Some Roleplaying Questions. (Namely, being the Face)

[Sabeta]

I originally posted this on the Roleplaying Forums, but it's been several hours and no reply, so I guess I'll try the game system that I'm actually playing which seems way busier. Anyway, a short story shorter my super boring generic Fighter recently died in Princes of the Apocalypse. I'm creating a new character whose goal is to teach me two things. The first lesson I want to learn is proper book-keeping. I'm pretty terrible at this, and I rely on other players and the DM to remember character names and places. The second thing that I want to learn, is roleplaying.

I'll start somewhat simply. I'm on a Trails in the Sky kick right now, and I'm strangely in love with the Bracer's Notebook. The Bracers are a multinational organization are essentially an Adventurer's Guild, but with Government Sanctions and a strict code of ethics they must follow that makes them much more believable than your usual RPG Guilds. As such, Bracers are given Notebooks to record the people they meet, the monster they fight, as well as a recording of all the magic that can be cast and how to cast it.

Shifting gears a little bit, I'll also be borrowing from Bravely Second. In this game fighting a Monster once doesn't give you a generic Monster Description. Instead, you fight it several times and build up a number of observations from the players about it, and once they've compiled enough notes the Main Character will create a final entry.


http://lparchive.org/The-Legend-of-Heroes-Trails-in-the-Sky-SC/Update%2002/1-IUPKoSRl.png
http://lparchive.org/The-Legend-of-Heroes-Trails-in-the-Sky-SC/Update%2002/2-jZ7rgVal.png
http://lparchive.org/The-Legend-of-Heroes-Trails-in-the-Sky-SC/Update%2002/8-pV55JOSl.png
http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/t_original/qczyd4e2pzudagcdftli.jpg


The images above are what I'm talking about. I rambled a bit long, but my basic question here is how would you go about creating and maintaining such a thing. I have a few ideas myself, but I'd like to see more brainstorming ideas to see if I could do it better.

Now for the meaty question. This will be the first Evil player that I play. I have no intention of of harming the party (rather, my character joins the party because they're lawful stupid and thus can be manipulated towards her own ends). She's a Lawful Evil Bard who is researching the power of words, and loved the command words give her over people.

So essentially, I'm playing a Bookish and Manipulative Bard, and while I won't hurt the party I want to have an idea of how I can actively be evil without making my party turn on me. I would also enjoy getting my enemies to fight each other if possible.

Small side note, with small spoilers for PotA
This is the third character I've had die in Sacred Stone Monastery. No clue what we're supposed to do to beat this place.

[CaptainSarathai]

You've lost 3 characters in Princes? What the hell are you and the party doing wrong? Does your party NEED a face character? Maybe a Cleric for heals or a Fighter to take damage...

As far as record keeping, I keep my char. sheet in a little pocket folder, and have some notebook paper in there too. I usually just have a few pages:
"Hooks and Places" - for jotting down obvious quest hooks from the DM (Goblins sighted North of town, etc)
"VIPs" - for any recurring or important NPCs or adversaries
"Monsters" - mostly for anything homebrew, but also for stuff that I didn't already know or won't remember.
(Monster X has Resist Fire, etc)
"Lore" - covers any important background info. If I have a good DM, I just put the campaign intro here.
"Maps" - I usually handle map-duty for the whole campaign, so any printed maps that the DM gives us go into the pocket, paper-clipped together. So not really a notebook page, per-se.
---

As for Facing, you need to be good on your feet and decisive. I enjoy playing Warlocks and Paladins (and sometimes PalLocks) so I tend to be pretty heavily invested in my Charisma score. Right now I'm running a SorLock with Subtle Spell and access to goodies like Charm, Friends, Awakened Mind telepathy, all the fun stuff. I also went Half Elf and Charlatan to nab all of the social abilities, plus Insight. DM pretty much hates my character, because he's fast. He's had to slow the conversation down and wrap about 4 Persuasion rolls into 1 check and have me roll a Deception for good measure, just because I managed to get him confused and overwhelmed (my character is a con-man, so he's a fast talker and smooth criminal). Waiting for your party or asking their advice is tricky and can get you in trouble. To avoid stealing the spotlight ask them before talking, what they want to do. "Okay guys, what are the goals and what do we want to know? I'll work on those." This can be especially helpful to characters who lack social stuff - get a magic scroll thrown in the reward for the hermit Wizard (the poor guy, bookworms are so shy), etc.

