tsukiko-esque necromancer character who had been raised in an undead citadel, and thus thought of necromancy as natural. On coming into contact with the greater world, he was driven to become evil by the simple fact of everyone treating him as evil.

Lucid
2013-12-10, 01:24 PM
The characters I really want to play are more on the border between neutral and evil, but our campaigns usually don't lend themselves very well to moral ambiguity.

One is a Cleric/Walker in the Waste, a devotee to a god of magic and knowledge. He is utterly obsessed with the collection and preservation of lore & artefacts and will try to get his way by legitimate means if possible. If this fails he is not above annihilating anyone who stands between him and his goals.

Another character I'd like to play is a Lawful Evil knight who is a staunch defender of Good.
Dealing in moral absolutes, it doesn't matter if you're a thief, a murderer or a demon, your actions are wrong and you will be punished for them. A mentality like the Punisher, no belief in redemption and using brutal methods like torture without batting an eye. A man who is aware of his own hypocrisy and doesn't believe he himself can be saved, but who will punish those he sees as guilty and defend the innocent.
I can really only see him working in an otherwise good-aligned party, and I'd love to play him alongside/opposite a Paladin.

Yora
2013-12-10, 01:30 PM
I'm one of the people who always play the same characters with only minor variations in the details.

My primary one is a chaotic good half-elf ranger/sorcerer.
The other one is basically Olga Gurlukovich (http://metalgear.wikia.com/wiki/Olga_Gurlukovich) as a cleric. So Neutral Evil human cleric of Shar, Wee-Jas, or something like that.

Axiomatic
2013-12-10, 01:54 PM
I want my evil character to really, really like and look up to a seriously Good character in the party.

He may think the Good guy's system of morality is ultimately unfeasible, but he treasures the innocence and purity all the same, and will primarily act for the benefit of the Good character.

That he does so using methods the Good character would never, ever approve of can strain their relationship, of course, but my evil character figures that what the good guy doesn't know, won't hurt him.

Bakeru
2013-12-10, 02:51 PM
The concept was shot down in its infancy, but I once suggested introducing an Lawful-Evil character into our "Group of good/neutral characters saves the world from peril"-campaign. The others thought conflict was inevitable. I'm pretty sure he'd have gotten along with most of them - sometimes even better then my current neutral-good char.

Basically, while Lawful, his only rule would be that you stand by your word. Rules he didn't agree to don't bind him, but once he gives his word, he'd rather die (without resurrection) then go back on it. Since the world is where he keeps his stuff, and he can't save it alone and doesn't trust the group to do it without him, he'd have to agree to follow the group and obey their leader until the threat is dealt with.
He'd hate every second of it, would constantly give his opinion (unless told to shut up by the leader) and try to get them to do things his way, but if the group leader tells him to rescue orphans from a burning building - he gave his word. Until the world is saved, he'll do everything in his power to follow the orders of the group leader.

'Course, they'd have to make sure of three things:
1) Get him to promise "no backstabbing even after the world is saved until we split up and go separate ways", or he'd kill them as soon as he can afterwards.
2) Get him to promise to follow the meaning, not the letters, of orders.
3) Make sure he's never in a position where he can be considered leader of the group, or he can order himself to do whatever he wants.

(Amusingly, my current neutral-good char is the polar opposite: A chronic liar, even to the party, who will break promises and cheat whenever possible. He's out to help people and generally ignores personal gain (unless he can use it to help more people), but his words are still about as trustworthy as a valve release date. The reason why they allow him to stay is because he genuinely helps them, he's just not honest. You can see him in my avatar - he's the guy in the back. And no, he doesn't do close combat, the armour is a ruse.)

Grim Portent
2013-12-10, 03:12 PM
(Cut short for space)

I would gladly play a campaign alongside the former character, but I'm pretty sure I'd be very annoyed by the latter one. Evil or Good, there is still a matter of decorum and trust is an important part of looking like proper adventurers rather than wandering thugs. :smallsmile:

Vknight
2013-12-10, 03:27 PM
"My name matters not you can call me Soze if you need something to address me as"

I played him once. For 3 sessions before the players playing the Bard and Duskblade got upset he was evil. Mind you the Paladin, and Good Cleric were ok with him(so was the GM). Despite being evil, but after 3 sessions had to retire him at which point I left.

Personality
Soze
-Constant calm appearance, forced or otherwise. A mask of what you wish me too feel will get me further then what needs actually be said
-Manipulative and will admit when he is being so for his own benefit well pointing out all the reasons as too why working with or towards the same goal makes sense.
-All in all Soze is the calm level headed straight man, who works out his goals. Moving the pieces for a strategic takedown. He can be cruel, but will show kindness.

Relationship With Good/Others
"I care not for your goal of saving these people. No I come here to slay that stagnate fool who thinks one man should rule this plane"
-Though his reasons for action may not align his goals often did. As Soze has a certain view of authority law and how things must be done

"No I follow knowledge revering something to gain knowledge is a shortcut for those without drive to actually achieve. Slay a god and you slay her followers. Slay a king and his kingdom won't crumble unless he was a fool, do you understand now why I say I don't follow foolish notions."
-Soze had a simple view point. If a kingdom collapses upon a kings death he was either a fool or his successors were. As gods have no successor and if they die their followers lose their power they are fools.

"Sure you can make it so to each city their own. This can stop the injustice of kings, but not that of men."
-Soze took a stance that Chaotic aligned people had points but order was more important for survival.

"You claim I've vile and evil. No this is not true, I am certainly a monster deplorable, sometimes cruel, an evil man. But no I am not vile, I will not smite suddenly without provocation I'm not so cruel sadist"
-Soze takes a stance of I am aware of my evil and will more then likely suffer for it. He is willing to take a shot or blast a innocent because it may need be done to say others.

