One or two interesting challenges

[NephandiMan]

My most recent D&D group decided they wanted to play an evil campaign - I say "they" because I'm pretty much TN in real life, and didn't much care one way or the other. I figured it would be new and different, at least, and I made a cleric because no one else in the group wanted to be one. (I'll show them how badly clerics rip. That might change their minds). Our group already has plenty of damage dealing, so I figured spontaneous healing would be more useful than spontaneous inflicting. Then, because I would have a hard time justifying a Good character in a party with only one other non-Evil member, I chose a TN cleric who channels positive energy. My patron deity is Olidammara, the CN god of rogues.

Here's where it gets interesting. I and our party's druid had just finished giving the opening speeches at a huge winter festival, when one of the city guards was killed by a crossbow bolt. The druid, our sorcerer, our dwarven fighter, and I tracked the assassin back to his hideout, subdued him, and brought him back to the city guards to deal with. The sorceror decided it would be a great idea to summon a giant ape in a room full of the city guards. In the largest metropolis on the planet. (He's not the sharpest bulb in the anthill). Our druid, the aforementioned only other non-Evil member of the party, called lightning on him, and he, being a sorceror, went down in two rounds.

I now had a dilemma: I wanted the sorcerer alive so I could at least ask him what the blue hell he was thinking, so I hung back from combat, buffed myself just in case, and healed the sorcerer when he collapsed. However, in the heat of battle, I doubted the guards would distinguish between the sorcerer and someone who helped him, so I finally joined the fray after a few guards had already gone down, and once the druid dipped below zero HP, the rest of the party made short work of the guards. (The druid was only knocked out, not killed, and I only attacked guards after he went down. I healed him after the battle, and as far as he knows, all I did the whole time was heal people, so he won't necessarily turn on me).

My dilemma is this: what can I do to help make up for killing civil servants so that I don't become Evil? I don't care if I become Chaotic, but I'm trying to avoid Evil for a number of reasons, a major one of which is the spontaneous healing power. I'm thinking I could anonymously donate my share of the loot from the bodies to the families of the slain guardsmen - they had some good equipment, so the proceeds ought to set their families up for a few generations, if they know how to manage money. If any of them don't have families, I could just make an anonymous donation directly to the city, to use as they see fit.

I'm not interested in getting lectured here. For that matter, I'm not even really interested in starting an argument over whether what I did was evil or not. I don't plan to make a habit of killing guards, or anyone else who doesn't attack me first. What I want is a legitimate plan for balancing out my arguably evil actions so I don't become Evil myself. Also, does anyone have any ideas for how to get out of this without getting myself arrested? I'm thinking we can turn one or two of the party members in, then break them out of jail later on - it'll definitely help stave suspicion off from the rest of us if we have a patsy to pin things on. Staying Neutral won't matter much if I'm languishing in prison or executed for killing guards.

[F.L.]

It really depends on your DM's theory of evil. It's either falling is easy, or falling is hard. Usually, where falling is hard, you can gradually balance back your karmic debt. When falling is easy, it should be the case that rising is easy too. You certainly have a case to make for maintaining your neutrality (fighting only towards the end of combat, healing people, and thinking of giving away charity in recompense. If you turn in your fellow troublemakers to the law, you may keep that LN quite well...)

[valadil]

Under some interpretations, turning the others in for the purpose of making yourself look good could be an evil act. I'd seriously consider slapping the Lawful Evil label on your character if you went that route.

Not keeping the guard's loot is probably a better idea. I don't know if it's enough to atone for killing them in the first place, but it should help. Especially if you can convince the other players to give up theirs as well. Maybe convince them that they could be tracked down if anyone cared to investigate where all that loot went?

[Devils_Advocate]

I don't care if I become Chaotic, but I'm trying to avoid Evil for a number of reasons, a major one of which is the spontaneous healing power.
By the RAW, clerics of Olidammara have to be Chaotic. Just FYI.

Suggested Chaotic Neutral life philosophy:

"I have, like, no real code of ethics or anything, or any long-term goals, or even regular habits. I just deal with each new day as it comes. Still, I try to make sure that the good I do the world at least balances out the bad. I figure that, on the whole, that's not any worse than sitting around doing nothing. So some people benefit and some people get screwed, too, but hey, such is life, in which I am merely taking part. I just try to make sure that one of the people benefiting is me, and not to become vengeful when someone else screws me over. That would that be hypocritical, of course, but more to the point, getting all worked up about things is just very unhelpful. It can be dangerous to truly love, but much worse to truly hate. Far better to let it go."

Basically, a very non-judgmental sort of guy who does care about helping others, but cares about helping himself way more. Might even be surprisingly laid back about matters of life and death, under the theory that almost nothing is worth actually worrying about.

Dunno how well any of this fits your character.