A lot of good info on effective Facing can be found here:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?490505-The-Social-God-A-guide-to-an-optimized-party-face

[Sabeta]

Thanks for the detailed response. Anyway the three Deaths in Princes were all with different campaigns.

First Death was a Sorcerer. We tried to take a Long Rest inside Sacred Stone Monastery. Naturally that didn't go well. TPK.
Same campaign, as a Druid. We did a lot better, but a lot of goofs against the boss of the place killed us again. Those two deaths were when I was brand new to 5th Edition.

New campaign, I know better of what I'm doing. Then there's this time. I was a Fighter with 20 AC. We tried to infiltrate but accidentally name dropped the wrong person, turning them hostile. We easily defeat the first wave of Monk's, but the Sorcerer decides he needs to rest.

Me:"No, we need to keep moving. This place is teeming with enemies"
DM: "A short rest takes at least 45 minutes, and you're in the grand hall. You're better off finding somewhere to hide first."
Sorc: "I'll take my chances."

I decide to guard the entrance to the room in order to slow the tide of soldiers coming to murder us. I end up surrounded by four Gargoyles, two Monk's, two knights, and a priest. They all attack with Advantage because we use Flanking Rules, and despite 20 AC I go down pretty quick.

Anyway, whether I want to or not I'm the Face. The rest of the party is a Mute Monk, Princess Monoke in Ranger form (ie: completely asocial), and a Sorcerer who only uses his Charisma to cheat at games of chance, but otherwise doesn't talk to people. I figured if I was stuck with it I'd play Bard, our DM is extremely generous with magic items, so I'm starting if Instrument of the Bards. Paladin might suit the groups needs a bit better, but I don't like playing them for thematic reasons.

I probably should have mentioned, but I play online. My book is likely to end up a digital document of some sort, but I don't have Microsoft Word and Notepad doesn't have all the nifty features I want.

[JackPhoenix]

I decide to guard the entrance to the room in order to slow the tide of soldiers coming to murder us. I end up surrounded by four Gargoyles, two Monk's, two knights, and a priest. They all attack with Advantage because we use Flanking Rules, and despite 20 AC I go down pretty quick.

Here's your problem. 5e flanking rules are horrible, unbalancing the combat in favor of the more numerous party. You'll have to cluster up (making you easy targets for AoE) or stay away, get surrounded and killed.

[MintyNinja]

I'm also putting on the training wheels for being the party face and leader (Coincidentally, also going LE) and I've also died during Sacred Stone Monastery. My only advice is: try someplace else first. I think there are different CRs for each "Dungeon / Location" and that might not be in line with your party's level or tactics.

[Sabeta]

Here's your problem. 5e flanking rules are horrible, unbalancing the combat in favor of the more numerous party. You'll have to cluster up (making you easy targets for AoE) or stay away, get surrounded and killed.

I don't really think it's that big of a deal. Our group would have been fine if we had either backed out once we had raised the alarm or kept moving and picking off small groups. Instead, we stayed in the large central hall and tried to each watch a door, since I guarded the main entrance I ended up with a disproportionate number of enemies to manage, and got beat down. Without me at the door though, we would have been overrun and possibly TPK'd, or I would have been lone survivor. The circumstances of my death had less to do with Flanking rules and more to do with common sense.

Up until now Flanking has been heavily in my favor. As a Fighter with GWM, I loved looking for Advantage because it severely mitigated the -5/+10, which let me do things like pump ~100 Damage into a single Round against a Young Red Dragon. When it was finally the enemies turn to have Flanking done to me, I couldn't complain. Not to mention I wasn't especially fond of that character since he was so boring to play. Perhaps I'll ask my DM to drop the Flanking rules going forward, but it might be a hard sell since the Ranger loves giving his wolf Advantage for it's Bite attack where it knocks people prone. (We play with slightly different Ranged versus Prone rules. Going prone doesn't impact Ranged attacks unless the target also has Cover, in which case it upgrades their Cover and bypasses Sharpshooter's normal rules)

As an aside, if you want to spoiler text how you would recommend approaching the Monastery from hereon out, I'm all ears. I have yet to conquer that place, and now that we've ruined our chances at infiltrating we most likely will have to attempt a standard assault whenever we come back to it.