"Your a Paladin, I will not lie to you. My reasons for saying that is not altruistic but for money. Does it mean I would hesitate to destroy it if I thought its destruction would serve us better, no."
-Soze talking with the Paladin on the pass. They had a mutual respect

"You see each action I do as a step down a slippery slope and that your following me. No, I am not leading you down the same path. Your reasons to do actions which benefit me does not mean compliance only a common goal."
-Soze and the Swashbuckler. Every action Soze did was watched with careful eye by the Swashbuckler because he was evil

"You thirst for knowledge. I simply offered you knowledge. May it be to your taste or not. I never spoke of good or evil simply answers for questions."
-Soze to the Duskblade when offering him a evil duskblades spell-book. After the Duskblade returned it split in twain

"You don't trust me. I can accept this, I am using all of you. This does not mean that my actions and choices, are opposite or opposed; simply I have different goals for that success. No you have all proved useful as allies and tools, so I have no reason to break our arrangement."
-Soze with the Cleric. After the Cleric asked him would he betray them


Goals
"You think we have the same goal? On which goal, immortality? Ruling this plane as eternal overlord? Simply being an Overlord? The destruction of good?"
*chuckles*
"No we have very few things in common. Yes I wish for immortality. But I do not care to be a ruler or for destruction. No I have simple goals to aid those who need it from things like you, and to have knowledge"
-Soze wanted immortality of some sort, a library with every spell/history, and to make sure that the world did not fall into complete anarchy or fall into complete dominance

How I Would Build Him In Various Systems
D&D 3.5: Wizard or Bard + Rogue + Arcane Trickster
D&D 4: Wizard with Multi Class in Rogue take Godslayer as Epis Destiny
Mutants and Masterminds 2nd/3rd: Magic power, high intellect, jack of all trades, skill points in social and various knowledge skills.
New World of Darkness: Hunter or Geist
Eclipse Phase: Async with Extropian connections and large social networks

Bakeru
2013-12-10, 03:51 PM
I would gladly play a campaign alongside the former character, but I'm pretty sure I'd be very annoyed by the latter one. Evil or Good, there is still a matter of decorum and trust is an important part of looking like proper adventurers rather than wandering thugs. :smallsmile:Both stress the differences between honest and trustworthy. The evil one is honest, but can't really be trusted unless you have a binding promise without any loopholes. The good one isn't honest, but trustworthy: He will not harm innocents, and will help whenever he can. He'd also never abandon the group, and swore on pretty much the only thing that could bind him by his word that he'd help them (he's a follower of Leira, apparently-dead (he thinks she faked it) goddess of lies and illusions. Swearing on her secret name is the only oath he wouldn't break). At last, he's a social character, and rogues and bards get cut some slack (he's a beguiler, so same group). And decorum isn't a problem - he seems honest whenever he needs to, and the group met him while he was successfully posing as a travelling prince.
Doesn't change that half of our characters are annoyed by him. The other half (and all the players) think he's far to much fun to send away.

Knaight
2013-12-10, 04:02 PM
There's a character I had for a game that only lasted one session that I'd like to revisit. He's not a maniacal, mustache twirling sort of evil. Instead, he has a vicious streak that he keeps well under wraps, and he has a willingness to be brutal and a desire to be thorough. What all this comes to is coming down on those he sees as villains far harder than is necessary. He's fought for good purposes his whole life. He's also done things like murdered captured adversaries in cold blood rather than turn them over to the law when the law is perfectly capable of handling them.

BeerMug Paladin
2013-12-10, 04:26 PM
Slappy Arrowface. A half-orc fighter specialized in a bow. Slappy Arrowface likes two things, fighting in bars, and murdering people in the face with arrows. Among competent adventurers, he makes friends easily and he adventures because it gives him an excuse to shoot arrows at people. He's willing to do anything in pursuit of whatever he may be trying to do for the moment. Utilitarian.

In terms of 'evilness', he's not flat out evil more than he doesn't care about doing whatever is right. If he's hired to do something morally questionable, he'll not think twice about the request. Generally, he would consider himself on the good side of neutral. Just doing 'what needs to be done' in order to accomplish a goal.

On his own, he acts chaotic evil, but he respects competence more than anything, and if someone he respects asks him not to do something because it's evil (and they convince him it is), he won't do it. In the right group, Slappy Arrowface may actually never perform an evil action.

Ajadea
2013-12-10, 04:27 PM
I've always wanted to play a Evil character who would do horrifically evil deeds in the name of protecting the innocent and good. She treats the children and the innocent as fragile treasures, and does much of her evil in the name of making sure they never even need to know what evil is. She will protect the lives of those she cares about (including her party members) with her own, and accordingly, will totally destroy anyone who threatens them without a second thought. Despite being evil, she reviles other evildoers and rips them apart with extreme prejudice, often for lesser crimes than what she commits. And she is fully aware that none of what she does can be considered good, but that doesn't stop her from killing anyone who tries to attack her for it, in the name of protecting her own life.

Basically, she believes that good is dumb, good is impotent, but good is important and needs to be protected.

FabulousFizban
2013-12-10, 05:05 PM
Any affably evil character. Completely depraved and ruthless, but absolutely approachable and charming. Sort of like Tarquin before he went off the deep end. Or, the classic example, the mayor from Buffy.

Jay R
2013-12-10, 05:24 PM
One of the greatest joys of running a game of Flashing Blades is that I get to run Cardinal Richelieu.

