Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rel" data-source="post: 2150099" data-attributes="member: 99">I'm not sure that I'm entirely getting your point.If a PC tortures an NPC for the sheer enjoyment of it then that is Evil in my opinion and I'll make no bones about telling the player that.If this is being roleplayed by the player as a one-time transgression and a chance for a "stared too long into the abyss/I've become that which I sought to destroy, etc." moment of character building then I'll take it for that and enjoy the chance for the player to work through the character's guilt and redemption.  But until that redemption is complete then I still regard the PC as Evil and there is every chance that he may suffer further consequences by anyone who is aware of what he did.  After all, he's become Evil and deserves whatever he gets.If this is being roleplayed by the player as a new habit of the PC then I'll inform the player that, while I can appreciate that sometimes good people turn very bad, torture is not something that I wish for our gaming to revolve around on an even semi-regular basis.  As such he'll need to decide whether he wants to go for the option I've discussed above or have the character shifted to NPC status (and probably suffer a rather ill fate in the near future because, being Evil, he deserves whatever comes his way and I'm a vengeful god).So I'm not trying to imply in any way that "torture for fun" is free of consequences for the PC's.  Far from it.However, if the PC's are confronted with an NPC who has vital information that will save lives that are in the balance, and if this NPC is some kind of fanatic who absolutely will not part with the information, and if the PC' have no magical means of extracting that information from the NPC, and if they resort to torture, then I'm not going to beat them to death with the Alignment Stick.  No XP penalty, no divine retribution, no alignment slip.  The worst they'll face is their own conscience, some angry retribution by whatever faction(s) the fanatic NPC is aligned with and perhaps a bit of shock and horror by the locals at the terrible sorts of lengths these characters will go to in order to preserve the lives and safety of innocents.That is a fairly unlikely string of "if's" that I've never encountered in-game.  But if I did then that's the way I'd handle it and without blinking.Again, this may have a lot to do with what I think it takes to become really, truly Evil in my games.  You've got to be BAD, VILE SCUM to get there.  And once you're there then your life, comfort and dignity are not worth a bucket of warm spit to those who would see the innocent protected.If I have in some way missed the larger point of your argument then I apologize.  If you care to try and clarify it for me further then I'll be happy to respond in kind.</blockquote>

Verification