Consequences of playing "EVIL" races

[Longspeak]

I don't allow evil characters in most of my games. But characters born of evil races, I do allow.

I have a rule.

"I'm not going to make an issue of your character's evil heritage. Until I do."

I'm not going to have people spit on the Drow or run screaming everywhere they go. That's not fun to play. I'm not going to make an issue of it.

Until I decide to make an issue of it. It won't be a small thing. It will be a plot point. And it will probably be dangerous, and definitely be a problem. And I warn players who want to play a Drow or a Tiefling, that I won't make it a day-to-day thing, but that Trouble Is Coming.

 

[Salthorae]

Another thread got me thinking about traditional evil races and the consequences of playing them. ... Is/ should there be problems with playing evil races in your game? In my games monsters are monsters and villagers will hire PCs to kill them if they come into town.

Table dependant, but I'd have to say for my games, yes there are consequences.

On the other hand how do you accord your friend who wants to play a drow or bugbear and walk into town. I'm sure this has been done before, but interested in thoughts not about playing lawful good, but about how to play and give the players what they want, but at the same time have the DM put parameters on the world.

I wouldn't accord them. I would let them do it with due warning to the consequences and let them figure out how to deal with the potential repercussions/consequences. That's on them to figure out if they want to something like that. Some of the best role playing comes from "conflicts" like this and creative solutions on how to deal with the world as presented.

I have seen where you can play in the outskirts of society where the roadside inn caters to anyone with coin or a nation that is more lawless and has some elements like slavery so other races are tolerated. I see in FR where Waterdeep is supposed to be very cosmopolitan and everything is accepted.

Waterdeep is cosmopolitan, but even there there are some races who get more scrutiny from the Watch while they're walking down the street. Even in Waterdeep, drow don't just walk around willy-nilly. Drizzt wasn't even allowed in the city until Bruenor (a dwarven king) vouched for him.

 

[Lanefan]

I don't allow evil characters in most of my games. But characters born of evil races, I do allow.

Hmmm - that does bring up a rather glaring metagame issue that it'd be mighty hard to ignore at the table, that being this:

If race X is known to be generally evil and the party encounters a random member of race X their in-character reaction is going to be whatever it might be. But if the party encounters a member of race X who the players happen to know is Janet's new PC (and thus by your rules cannot be evil, though the PCs have no way of knowing this) their in-character reaction is almost certain to be different than it otherwise would.

This would bug the hell out of me.

And I warn players who want to play a Drow or a Tiefling, that I won't make it a day-to-day thing, but that Trouble Is Coming.

Ditto, though in my case it's often more class-based ("Wanna play an Assassin? Go ahead, but be warned..."). I do allow evil characters, things tend to sort themselves out over time; and some of the greatest evils in the game are often carried out by those who profess to be "good".

 

[Salthorae]

But if the party encounters a member of race X who the players happen to know is Janet's new PC (and thus by your rules cannot be evil, though the PCs have no way of knowing this) their in-character reaction is almost certain to be different than it otherwise would.

Yeah... I've seen it in play. They start to RP the whole "oh it's a race X creature" just because they feel like they have to, but that quickly gets left in the dust because "PC". Especially if the DM doesn't do anything to remind the players.

We all just look around and see humans sitting at the table regardless of what our sheet may say.

 

[ccs]

What's MST3K, and what is its mantra?

Mystery Science Theater 3000
They ran terrible D list movies with a commentary voice over by robot puppets.
Same guys then did RiftTrax.

 

[Panda-s1]

Hmmm - that does bring up a rather glaring metagame issue that it'd be mighty hard to ignore at the table, that being this:

If race X is known to be generally evil and the party encounters a random member of race X their in-character reaction is going to be whatever it might be. But if the party encounters a member of race X who the players happen to know is Janet's new PC (and thus by your rules cannot be evil, though the PCs have no way of knowing this) their in-character reaction is almost certain to be different than it otherwise would.

This would bug the hell out of me.

man it's like the whole "X race is inherently EVIL" thing is kinda bad or something :U

in practice I don't really see how this is much different than "you're from X nation, surely you're evil!" other than the new NPC might have a lot of trouble hiding the fact they're of an "evil" race. or not, a tiefling could easily hide their tail and horns, wearing armor can also help hide some distinctive features for other races.

 

[Wulffolk]

Xenophobia is typically the norm when I run a game.

Settlements are usually dominated by one specific race and any other race is at the very least distrusted, while more extreme reactions are possible depending on race relations in that area.

Yes, that means that even "generic" core races have issues in settlements dominated by other races.

Monstrous races had best avoid standard settlements, or remain hidden/disguised, though they may have some luck with other monsters . . . Maybe.

 

[Longspeak]

Hmmm - that does bring up a rather glaring metagame issue that it'd be mighty hard to ignore at the table, that being this:

If race X is known to be generally evil and the party encounters a random member of race X their in-character reaction is going to be whatever it might be. But if the party encounters a member of race X who the players happen to know is Janet's new PC (and thus by your rules cannot be evil, though the PCs have no way of knowing this) their in-character reaction is almost certain to be different than it otherwise would.

This would bug the hell out of me.

I've seen that so much, not just "evil race" but PCs drawing on every NPC who comes along and then meeting a stranger who happens to be a new PC and welcoming them instantly with open arms. They even used it in the hilarious Gamers movie. It's not limited to the evil races.

I get around it usually by starting everyone together. My current game's premise is "you're all mercenaries and thieves working for the same crew." One guy played a drow. No problem in the crew. Generally no problem on the road. But when they needed to get into the temple of the good god? Nope. We won't trust that in our temple.

Ditto, though in my case it's often more class-based ("Wanna play an Assassin? Go ahead, but be warned..."). I do allow evil characters, things tend to sort themselves out over time; and some of the greatest evils in the game are often carried out by those who profess to be "good".

Sure. In my experience the "good" characters can do some pretty non-good stuff, but the players actively wanting to play evil characters have always gone WAY over the line. Also, I just don't like evil. Evil is the thing the heroes are supposed to beat. I have allowed evil PCs when it was someone I trusted with a good reason for the evil character to work with the others ("common enemy" often works). Heck, as a player, I've even played an arc where my supposedly neutral character became actively evil in his actions, took a step back, decided it wasn't who he wanted to be, and set out making amends. It CAN work. But every time I've seen a group want to be evil, they've wanted to REALLY be evil, and that's no fun for me.

 

[Wulffolk]

In my experience most players that want to play "EVIL" just want an excuse to be sadistic selfish @$$h0les at the expense of every other player's ability to have fun.

Most players have a two-dimensional cartoon-ish concept of how evil should be played. Few seem to understand that evil works best when it is subtle and three-dimensional.

 

[Michael Silverbane]

Just a quick note that this thread's premise is not about playing evil characters, but about playing characters that are from evil cultures (or that are thought to be from evil cultures).