Need Help With An Evil PC

[WarpedAcorn]

So I'm running a homebrew campaign and in it one of the pcs decided to make a deal and work for the campaigns antagonist. He plans on killing the entire group but went at it poorly and he is essentially discovered. I need a way to keep him in the campaign but still be evil and try to kill the group. Any Ideas?


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Well the key notes here are that his plan failed and the other players discovered him. This is a failure on the evil player's part, and you as the DM should not intervene to force the evil player's plot to succeed. My advice is to have the evil player roll a new character and the existing evil character can either become an NPC henchmen of the antagonist OR, if the Party kills him, becomes a footnote in their story.

If you are absolutely intent on keep this specific character in the game despite his previous failure, then in order for him to continue with the party you have a few choices:

-His presence is required for plot reasons. Maybe his blood is needed to open a seal or he knows a secret passage through a lair. In this case he becomes a prisoner of the party.

-He escapes and has his form altered. Maybe via a Polymorph spell or Hat of Disguise. If your antagonist is especially cruel, maybe the he permanently mutilates the evil character for his failure, making him unrecognizable.

-The evil character gets a "Magical Compulsion" enchantment placed on them so that he becomes loyal to the party. Maybe another agent of the Antagonist sets this up and puts in a Dispel option so that he can be freed when the time comes.

There are a few ways you can go, but again I would suggest making the evil character an NPC and having the player bring someone new to the table.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

For my part, I’m fine with evil PCs, as long as they 1 – can get along with the rest of the group and 2 – aren’t evil just for the sake of causing chaos and purposefully messing with the campaign. Give me an evil character with a personality and motivations other than “for the lulz” over an amoral murderhobo any day.

All that being said, it’s your campaign to run as you see fit. I’d say give the evil PC a piece of knowledge about the bad guy they need, like the secret to a trap they need to get past to confront the big bad, or a forcefield that’s keyed to their soul, so that only they can deactivate it. They don’t have to trust them, and the evil PC can still want to kill them, but now they need them to fight the greater evil.

 

[BeaniBum]

For my part, I’m fine with evil PCs, as long as they 1 – can get along with the rest of the group and 2 – aren’t evil just for the sake of causing chaos and purposefully messing with the campaign. Give me an evil character with a personality and motivations other than “for the lulz” over an amoral murderhobo any day.

All that being said, it’s your campaign to run as you see fit. I’d say give the evil PC a piece of knowledge about the bad guy they need, like the secret to a trap they need to get past to confront the big bad, or a forcefield that’s keyed to their soul, so that only they can deactivate it. They don’t have to trust them, and the evil PC can still want to kill them, but now they need them to fight the greater evil.

Ok that makes sense I'll definitely do something like that. Thank you!


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[Ralif Redhammer]

Cool, glad to be of help. Good luck!

Ok that makes sense I'll definitely do something like that. Thank you!


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[FitzTheRuke]

Ok that makes sense I'll definitely do something like that. Thank you!


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Yeah that sounds good. Make him bargain some information about the BBEG for them to "spare" him. Have him keep more information to himself so that they "need" him, and let him inevitably betray them later, when a good opportunity arises. Meanwhile he should be able to stay with the party and "help" them along the way.