Any advice on how to roleplay a Lawful-Evil cleric?

[MissJynx]

Hi there, I DM for a group of 5 people in 5e, and the group was in need of a healer/tank, so I made a cleric to help them out. I rolled her background, race and traits randomly and ended out with an ex-sailor with a bad reputation, L-E tiefling, who worships the Goddess of the Sea, Umberlee.
Things is the party are a bunch of C-G, and C-N guys, and they love to tease her. She's a very serious and devout gal who doesn't play around, and it tends to make her react agressively to their jokes and comments.
That tiefling gal is also the one in charge of keeping the group in place in the army, to keep them behaving as good, faithful soldiers to their order...things is I'm afraid she might end up murdering them, or attempting to, if I keep roleplay her according to what she is.
Any advice on how to roleplay this particular character?

[TheYell]

Have her take an oath to her goddess to bring the party home alive and whole. That seems appropriate for a healer.

[JNAProductions]

*Clears throat*

Red Fel, Red Fel, Red Fel!

That should help you.

[TheYell]

You know I get the idea that Red Fel is putting on an act.

[JNAProductions]

Before the big RE shows himself, here's a guide by him.

[Vitruviansquid]

I feel like the easiest thing to do would be make this the players' problem.

Instead of rolling up a DMPC, give one of your players the opportunity to have two characters rather than one. Now you don't have to worry about how to play this character AND as a bonus, there would no longer be a DMPC.

[Geddy2112]

How to roleplay this character? My short answer is don't.

I get that you rolled all of this up randomly, but the random character you got is the antithesis of your party. You threw lawful evil into a group of chaotic good, and you made her the boss and enforcer...I am surprised your PC's have not murdered her. You knew they were fun loving, and you threw in somebody who is "serious, devout, and reacts aggressively" to lead them. It sounds like a recipe for disaster, and short of some serious metagame agreement and good cooperation with your group, I don't see it ending well.

If you are going to have a DMPC(it sounds like the party really needed those niche roles) you have them do those...only those, not extras like lead, enforcer, what have you. Also, they should be savants, good at what they were there to do and suck(or be unable to contribute) at almost everything else. The tank is effectively a Hodor Big Stupid Fighter, the healer is the fragile temple acolyte who can't fight their way out of a paper bag. Or in this case you have the paladin who took an oath to protect these people and has a vow of silence. You also make them more or less philosophically aligned with the party, or the type who simply does whatever they do. I do find it strange that a party of 5 is lacking any characters who can tank or heal though...

If I were you, I would burn the character sheet and try again. Random is fine, but you might not want to leave elements like alignment and general attitude to chance, lest you get a square peg for your round hole.
If you want to salvage the character, you need to make her closer aligned to the party

-First off, Umberlee is Chaotic Evil, so LE seems a bit far off the reservation. Why not make her chaotic neutral? Even chaotic evil would be a much closer alignment to the party's general philosophy.
-If she is gonna still be lawful evil, why is she letting some brigand types rile her feathers? She is going to let some pawns get under her skin? Really? The lion does not care about the insults of the gazelle-if she is going to rule the group(I strongly suggest you don't do this) she should rule correctly. Even if she is not in charge, she should not care about the party's disdain-they are just pawns in her grand scheme anyways...
-Elaborating on the grand scheme, you can make her withdrawn and reserve-she only has to keep the party functioning, she has seen the prophecy of Umberlee where they all do the magical thing that brings about the great event where she is queen or gains some power and rule over the world. She is there to tank and heal them right? Let her tank and heal-her goal from the divine is to keep these irreverent knuckleheads alive, despite their best attempts to die before their proper time. Have her do that, and you can have this great event be a big plot and tie in with their quest, whatever that is.

[NRSASD]

So long as she doesn't upstage the heroes and all the players are on board with it, don't worry about DMPC issues. Just remember that the story and events are about the PCs, not her, and don't be afraid to let her die if that occurs. Otherwise enjoy the ride!