Edit: Ninja'd by the Ninja. I know that each Temple is slightly different levels than the others. My first act will be getting caught up to speed from the group so that my player can have all of the knowledge I need to make informed decisions, and then I'll probably suggest we tackle the Air cult on the grounds that we've hear literally nothing from them. I know each Cult has different power-levels, and I think Air and Water were the weaker ones. The group is temporarily aligned with Water because of the Fighter's lucky Charisma rolls and some convincing lies, so they're currently serving us as an information source while we take out their rivals and simultaneously keep tabs on them.

[Contrast]

I probably should have mentioned, but I play online. My book is likely to end up a digital document of some sort, but I don't have Microsoft Word and Notepad doesn't have all the nifty features I want.

If you have a Google Drive you can store and create word (or excel and the like) documents on there (and share them with other people if you want). Thats how I manage my characters/campaign info. Character sheets, story timeline, lists of things I want to get or have and where to look up the rules for them etc. Means I can also access them whenever I want from my phone.

[lunaticfringe]

Now for the meaty question. This will be the first Evil player that I play. I have no intention of of harming the party (rather, my character joins the party because they're lawful stupid and thus can be manipulated towards her own ends). She's a Lawful Evil Bard who is researching the power of words, and loved the command words give her over people.



I'm gonna assume the question is "How do I play evil while not being a jerk?"

This is actually really simple in PbP. You are writing not acting it out yes?

Your character can think whatever they like Usually signified by italics. Also you can describe your characters actions in an evil way.

A grin flutters across Peepo's face as she admires the skill of the Necromancer's grim creations. She snaps out of her brief revelry, remembering who she is with:

"These abominations must not be allowed to exist!" she draws her blade. At least not under someone else's command, hopefully I can get a glimpse of this old fool's Spellbook.

Act like the Hero, Think like The Villain.

[Sabeta]

I'm gonna assume the question is "How do I play evil while not being a jerk?"

This is actually really simple in PbP. You are writing not acting it out yes?

Your character can think whatever they like Usually signified by italics. Also you can describe your characters actions in an evil way.

A grin flutters across Peepo's face as she admires the skill of the Necromancer's grim creations. She snaps out of her brief revelry, remembering who she is with:

"These abominations must not be allowed to exist!" she draws her blade. At least not under someone else's command, hopefully I can get a glimpse of this old fool's Spellbook.

Act like the Hero, Think like The Villain.

This isn't PbP, it's Roll 20. We communicate via Discord. Still not bad advice, I'm just not sure how to translate that into live gameplay.

[Reosoul]

Really just sounds like your campaign is ending because of individuals making really bad decisions and not expecting there to be consequences.

There is no way to crunch or persuade your way out of fighting overwhelming forces in their main base of operations if you're intent to thumb your nose at them.

When the DM says "Are you sure..?"

You think of something else. This is normally a mistake you only make once, twice at most.

[lunaticfringe]

My bad! Yes, it is a bit more difficult. The most helpful tip I can give keep things 3rd person present tense. Describe actions in your normal voice and when your character speaks use a minor change in speech patterns, that way the other players can tell the difference. Again try and be sinister & ominous in describing things. Evil is Intent, not Action. PMing the DM & working with them on opportunities for evil also helps quite a bit too.

I PbP'd HotDQ as a Zhent Spy. There is a town that gets wrecked, my Heroic Evil guy sent a runner for aid in rebuilding the town. The message was really to the Zhentarim informing them the town was easy pickings. When the party passed back through, it was under Zhent Control. The other players had no idea it was because of me at that point. It's the little things. The Devil is in the Details as they say.

[Temperjoke]

Back on the original subject...

You need to decide on your character's personal goals, and connect that to the plot that the other players are already participating in. Lawful Evil is pragmatic and practical towards goal-achieving, so joining forces against a greater threat is definitely in the wheelhouse.

The downside though, based on the anecdotes that you've shared, I don't know that the other party members are going to let you be the face. Essentially the face, in most cases that I've seen, is the leader, and your other members have already indicated that they're not going to listen, regardless of how sensible and reasonable you might be.

[Sabeta]

Back on the original subject...

You need to decide on your character's personal goals, and connect that to the plot that the other players are already participating in. Lawful Evil is pragmatic and practical towards goal-achieving, so joining forces against a greater threat is definitely in the wheelhouse.

