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Zhentarim
2016-05-04, 09:45 AM
Stats:
LE HALFLING BONES ORACLE
STR 10
DEX 18
CON 12
INT 8
WIS 8
CHA 18

There is a new sheriff in town. That sheriff is William "Blackjack" Williams. William Williams was born in a extraordinarily ordinary family in a town up north. Tragedy struck one day when William was only half-grown, however, when his twin sister fell ill with a plague. He petitioned the good deities to save her, but their either would not or could not save her. When she passed away, he turned to the evil deities hoping his general plea would be answered. Several nights passed with no answer, but William was not one to take no for an answer. One night, as he sat in front of his mirror petitioning the forces beyond, an image of a glowing red fly appeared on his forehead with searing pain and a disembodied voice whispered in his ear "I've heard your cries, and I will serve your hunger with two gifts, no strings attached so long as you live. All you will have to do is sell your soul to serve me in your afterlife. Your sister will return from her grave and I will grant you great powers over the forces of life and death. You just have to accept my gifts. Just say the word." Overjoyed, the not-too-wise but charismatic William said "YES, give me your gifts! Bring back my sister from the grave!" With that the seal on his forehead became so painful he screamed, and that is when the sun rose. William left his house to find his sister clawing at the mud, trying to escape her grave. He aided her out of the mud, but to his horror saw blank, lifeless eyes. He cursed the entity and he heard the whisper again "I brought her back from the grave. If you follow my plan, I will increase the powers I gave you and you can bring her completely back to life. After all, I only said I would return her. Glad to make a deal with you, William." With that, William fled, covering the seal on his forehead with his hand the first half of his journey. He soon found he had both the power to heal and harm others with a mere touch, and he soon grew accustomed to serving this entity. He soon began making deals of his own in other towns, trying to decide what plan he had to follow to gain enough power to fully resurrect his sister. Years have passed now, and he has only recently began to learn to control his power. He does what he says and says what he does, is fully transparent in his speech, and does not lie or steal. He also refuses alcohol and drugs, choosing to keep a healthy body. He no longer has qualms about harming others so long as he is technically within the laws of the land, he has not broken his personal taboo against lying, stealing, and drug use, and he has made sure those he will harm has had fair warning he is going to harm them. He believes this code of honor justifies his constant dealing with undeath and his lack of compassion for others. He hopes to attain the power of true resurrection, to become a lich to avoid the afterlife, and to surround himself with an undead army of those who broke contracts with him in the past so he can create his own idea of utopia. He will work with others, especially if it benefits him to do so, but is careful not to speak any untruths or to agree to anything that may limit his quest to achieve his goals. In the short term, he has an interest in law enforcement, and will try to build up a town of living loyalists beneath him, who will serve him out of devotion at least until he has his army of undead has come to fruition, and possibly after. William Williams insists people call him Blackjack because of his newfound love of cardplaying, and he hopes he can win the hearts of this new town he's found.

Kish
2016-05-04, 09:47 AM
Yes, that's definitely Lawful Evil.

Psyren
2016-05-04, 10:11 AM
With Int and Wis that low, I'd play him much more childlike - not actively petitioning dark forces, but being contacted/duped by them, and happily making use of his ability to animate all kinds of "friends" to play with. He wouldn't be as self-aware as you portray him - no real thoughts of a "code of honor" that "justifies his dealings" - rather, he wouldn't even think what he's doing is wrong, and therefore that there's nothing to justify. I'd probably keep the refusal to lie, steal or cheat though - a child's view of morality.

Given that he has one driving motivation that he places above all others - his sister - he might work better as NE; working with or subverting authority as needed to achieve that goal, and not holding a particular loyalty to either law or chaos as long as one or both of them gets him what he wants most.

ATHATH
2016-05-04, 10:17 AM
Yeah, it's kind of dangerous for LE types to dump WIS and/or INT.

Also:
Red Fel, Red Fel, Red Fel.

Zhentarim
2016-05-04, 10:42 AM
With Int and Wis that low, I'd play him much more childlike - not actively petitioning dark forces, but being contacted/duped by them, and happily making use of his ability to animate all kinds of "friends" to play with. He wouldn't be as self-aware as you portray him - no real thoughts of a "code of honor" that "justifies his dealings" - rather, he wouldn't even think what he's doing is wrong, and therefore that there's nothing to justify. I'd probably keep the refusal to lie, steal or cheat though - a child's view of morality.

Given that he has one driving motivation that he places above all others - his sister - he might work better as NE; working with or subverting authority as needed to achieve that goal, and not holding a particular loyalty to either law or chaos as long as one or both of them gets him what he wants most.

I could take 2 points each from con and str and give them to int and wis if that fits the fluff better. I'm stuck with 20 pb.

Red Fel
2016-05-04, 11:29 AM
Red Fel, Red Fel, Red Fel.

I'll take the case!


Stats:
LE HALFLING BONES ORACLE

Sounds like it so far. I mean, the "LE" is kind of an indicator. But we'll see.

Okay. So, in sum, his sister died and he entered into a pact with something to bring her back. He has a mysterious "power," which translates to Bones Oracle mechanically. This sounds promising.

He doesn't lie, and deals straightforwardly. He has a personal code. This sounds Lawful.

He lacks compassion, is willing to harm others, warns those he intends to harm, and deals with Undead. This sounds non-Good.

He hopes to win the hearts of the townfsolk with his honesty and cardplaying. This sounds adorable.

Point is, he's definitely Lawful, but on the G-E spectrum he falls somewhere between N and E. Being ruthlessly self-interested can be either N or E. Being unsympathetic, or willing to harm others, can be N or E, leaning towards E. It takes not only a merciless self-interest, but an active desire for the harm or suffering of others, to definitively cross that line. You need to be willing to do more than simply kill when it is needed - you need to be willing to kill when you feel like it. You need to be willing to be cruel; not just heartless, but vengeful or sadistic. Justify it in your mind, but go beyond simply what is necessary.

Is he LE? Potentially. Arguably. But not definitively.

Come back when you've flayed a victim alive for his offenses against you. Then we'll talk.

Cruiser1
2016-05-04, 11:51 AM
All you will have to do is sell your soul to serve me in your afterlife.
Overjoyed, the not-too-wise but charismatic William said "YES, give me your gifts!

"Mortals signing such pacts immediately switch alignment to lawful evil, even if they have not previously taken any actions of either a lawful or an evil nature. The mere act of consciously assigning one’s soul to a lord of Hell is, by the terms of the Pact Primeval, an irredeemably and intrinsically lawful evil act."
If "the forces beyond" that William petitioned are devils, then what he did is a "Pact Certain", and he's most definitely LE for selling his soul to them. Even if the forces aren't devils and are instead deities or fiends of another alignment, the act of definitive soul selling should still make his alignment evil.

Psyren
2016-05-04, 11:57 AM
If "the forces beyond" that William petitioned are devils, then what he did is a "Pact Certain", and he's most definitely LE for selling his soul to them. Even if the forces aren't devils and are instead deities or fiends of another alignment, the act of definitive soul selling should still make his alignment evil.

While I don't disagree with this, keep in mind he's playing Pathfinder, so FCII may not apply.