As far as tips go, I'd second the "swearing an oath to keep them alive come flood or hellfire" is probably the way to keep her sane. During downtime between adventures, she most certainly is going to disassociate herself from the party and try to restore her sanity. This can be through prayer, meditation, insulting beggars, stealing candy from babies, pleading with Umberlee to let someone else be stuck with them, etc.

If they keep needling her, don't be afraid to make her snap; particularly if one PC is especially obnoxious. Something along the lines of "While I need to work with you lot, I don't need to work with him!". There has to be a clear and present provocation, but it's best if she loses it when they're cut off from alternative sources of clerical magic. The PCs will likely disable her, but then they'll either a. tone it down a touch or b. dispose of her (which is not really a CG action...). Either way, the PCs stay at the center of attention, and if they like having the priestess around they'll shape up. If not, roll up a new henchman who's hopefully a bit more compatible.

[Quertus]

Keeping morons alive in spite of themselves is what us lawful types do - it's why we make seatbelt laws, and redesign toys after children find ways to kill themselves with them. So dealing with the party should come naturally to your NPC.

If this is 3.x, I don't think her alignment and deity match up. So figure out what she'll do once she realizes that someone else has been powering her spells.

[Honest Tiefling]

If this is 3.x, I don't think her alignment and deity match up. So figure out what she'll do once she realizes that someone else has been powering her spells.

The game is 5e, but they still don't match up. If the rules for alignment are similar to 3.5, she needs to be Neutral Evil, not Lawful Evil. Umberlee is also not the nicest of gods, and if I recall correctly pretty vengeful and demanding.

Perhaps you can give us some background on who the heck hired both a tiefling priestess of an evil god AND a group of CG/CN adventurers? Knowing why they're so openminded and willing to tolerate this batch of alignments is probably good. Also, what hooks are keeping the players tied to this navy as opposed to stealing a ship to go liberate some slaves and/or acquire loot?

[Red Fel]

*Clears throat*

Red Fel, Red Fel, Red Fel!

That should help you.

Phew, long day at work, but I'm here now, and everything's going to be just-

You know I get the idea that Red Fel is putting on an act.

Explode alone forever.

Before the big RE shows himself, here's a guide by him.

Hi there, I DM for a group of 5 people in 5e,

Hi there, I corrupt all that is good and pure and teach people to do the same.

and the group was in need of a healer/tank, so I made a cleric to help them out.

No, you didn't. You made a Cleric, and then shot yourself in the foot.

I rolled her background, race and traits randomly and ended out with an ex-sailor with a bad reputation, L-E tiefling, who worships the Goddess of the Sea, Umberlee.

As others have mentioned, Umberlee is CE. I don't know 5e, but I'm pretty sure you can't have an LE Cleric of a CE deity.

Things is the party are a bunch of C-G, and C-N guys, and they love to tease her. She's a very serious and devout gal who doesn't play around, and it tends to make her react agressively to their jokes and comments.

In other words, you play this character in such a way that you're basically provoking it.

Now, I don't like victim-shaming. I find it repugnant. But in this case, they are in all likelihood teasing her for being serious and devout and un-fun, and she is responding by proving them completely right instead of killing the toxic jerks or leaving them to die. Show some pride, lady!

I also have a beef with anyone who plays a Lawful alignment as serious and devout and un-fun. LE is super fun. We have the most fun. Admittedly, our definition of fun tends to differ from others, and frequently involves more screaming, but fun is fun.

That tiefling gal is also the one in charge of keeping the group in place in the army, to keep them behaving as good, faithful soldiers to their order...things is I'm afraid she might end up murdering them, or attempting to, if I keep roleplay her according to what she is.
Any advice on how to roleplay this particular character?

Well, before I give my input, here is somebody else.

How to roleplay this character? My short answer is don't.

I get that you rolled all of this up randomly, but the random character you got is the antithesis of your party. You threw lawful evil into a group of chaotic good, and you made her the boss and enforcer...I am surprised your PC's have not murdered her. You knew they were fun loving, and you threw in somebody who is "serious, devout, and reacts aggressively" to lead them. It sounds like a recipe for disaster, and short of some serious metagame agreement and good cooperation with your group, I don't see it ending well.

