how dare you play evil!

[Fenmarel]

*tosses Draggy a bucket of coppers so she can continue to add her two coppers*

Jardel as usual you are speaking the very thoughts that I have problems putting into words. You got a mind probe going on me or something? lol Draggy I agree with several of the things you say as well. Many of the posts I have read mirror at least one aspect of something I think even the original post.

One thing to remember when playing evil or any other type of character......try to be original with your ideas. Devils trying to take over, demons trying to take over because the devils are, creatures of shadow stepping forth to make both look like wee little school girls that wear pink frilly dresses with ribbons in their hair, and any other type of planar has been done to death. If you come in with a new type of this character yes you will be judged by the actions of those that were doing it before you. So you had better be one of the greatest rpers around to make sure your character isn't thrown into a stereotype such as Vile wannabe, Helfried/Baalodias wannabe or what have you. Yeah I concentrated on evil here because there are far more 'copy cats' playing the good and neutral characters that I would be here forever. Got to say this though...........Drizzt is in a published novel you may not play him and he has no direct family left now! Please stop with the "I'm a cousin of Drizzt or I'm the sister of Drizzt". Taking someone else's work and butchering it in such a fashion is just wrong and yes no matter how well you play it you are BUTCHERING someone's work!!!!!!!!!! For those of you that have enteracted with Fen or Rayl for a length of time know that either of them would attempt to kill Drizzt. Fen because he hates to admit there can be drow that good and Rayl because of Drizzt alot of people think that drow are goodie goodie though they don't dwell on him only mentioning they can't stand him when some moron has to sit there and spout their family lineage including Drizzt as their brother, cousin or what have you.

Now if you want to play blatant evil you have to build up to it. Just showing up and being blatantly evil doesn't work UNLESS you talk to other players first OOC about your story idea and get some to back you up by getting their characters involved in either a supporting or antagonistic role. For the most part the majority of players won't just jump into what ever you are doing with one of their established characters. Anyone that tells you they will just go along with what ever you have in mind when you first show up is lying to you. Yeah there might be one or two that will do it but they are the ones that are so flakey they can't keep their own character's storyline straight from day to day and usually not worth the effort of interacting with.

Patience is the key to ANY character, especially if you are a new player. Some players come around for months or even a year or more before they get anything meaningful happening with their character(s). If you become impatient and begin to try and force actions into play you are in for a bumpy and long road. These actions will earn you a reputation on this site that will take a long time to overcome as in any other community setting.

 

[Chelyrra_Eredyn]

Umm... Chelyrra, you do realise this forum is OOC, don't you?

Chelyrra shrugs, "So this matters to you so much? Surely the care is that one should not speak of outside things within a setting and you need not have concern for the other way around."

And that's an example of evil, too. Evil will often try to subvert rules, to nit-pick and point out the holes in logic or meaning or intent, the better to widen those holes and collapse the structure. Don't do this with CoC rules! (I've stopped being in char! really I have! The above was just for purposes of example!) But Chelyrra is quite capable of encouraging someone to sit on the bar by pointing out how often others do it and then she'll wait grinning for the tavern staff to come down on the hapless sap. Or she'll point out other inconsistencies in people's behaviour, or the behaviour of their friends and lovers. And she'd do more of it if she was more willing to talk to non-drow but sometimes one evil (racism) gets in the way of another.

I like Draggy's break-down of evil into "blatant" and "covert" but I'll also add another dichotomy: "active" and "passive". Active evil enjoys the suffering of others and tries to cause more of it, and passive evil simply doesn't care and moves on its own agenda regardless of outside effects. I've seen both types well-played in ISRP.

But as Fenmarel says, you need buy-in. You can do nasty little bits of evil on your own but the bigger stuff needs other characters that react appropriately. This works on the other side too. How can you play a wonderfully good char if you can't heal people who don't want to be healed, rescue people who refuse to be rescued, slay evil types who refuse to die regardless of spell or sword?

 

[Chelyrra_Eredyn]

Bah! hit the wrong button!

 

[Tharivious_Meliamne]

Jardel, Draggy, Fenmarel, and Chelyrra are all dead on accurate here, not much more for me to add to it beyond what's already been said.

Patience really is key when playing evil. It's easy to get discouraged by the surroundings, but the only thing that happens when someone either gives up or just snaps is that problems get created. It is vital to be able to hold to your character regardless of how much acceptance it has or doesn't have, otherwise it just falls apart and winds up looking negative in the eyes of others. Things take time in places like the ISRP, ideas just need to be cultivated in the right way.