The downside though, based on the anecdotes that you've shared, I don't know that the other party members are going to let you be the face. Essentially the face, in most cases that I've seen, is the leader, and your other members have already indicated that they're not going to listen, regardless of how sensible and reasonable you might be.

Working from the bottom up, I already am the party Face. My 8 Charisma Fighter was pretty much required to do all of the talking, and if I let someone else do it things typically go horribly askew. For example I came up with a pretty good plan to get the Cult of Water Cult on our side. If it had succeeded, we would have a valuable information source that would let us skip over several of the more obscure plot threads that normally lead to those Cults. However, our DM was moving things rather quickly and we ended up at the front gates of their lair before I had the opportunity to convey my plan to the party. We're challenged by a guard on the battlements, and the following conversation happens.

Silent Monk: Says nothing.
Gambling Sorcerer: Says nothing.
Mononoke-Hime: Draws her Bow, points at the guard on the battlement and proudly declares: "I have brought these three handsome male slaves. I wish to sell them to you for a fair price."
>All of us are armed to to the teeth; our DM is extremely generous with magic items so I'm wearing Acid-Resistant Plate Armor, the Sorcerer has enchanted robes that shine emerald, etc
8 Charisma Fighter: Ignore the lady, she's scatterbrained. Your contact in Red Larch sent us here with important information. We'd like to seek audience with your leader, it's important that he hears what we have to say.

Needless to say from then on things go well. I have to roll Persuasion to get the boss to trust me, but I roll something like an 18 (-1) and get the info we need.

TLDR, I am the Face whether I wanted to be or not. I've been making most of the important decisions thus far, but my character didn't want to be the leader; which is why when it came time to make small decisions such as when to rest I usually acquiesced. I allowed the Sorcerer his break in enemy territory because I was confident I could handle the situation that was going to arise.

@Reosoul: As I said before the first two wipes was when I was brand new to 5th Edition, and relatively new to D&D in general. We had barricaded the room we were in and thought we would be safe. The third was with a completely new party and a new DM in a new campaign, the Sorcerer is a gambler who decides things by coin tosses or dice rolls, this is the first time that it's interfered with common sense, but like I said above I felt that my Fighter who could cleave three Monks in half in a single turn would be able to handle a few more of those. I didn't count on getting surrounded by significantly tougher Gargoyles.

Back to Temperjoke: Here's my character in a few bullet-points.
-> Most kids go through a lying phase, she discovered she was actually getting away with it.
-> Decided to develop this talent, and has grown accustomed to using words to manipulate the people around her.
-> Decided to become a bard in order to study the power of words to better exploit her skills.

-> She's takes pride in bending others to her will. She finds the sense of power and control it brings into her life elating.
-> She wants to use this power to create an organization; I haven't decided what the ultimate goal of this organization will be, but sowing discord in the world will definitely be a part of it.
->>One idea is exploiting nobles, military members, and civilians to create national discord, and allowing countries to fall to ruin; then showing up under the guise of a benevolent group who saves everything and then takes control.
-> She's a researcher who likes to study ancient secrets and weapons, and wants to find people that she can control who will exploit those secrets on her behalf.

That's more or less the plan I have for her, I'm just not sure how to find time to do that while also adventuring around and such. I'll probably need to recruit people in town or something and get them to start working for me while I adventure and take out potential world-conquering rivals.

[Temperjoke]

Back to Temperjoke: Here's my character in a few bullet-points.
-> Most kids go through a lying phase, she discovered she was actually getting away with it.
-> Decided to develop this talent, and has grown accustomed to using words to manipulate the people around her.
-> Decided to become a bard in order to study the power of words to better exploit her skills.

-> She's takes pride in bending others to her will. She finds the sense of power and control it brings into her life elating.
-> She wants to use this power to create an organization; I haven't decided what the ultimate goal of this organization will be, but sowing discord in the world will definitely be a part of it.
->>One idea is exploiting nobles, military members, and civilians to create national discord, and allowing countries to fall to ruin; then showing up under the guise of a benevolent group who saves everything and then takes control.
-> She's a researcher who likes to study ancient secrets and weapons, and wants to find people that she can control who will exploit those secrets on her behalf.

That's more or less the plan I have for her, I'm just not sure how to find time to do that while also adventuring around and such. I'll probably need to recruit people in town or something and get them to start working for me while I adventure and take out potential world-conquering rivals.

