What is the ceiling on playing a habitual liar in Adventure League?

So I am attending my first Adventure League session on Wednesday. I have a really interesting character idea, but I am not sure its legal and how well it will be received. I am planning to play a Variant Human Warlock with the Charlatan background. I will be selecting the pact of the fiend and my pact patron will be Fraz-Urb'luu the Prince of Deception. I plan on lying about pretty much everything related to my character as I will be trained in deception and have advantage when taking on new identities via the actor feat.

Needless to say my character will be lawful evil but I am planning on playing him in such a way that you would be deceived into thinking he is lawful good. I am going to claim I am a cleric of Torm and just lie about my background. I wanted to join the Order of the Gauntlet as a means of infiltrating the very people who are likely to be safeguarding evil artifacts and on the lookout for individuals such as myself. But, would that be permitted?

My character's goal is to use the forces of good to secretly locate the pieces of the shattered Staff of Fraz-Urb'luu and deliver them to his patron. I just want to clarify that I am not going to play this character to grief or be disruptive and that I will operate in the way that a lawful good character would------ in front of other players. Would this be problematic?

Just note that you can't be Lawful Evil and join the Order of the Gauntlet. Lawful Evil is only permitted with Lord's Alliance or Zhentarim members. That said, there's nothing stopping you from claiming that you're a member of the Order of the Gauntlet to other players, but the DM has to know the truth.

UnknownDyson said:

I just want to clarify that I am not going to play this character to grief or be disruptive and that I will operate in the way that a lawful good character would------ in front of other players. Would this be problematic?

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Beng that thisis the key issue there, I don't see as how it would likely be problematic. I had plans to play a charlatan as well, and in preparation, i had an entirely fake character sheet done up I would have out at the table (because people are nosy and curious), but I'd use all the stuff from my actual character sheet when in play.

You'd want to discuss (privately) with your DM before the game starts, to make sure he is aware of your charade, tho, to avoid accidentally giving up the schtick (ooc) too soon. Note that eventually the other players will figure it out (even if their characters don't), so at some point in time the charade won't be that needed.

If you're really looking to 'fool' the other players, try getting the Magic Initiate feat to provide some 'actual' cleric spells/cantrips to help your ruse along, and/or explain when you sit down at the table that you're a more martial type of cleric, so they don't think it odd that you're not eager to help with the healing. Or possibly discuss with your DM the idea of being able to subtly 're-skin' some of your warlock spells to appear more clerical in appearance (if not effect). Also, plan to write notes to the DM a lot, to keep other folks from knowing what you're doing exactly. This can be problematic time-wise, so maybe making some note cards pre-printed with actual things your character would often do secretly would help; you'll want to make sure that dealing with your 'secret' activities doesn't monopolize the DM's time, so communication with him/her before and during the game will be key to keeping your character's ruse going as long as you can.

NeverLucky said:

Just note that you can't be Lawful Evil and join the Order of the Gauntlet. Lawful Evil is only permitted with Lord's Alliance or Zhentarim members. That said, there's nothing stopping you from claiming that you're a member of the Order of the Gauntlet to other players, but the DM has to know the truth.

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Like NeverLucky says- you can be LE and join those 2 factions, but pretend to be from the Order of the Gauntlet. Real Order of the Gauntlet members/NPC's may treat you differently, though(expect table variation(tm)).

I've got a NG Dragonborn in the Zhentarim. My backstory is that he was a bad guy, changed his mind because, "circumstances", and decided as a level 1 PC that he would stay in the organization and destroy it from within.

...somehow. He's got 8 INT, but 16 CHA, so he's faking his way through it.

I think the others above have the IC and rules elements covered.


I'll mention the OOC stuff.

Adventurers' League is collaborative, both IC and OOC. Be sure that your character, and your depiction of your character doesn't mess with that.

In short, ensure that your fun doesn't impinge on other people's fun, and that your character's actions don't jeopardise the mission.

UnknownDyson said:

I wanted to join the Order of the Gauntlet as a means of infiltrating the very people who are likely to be safeguarding evil artifacts and on the lookout for individuals such as myself. But, would that be permitted?

My character's goal is to use the forces of good to secretly locate the pieces of the shattered Staff of Fraz-Urb'luu and deliver them to his patron.

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Is this even feasible in AL? I thought it ran pre-scripted adventures. So you might not be able to make any headway in your goal of any kind.

PCs are pretty much always murder hobos. They either lie constantly to NPCs around them, or they look for the most thinly-veiled excuse to kill things for their treasure and XP.

Its a cute idea but I can't imagine the novelty lasting very long. If your neigboring players notice your numbers being off(someone probably will), then they will either clam up and assume you are cheating, or they will start asking questions leading to awkwardness. Passing notes to the DM is a surefire way to derail the game and draw attention to yourself, distracting from the actual game.

I can count on 1 hand the number of times a GM has handed out secret notes to players or vice versa. Pretty much guarantees the players will become instantly paranoid. I did this once as a joke actually. Gave a player a note that said 'Nothing actually happens, I just want to see what the other characters do!' They spent the next half of the session trying to prove the PC was a doppelganger. To the point that even when the guy finally got fed up and showed them the note, they thought he had switched the note to trick them.

Byakugan: Ive had a AL character in one of my games who wont kill. He ALWAYS does non lethal and wont fight critters he cant knock out. I dont get to see him often but I would not class him as a murderhobo.

I love Notes as a DM. I sometimes hand them out RE: THe Nightmares I gave people during Out of the Abyss (and still give out) and notes that I sometimes get from the party rogue who is trying to steal from an npc or party member.

I dont want people who cant metagame or refuse to spoiling the game. THats on them to sort out.

ccs said:

Is this even feasible in AL? I thought it ran pre-scripted adventures. So you might not be able to make any headway in your goal of any kind.

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I know that AL is pre scripted its just background for my character. I don't plan on acting on it.

Also as I said before I'm not trying to ruin or derail the game, neither am i trying to slow down action by passing notes to the dm constantly, i just want to play a charlatan warlock of fraz' urb luu. As this is my first time in AL i don't really know what to expect, but if there is an absurd amount of meta gaming, I don't think I will be coming back to play again.

Meta gaming is dependant on the quality of players you have (not neccesarily experience indicates this either). Ive been in groups of loooong time players who were poor metagamers and long time groups that were really really good.

You really only find the metagame level when you get to the table, but keep in mind that organised play games can tend to lend to it as people can replay scenarios with other characters. If a character is avoiding a certain area for no discenible reason.. its often a sign they have played it before and remember a trap or monster drop.

I think your concept sounds great. Its kinda of like my concept for Brother Nightshade ( a dm character). He worships Leira (who is the Goddess of Illusions and 'mistruths'). A Great quote for her faith is 'Why tell the truth when you can lie?'. A lot of priests wear a Silvered facemask so you cant see their face)