Evil RP

[Preedy1978]

having had Zachaz on the server for a while...i have noticed that trying to RP an evil character (in MY opinion) is a lot harder to do than with my do-gooder. (Karl)

Don't get me wrong, I like RPing with Karl as his own life and personality unfolds...but, well, i like playing the bad guys too!

For instance- I have played as the evil, rude and just down right nasty characters in most of my RP experiences over the past 15 years, and i think they are a LOT of fun to play! I read addicted's post about playing as an evil character, and i thought, well maybe its time for public opinion....the question being...Is RPing Evil Chars more difficult?

Should everyone in IC who is a 'good' character act more like their good selves and NOT beat up on them for a bad act? after all...STARTING a fight on someone and killing them is an EVIL act is it not? (Unless provoked heavily of course, but then, shouldnt have the good person tried to do the 'good' thing and NOT fight?)

Anyways...I ramble...so i have placed a poll....lets see what you all think!

[Phoenix]

I think evil is harder to pull off because of basic respect for the player behind the good character your role playing with. Evil would be a lot easier if you could randomly PK someone because, well, that's how it would go. No warning/role play. I seriously doubt if I'm evil I would let people talk their way out of things, or give them the courtsy of chatting first. However you can't just do that, for courtesy reasons...

It's also easy to RP being a jerk, but doing it and not irrritating people (not characters) is a fine line.

And some of the 'good' people sure are drawn into throwing the first blow an aweful lot, and are willing to kill at the drop of a hat.

[Silentus]

For me, yes. Pheonix hit alot of it on the head with his first sentance. I would say that it depends alot on the player.

1. If you are a big jerk in real life, I suspect it would probably a wash.

2. If you are a fairly nice person, when you play evil there is always some extra consideration for the other PLAYER which can cause mild guilt resulting in downplaying the situation which might not be appropriate, overexplaination IC like a movie villian, or a desire to 'tell' the other player your intent.

((had to edit this upon rereading it - If you play Evil alot and dont have any quams with it, please dont think Im assuming you are a "big jerk" It might mean you are just an exceptional RPer, or that my opinion was just plain wrong))

[Hanah]

Hello,

I think any *believable* RP is more or less equally difficult. IMO it is just as difficult to be a wonderfully sweet person as it is to be a dastardly villian.

My own personal experience: as Hanah there have been numerous times when I've just wanted to throttle people, and/or start dishing out the Harm and Destruction spells, but I can't. Why? She's nicer than I am and would never consider such a thing. I mean seriously, some of you give that poor girl *sooooo* much grief and she just smiles and takes it:-) Hanah has in the past *given* money and items to people caught pickpocketing her, because if they were so desperate as to steal they must reallly need it.... (btw don't take that as in invite to pickpocket me k;-) So is that difficult? Hell yes it is. Do I enjoy it? Absolutely, I love the challenge of trying to be someone I most emphatically am not.

Skillful RP is hard. RP, being by definition assuming a role, necessitates interacting with others assuming roles. If anything would make RP more difficult for one alignment or character type than another, it would be the community as a whole, since they are the basis for all your RP interactions. As a community we have a number of strong representatives of each major alignment type. So how can we more effectively RP our alignments then?

For starters, random killing IMO isn't evil, it's neurotic. There are far more evil things that can be done that have more impressive RP consequences. For example, betrayals, double crosses, kidnappings for ransom, embezzlement, manipulation, seduction, crushing someone's spirit, emotional/psychological abuse, deception... the list goes on. These can all be done without pissing off a player.

Being rude and nasty is lots of fun and can be done without offending a player. Example from the Hanah-verse: while following Rorri after an alleged killer (I think his name was Sir Damien Sennt), the accused basically implied Hanah was sleeping around because Rorri (Frost and Hanah's adopted daughter) was dark-skinned while Hanah and Frost are both pale-skinned... I just about died laughing it was so freakin' funny, and it was great RP from someone who was being ganged up on by the goody two shoes.