First, this. I don't get why you randomized something as important to party cohesion as tone and goals and personality. You made an un-fun Evil servant of a deity affectionately called "The B**** Queen" to boss around a bunch of fun-loving Goodie-goodies, what did you think would happen?

If you are going to have a DMPC(it sounds like the party really needed those niche roles) you have them do those...only those, not extras like lead, enforcer, what have you. Also, they should be savants, good at what they were there to do and suck(or be unable to contribute) at almost everything else. The tank is effectively a Hodor Big Stupid Fighter, the healer is the fragile temple acolyte who can't fight their way out of a paper bag. Or in this case you have the paladin who took an oath to protect these people and has a vow of silence. You also make them more or less philosophically aligned with the party, or the type who simply does whatever they do. I do find it strange that a party of 5 is lacking any characters who can tank or heal though...

This again. You haven't actually expressed why you're running a DMPC. If the DMPC is important enough that it needs to exist, it's important enough to plan carefully, not to toss around randomly. Your DMPC cannot be an un-fun boss diametrically opposed to the party for the primary purpose of keeping those idiot heroes in line.

Bottom line is this. You've told me the following:

• I have a party of fun-loving hero types.
• I made a DMPC, randomized her, and came up with an un-fun LE servant of a CE deity
• My DMPC tries to boss the PCs around
• The PCs mock her

At this point, there seems little reason to keep statusing your quo. Either the PCs kill the DMPC, or the DMPC kills the PCs, or they simply part ways. The only reason they're still together, it seems, is that you need your DMPC in place to boss the PCs around, and the PCs aren't smart/savvy/assertive enough to ditch or kill her.

I can't tell you how to play a character who as of yet serves no discernible purpose. If you could tell me about who this character is as a person, her purpose in the plot and her motivations, I could offer you some of my signature insight. But as of yet, all I can see about her is a featureless block you've dropped in the PCs' path.

[Guancyto]

Hi there, I DM for a group of 5 people in 5e, and the group was in need of a healer/tank, so I made a cleric to help them out. I rolled her background, race and traits randomly and ended out with an ex-sailor with a bad reputation, L-E tiefling, who worships the Goddess of the Sea, Umberlee.
Things is the party are a bunch of C-G, and C-N guys, and they love to tease her. She's a very serious and devout gal who doesn't play around, and it tends to make her react agressively to their jokes and comments.
That tiefling gal is also the one in charge of keeping the group in place in the army, to keep them behaving as good, faithful soldiers to their order...things is I'm afraid she might end up murdering them, or attempting to, if I keep roleplay her according to what she is.
Any advice on how to roleplay this particular character?

Okay, so! Ideas. The important words I heard were "army" and "faithful soldiers."

This is key! She's a soldier, too (and a Lawful one), right? She has a country to protect, a count/duke/king/emperor/doge/patrician/princeps to serve and a duty to uphold and that will continue to be true no matter who teases who about what. (As Durkon says: "Bein' a dwarf is about doin' yer duty, even if it makes ye miserable. ESPECIALLY if it makes ye miserable!") Your Sergeant (or whatever rank she has) might be a jerkwad, she might not even be very "fun" but it's important that she always, always has your back. For a LE Tiefling, that means she would literally walk through hell for her men. My advice would be to play up the loyalty and pride angles; they might be a bunch of misfits and rabble, they might constantly give her a hard time but they are her men, and when the chips are down, anybody who messes with them will have hell to pay. And if they are a particularly effective band of misfits, you might let the tough exterior crack a little sometimes to show that she might be a major hardass but she does care.

(Edit: It's sort of important what you mean by "the players love to tease her." If they genuinely like riffing off a hardassed character and it adds color to their scenes, that's valuable to have in a game and you shouldn't have the whole thing end in murder! I will refer you to the Giant's section on Decide to React Differently; try and figure out some way that works. On the other hand if it's the sort of teasing where you the GM (not the character) would like them to stop, that's different.)

