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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Reflected_Shadows" data-source="post: 6846900" data-attributes="member: 6828291">1. Define evil. Make sure everyone at the table has the same ideal and expectation. To me, evil has nothing to do with "we rape the elf". To me, evil has more to do with "Yes, you want this medicine. Your town has the plague. But, I am the one who has the cure." Also define the reason for an evil campaign. Does the group really want to experience and immerse in characters who are evil - or do they just want the "freedom" to rape commoners, chop down guards, cuss at kings and otherwise perform destructive gameplay behaviors "because I am evil". Sometimes, playing evil is just a way to say "Being good has too many rules so I want real freedom" - and other times it is just a way to say "Being evil will let me fulfill my inner sadistic glee". Yet other times it is just "Evil characters are more interesting than fluffy do-gooders". Everyone has a different reason for wanting to play evil. Narrow down, and define every person's reason, what they want to "get" out of evil that cannot be done with good, then ponder over whether the final result and expectation is actually even "evil".2. I would suggest examining and reading stories with Intellectual Evil. The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli is a good start. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand (in fact, if you also look at Anthem, you can piece together a "mean jerk" worldview for evil that claims pragmatism). 3. Evil comes in different forms.Pragmatic Evil - The governor is horrified. There are too many people, not enough food, a plague is spreading but - a hurricane hits the city. He closes the inner gates, opens the dikes and allows the flooding to solve the problems of "too many poor people".Selfish Evil - Mean Mitt Baine is not enslaving children. He is just profiting from investments in firms that permit children to work."I am doing nothing wrong... I am creating Jobs for poor families", he says with a smile.Necessary Evil - Quintin was horrified at the pile of enemy corpses. He is even more horrified at the 15 year old pregnant teenager holding a crossbow. He knows that if she does not die, she will kill him. If he disables her, that child will someday come for revenge. He has few options, but he has his own family to get home to at the end of the war. The child must die. It is necessary. Of course, the nearby witness pretending to be dead who watches his wife/sister die will see the same act as "cold blooded murder".Subjective Evil - Randy was fired by his boss boss, which will result in Randy becoming homeless. Boss sentenced Randy to poverty! He wants to take away Randy's life, Randy will take away his. "You want to call me evil? You want me to be evicted, divorced, starve and die - my babies to be hungry and have no opportunity in life! You are the evil one!" Forced Evil - "I do not have the option of good", says Lestat. "I will always be evil, even if I cannot help it. I don't want to be evil, but to continue my life means ending the life of others - yet allowing myself to die means ending the wonderful potentials I can still give the world over the next thousand years...".Othering-Evil - "Filthy goblins are all bad! Every one of them!" - "Those filthy democrats/republicans are the reason for all our woes!". The idea is that someone else is an "other", and for being an "other", they are evil. Think about extreme racists - other races are evil. Or an extreme cult who thinks all other religions are going to hell, or even better, that other religions have an active pact with a demon to undermine the one true faith. The idea is that "just being the other" is good enough to make someone evil. This of course, might speak more about the inner-evil of the person who is "Othering", rather than the person who is targeted.4. Lastly, Evil is not usually a bunch of goons sitting around the table snickering about how they are taking over the world. On the other hand, evil is a product of the environment. Evil is a product of life experience. Evil is what happens when The Joker snapped. Many "evil" people are the product of a screwed up environment, screwed up background, mental disorders and destructive or toxic personality traits. Evil usually self-identifies as good. Fred Phelps of Westboro Baptist Church, Adolph Hitler and Vlad Tepes all viewed themselves as moral heroes and self-identified as good people. Even when evil knows it is evil, there is a cognitive bias that recolors things.</blockquote>

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