The Fury
2013-12-10, 09:16 PM
Slappy Arrowface. A half-orc fighter specialized in a bow. Slappy Arrowface likes two things, fighting in bars, and murdering people in the face with arrows. Among competent adventurers, he makes friends easily and he adventures because it gives him an excuse to shoot arrows at people. He's willing to do anything in pursuit of whatever he may be trying to do for the moment. Utilitarian.

In terms of 'evilness', he's not flat out evil more than he doesn't care about doing whatever is right. If he's hired to do something morally questionable, he'll not think twice about the request. Generally, he would consider himself on the good side of neutral. Just doing 'what needs to be done' in order to accomplish a goal.

On his own, he acts chaotic evil, but he respects competence more than anything, and if someone he respects asks him not to do something because it's evil (and they convince him it is), he won't do it. In the right group, Slappy Arrowface may actually never perform an evil action.

You know, the lack of pretense here is actually kind of refreshing.

Raine_Sage
2013-12-10, 09:29 PM
Man I kind of want to campaign with all these guys, it makes me sad that it probably won't happen.

Brendanicus
2013-12-10, 09:46 PM
CE halfling bard. Manipulating the group into doing his bidding. Bonus points for tricking a paladin for several weeks (having the DM resort to divine intervention). I am not one for PvP but I would really love the challenge of introducing a secretly evil character into a good group.Seeing as i love Halflings in general, evil ones make me squee!

I like playing evil characters, but not evil warlods/archmages/other BBEG material. Usually my evil characters are thugs-for-hire or other types of small-time scumbags. Or they are too TN to are about the actions of their allies.

EDIT: That or a totally over-the-top evil guy. Mustache twirling and everything.

QuintonBeck
2013-12-10, 09:48 PM
In one game of mine I was a noble(ish) paragon of Law and leader of the party who eventually fell to chaos and evil when everything he stood for was proven to be false but for a short period between losing it and getting turned on by the party he was able to convince an otherwise neutral good group to allow him to do and to commit horrendous actions because he had never steered them wrong before. Eventually it got to the point where the one dissenter who my character had had the other party members tie up and hold captive (which they did with little to no question) convinced the other party members I was off my rocker (I was) and my character was shoved off the ship we were on and became a villain in the campaign.

Since then I've wanted to run an inspiring and charismatic evil leader type. Not a mastermind, he has no long term conquer the world plans, but he gets people together and gets them to accomplish things in the most direct way possible. Basically he would be a caring leader who looked out for his fellows and if they had any compunctions about what he was asking them to do he would rationalize with them and convince them it was the right thing to do. He would make everyone around him fall, not for the delight of it, but because he honestly believed evil and ruthlessness are key to surviving long enough to keep up the fight. Good in his eyes is stupid and survival and taking care of yourself those important to you and teaching them how to take care of themselves is the most important thing. I don't know if he'd be LE or NE but I think he'd be interesting whatever the case.

Brendanicus
2013-12-10, 09:51 PM
In one game of mine I was a noble(ish) paragon of Law and leader of the party who eventually fell to chaos and evil when everything he stood for was proven to be false but for a short period between losing it and getting turned on by the party he was able to convince an otherwise neutral good group to allow him to do and to commit horrendous actions because he had never steered them wrong before. Eventually it got to the point where the one dissenter who my character had had the other party members tie up and hold captive (which they did with little to no question) convinced the other party members I was off my rocker (I was) and my character was shoved off the ship we were on and became a villain in the campaign.

Since then I've wanted to run an inspiring and charismatic evil leader type. Not a mastermind, he has no long term conquer the world plans, but he gets people together and gets them to accomplish things in the most direct way possible. Basically he would be a caring leader who looked out for his fellows and if they had any compunctions about what he was asking them to do he would rationalize with them and convince them it was the right thing to do. He would make everyone around him fall, not for the delight of it, but because he honestly believed evil and ruthlessness are key to surviving long enough to keep up the fight. Good in his eyes is stupid and survival and taking care of yourself those important to you and teaching them how to take care of themselves is the most important thing. I don't know if he'd be LE or NE but I think he'd be interesting whatever the case.That sounds like a great concept. Sort of like a cult leader. Or :redcloak:.

Admiral Squish
2013-12-10, 10:31 PM
I've had a couple evil characters I've wanted to play, but none of the games have lasted very long...

The first is Vorel Vrak di Thurkear Svaust Hysvear Shafaer Altiuiri di Marfedelom, Bapriv Plisoiv di wer Arcaniss di vi Kothar, which translates to Beautiful Child of Night Who Soars on Wings of Death, Immortal Mistress of the Magic of Demons. A pseudodragon warlock. Acts like a cat, which is, by default, quite evil. She demands to be pampered, fed, and petted occasionally, believing herself fully deserving of every bit of respect her draconic bretheren are. she's not stupid, either, and she knows she only have a few years on the world. So she seeks a way to become immortal, at any price. No undead half-life for her, either, only true, perpetual life will suffice for her.

There's also Gulo. He's a bandit leader with a fearsome reputation. In some versions, he's a Wolvar (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=172657), in others, he's a were-wolverine, or even a were-horrid/dire wolverine. He's incredibly strong, and enforces his will through physical violence and threats thereof. He actually ascended to authority by killing his predecessor, then eating him in front of the men at the celebratory banquet.

Oh, and then we have [Metal Grinding Noise]. You can't really type his name. He's an adamantine warforged, and when anyone asks his name he just opens his mouth and a screeching metallic tearing sound emerges. He was in the early warforged tolerance experiments, and they buried him alive to see how long it would take a warforged to go insane. He did, and quite spectacularly. When they went to dig him up, they found he had tunneled away and escaped. He went all serial killer and started tearing apart other warforged and eating their parts (jaws of death feat). He's a dungeoncrasher and a warforged juggernaut, which means most of combat consists of him rushing around the battlefield like a pinball machine, bull-rushing foes into walls and floors for massive damage.