Alright, wanting to become the new leadership by displacing/overthrowing the current regimes is a good place to start. Perhaps she can look to the other party members as temporary recruits, the building blocks for her new organization, taking over their mission and using it to establish a name for her group, which allows her to recruit NPCs in the background. You might want to look into the Zhentarim, if your D&D group is using the Forgotten Realms, they're a secretly evil shadow group, and she might fit in nicely as a member of them, perhaps with ambitions of rising higher.

[CaptainSarathai]

So you've got a Monk, Ranger, Sorcerer, and you wanna go Bard?

How is your Monk not dead yet? He's the only one who can/must mix it up in melee, and you guys use the Flanking rules.

Dare I ask, what kind of Ranger, and from where? (Revised or 'nilla?)

That Sorc can pretty much eat one, to be honest. Not talking? They're the only person for whom Charisma is not a jump-stat, and they refuse to talk. I assume because they a Charlatan Shadowsorc?
"LOOK! Im a teenage girl, I'd rather be anywhere than here! I'm all about long sullen silences, followed by mean comments, followed by more silence!"
-Deadpool

Your group seriously lacks for a Session Zero, and your DM sounds kinda... odd.
I'd ask him if there's any way to assume or manufacture a TPK and when you guys reroll, you all have a good talk about how the party fits together. Something like;
> Who tanks and melees?
> Who heals and/or buffs?
> How do we cover DPR, Nova, Ranged, and AoE needs in combat?
> How do we split up the skills? Who Faces, who Scouts and who busts traps?


In your shoes, with what your party needs and wanting to be LE, I'd request going Oathbreaker Paladin from the DMG. Any Paladin can benefit from higher Charisma, but an Oathbreaker adds their Cha to damage at 7th level.
Build a variant Half Elf from SCAG and give up your 2 skills (ouch, I know) for the Booming Blade cantrip (also SCAG) unless you plan to MC later (in which case, either HElf or a Resilient/ModArmored VuMan gets you three 16s (and three 8s, but w/e). At 4th level, snag Warcaster to react-smack with Booming Blade and be sticky, depending on DM ruling. Otherwise a 3x16 or PAM on a Vuman, and picking up Sentinel at 4th, would work.
For background, Criminal or Charlatan gives you Deception. That's the major social stuff other than Insight covered, though.

So, 27pt buy, you'd have:
V. HalfElf, Oathbreaker Paladin, Criminal
16, 10*, 16, 8*, 8*, 16
*could be swapped
Skills: Deception, Intimidation, Persuade, Stealth
Spells Known: Booming Blade
> Lv2: Defense Style or GWF (if DM allows rerolls on Smite Dice).
> Lv3: Oathbreaker
>Lv4: Warcaster
>Lv8: +2 ASI, or MCing

You could MC Sorcerer with this (guide recently posted, and wouldn't even need Oath Breaking) or Warlock, and do well. Also Lore Bard of you wanted more Skills for some reason.

A Paladin would give you Lay on Hands, Cure Wounds, a character with a tanky AC, good DPR, high Nova damage, access to some Buff spells for yourself or the party, and wouldn't penalize a high Cha score for Facing.
The build above does these things especially, plus makes you "sticky" for the rest of the party to work around, and ensures you get your Cha skills.

[Sabeta]

Your group seriously lacks for a Session Zero, and your DM sounds kinda... odd.
I'd ask him if there's any way to assume or manufacture a TPK and when you guys reroll, you all have a good talk about how the party fits together. Something like;

> Who tanks and melees?
> Who heals and/or buffs?
> How do we cover DPR, Nova, Ranged, and AoE needs in combat?
> How do we split up the skills? Who Faces, who Scouts and who busts traps?

