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View Full Version : Enjoying Playing Characters of Opposite Alignment to Self?



BrokenChord
2015-02-14, 02:40 AM
I find that a lot of people enjoy playing characters whose alignments are at odds with their own more than they enjoy characters with similarly-leaning morals. I consider myself at the very deep end of the alignment pool, yet prefer to play Good characters (or whatever the equivalent "good guy" trope is for games without alignment), while fan favorite Hollywood extravaganza kind and helpful site member Red Fel (who apparently is a decent person IRL as well, though maybe I should know better than to believe the internet :smallbiggrin:) is quite a big fan of the Evil alignments. This trend seems to be consistent with my friends, who mostly enjoy Evil or troubled Neutral characters despite being the gung-ho charitable volunteering sort who would put themselves in harm's way for strangers (seriously, one's a firefighter, and all he plays are angsty Neutrals who end up Evil and/or insane by halfway through the campaign).

Have my observations been mostly accurate in this regard? Do most people prefer to play characters with alignments opposed to their own personalities, or is this just because I have weird friends and have a super fangirl crush healthy amount of respect for a site member with odd preferences? If it is true, could somebody perhaps shed some light on the psychology of why this would be?

Kane0
2015-02-14, 04:32 AM
Huh, i never thought about it but apart from a couple players thats mostly true.

Im a good, nice guy and i gravitate towards lawful evil amd troubled neutral characters. All of them are decidedly more badass than me of course.

Some players i know really play up ideal versions of themselves though, but i think thats choosing to play as something that society otherwise doesnt let them be more than anything.

goto124
2015-02-14, 04:54 AM
I play Chaotic because I can't wrap my mind around Lawful. I play Good because *points at the Why Good? thread*

I consider myself CN in real life. It's easier to be Good in a fantasy world, imho.

Comet
2015-02-14, 05:34 AM
Most people are good people, I would think. But evil is popular because good is the default offered by fantasy literature and media and being different is exciting.

I've found that I enjoy playing Lawful types more and more recently. On one hand this is because I've grown increasingly fond of the idea of honest work and contributing to a greater whole in other areas of life. On the other hand this is because being a rebel has become the default in much of literature and media. Again, being different is exciting.

BrokenChord
2015-02-14, 06:50 AM
Most people are good people, I would think. But evil is popular because good is the default offered by fantasy literature and media and being different is exciting.

I've found that I enjoy playing Lawful types more and more recently. On one hand this is because I've grown increasingly fond of the idea of honest work and contributing to a greater whole in other areas of life. On the other hand this is because being a rebel has become the default in much of literature and media. Again, being different is exciting.

Most people? Heh. To be honest, I think even the 30:40:30 split for good:neutral:evil seems kind of generous to me, but then I suppose Rousseau wouldn't be famous if nobody thought he was right.

"Being different is exciting..." Look at you, having a Chaotic reason for playing Lawful. This is what I'm talkin' about :smallbiggrin:

Seto
2015-02-14, 07:42 AM
I'm probably TN (leaning C and leaning G) in real life, the alignment often presented as "the undecided", and I enjoy creating characters of each and every alignment, so I guess that says something.

Tragak
2015-02-14, 01:32 PM
I personally am about 70-75% Chaotic and 60-65% Good (Neutral with Chaotic Good tendencies on a 5x5 chart, Chaotic Neutral on a 3x3).

I love creating all sorts of different characters (Good, Evil, Lawful, Chaotic) because I want all of the stories featuring them to be as unique as possible in their own ways.

Darth Ultron
2015-02-14, 03:22 PM
I've seen a couple different types:

Goody Two Shoes: They are good in real life and are good in the game. They are good, good, good. they can't even imagine playing anything else. Everything in their life is good. They are specifically playing a game to be a good hero and save the day.

Good Wild Side: They are good in real life....but feel they can let their hair down just a bit for the game. They often fall into Chaotic Good. They like being the ''good rebel'', though they are still very good. They are playing to be a more freedom loving character then they feel they can ever be in real life.

Tempted by the Dark Side Good in real life, but find the allure of evil interesting and exciting and desirable. Not in real life, though....only in the game. They love playing a character that is dark or evil, something they could never be in real life. They like the escape and the freedom, they are playing to experiment and let go.

Jeckle/Hide They are mostly neutral in real life...but have a dark side...a temper, or a something about them. Something that makes then not fit in so much socially. They love to play characters that fit their real life views of things...that they can't have in real life. Playing the game is a chance for them to be what they want to be and not get judges.