Wyrm Ouroboros
2013-12-10, 11:08 PM
In the mid-90's, I was really into Multi-User Dungeons (MUDs) which were text based, large chat rooms where you could rp and fight things. I was one of the few guys willing to play someone evil (everyone had hero fever or if they were a villain, were "undercover")

I was brazen and bold, playing a nobleman with political power and an army to back him up. I was sly and meticulous, sinister and completely depraved. He attacked his enemies by proxy, using poisons and disease to bring his foes low. He was a sensualist, luring others into a den of depravity that I found myself as a player shocked and revolted at times.

By far, he was the most popular villian on the MUD and tons of people wanted to interact with him because he was so vile and wonderfully evil that they got a chance to be the White Knight when he collided with them.

... did I play with you on one variation or another of HellMUSH?? On the other hand, nobody in Hell was a good guy ... but every player wanted them to be. I, on the other hand, got to play Hela - who could lower the social temperature in a room just by lifting her chin. My favorite other-PC quote about her was this, from another of the Theme characters:

"Christ, she's cold. She scares the crap out of me." - Micantos

That said, besides her (who is my favorite villian I've ever played, enough to play her as the non-villian she actually is) I think my favorite villian character in a D&D-style setting was a NE wemic bounty hunter that I've rebuilt in PF as a scout-sniper rogue. It wasn't so much that he was "EEEEEVIIIILLL!!!! (lol)" but that he had a job to do, and whatever got the job done fastest and easiest with the least danger to himself was what he would do.

Target hiding in one section of a manor house, another part of which is occupied by a nursery full of children? "Burn the house down to flush him out. Once he's out, cripple him so he can't run away, put the manacles on, and haul him off. ... what do you mean, 'what about the fire'? It's not my job to put out fires."

Target is at a party full of ambassadors and lots of potential war between nations? "Drug something that's going to be prepared for the party, then go in and get the target." Have to kill dozens of guards to get in there? "Fine - that's their job, protecting their guys. If they try to stop me from getting my guy, of course I'm going to kill them; why did you even ask me that question?? What do you mean, I should tell them that I'm after Target - they might warn him and he might get away. Besides, it'd let them into hand-to-hand range, and I don't like that. I could get hurt."

Reathin
2013-12-10, 11:40 PM
Two come to mind, both with a similar core idea manifested in very different ways.

The first was a wizard who was really, really into summoning and binding demons. Sounds bad, yeah? Except he bound them into binding circles. That extracted power from them via torture. And when that was done, expended their remaining energy completely (demons and devils don't have "souls" specifically, but much the same idea). He then channeled that energy into the construction of powerful magical items, which were then sent to the more proactive forces for good in the world. Paladins and such. Guy had zero sympathy for evil, and realized he was a hypocrite for all the torture and soul destruction, but really didn't care all that much.

The second was a rogue/assassin type who was good friends with an idealistic and thoroughly good cleric of Pelor. The cleric, according to the assasin, wasn't willing to get his hands dirty to ensure the Lord of the Sun's stuff got done on time. This didn't offend the assassin; he greatly admired his friends dedication and compassion, his ability to believe in the redemption of just about anybody. To the assassin, you really do need those kinds of people. Cynics don't tend to make good followers of Good deities. But since there are things that do need doing that would stain his friend's hands and heart (even KNOWING that someone was doing them would be a heavy burden), the assassin shoulders that burden in the dark while masquerading as someone considerably more innocent. He fears the day his secret might come out, but until that day comes, he'll keep up the murder of not only those who pose a genuine danger to Pelor's followers, but those who stand in the way tangentially, or serve as "rivals" (followers of an alternative Sun or Healing deity might find their more important clergy dead of "natural causes", their bodies missing to prevent resurrection.

Basically, I'm fond of the "serve the greater good and stain yourself while doing so" theme, particularly in the latter case when the personal friendship gets involved. Normally my characters are either nice people or complete nutjobs, but those two above are pretty much my only genuinely evil characters, via their methods if not their goals.

prufock
2013-12-11, 12:07 AM
I, Warforged

I was the first in a line of warforged created by his master, Vomisa Caasi. Aaaand last. The I in his name, while pronounced as the letter, was actually intended by the creator to be a numeral one, as he was to be the first of a production line of them. However, upon his creation, it turned out that I was such a pain in the ass that Vomisa abandoned the project in favour of more efficient automatons. Sentient constructs were just too much hassle.

I is a misanthrope, viewing humanoids with a mix of disdain, disgust, pity, and hatred. The "fleshies" are weak and pathetic, and if he had his way he'd wipe them all out. Fortunately, Vomisa had the forethought to instill in I the three laws of warforged.

Manly Man
2013-12-11, 12:21 AM
One of them I have is an alhoon Psion//Wizard who enjoys nothing more than wreaking absolute havoc on his foes in the Underdark. He lives above ground, in a swamp so loaded with fog and gases that it blots out the sunlight and suffocates half of the creatures who live above the ground or out of the water. His favorite vice is to take in the feelings of horror that he makes watching mind flayers feel when he extracts the brains of others and then spits them out, usually into the faces of the still-living illithids. Basically, he delights in believing that his entire purpose in unlife is complete spite of illithid culture and has come very close to achieving his ultimate dream, to slay an Elder Brain, devour it, and then vomit the chunks onto a crowd of mind flayers who are helpless to do anything about it. One of his favorite torture methods, apart from regurgitating gray matter, is to bind mind flayers in a null psionics field (add an antimagic field as well if there's magic-psionics opacity) and let them sit in bright sunlight for weeks. He'd still wet them down to keep them from chapping and then bleeding to death, give them water to drink, and otherwise sustain them, all while bathing in their sunshine-induced terror.