We did have a Session 0, but I wasn't a member of that game. Apparently Session 0 was a learning game where everyone could get a little familiar with D&D combat, but the boss of the place ended up TPKing the group. (Something about a powerful Zombie who was protecting a shrine. You had to smash the Shrine to beat it) For Session 0, 1, and 2 we had a Paladin in the group. He quit after Session 2 because he didn't like the way the DM was handling skill checks (We bumped into a member of the Cult of Black Earth, and he tried using religion to identify the symbol; which produced nothing because the DM ruled the cult unaffiliated with Religions.) Which meant our original group (counting me) looked like

>Tank: Paladin
>Melee: Fighter (Me)
>Heal/Buff: Paladin
>DPR: Fighter (Me)
>Nova: Paladin
>Ranged: Ranger
>AoE: Sorcerer
>Skills: Face: Paladin, Scout: Ranger, Traps: Nobody

Then the Paladin left for the aforementioned reasons, and the Monk had personal matters to attend to for several sessions, so he didn't play. (Our DM ruled that he was off training in the mountains) Thus, I was forced into filling the Tank, Nova, and Face rolls that the Paladin left behind. During the very next dungeon after the Paladin quit, I was awarded +1 Plate Armor and a Ring of Protection so that I could quickly fill the power-gap left behind by the Paladin. We were left without Heals and Buffs, so we made do with frequent rests and potions.

Fast Forward a few weeks, and the Monk has returned. He now has a custom piece of equipment, the Blade-A-Range, which is a Short Sword which can be thrown like a Dagger, but it returns after use. This, combined with my existance is how he's managed to survive all this time. The rest of the group has similarly weird Magic Items with varying degrees of power, but let me say that if you're initial response to that Short Sword was how OP it is, the rest of us have it significantly better. I think the DM is trying to port 2e and/or Pathfinder Items into 5e, but I'm not positive.

The Ranger by the way began as a stock Battlemaster. He used one of the Homebrews from the forums to be beefed up just a little bit, but he's also an Archery Style + Sharpshooter, so he hasn't really been a burden or anything. Honestly one of the biggest regular contributors, and he's now playing with the UA variant which has made him stronger still. None of us at the table feel like he's underperforming.

Sorcerer may very well be a Charlatan, but he's not a Shadowsorc. He's a Dragon Magic Sorcerer who loves to gamble. It's not that he refuses to talk, it's that gambling is his character's only concern, and he tries to decide everything by chance when prompted to. (ie: there's a split in the path, which way do we go. He'll flip a coin.) This is also his first game of D&D Ever, so I'm willing to forget some timidness in Roleplaying (afterall, the reason I picked Fighter was so that I would have to do all of the talking)

I'm already known for being somewhat indecisive when it comes to character creation. The game is in a few days, my bonus starting equipment has been set (my DM is allowing me Instrument of the Bards (Rare) to compete with the rest of the group's magic items), so suddenly switching gears to Paladin is 100% a nogo. This may come across as a bit rude, but I didn't ask for advice on building a Paladin, I asked for Roleplay advice for an Evil Bard. I have already conveyed my concerns about our groups durability with to the DM, and recommend a DMPC or slightly altered combat to accomdate. It's now in his hands to make good on either of those requests.

Finally, I'm playing Bard because I wanted to. I chose Fighter because I felt like the group needed DPR, not because I enjoy playing Fighter. Now that my Fighter is finally dead I'm going to play a selfish character. If my character choice results in people dying, then those people can roll something the party needs (The Sorcerer has already stated his next character will be a Cleric should this one die; however I think he plans on being an Evil Death Cleric...Now that I think about it you might be onto something with that deadpool comment.) Again, I don't really appreciate you criticizing the way a bunch of friends and I play a game. For what it's worth, our next campaign will be 100% Vanilla (HotDQ) The Sorcerer, Monk, and DM are all first timers for 5th edition, so we're still working some of the newbiness out.

[CaptainSarathai]

Nah, you're welcome to play the game however you see fit, as long as everyone enjoys it. I also didn't realize that you wanted to go Bard - I just knew that you wanted to be Evil and to Face, and thought that a Bard was your best option for Facing (it is, but other stuff could slot into the party). Maybe I missed that in am earlier post.

Typically during Session Zeroes that I am involved in, I try to urge players to stick to the "traditional party" format and fill in all the roles. It's just that much easier on the DM. This is doubly true of new players and newer DMs - I think everyone should learn the fundamentals before they start having to homebrew or modify rules or encounters or find other "work arounds" to cope with missing party roles.
You guys are running a prewritten campaign too, intended for a traditional party set up. If you're missing roles, the DM has to rewrite sections. Compare that to a free-form, where everyone shows up with 4 Bards, and the DM can modify the campaign to suit,
"oh crap, nobody can fight all that well? So, combats should be written either rarely or very low level, but social scenarios and skill challenges should be much more common and harder than average."
Just to play toward character archtypes that the players expected when building their guys.