That being said Umberlee might be a bad choice of deity. If you want her to get along better with goodie-goodies, Helm or the Red Knight are both solid choices and still let her be personally Evil. (Evil people are people with all that comes with that. Evil gods tend to expect pretty foul things of their clerics, like human sacrifice, ritual murder, and skim milk.)

[MissJynx]

Thanks for all the answers.

I did forget to mention that i made Umberlee L-E for my campaign, along with a bunch of modified deities, as she is the mistress of the sea and only allows safe passage to people who offer the proper offerings (and/or sacrifices).

I also did forget to mention that my C-N/C-G players never really follow their alignments that well. Often they switch up between personas, being a bit too L-G at times, being all "protector of the weak", but then they go in alleys and murder people for money.

Now here, the goal isn't to tell them how to play their characters, but i do expect some consistency. (Unless they have a bipolar character, or something...which they don't.)

The "teasing" involved here is pretty much "mocking and embarrassing her with sexual harassment", which she made clear to them she didn't enjoy.

But! I do want this campaign to be fun and my players to enjoy it.

That said, a lady does have the right to punch a gnome in the face if he gropes her. Especially one so bent on respect. L-E or not.

I like the idea of either giving her up to someone else, or having her have a strict oath, involving them being kept safe, binding her actions.

But, if i do give her up to one of my players, i have a feeling she might turn up being played C-E, and being even more murderous and dangerous to the rest of the group...

[Red Fel]

Thanks for all the answers.

I did forget to mention that i made Umberlee L-E for my campaign, along with a bunch of modified deities, as she is the mistress of the sea and only allows safe passage to people who offer the proper offerings (and/or sacrifices).

Okay, that's fair. Admittedly, the kind of thing it helps to know in advance, but it makes more sense now.

I also did forget to mention that my C-N/C-G players never really follow their alignments that well. Often they switch up between personas, being a bit too L-G at times, being all "protector of the weak", but then they go in alleys and murder people for money.

Now here, the goal isn't to tell them how to play their characters, but i do expect some consistency. (Unless they have a bipolar character, or something...which they don't.)

If your players have a problem playing their alignments, you don't force them to play an alignment or to be "consistent." You ding their alignments. Spend too long committing murders in an alley and you're no longer G. Just not happening. Yield to authority too often for no real reason and you can't claim C anymore. Not a thing. And tell them so. You are the DM, you are well within rights to tell them that they no longer qualify for the G, or the C, or any other alignment.

The "teasing" involved here is pretty much "mocking and embarrassing her with sexual harassment", which she made clear to them she didn't enjoy.

Which any character has a near-absolute right to express. Frequently with violence. Nothing stops a Lawful character from expressing displeasure at swordpoint. Especially an LE character.

EDIT: It occurs to me that this was unclear. Any character has a near-absolute right to express her displeasure with sexual harassment. Let me be quite clear on that point.

But! I do want this campaign to be fun and my players to enjoy it.

Does not require you to make your DMPC or any other NPC a doormat.

That said, a lady does have the right to punch a gnome in the face if he gropes her. Especially one so bent on respect. L-E or not.

Especially LE.

I like the idea of either giving her up to someone else, or having her have a strict oath, involving them being kept safe, binding her actions.

But, if i do give her up to one of my players, i have a feeling she might turn up being played C-E, and being even more murderous and dangerous to the rest of the group...

If you're concerned that a player will take a CE character and murder the party, you have an entirely separate bag of issues to address. That said, if you give a character over to a player, you must be willing to accept the idea that this character will be played differently than you would, even to the point of changing alignment.

The question remains, however: Why is this character necessary? What specific function does this character facilitate that no other PC does? If you can't answer that, I wouldn't bother giving her over to a player; I'd just find a way to let her fade into a more passive role.

If you have a problem with how the players play their characters, you resolve that by talking to the players, not by creating a DMPC whose role is to keep the PCs in line.

[Alcibiades]

Of note for future discussions: 5E does not have alignment restrictions for Clerics and Paladins. Paladins still take an oath (which defines their subclass) and there's a small box stating that breaking it might cause them to fall, but it's a lot more up to DM discretion. Even more so for the Cleric.

