Forked Thread: How can I play a teamwork-focused Evil character?

[Rechan]

I guess what makes it difficult is that "helper/buffer/healer bard" doesn't sound like someone you'd find in the mafia, or in a gang, or in a terrorist group. I mean, I'm sure they have someone around who can get you a gun or a bandage when you need one, but you don't think of that person as evil. It sounds like a selfless nice person, or an unimportant subordinate.

No, the mafia often has doctors who are under the table. They patch you up and such for being paid under the table. Not to mention "someone who gets you a gun" is often a gun runner. Check out "Lord of War". The main character just Sells Guns, but he sells them to african warlords who decimate small villages.

But you rarely see those as significant characters.

So you want my advice, as how I would do a "supportive character evil"?

Model him after Kaiser Soze from "The Usual Suspects". He is manipulative to a T, can act and lie so good he could sell an eskimo an icebox. And as intelligent as any mastermind. Then I'd cast him in the mold of say, an adviser.

So I would take this character, and make him very intelligent, very charming. But he's not a leader. He stays in the background. He helps other characters. Why? He wants them to trust him. The more he helps them, the more he benefits them, the more they appreciate his presence. He's not seen as a threat, because he is merely a supportive character, not one who could take any of them on.

His ultimate goal is to wield this party as his personal weapon. They trust him, they are loyal to him, they listen to his council, and so they'll do what he asks. They'll protect him and keep him safe.

His evil shows up in subtle ways. He whispers something in one character's ear. "You know, I think we should just kill the prisoners. It's the safest bet; this way they can't tell anyone about us." He encourages others towards evil acts. When he sees something he wants, he lies to get the players going in that direction - "I think we should go left. I hear there's an evil wizard with lots of treasure who does bad things" where in actuality, the wizard is not evil, but the bard still wants to raid his tower.

 

[Mallus]

There is the lawyer archetype -- someone who signs a contract to help you achieve your evil goals to the utmost of their ability. I suppose I could use bardic lore checks to come up with tricky legal rules to screw people. That's amusing, and it could work great in an urban campaign.

I like this, it's very Wolfram and Hart (from Joss Whedon's Angel).

Another twist might be someone who in addition to helping his companions believes he's helping the people he kills. He could use spells like Cause Fear ("let me help you survive this") or Blindness/Deafness ("you don't wanna see this, trust me").

This is also good. The character has some shred of conscience remaining, so he tries to rationalize his unconscionable actions.

I'd go with the 'evil lawyer', who may not be an actual lawyer, rather just some ambitious functionary working for a organization run by devils or assorted sundry nameless horrors.

 

[wedgeski]

One of the more interesting threads on evil PC's I've seen.

 

[Dragonhelm]

Look to the Knights of Takhisis in Dragonlance as an example of how to make evil characters work in a team. They're founded on honor (albeit a dark kind) and a loyalty to the Vision of one world order.

Honor, life debts, duty, and so on work out great for evil characters. Make them LE in alignment, and you're good to go.

 

[Mallus]

Make them LE in alignment, and you're good to go.

The specific evil alignment is irrelevant. The party is being kept together by a metagame agreement. Sure, rationalizing precisely why a group of CE demon-worshipers adventure together can be a tad difficult... but hey, we're supposed to be creative right?

 

[Noumenon]

I've often felt that PCs in rpgs act in an implausibly selfish manner when one compares the way people in the real world, such as gang members or soldiers, act when faced with combat, serious physical danger or an external threat.

In fact, usually only a handful of the people involved commit all the violence and the rest just give varying degrees of moral support -- a cheer, a fresh loaded weapon. Even in trench warfare.

All street gangs have names.

You know, if we used street gang naming conventions instead of going for fantasy, I bet more PC groups would have names too. The Faerun Saints, the Faceless Assassins, the King's Keep Cobras.

He helps other characters. Why? He wants them to trust him.

That is a great motivation for an evil helper character. I love it. He might not even be planning to betray them -- just to use them.

One of the more interesting threads on evil PC's I've seen.

Give me XP, and I'll start another one about how to play Chaotic Neutral in a paladin-only campaign. (just kidding)

I'd go with the 'evil lawyer', who may not be an actual lawyer, rather just some ambitious functionary working for a organization run by devils or assorted sundry nameless horrors.

I was thinking about Smithers again. Say he was sent out on an adventuring party, still not loyal to any of the people he was helping, just to Mr. Burns. Why would he be helping the actual fighters? To keep up employee morale. I could be like the evil Human Resource Manager, for some devil that needs empowered and motivated assorted sundry nameless horrors. Maybe I'll put that in my background -- Wolfram and Hart would make a great source of adventure hooks for a DM, wouldn't it?

 

[Quartz]

How about going the gloryhound route? Yes, he saves women and children, but it's because of his code of honour and as a means of gaining glory, not because it's the right thing to do. He'll happily slaughter all the goblins and claim the glory for staunching the goblin threat.

 

[Filcher]

In practice, most adventuring parties are already evil.

 

[timbannock]

My friend read a book titled "Necessary Evil" (if I recall correctly) that was about a fantasy world in which everything goes to hell, and it's the bad guys who save it.

It sounded quite good.

Anyway, villains are the heroes of their own stories. It's just that nobody else sees them as heroes.

Villains who thought they were good guys that might provide inspiration: Kevin Costner as Mr. Brooks (he's trying to stop!); the guys in The Rock with Sean Connery thought they were doing the right thing; Dexter believes he's doing good and is striving for something good (family life?) but is not exactly a pillar of morality (he lies, cheats, murders, rationalizes the whole time). Pretty much every character in The Song of Ice & Fire is pretty despicable, but have moments of heroics amidst their depravity. Everyone in Battlestar Gallictica does something terrible to a lot of people.

 

[Herschel]

Just kick back, wait for the Chaotic Evil society to eat itself, the Neutral Evil society to encourage, then loot then stab eachother in the back while you gain political power in the Lawful Evil society for when you get to squash the weakened remnant of the NE group.