Needless to say, he was from a very depraved campaign, one that I don't like to reflect on very much.

Red Fel
2013-12-11, 10:59 AM
Three villains I have always wanted to play.

First: A fantasy version of David Xanatos (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Xanatos). He's non-traditional evil, bordering on neutral. He is affable, even trustworthy, but always, always puts himself first, and would readily give up even those he considers to be trusted allies if it means achieving his goals. And although he is capable of love (or "[a]s much as two people such as ourselves are capable of that emotion," as he explains to his fey-touched industrial-spy-and-cat-burglar-and-mercenary then-fiancee), he sees it as a weakness. Most importantly, he is a delicious villain because he always wins. He is the originator of the Xanatos Gambit (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/XanatosGambit), and every scenario results in a victory for him. Otherwise, the actions of heroes and villains alike are simply beneath him; he is aware of their actions, but feels no need to act, because, as he points out, "Nothing terrifies me. Because nothing is beyond my ability to change."

It's easy to keep a character like this with the party, because he appreciates them for their abilities. He won't backstab them out of convenience, (unless it's really convenient) and will be honorable enough to call a truce for as long as they may be useful. Good characters (smart ones, anyway) will be aware of this, and realize that he can be useful to them as well. After all, he didn't get to where he is by being Stupid Evil; he got there by being Competent.

Mechanically speaking, this is probably the hardest to implement, because it requires a character who, at the outset, occupies a seat of inscrutable power and exceptional wealth. Gameplay-wise, it requires an ability to anticipate everyone's actions, PCs and NPCs, and plan for circumstances that will always enable me to win, and have the DM allow this.

Second: The Fallen. (Not the Transformers character.) Some of the best villains are tragic villains. I want to play an evil character who starts as a good character. In particular, I had an idea for a Dragonborn Hellbred (3.5) whose soul is destined for Hell. Being twice-redeemed - once as Hellbred and once as a Dragonborn - he seeks to do good, not to save his soul, but because it's the right thing to do. He has no memory of who he was before he died, which is a good thing - because he was an absolute monster. Here is a character doggedly pursued by Devils, who intend to restore his memories.

I still play that scene in my brain, when it all comes rushing back to him, and suddenly, he becomes who he was once more. And it doesn't matter if Bahamut himself comes to take the Dragonborn blessing away, because the monster is alive again, and no longer seeks redemption. And everything, everything will suffer.

Third: The mercenary. People have described a similar concept - he's a killer with no remorse and no morals. He enjoys fighting and he enjoys killing. He's good at it. Blood, death, and suffering make him happy. However, he respects strength and competence. He may travel with the party simply out of respect for their abilities, out of hope that one day they can fight it out (to the death, of course), and for the opportunity to introduce lots of things to a rather grisly death. He's the kind of monster who'll take you out for drinks after a bout of killing.

I happen to love playing Evil. It's a great, nuanced idea that's particularly challenging when the rest of the party isn't playing evil, and creates new dimensions of fun and intrigue. Ideally, it doesn't create drama. With good players, I find a party of mixed alignment infinitely more entertaining than an all-Good one.

Wyrm Ouroboros
2013-12-12, 04:56 AM
Most importantly, he is a delicious villain because he always wins. He is the originator of the Xanatos Gambit (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/XanatosGambit), and every scenario results in a victory for him.

I would disagree with this statement, just on principle - and because I like Lofwyr and Iago both. While Xanatos is certainly the trope namer, there are dozens of individuals, in fiction and out of it, who have planned this sort of plot.


Mechanically speaking, this is probably the hardest to implement, because it requires a character who, at the outset, occupies a seat of inscrutable power and exceptional wealth. Gameplay-wise, it requires an ability to anticipate everyone's actions, PCs and NPCs, and plan for circumstances that will always enable me to win, and have the DM allow this.

I'll also note that to play a Xanatos, you don't need to start with your immense power and exceptional wealth; you definitely don't need the GM to make sure that whatever happens, you in some way win. You simply need to make sure that you yourself can recognize 'every outcome' (really just the most likely, given what's going into it) and make sure that out of them, you gain something - knowledge, money, leverage, a debt, an item, an ally, whatever it happens to be ...

Red Fel
2013-12-12, 09:27 AM
I would disagree with this statement, just on principle - and because I like Lofwyr and Iago both. While Xanatos is certainly the trope namer, there are dozens of individuals, in fiction and out of it, who have planned this sort of plot.

Good point. You're absolutely right; many villains have done this before Xanatos, classically. More that Xanatos is the modern Iago, rather than the proto-Iago. (I happened to like Xanatos' characterization more than that of the Shakespeare character. But that's personal taste.)


I'll also note that to play a Xanatos, you don't need to start with your immense power and exceptional wealth; you definitely don't need the GM to make sure that whatever happens, you in some way win. You simply need to make sure that you yourself can recognize 'every outcome' (really just the most likely, given what's going into it) and make sure that out of them, you gain something - knowledge, money, leverage, a debt, an item, an ally, whatever it happens to be ...

Agree in part. It's true that a Xanatos - and in fact, the original character himself - is self-made. His ambition and cunning are what gives him his power, and the ability to maintain and increase it. However, you do need a DM willing to allow you that power, and to allow you to design your always-win situations, without interference. Even the most capable player can be thwarted by a fiat-ready DM. Frankly, were I DMing, I could grow perturbed by a player constantly "winning." (Although I probably wouldn't fiat his wins away unless he happened to be really unlikeable about the whole affair. Affability wins you points.)