[MissJynx]

Thanks Red Fel.

That character is mostly necessary to the party as they asked me to create a tank-healer to help them out. They are mostly all ranged casters, except for the monk. (1 Wild Surge Sorcerer, 1 Wizard who will specialize in necromancy, one Bard, and the Monk who's also going for spell casting.) The group only just started and are now level 2, but i was expecting to get the cleric to stick until the necromancer is able to control enough meat shields to protect the group.

The cleric is also a key NPC for the next chapter of the story, as she will be needed for the party to safely cross the deadly seas over to the tiefling lands, where she'll serve as an emissary.

So good, so far, the players remained happy-go-lucky guys who've been warned by miss cleric that they wouldn't get healed if they grabbed her ass again. That seemed to work.. but now most of them find her incredibly attractive want to "tame" her, and her fiercely fiery persona.

Well, as long as everyone stays alive and well, and the players enjoy the story, it's all good!

[Frozen_Feet]

... after providing them with that safe passage, have her go full villain, summon a bunch of demons (etc.) and attack the PCs when their pants are down (perhaps literally), then leave them bound and gagged in a humiliating position without most their gear.

What? They've deserved it.

Bonus points if they can't kill her because they need her for the return trip.

[Red Fel]

Thanks Red Fel.

I'm a helper!

That character is mostly necessary to the party as they asked me to create a tank-healer to help them out. They are mostly all ranged casters, except for the monk. (1 Wild Surge Sorcerer, 1 Wizard who will specialize in necromancy, one Bard, and the Monk who's also going for spell casting.) The group only just started and are now level 2, but i was expecting to get the cleric to stick until the necromancer is able to control enough meat shields to protect the group.

Frankly, I still think they're better off learning how to play mobile ranged casters, rather than expecting a beefstick to sit there and soak up hits while they plink away from safety. Let them learn how to play their chosen characters; don't give them a crutch.

But yeah, good of you to plan for this character's obsolescence via necromancer. Let her leave with a gratifying scene, though.

The cleric is also a key NPC for the next chapter of the story,

No.

as she will be needed

No no no.

for the party to safely cross the deadly seas over to the tiefling lands,

No no no no no-

where she'll serve as an emissary.

You were doing so well! So very well! And then you drop this bombshell?

Everything else - making your DMPC a bossy brat, making her a wound-soaking healbot, subjecting her to their lechery - all of that I could forgive. Begrudgingly, but I could.

But making your DMPC plot-necessary is one of the biggest, ugliest red flags you can have. It amounts to plot armor - the DMPC cannot be killed, cannot be sent away, because the plot will stop if that happens.

Don't do this! Please, don't do this! You can do so much better. Particularly if the PCs continue to give you crap. Let them find their own way through Tiefling lands. Don't give them a plot-armored guaranty. You can do better.

So good, so far, the players remained happy-go-lucky guys who've been warned by miss cleric that they wouldn't get healed if they grabbed her ass again. That seemed to work.. but now most of them find her incredibly attractive want to "tame" her, and her fiercely fiery persona.

... Wow, that's incredibly, uncomfortably rapey. I'm Evil, and that makes me uncomfortable. Think about it.

Well, as long as everyone stays alive and well, and the players enjoy the story, it's all good!

... Hey, whatever works for you, I guess.

... after providing them with that safe passage, have her go full villain, summon a bunch of demons (etc.) and attack the PCs when their pants are down (perhaps literally), then leave them bound and gagged in a humiliating position without most their gear.

What? They've deserved it.

Bonus points if they can't kill her because they need her for the return trip.

See, this? This makes me smile again. This is how to do it.

[Segev]

Plot-important DMPC is a definite no-no.

Examine each of the plot-important things you have planned for her.

Find a PC for each of them; reassign accordingly.

Any plot-important things that cannot go on a PC need to be rethought. Are they really essential, or are they just easy solutions to a problem? Is the problem they solve essential as an obstacle?

