How do you handle evil?

[BookTenTiger]

I can't vote on your poll because none of the options align with my views. It is a little odd to me that you are dragging in views from YouTube, Twitter, and other social media instead of engaging in conversations happening here. I really don't see folks on ENWorld calling people bad for playing evil characters.

Personally, playing an evil character just isn't fun for me. I've tried it before, and it just felt like rubbing against sandpaper the whole time.

When running games, I create narratives and hooks based on the characters. So if there's an evil character, I will create interesting dungeons, towns, and NPCs that hook them into the game.

However, I'm not really interested in running an evil game. It's honestly just not very fun for me to run a game for characters who want to act like villains. Pure personal preference there.

On the other hand, I enjoy running the villains because I know they're going to get trounced by the characters! Evil, though, is rarely the motivating factor for villains. They usually act through a desire for power, greed, or pure dismissal of mortal life. That's usually seen as evil from the viewpoint of the characters, but more importantly it has to be seen as antagonistic to the characters' goals.

 

[Jd Smith1]

I don't allow evil PCs, regardless of system. Evil done poorly is just silly, evil done well is disturbing.

 

[Scruffy nerf herder]

I can't vote on your poll because none of the options align with my views. It is a little odd to me that you are dragging in views from YouTube, Twitter, and other social media instead of engaging in conversations happening here. I really don't see folks on ENWorld calling people bad for playing evil characters.

Personally, playing an evil character just isn't fun for me. I've tried it before, and it just felt like rubbing against sandpaper the whole time.

When running games, I create narratives and hooks based on the characters. So if there's an evil character, I will create interesting dungeons, towns, and NPCs that hook them into the game.

However, I'm not really interested in running an evil game. It's honestly just not very fun for me to run a game for characters who want to act like villains. Pure personal preference there.

On the other hand, I enjoy running the villains because I know they're going to get trounced by the characters! Evil, though, is rarely the motivating factor for villains. They usually act through a desire for power, greed, or pure dismissal of mortal life. That's usually seen as evil from the viewpoint of the characters, but more importantly it has to be seen as antagonistic to the characters' goals.

Thank you for mentioning that glaring problem with the poll. I've fixed it and people can now say that they prefer not to play with evil PCs.

It's fair for you to criticize me for mentioning this viewpoint I've been exposed to a lot when it's not really a thing here. For clarity's sake though I am not only new to the site but have been bombarded with talk like that on various platforms for years, it's been to the point that just because I run non-traditional campaigns sometimes I couldn't feel comfortable sharing about the campaign with other D&D players.

You're not the first who I've read saying they never enjoyed playing an evil PC. I agree that it's definitely not for everyone and what's most important is all of the players having fun, and less important is catering to myself or another player who fancies the idea. It's not like any of us will fail to have fun with a good character.

It's also really cool how different DMs enjoy running baddies for their own reasons. I love playing villains because I can use them to challenge the players on the most fundamental level. The villain isn't merely a thing to be repulsed by and get some visceral reaction from, they force the PCs to have authentic convictions because they're directly opposed to them.

 

[TheAlkaizer]

I allow evil characters. But I generally discourage it for new or inexperienced players. There's also certain type of tables were I won't really allow it. But if I know that I have mature players that already have a few roleplay experiences under their belt, I allow it.

The thing with evil characters is that people immediately think of the supreme evil type of characters. Characters that torture, hurt and deceive other just for the sake of doing it. That's certainly one definition of evil. But evil is very much a matter of perspective, and from my point of view, I always viewed evil as something that's utilitarian.

A well-rounded evil character does not mind doing immoral things to achieve his goals. It doesn't mean he'll be mean to everyone, or spit on people, or disrespect them. But when an opportunity that many would not seize presents itself, evil character seize it. The character might even feel bad about it afterwards, they don't enjoy doing it. Or maybe they do, or maybe they don't care.

There's many type of evil characters, and the most played one out there is the least interesting one. It's the type of evil that's also boring for villains; being evil for the sake of being evil.

