Do You Allow Evil PCs?

[TerraDave]

Prohibit.

[some] Characters usually end up being evil and anti-heroic enough as it is (the core premise of the game doesn’t help). Actually branding themselves evil would seem to open the door to the sort of loathsome behavior that some other posters have alluded to.

On the other hand, reading through the thread, it does seem you can have interesting and constructive “evil” characters. But this gets into the definition of “evil”, and if we even need or want these alignment labels at all…

 

[Knight-of-Roses]

Well, I have dropped alignment in its entirety in my current campaign but that being said . . .

Players should play the character they want as long as it allows the other players to play the characters that they want as well. With the limitation that they all have to fit into the campaign structure.

I have DMed for evil characters very rarely and did not enjoy it much. My campaign styles are not well suited to evil characters as I strongly enforce that actions have consequences so random acts of evil tend to exact their own punishment (granny slayers would soon be hunted down by an awful lot of grandkids).

I hope that all makes some sort of sense . . .

 

[KB9JMQ]

Honestly, I don't know.
I have never had anyone want to play one yet.

 

[Yuan-Ti]

The more common issue I see is the "chaotic neutral" which is generally seen as a license to commit evil acts without actually being evil. This is generally combined with player relationships so that the evil-acting chaotic neutral character occasionally sacrifices for the good of another party member -- not because the character as played would but because Joe doesn't want his friend John to be pissed that his character died when Joe's character could have saved him. What aggravates me even more about this is that it detracts from roleplaying because the party stays together even though some of the characters really cannot stand each other.

Finally, the players in my group who go with chaotic neutral are partly doing it because they want to avoid taking extra damage from holy or unholy weapons. At least one of them has discussed switching his characters to true neutral as DMs have started to bring out the law-oriented weapons...

I increasingly prefer a system without alignments (allegiances can work sometimes). For my next campaign, I have also thought about going to Law-Neutral-Chaos, and defining neutrality not as someone who could go either way, but someone who generally is not idealistic but also not evil. We need to get away from the idea that neutral means a character sometimes does evil and sometimes does good. IMO, characters who commit evil acts are evil. If they do it for the good of civilization, they are Lawful Evil. If they do it for selfish reasons, they are Chaotic Evil. Characters who are neutral should not commit atrocities. They should simply feel less compunction to do good and be less convinced that evil acts need to be punished.

 

[VirgilCaine]

It would depend on the campaign and how it starts.

If it is a random group thrown together, any alignment is okay, as long as it's not blatant, gratuitous evil just to disrupt the party.

If it's more themed--like "the Noble's Sneaky Bodyguards" or "C/L/NG Church Warriors" or something, then I'd tell the players about the style of the campaign beforehand and what alignments would be acceptable.

 

[Mr. Kaze]

I like running campaigns for subtle-evil characters just to see how creative they can get in screwing over the unsuspecting evil NPCs who are looking for allies. Soul-selling wheelin'-and-dealin' evil, as it were, far more than gratuitous splatter-fest of Doom[tm] evil.

 

[Ferret]

I have had only bad times letting people play as evil, but I stil allow it on principle of letting players decide what they play. I would restrict it to good ideas, not a ticket to blood and gore, and killing other players.

 

[Blue_Kryptonite]

I do not allow evil PCs, period. I don't like to roleplay evil. I don't like to fantasize about evil. I don't like to create encounters for evil to overcome.

I understand that some people do enjoy these things. I don't think that makes them evil, nor do I begrudge them their roleplaying, which is every bit as valid as mine. But for me personally, I do not enjoy it. So I don't DM it, and I don't play it.

That about sums up my take on it perfectly.

 

[Ryltar]

It's basically walking a fine line: If someone wants to play an evil character, I have no reason to deny him his request, if the character fulfills two prerequisites: First, he/she must really *play* in an evil style, not just "hey, my alignment says evil, so I've got an excuse to do anything I want, but basically play a good character - do you mind?". Second, the character concept must be one that will not prove directly detrimental to the PCs group. No psychos. No mass murderers. No "Fetch my stuff! What, why don't you want to adventure with me anymore?". If those two requirements are met, I'm fine.

Oh, and I don't allow anything I'd consider gross, either. Players that come up with suggestions like that will be booted.

 

[Virel]

In mature groups I've played and DM'd adventure parties that were "evil". This worked fine however it was only with experienced players and a co-DM that was on the same page. Our evil characters were almost always lawful evil and most of the evil came from being pragmatic. The prisoners are a problem? Kill them. You don't want to tell us where the kidnapped princess is, fine. Abee, string this man up by the feet so we can skin him live until he decides to cooperate. And then do exactly that. The mission was important and time was not going to be wasted quibbling about "moral" issues, action was going to be taken. "Granny killing" was viewed as waste of time, senseless risk and waste of resources unless necessary for the mission, then it would done without hesistation in the most efficient manner the party could muster. These groups didn't betray each other etc as order an organization was very important to achieveing the goal.

Players I don't know and haven't played with, I are not allowed to play evil PC's when I DM. If I learn I can trust them not to disrupt the party and spoil the fun for the other players, then I may allow them to create an evil character.