Remove the obstacle or let the PCs handle it by whatever means they come up with, if the plot-importance can't be passed to one of them.

[goto124]

The PCs grabbed her what?

Why are you not talking to the players OOCly or kicking them out of the game?

[aberratio ictus]

The PCs grabbed her what?

Why are you not talking to the players OOCly or kicking them out of the game?

This. Now, you mention those things so candidly, so if it doesn't bother you that things like this happen in your group, I'm not telling you it should - I don't know your group, and while they seem a little immature, it might just be you guys playstyle. The same with the taming thing - if it`s all good when the players enjoy the story, and you're fine with making your cleric have secret masochistic tendencies she's ashamed of, and she ends up one of the players submissive companion, I'm not going to tell you that's wrong. In a more serious and mature game (yours doesn't seem too serious, sorry) it might even be something that could be interesting to explore.

Honestly, despite what others so far have said, it seems to me the PCs and your NPC at least have a dynamic. A dynamic that wouldn't appeal to everyone, certainly, but it seems your players like it, and you don't seem to mind too much. Your cleric simply throws punches if the PCs get too close. If this is the case, why would you change anything? If it is only that you are afraid they are going to murder each other, you have to ask yourself - why exactly is this a problem? I'm not saying it can't be a problem, it's just important to be sure why it is a problem. If the players murder her after they get sick of her, and have fun doing it, if she ends up being an antagonist, that might just be fine, again, depending on her playstyle. I agree with many of the others that making her a plot-important DMPC of sorts probably isn't the way to go, you should at least think of a contingency plan in case things go wrong.

The question is - your players don't seem to mind the situation, according to your story, what exactly is it you find unfun?
Remember, the DM has just as much right to have fun at the table as the players, so if they are making the experience unfun for you, just tell them.

[MissJynx]

... after providing them with that safe passage, have her go full villain, summon a bunch of demons (etc.) and attack the PCs when their pants are down (perhaps literally), then leave them bound and gagged in a humiliating position without most their gear.

What? They've deserved it.

Bonus points if they can't kill her because they need her for the return trip.

hahaha loving this idea!

As for the "plot important NPC", I have to specify that she isn't that necessary, and doesn't have any plot armor, whatsoever. Whatever happens, happens. I'm sure they'll find another way to get to the islands without her, if it comes to that. They can be...quite creative, and resourceful.

Maybe, if she dies and/or leaves, they'll even remember their bruised ribs, or broken nose, fondly as they gaze upon the sea and think "What a gal."

[GloatingSwine]

Right now, the appropriate way to roleplay this character is that if the characters are ever within earshot of the sea, something horrible happens to them.

Umberlee is not a deity who deals well with disrespect.

[Honest Tiefling]

I think at this point you need to have a chat with your players. You seem to respect alignment, but they don't. I don't even know if they're role playing characters given what you have said, as it is very difficult to think of many situations where people would be Paladin-Esque one moment and randomly murdering the next. Perhaps they have a concept that pulls this off, but I am assuming that there are some...Issues.

Compound this with the fact that they're going all Rape Squad on a female NPC Cleric who they requested to join the party. Yeah, sexual harassment doesn't actually produce a good working relationship in most cases. This is why you save the butt grabbing for people you don't need to rely on! And she's a cleric of a vengeful female deity, so unless you intend to go all Medusa on the Cleric, there might be some problems in insulting and demeaning one of her chosen servants.

Why hasn't this NPC tried to kill these people again? They're making veiled threats of a sexual nature and assaulting her. I think you have all the reason in the world to have her try to kill them. I am going to hop on the wagon of having her not work with the party anymore.

I don't know what your party is doing, but I'm getting the feeling it isn't immersive roleplay. Which means having someone scold them like the naughty children they are isn't going to produce a fun experience.

[GloatingSwine]

Well it sounds like they're going to get on a boat at some point.

At which point it sinks and they all drown, because what did they think would happen if they harrassed and insulted a priestess of the goddess of the sea. Who is not only evil but one of the more vengeful evil gods as well.

And when they complain, you point this out to them.