 

[Scruffy nerf herder]

I allow evil characters. But I generally discourage it for new or inexperienced players. There's also certain type of tables were I won't really allow it. But if I know that I have mature players that already have a few roleplay experiences under their belt, I allow it.

The thing with evil characters is that people immediately think of the supreme evil type of characters. Characters that torture, hurt and deceive other just for the sake of doing it. That's certainly one definition of evil. But evil is very much a matter of perspective, and from my point of view, I always viewed evil as something that's utilitarian.

A well-rounded evil character does not mind doing immoral things to achieve his goals. It doesn't mean he'll be mean to everyone, or spit on people, or disrespect them. But when an opportunity that many would not seize presents itself, evil character seize it. The character might even feel bad about it afterwards, they don't enjoy doing it. Or maybe they do, or maybe they don't care.

There's many type of evil characters, and the most played one out there is the least interesting one. It's the type of evil that's also boring for villains; being evil for the sake of being evil.

The way you describe uninteresting evil sounds the same as the issues with a player playing a lawful stupid (incredibly shallow lawful good) character. In both cases I would say that they're not real examples of either alignment.

The players are normally good because they believe in the commonly accepted good. The villains aren't evil because they're evil, they're evil because there are other things more important to them than the "common good". And what's a super crucial and interesting element is that the players sometimes will be presented with situations where their own convictions conflict with the common good.

Good doesn't feel good and evil doesn't feel evil unless there's real weight behind how characters think and what they do. What passes for "evil" a lot of the time any more resembles "natural evil", e.g. the xenomorphs in Alien.

The main thing tripping people up when trying to handle this while making stories is they can't see the separation between "natural evil", which is hideous to look at because it reflects how cruel and uncaring the world can be, and "villainous evil" where you're supposed to be troubled by how relatable a heinous person can be. The former is impersonal it dehumanizes. The latter is deeply personal it makes people think about what being human means.

 

[Scruffy nerf herder]

I don't allow evil PCs, regardless of system. Evil done poorly is just silly, evil done well is disturbing.

So when the DM does evil... Is it silly? Or disturbing? And it just sucks either way?

Does the DM have magical D&D playing powers that allow him to portray villains in a fun way and the players not?

 

[prabe]

At this point, I tell players in campaigns I run that they should be "mostly altruistic, willing (if not eager) to be heroes, and able to work with the rest of the PCs." I don't want to deal with inter-party conflict, and I strongly prefer to center stories around non-villainous motivations. There's nothing wrong at all with wanting to play an evil character--while I discourage it, I don't outright disallow it, so long as they fit the rest of my requirements--but I don't much care for it, at this point, either as a player or as a GM.

 

[payn]

So when the DM does evil... Is it silly? Or disturbing? And it just sucks either way?

All of the above? Out of context you cant really say.

Does the DM have magical D&D playing powers that allow him to portray villains in a fun way and the players not?

No; who is saying that? It is difficult to cross the streams. Most games go white hat vs black hat. Some flip the script and run evil campaigns instead. Doing a mix is difficult, but not impossible.

 

[billd91]

We have this weird segment of the D&D culture that appears to think either playing an evil character means you want to cause trouble, e.g. steal from the party, and that PvP is inevitable or your character leaving the party is inevitable. Or, they think that you are interested in playing an evil character because you want to RP a lot about stabbing people's eyeballs or routinely RPing other gruesome or edgy stuff.

It's not that weird. Many of us have seen it and seen the justification "Well, I'm just playing my character. That's what he'd do." and players having used an evil or CN alignment to do so. It doesn't have to be that way at all, but it is a thing that's been out there and that leaves a lasting impression.

 

[Grogg of the North]

I'm okay with players playing any alignment. In fact, in my experience, people that are playing Lawful Evil tend to mesh well with the party.

Now, in the last few games I've run, I've asked players to play young go-getters that want to see their home/world change for the better. So while that doesn't exclude evil alignments it does push the players towards the Good end of the spectrum.