I also didn't realize that at one point you had those roles covered, but lost players. It seems you've got some difficult players in the mix, so I really can't fault taking a selfish route from there on. I'd almost take that as a chance to go as OP as humanly possible, just teach people that if they want to be uncooperative loners, or just plain selfish, they shouldn't count on anyone else stepping up to save their skins.
"You got us all locked in a jail cell? Well, I can Command the Guard to let me out, but you're on your own. Have fun rotting! (they roll new character)"

[Sabeta]

That was actually going to be a point if it came up.

"Alright guys, I'm going undercover. You have a choice. Either sneak in on your own, or try to come with me, but if push comes to shove I'll probably deny knowing you. Especially if you do something stupid."

=Edit=

But as it turns out this whole thing was rather pointless. My DM wasn't aware I was planning Evil and said that, for this campaign, he would rather I didn't. (he left it up to me in the end, but I'm kind of a difficult player myself if you couldn't tell so I try to respect his wishes when I can)

So this Bard concept is getting shelved until we beat or fail PoTA. As such, I'll probably take you up on the Paladin offer.

[CaptainSarathai]

Man, if you go Paladin with a high Cha and can't take OathBreaker, go with Ancients for the Aura.
I'd go with "Variant Criminal: Spy" as your Background. Say you're some kind of investigator or Inquisitor for your church. That way, you can still "go undercover". Charlatan could do it too, I guess. Probably better, since you start with Disguise Kits instead of Thief Tools. Ask the DM if you can play the Charlatan as a Spy (alter ego and disguise seems more "spy" anyway).

That way you can still sneak off and "trim down" those pesky party members.

[Sabeta]

Well since our Campaign is already a bit broken by magic items, I don't mind a cheesy build right now. So I'm probably going to roll Quarterstaff + Shield, but I'm not 100% sure how to go about that. For the record here's all the equipment we had.


Fighter
-> +1 Plate Armor, grants Acid Resistance and auto-locates Dragons within 1 mile. (Long story about the Dragon-sighting effect, but to put it short we keep bumping into Dragons for some reason)
-> +1 Greatsword, Crits on 19; Damage changes from Slashing to to Thunder on a Crit.
-> Ring of Protection
-> Boots of Haste (Boots that are able to cast Haste on me as a Bonus Action, up to 10 minutes/day)
-> Bag of Holding
-> Driftglobe

Monk
-> Blade-A-Rang: +1 Longsword, Thrown Property (20/60), and returns after thrown. Target must make a con-save or take 1d6 Poison damage as well.
-> Some kind of custom armor

Sorcerer
-> Necklace of Acid Arrow: Fires the Acid Arrow spell up to 3 times a day. I'm not convinced that this is a real spell, but the damage seems to be a single-target Fireball with a chance to miss.
-> Robes of Damage Resistance: He resists Slashing and Pierce damage (Yes, that means that the Sorc is probably more tanky than I was)
-> Ring of Spell Storying
-> Wand of Mimicast: As a bonus action, repeats the last spell you cast on this turn. Usable once per day I think.
-> Glasstaff's Staff of Defense. Basically a free Shield spell 7 times a day. (Combine with the robes, I'm convinced he's never going to die)

Ranger
-> A bow that could probably take up an entire thread on its own. Basically he can spend several hours a day Attuning to the Bow. As he does he unlocks new features. Right now he's unlocked the "Earth" Feature, which turns his arrows to stone (+1d4 damage), and also casts Single-Target Entangle on the creature if it hits. He's working on the Air effect right now, but we have no clue what it'll do in the end.
-> Armor for the Wolf, including Metal-Claws which are +1 and therefore magical.


So my Character is guaranteed to start with some Magic Items. For the sake of argument, I could probably be allowed a single Very Rare and two Rares, depending on what those are (ie: the Very Rare "Instrument of the Bards" was just a bit too much), and the Books which raise stats above max are probably considered just Rare.

[Sir cryosin]

I don't play evil characters much but when I do it a sadistic sociopath and that's not what your looking for. But I can help check out ( Rollplay: west marches) there is a character called Dr. Grigori played by Adam aka skinny ghost on twitch I think. But he plays a death cleric and every part he plays with he is pretty much the face. He understands how to interact with people but you still understand and see his dark evil personaly.