And on the note of active/passive and blatant/covert evils:
It is possible for a character to fall into both categories, or even all four. A villain can be passively active, the sort who sits back and waits for potential victims to walk into his trap, sort of like a spider's web. A villain can be blatant and covert, the sort who everyone knows is utterly evil, knows what he can do, and he flaunts it, but is able to avoid being put to the sword through acts of intelligence.

 

[Dragona Nightsky]

*tosses Draggy a bucket of coppers so she can continue to add her two coppers*</snip>

:bigeyes: That's so...*sniff*...generous!

*secretly hordes all the coppers to her lair* :schemes:

 

[Jardel_Karabella]

To further complicate the matter, I'd like to add to concept of dormant evil as well. That is someone who is not particularly evil under normal circumstances but can be wakened into something terrible.

For example: Perhaps they are content to ignore people or treat them well from day to day until they are in some way spited (in their eyes) then they declare their own personal war on that person.

Perhaps they are usually friendly and nice until they run out of money, at which time they quickly become quite willing to do anything to anyone if it will refill their purse.

Evil has many faces.

 

[Fenmarel]

Good example Jard!

I had a monk on this site that was exactly like that. He could be nice, benevolent or what ever until he thought someone had dishonored him then it was like a switch got turned. I LOVE playing those types of characters! Shoot Fen for the most part was like that.

Never thought of the different categories for evil other than in your face or covert. Hmm gives me alot to think on. Shoot might have to come back and employ some of the ideas I now have...........or use them against my gaming group *insert maniacal laughter here*

 

[Dragona Nightsky]

Evil has many faces.

Very true words. In fact, evil has so many faces that it can almost feel impossible to define sometimes. There's so many ways to play evil and bring it alive that to catagorize them into tight narrow bindings and say evil is only "this" is a travesty!

*tosses in two coppers from her pile*

Meanwhile, there's some good ideas brewing next thread over in the "old fogy" thread...and it's not *just* for old fogies

~Draggy

 

[gillette]

At the risk of seeming like a total snot--

I'm a professional actor, IRL. This is my way to blow off steam and keep my hand in with character development and improvisation. As an actor, there are two things to keep in mind, and that are taught early on, no matter what sort of character you're creating. And I think this applies to any medium, be it acting, writing, or whatever.

1) No character thinks of himself as evil. No matter how evil your character may think that baddie is, *he* will not see himself that way. He may see that his behavior is not accepted in society, however. A good example of this, are real life psychopaths. Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, The Green River Killer (the most prolific known American serial killer to date and the reason for many standards in modern policework)--all of them believed what they were doing was their right and, in some cases, good for society.

2) Good or evil, a well made character is fallible. If they are not, there is no reason for people to be interested in him/her. People respond, positive or negative, to characters that have qualities they recognize in themselves. Perhaps they are lousy liars, or fear the dark, or chew their fingernails when they are trying to intimidate someone. Major or minor, those traits should be colorful, brave choices that balance the strengths of the character. In acting, these things are called 'risks'. Hannibal Lecter has a very big weakness: His love for Clarice. He knows it's a potentially fatal flaw, but still can't help it. Clarice, though she is the protagonist, has the same flaw in respect to Hannibal. These flaws often become the thing others are most interested in.

One of Gill's flaws is Jardel. She would do *anything* for him, regardless the consequences or the evilness of the act. And she wouldn't regret it in the least. Most likely he (and everyone else) won't suspect the extent of the things she'd do for him, or at his whim. Which is how she likes it. After all, that sort of thing is the perfect tool to use against her if they knew of it. It dovetails nicely with another flaw of hers: The closer she becomes to someone, the more she hates to tell them no, especially if it's something that will truly make them happy. If she has no love or respect for you, you can go to hell. If she does, she becomes the biggest pushover in the world.

Quite often, the reason evil characters' actions are ignored by others in the chat, ridiculed or looked at in a bad light is because they have been written, or visualized by their players as the 'ultimate evil': the character who has amazing magical items, the most powerful magic, vast connections, endless money or the blackest heart. No wonder they are ignored. There is no story if there is no give and take between characters. And after all, aren't we all here to create stories, however improvisational they may be?

If we aren't, in my opinion, it becomes what I call verbal masturbation. As such, I'd prefer those folks keep it to themselves. Go write a short story or something.

 

[Fenmarel]

Yes Gillette you sounded like a total snot .......j/k good post