In any event, one of my favorite features of an evil character, as I've now used the word a fair amount, is affability. An evil character needn't be a jerk, or if he is, he should at least be a friendly jerk. A jerk with whom you can get along. A jerk you can trust, if only to have his own interests at heart.

This, I think, is what most keeps me from playing an evil character. I'm very good, or have gotten so over the years, at playing an evil (or non-good) character who can nonetheless be friendly and have a personal motivation (rather than plot-imposed) to work with and help the non-evil party. The problem arises when there are non-evil character who take the "Suffer not a witch to live" doctrine just a bit too seriously. For example, in a party with a Paladin-type, playing an evil character is just asking for drama (unless both players are extremely mature about it). So my evil characters languish in a dark, but well-furnished corner of my imagination, sipping their expensive drinks and telling jokes about the bartender they killed while getting them.

DrTempest
2013-12-12, 11:42 PM
One of my favorite ideas has to be the letter-of-the-law sociopath. Stern, straightforward, and not without his own personal code of conduct, his attitude is at best described as "troubling." Never to commit a crime in broad daylight, and always appearing as a law-abiding citizen, the character's personal motto is "Innocent until proven guilty." If none are around to prove anything, then "Hey, guess I'm innocent." Methodical, pragmatic, and calculating, the character fits well within lawful or neutral societies and tends to want to build towards Rogue.

Since he is so pragmatic, it's fairly easy to keep him in line with good-aligned parties. Long term gains are fairly easy to see, and if not, short-term punishments are still best to be avoided.

The Oni
2013-12-13, 12:46 AM
If I ever get to play the cleric of an evil god, I will play one of these guys:

http://media.oglaf.com/comic/sithrak.jpg

Full disclosure: this particular link is SFW but it comes from a NSFW comic.

BeerMug Paladin
2013-12-13, 01:09 AM
Fuzzy Squigglekins. A squirrel with levels in sorcerer (or another casting class). Awakened by a neutral evil druid defending the land from encroaching civilization, Fuzzy kills people who trespass into its domain, hiding easily due to its small size, and using spells like web to first incapacitate, then attacking with magic missile or other such spells.

Maybe eventually, lichdom will be in its future. Who knows?

Wyrm Ouroboros
2013-12-13, 01:30 AM
Fuzzy Squigglekins. A squirrel with levels in sorcerer (or another casting class).

Oh, oh - forgot about Chester Sherwood Schwartzwald, a hyperintelligent squirrel in a superheroic campaign. He wasn't just evil, he was blatantly evil - openly and entirely intending on taking over the world. Hell, he announced this intention to the full group of heroes at their very first meeting. However, he wasn't going to seize power from everyone; he was going to become so popular and famous, he was de facto going to be the ruler of the world. When problems were at their breaking point, he would give his help in exchange for a few concessions; where people were oppressed by an overlord, he would wait for a time until revolution was fomenting, then overthrow the overlord.

He was wonderful ...

InQbait
2013-12-13, 06:44 AM
I've always wanted to play an Assassin. Doesn't matter the system. But, in my opinion, the Asssassin PrC in D&D 3.5 is HORRIBLE :smallannoyed:
The only redeeming quality is the Death Attack, I suppose, and even then, not that great :smallannoyed:
In PF, Assassins are even weaker. They took away their spells, and made it more about perma-death. As if raising the dead/resurrection was supposed to be a common thing anyway :smallannoyed:
I think Assassins should have at least gotten 6+Int Modifier skill ranks per level. But they only get 4+Int Modifier per level, which is weaker than Ranger :smallannoyed:
Why take levels of Assassin when you can just take more levels of Rogue? Far more effective IMO.
Plus, if you stay as Rogue, you don't have to be "Evil"
Who else agrees that the benefits of Rogue outweigh that of the Assassin PrC in D&D 3.5/PF?
Rogue Talents, People, Rogue Talents! Do assassins have those? No! :smallannoyed:
But yeah, anyway, the character I would wanna play for an Evil campaign would be a hitman who can get away with murder. Super sneaky, super skilled, expert at what he does. That would be so fun to play I think. Make the targets die quick and painless deaths, and I get my paycheck :smallsmile:
Boss.

DigoDragon
2013-12-13, 09:15 AM
For a modern super hero campaign, I had an idea of playing a retired evil inventor not unlike Dr. Nefario from Despicable Me. Mostly to invent things based off misheard suggestions from the other players (like the fart gun). :smallbiggrin:


Another villain idea was a disgruntled mechanic from the far future. He gets ahold of a time machine, but it's a one-way ticket kind of deal. So he loads up on the mundane gadgets from his time period and decides to go back to the early 21st century where he could totally rule the populous with his advanced devices (Kind of like an evil Booster Gold). What he forgets to account for is that the past doesn't have the advanced wireless networks his devices rely on to operate properly, so his arsenal is always buggy and unreliable.

The Fury
2013-12-14, 02:42 AM
Fuzzy Squigglekins. A squirrel with levels in sorcerer (or another casting class). Awakened by a neutral evil druid defending the land from encroaching civilization, Fuzzy kills people who trespass into its domain, hiding easily due to its small size, and using spells like web to first incapacitate, then attacking with magic missile or other such spells.

Maybe eventually, lichdom will be in its future. Who knows?

"OH NO! That squirrel just cast lightning bolt! And I think it may be a lich!"

"What? You mean a squich? ...no..."

Blightedmarsh
2013-12-14, 03:53 AM
An unseele fey pack warlock.

He can't lie or brake oaths without inuring the wrath of his patrons. He is twisting and turning within the strictures of his pact for a loophole to escape its onerous burdens. The fey let him do that because its amusing; just as planned.

