Chaotic. Not Silly.

[Torm]

I can't say that I know much in particular about the group you're talking about, but if you want a serious chaotic group, you can't go wrong with making their overall goal the increase of entropic forces, and in particular the enjoyment of causing others pain - ANY pain - in order to do that. The below describes another extremely chaotic race I came up with in a homebrew, but I'm putting it here because some part of it might be useful to you:

They enjoy causing themselves and each other pain, but always in a very limited fashion that is careful to leave their target intact enough to continue on in their perverse cause. They would probably have some sort of "rule" about causing any sort of permanent impairment to themselves or each other, because that would hinder the cause - but then, enforcement of the rule would be somewhat chaotic. Sometimes the others might decide that the victim wasn't worth worrying about, sometimes they might decide that the aggressor needs to be flat out gotten rid of, because his action somehow served order. Mostly though, they could be counted on to torture the aggressor extensively, but not enough to cause permanent impairment - because THAT is FUN.

In their relations with others, the younger of them would act much more violently and directly - an explosion in a crowded thoroughfare, clocktower shootings, that sort of thing. As they get older, though, their chaos would become more subtle, and perhaps more focused on specific individuals that they want to slowly create chaos for over long periods of time. They might start with something violent like they've been doing - say, kidnapping and torturing a man to death and trying to never let his body be found - but then suddenly realize the joy of the long term effects on that person's 8 year old son and what they can do with it. Little things become the sweetest joy to them - like picking out EXACTLY the right gift, one the father would have gotten him, and sending it to her wrapped and with a card signed in his name for his 16th birthday. (They could find ways to make the bliss in this one last all throughout the boy's life, or at least theirs.) Like becoming a woman's perfect romantic love, and then faking their own death and turning out "in death" to have had a lot of other lovers with whom they had mocked and derided her. Stuff like that.

 

[Shemeska]

I can't say that I know much in particular about the group you're talking about, but if you want a serious chaotic group, you can't go wrong with making their overall goal the increase of entropic forces, and in particular the enjoyment of causing others pain - ANY pain - in order to do that.

Chaos != Entropy. The Doomguard are the entropy lovers, not the Xaositects. In the DnD cosmology entropy is associated with the negative touched quasielemental planes as they spiral down into the entropy of the negative energy plane itself. The Doomguards' playground of obliteration. Chaos is exemplified by Limbo, and there's a pretty good seperation between the inner and outer planes.

However on the same note, Entropy might be seen as a distinct aspect of chaos. After all, Ygorl is the Slaad lord of entropy. But I think it's bad to assume that entropy would be any more seriously chaotic than the person laughing while jumping upside down and painting random inanimate objects and while on their way to go sit patiently for a lecture on linguistics, while smiling and giving the Guvner giving the lecture a serious case of heartburn.

 

[ARandomGod]

Make them anarchistic terrorists. They undertake plots to disrupt communication, travel, and well-being in Sigil. Maybe I'm not comprehending them well enough, but you don't have to NEVER plan or organize something if you're chaotic. They have te goal to sew chaos because they believe it's "the perfect order" or some other such rot, yes? So they could undertake a LITTLE coordination and planning to sew the greatest discord. They won't be navy SEALS, but they could be small-scale terrorists, who don't focus on destruction of people so much as destruction of organization and order. Public works (but steering clear of actively screwing with dabus), paperwork, important merchants and officials, all would be targets for delayed fireballs in inconvenient places, for golems who have had their commands magically altered, for buildings that have had all but one or two critical pylons removed, that sort of thing. If people die, so be it, but the main thing is the interruption of the natural blow of life and business.

I'm going to agree with this one the most. Chaos is the primal force, from which all sprang. Law is simply an aspect of chaos, and a tool that chaos can use. (It merely appears to be a pattern. "Patterns" appear and dissapear all the time within chaos). I'd say have the goal of a group of people devoted to chaos as furthering chaos, or to say disrupting law whenever found, with the eventual goal to throw off this temporary "law" that's imposed at this "place" and "time". (Space and Time are also constructs of law, and merely an illusion within the reality that is chaos)

 

[jollyninja]

i always took the silliness as a cover for their real actions behind the scenes. use your crazy faction members (they have plenty) in public displays so nobody takes you to seriously. then your true actions to ferment the natural chaos of things will slip by completely unnoticed. like a sewing needle sitting beside a railroad spike. the big one looks more dangerous but which one hurts more if you step on it? also, speaking in that manner really encourages people not to bore you with small talk, i've been tempted to do it myself from time to time just to get someone to shut up.

 

[Incenjucar]

Entropy is as easily lawful as it is chaotic. It reduces the -level- of organization, but, eventually, creates the ultimate -volume- of order.

Ygorl most likely represents entropy within -systems- more than entropy on a physical scale (which makes sense, considering the cuddly little bugger is in the Outer planes, and has the -philosophy- of entropy rather than the -reality- of entropy). You don't get more orderly than zero.

 

[Bran Blackbyrd]

You could also make heavy use of the numerous uncanny abilities of the chaosmen. Finding lost items in the most unlikely places. Screwing up probabilities wherever they go, just by being there. A Xaositect played in the right way can be downright creepy. Unlikely stuff keeps happening, and he isn't doing anything...

I'm seeing a Xaositect flash mob.
They do some things in an orderly fashion because being chaotic all the time is just another way of being predictable.

It's easy to imagine the Harmonium making an effort to prevent Xoasitects from gathering in public in large numbers precisely because they can do nothing and still wreak havoc.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

Think of the connection with Limbo. Seemingly formless Chaos given meaning from time to time. I think of Xaositects as being occasionally gripped with an intense need to do something, which itself may be random. They themselves would think of these moments of coherent and consistent motivation as pockets of order in the Chaos of Limbo, like identifiable waves in a wind-whipped sea. You might have the assistance of one for quite a while, but beware: she will never attach meaning to her actions, and can accordingly never be relied upon.

 

[Jeremy Ackerman-Yost]

To a certain extent, 2e has a "Chaos Good, Law Evil" complex,....it's mild, but it's there.

It's still here in 3e, afaict.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Any of you seen Fight Club?

Spoiler

One of the big plans was to blow up several buildings associated with credit card companies, wiping out credit (both good and bad) everywhere. Note the use of the word plan - they did actually plan this.

They also did things for fun, like collecting fat from plastic surgeons (through theft) and making it into soap, then selling it to people! They laughingly suggesting that they're selling people's fat behinds right back to them.

 

[VirgilCaine]

Any of you seen Fight Club?

Spoiler

Practical impact of that plan was minimal--there's likely a data backup somewhere, plus credit isn't nearly as world-changing as they think...but anyway.

A lot of the things they did were pranks--the airline manuals and a few other things. The stunt with the convenience store guy and the revolver was a better example.

At any rate, this is annoying. These guys shouldn't be childish and silly. Nor should they be random.