Escapee from Good They are good in real life, and see the game as a chance to escape...and be evil. As long as it's not real, they love being evil, just as it's different. They love acting very cartoonist evil, though...not like real, real evil. They are playing to escape.

Chameleon Neutral in real life, they just like playing multiple rules and types. They will be all over the place, whatever strikes them as interesting that day. They are playing to experiment.

Evil Freedom They are Evil, and have a hard time at life being that way. But the game is a chance for them to let go and be themselves. They can play an evil character version of themselves with no complaints and no judgement. They are playing to be what they really are in real life and not get judged.

Hazrond
2015-02-14, 03:25 PM
Chameleon Neutral in real life, they just like playing multiple rules and types. They will be all over the place, whatever strikes them as interesting that day. They are playing to experiment.

ding ding ding we have a winner, i am so bad about this i made an entire roll20 campaign to hold my backup characters

Michael7123
2015-02-14, 03:55 PM
I am currently playing a Chaotic Evil Rogue. I'm very lawful and good in real life, and I'm having a blast. Its a challenge at times, but it's an enjoyable experience. However, I haven't gotten around to playing a paladin yet, even though I have a build for one in mind.

Comet
2015-02-14, 04:26 PM
Most people? Heh. To be honest, I think even the 30:40:30 split for good:neutral:evil seems kind of generous to me, but then I suppose Rousseau wouldn't be famous if nobody thought he was right.

Fair enough. Okay, most people who play roleplaying games are probably not evil. Because, damn, they'd be out robbing banks or something if they were. Instead we hang out with friends and play games.


"Being different is exciting..." Look at you, having a Chaotic reason for playing Lawful. This is what I'm talkin' about :smallbiggrin:

Well, yeah. My alignment is probably Boring Complicated, to be honest. At least I don't feel very chaotic. I like laws and society in the fleshworld and I also like to play cops rather than robbers in imagination land.

Solaris
2015-02-14, 04:38 PM
Most alignment tests I've taken have graded me as either strongly lawful good or strongly chaotic good, depending on how they define law/chaos. Considering some of the lengths I've gone to in order to prevent needless loss of life while putting my own in danger during the course of my service, I'd say that's pretty accurate. Most of my characters have been good. I've played only one evil character, but that one gave my fellow players nightmares for how excruciatingly evil he was (this includes capturing another PC, murdering his wife with a blood angel, then posing her body with the child in her arms to lure police in to set off a firebomb, and - after my character plagued them with sniper attacks at every one of their favored hideouts and the rest of the party tracked down what they thought was my character and killed him dead in a giant robot slugfest - sending the party leader a DVD recording of my character burning the first character alive several hours after they thought they'd killed mine). His motivation was to get revenge on the party leader for something that happened in their shared backgrounds, one of those "You took everything from me, so I'll destroy everything you have to make you suffer" type things.
While certainly memorable (this all happened about ten years ago, give or take) and the exercise of outwitting the party at every step was certainly entertaining, he's still one of my least favorite characters that I've run. I only ran him at the request of the GM.

Normally, though, I can't even bring myself to play an evil character. They can start off evil, and next thing I know they're helping save villagers from evil dragons and I can't even pretend it's enlightened self-interest. I just plain don't like it, I think it's less 'fun playing an opposed alignment' and more 'fun playing your ideal self', what you could be if it weren't for consequences or society preventing you from doing what you want to do. That's why most of my characters are heroic types and are either big, strong warriors (CG or LG paladin-types, typically) or are mighty wizards. Personal wealth and power just don't motivate me like someone in trouble does, especially in a game where it doesn't really matter.

Angel Bob
2015-02-14, 09:28 PM
I am, as far as I can tell, a True Neutral individual, with inclinations towards Lawful and Good. I enjoy roleplaying characters of any alignment, but I especially enjoy playing Evil characters. In that regard, I think I, too, fall into line with this "opposites attract" school of thought.

Michael7123
2015-02-15, 09:10 AM
I am currently playing a Chaotic Evil Rogue. I'm very lawful and good in real life, and I'm having a blast. Its a challenge at times, but it's an enjoyable experience. However, I haven't gotten around to playing a paladin yet, even though I have a build for one in mind.

So after playing this last night, I have a revised opinion. Playing evil can be fun if you do it right, but it's hard to do it right. Even if you mess up, all your plans can go to **** with a few unlucky dice rolls.