He believe that good and evil are balanced; that though the positions might shift back and forth one can never triumph over the others. He believes that the only meaningful way to address evil is to control and change how its expressed in the world; which is exactly what he is trying to do.

Other than that he really really hates and fears aberrations, the far planes and elder evils; they fall outside the balance and will destroy the world if left to their own devices. Que Hittlatarian ranting about aberrations.

Hida Reju
2013-12-14, 07:19 AM
Fuzzy Squigglekins. A squirrel with levels in sorcerer (or another casting class). Awakened by a neutral evil druid defending the land from encroaching civilization, Fuzzy kills people who trespass into its domain, hiding easily due to its small size, and using spells like web to first incapacitate, then attacking with magic missile or other such spells.

Maybe eventually, lichdom will be in its future. Who knows?

...omg Awakened Skiurid Ninja (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fc/20060721a) Sorcerers

I can totally see this, give them Leadership and a Druid Cohort.

Fayd
2013-12-14, 09:19 AM
It works a bit with my DM's setting, but it's general enough that it would be interesting;

Lord Jack Rayleigh, startouched (Alien-blooded) necromancer/enchanter/item-crafter. His whole point is being charismatic enough to convince cults of people to allow him to use an in-setting ritual named "Rapture of the Father" which removes a creature's divine spark (people all have one it's just not much at all), and to do with it what he will; he would be storing it all in a crystal orb until the opportune moment. He would be convincing them that they would be rejoining the god they once were before the creator goddess shattered the outer gods to make souls. (This may be a complete LIE that he may or may not actually believe. Regardless it is highly heretical.) His ultimate goal is to shatter the Dome/Mirror of the Sky that separates reality from the alien nothing outside of it and let in the horrors from beyond while ascending into an elder god himself.

Scow2
2013-12-14, 04:57 PM
Oh, oh - forgot about Chester Sherwood Schwartzwald, a hyperintelligent squirrel in a superheroic campaign. He wasn't just evil, he was blatantly evil - openly and entirely intending on taking over the world. Hell, he announced this intention to the full group of heroes at their very first meeting. However, he wasn't going to seize power from everyone; he was going to become so popular and famous, he was de facto going to be the ruler of the world. When problems were at their breaking point, he would give his help in exchange for a few concessions; where people were oppressed by an overlord, he would wait for a time until revolution was fomenting, then overthrow the overlord.

He was wonderful ...

How was he Evil, though? Rulership and authority over the world isn't inherently evil: Only extreme abuse of that power is evil.

Tridax
2013-12-14, 06:18 PM
I actually had a chance to play an evil character I always wanted to: an old High priest of an Undeath dragon god, also a vampire. He was a fatherly figure to the group before everyone understood he was actually a vampire on a pilgrimage. The priest was kind and warm to everyone, but during night camps he sucked out the blood of the horses and then, when he accomplished his goal of abducting the rajah and the adventurers were of no use to him, he left the players in the desert without any transport or means to survive. Nevertheless, he got what he deserved - not killed, but imprisoned by the PCs. This was the only time I RPed a traitorous character - and the theatrical effect was totally worth it. The priest was a bloodsucking evil bastard, whose outer demeanor masked these features quite well - I was partly inspired by a particular lizardfolk priest of death when I created him.

Rephath
2013-12-15, 03:53 AM
I've been wanting to run a thief in a final fantasy tactics setting. Well, a thief hybrid that has some reason to explain the thief's improbable stealing prowess. Basically, I want an excuse to point out midway through a debate with someone that I'm holding in my hands the pants they were wearing at the beginning of the debate and are just now realizing I stole. (I've found the chaotic/stupid alignment quite satisfying.) Some variations I want to try.

Female Viera Thief/Assassin. A thief with a specialty in poisons, able to inflict a variety of status effects in addition to damage. She dual-wields.

Male Monk/Thief. A young thief, McStealsalot (name change pending) was caught shortly after his 16th birthday and put in prison. A traveling monk visited the prison and showed him a great deal of care. This touched McStealsalot's heart and, having always felt something was missing in his life, he decided to become a monk. After being released from prison he broke up with his girlfriend (the monastery didn't allow dating) and traveled to the monastery where he learned spirituality and badassness. His ex-girlfriend sent him a letter saying she missed him and would be visiting him soon. Months later, he heard from a fellow monk she was at the abbots office. (I'm using abbot as the head of the monastery.) He ran up to meet her and found the abbot with her in a non-chaste way. That kind of soured him on the whole religion thing and he now travels the world using his badass physical prowess to steal things in implausible wuxia ways.

Thief/Time Mage. A thief who can speed herself up, freeze enemies in time, and teleport things she touches short distances. Like those pants you were wearing.

123456789blaaa
2013-12-15, 10:42 AM
I created a character based on this PRC (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=15954698&postcount=2)after a brief but intense spurt of inspiration. He's pretty gross and one-dimensional but I'd have fun playing him. Given that he's extremely insane and Chaotic Evil, it'd have to be a very unusual game though. He works much better as a villain but I'm a pretty terrible DM. The fluff (warning: not so great writing ahead):

The creature known as Lambton is immensely and unnaturally obese. The fat that envelops his body is arranged in “rings” around his calf’s, thighs, stomach, chest, and neck. It also covers the parts connecting these sections thus giving him the appearance of a very fat maggot. From the way his skin stretches and deforms, it is clear that his weight is the result of purposeful overeating.

Large parts of his skin are covered in hard, earthy scabs where parasites had previously extruded from and fed upon. Underneath, the movement of the surface suggests wriggling things attempting to get out. On the uncovered skin parasites occasionally do manage to poke out and writhe in the air. When not in a frenzy Lambton plucks out and swallows them with relish. His extremely hardy constitution makes it so these parasites have virtually no negative effect on him. They do however, absorb poison whenever it is introduced into his body.

His small eyes weep pus out of the corners and are so surrounded by layers of fat that they are barely visible .His entire body is covered in oily sweat so thick his skin seems almost like it’s dripping . Large, pea-pod shaped pieces of skin hang around his neck and face in a hideous imitation of his “master” (http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs19/f/2007/251/2/1/Ugudenk_by_nJoo.jpg). Almost as hideous are the twin, long, fat, warped, and overgrown gutworm parasites that protrude from his navel.

Lambton lurks in the undercity, the parts of the city that have sunk into the soft, slimy ground over the years. It is an enormous maze or earth and darkness, muck and debased, fecund, life. Along with him is a cult of the demon prince Ugudenk known as the Tendrils of the Writhing Realm. Practically all of these cultists are infested with fiendish parasites like soul ticks and gutworms.
This cult was not formed by Lambtons charisma-he is a thoroughly repugnant being-rather, most of the cultists have joined out of desperation and hate. The upper class of the city has increasingly taken to purging the transients and homeless of the city as the upper class see them as worthless parasites. Lambton and his cult offer a place to stay, ways to get sustenance, and the power to gain vengeance. A few rare souls have actually come to believe Lambtons teachings. While the cult has no formal organization to speak of, these particular cultists inevitably manage to direct the other cultists through sheer will and drive. Lambton himself controls the cult through his status as the most personally powerful member and the one most intimately connected to Ugudenk.

On the surface the cults actions seem instinctual and mindless. Parties of various sizes unpredictably surge from the undercity, kill, devour, and steal what they can, and then fade back into the endless tunnels. However, these actions have a terrible purpose. Deep down in the depths of the Undercity, there is an enormous deep, dark hole. This is a portal to the Writhing Realm. Its portal key is widespread parasitism and consumption among the surrounding area's populace. The city’s homeless engaging in this directly after the first purge is what first allowed Lambton to crawl into the undercity. It only lasted a short while however. Lambtons goal is to provoke an extended orgy of parasitism and consumption among the cities populace in order to allow the portal to stay open. This will attract Ugudenk himself to go through and feed thus allowing Lambton and his cult to feast on the remains.

To this end, Lambton and the members who believe in the cults teachings direct the cult to do this. They target economic lynchpins for the cults raids in order to collapse the cities economy (this creates more homeless which sends more people into the grasp of the cult). They seed the water sources of the city with abyssal gutworms. They send wormlike monsters and invertebrate obyriths to infest the homes of the cities populace. They sieze control of the cities drug trade in order to control and addict more members. They do all this and more in pursuit of their unholy goal.

When not in cult headquarters or on a mission, Lambton himself silently burrows through the city, devouring at his whim. His victims do not sense him until he bursts from the ground and noisily feasts, his twin gutworm parasites holding them down and also feasting. Infused with the corrupt power of the Writhing Realm, these unique things are both physically and mentally connected to Lambton. While he sleeps they retreat into his belly and squirm out each morning.

Despite his bulk, Lambton is quick and a skilled martial artist. He is adept at using his bulk to crush and break his opponents. Through his connection to Ugudenk, he can also sense vibrations in the earth around him, vomit forth streams of caustic acid from his mouth, swallow whole creatures (his normally tiny, enveloped mouth distending to an impossible size), move without triggering tremorsense, make the ground around him wriggle and writhe, have an enormous white worm strike his enemies, create earthquakes, and even somehow resurrect himself through some abominable method.

When not in the process of silently seeking and noisily devouring prey, Lambtons preaches to the people around him. He will wax poetic on the topics of parasitism and the cycle of devouring and how all beings are feeding tendrils from the writhing reality deep under the ground. He takes drugs and drinks and eats and laughs while doing so yet his words convey an insane conviction. Lambton seems both aware of what is going on around him and yet the sight of his eyes betray a mind that sees things that no one else sees. They roll and twist while he talks, following a squirming pattern in the air. He claims he sees the truth of the universe from his connection to the Writhing Realm (what he calls the writhing reality).

BossMuro
2013-12-15, 10:52 AM
My favorite evil character was an Asmodean cleric who went by the obviously false name of "Brimley Stone". The main idea I had behind making him was that, on a personal level, he was a pretty friendly guy. He like people, he LOVED to talk, and even though he was physically pretty weak, he would put himself in danger in a heartbeat if one of his allies was in trouble.

At the same time, he had been raised by the church of Asmodeus and was a firm believer in it's teachings. He considered domination of the weak to be a social virtue, he held the master-slave relationship to be sacred, and while he found torturing captives to be unpleasant, he still thought it was a pretty appropriate thing to do.

Towards other party members and high level NPCs he was irritatingly polite and servile, to the point where he was told repeatedly to knock off the ass-kissing. Towards prisoners and underlings he was ruthless and domineering, but still unnervingly friendly even while using them as monster-bait and/or sacrificing them for the glory of the Archfiend.

Highlights from the game include convincing the party to let him burn a prisoner (a CE cultist) as a sacrifice ("I get that a lot of people are uncomfortable about this stuff, and if anyone really objects I won't do it. But it would mean a lot to me."), Convincing the party rogue and witch to (at least superficially) convert to Asmodeus worship, then making a point of treating them better than the others ("I cast water-walk on my fellow Asmodeus worshippers. The rest of you have to swim. I'm sorry about that, but rules are rules.") and using a recently converted NPC as shadow-bait, then spending my personal wealth to buy him better gear when he (improbably) survived.