So evil folks, cudgel your evil brains for suitably villainous ways to torment the innocent souls of Fredian, I'm sure there is something suitably nasty percolating away in those tainted souls:-)

Hanah
... totally missed the implication of infidelity for the record.... -.-;

[AvengersWraith]

I voted yes, it is especially hard over the internet because you may (probably) don't know the people you are playing with. In an "in person" game where everyone can see each other it is much easier to tell if the other characters know what is going on and if they are having fun, or even if an outburst is only a momentary drop in fun while reorientating themselves to the situation.

I almost always play neutral good characters, it is closer to my outlook on life/reality. But before leaving Dragon Coast and coming here I played an evil sorcerer and committed a horrible crime aginst NPCs allowing other characters to join in in apprehending my character as well as rescue the NPC children I kidnapped. I got to play an evil character, do something outragous without actually hurting anyone and gave other players the opportunity to jump in. It was hilarious, one character claimed to be my lover and repeatedly tried helping me escape (no idea who it was), others were claiming to be my apprentices and coming out of the woodwork while the good characters were trying to interrogate me as to the location of the children.

Commiitting evil acts don't have to be directed at other characters to get other characters involved.

[Phoenix]

The pacifist role is INDEED very hard, you play it well in Hanah. I really didn't think about that role too much, it is probably harder that most evil roles.

What I mean about being hard to be evil is it's limited (for good reason). Murder for hire, assasinations, even kidnapping are all limited because you can't 'jump' somone w/o violating rules. That's quite key sometimes, as w/o it you could not succeed. I will be adding you list of plots to my random plot generator. There are a couple in there I didn't have on my to-do list.

[Hanah]

Phoenix...

Oooh, don't forget fraud, what with all these nifty crafted items that get swapped about, trying to pawn off an inferior item on someone might be fun:-)

About some of the things that "can't be done without breaking the rules", well that's really something that the victim has to think about. Hanah has been kidnapped before. How did it happen? Someone lured her to a secluded location and an accomplice jumped her, easy as that. We did a quickie strength check and I lost. Did I (the player) smell a trap? Absolutely. Did Hanah? Not a chance;-) So this is something that IMO requires a certain amount of cooperation between villian and victim.

Hanah
... happy to play along so long as it's *play*

[Phoenix]

Hmm, I think I'm going to come up with a bunch of 'evil plots' so I can have them ready on a moments notice. Nothing is as bas as impropmtu evil with a big plot hole, or the same plot over and over... Maybe I can pick my wife's brain, some of her crime novels surely have some unique ideas. ^.^

[Cartoonic]

On this topic i beleive evil characters are harder to RR, for what reasons do you ask? well heres a breif summary of the reasons.
A.) Evil always looses to good, really evil characters should have some time when they win for once, not to mention most of the strongest characters are good
B.) Our evil acts are limited to a certain degree that it won't get out of hand.
C.) Evil is Evil, comics always say evil looses but one day that won't be true.

Just my thoughts,
Cartoonic

[Phoenix]

Cartoonic said:

not to mention most of the strongest characters are good

SEE! All the DMs are against me, I AM POWERFUL AND EVIL!!!!

First they want me to have a fey familiar, then they want me to rely on others, now they deny me from my rightful claim to power.

I will not be denied power! wuhahahahahahaha

On a side note, I smelled fear last night from certian people, myself included. Lots of fear last night indeed... ;D

[Hanah]

Hey cartoon,

Why does evil always have to lose? There's no reason for it, and "winning" just because you are a "good" char is something of a cheap victory IMO.

Again, I'm not sure why evil chars feel the need to limit their actions to the same tired routine of chicken killing and derto slaying... branch out guys!

Hanah

[Phoenix]

Evil doesn't always lose. We didn't last night, we just got killed a bunch. But our point was proven, we got the good people up in arms, a win in my book for evil, just not complete. Killing/messing with Derto and the chicken are just to irritate people, at least with me.

Cartoonic got us going on several different evil plots, BTW thanks. It's always nice to have DM approval on some evil event esp. in West Styne.

[Shwabba]

You know, there are plenty of ways to be evil, and only the most insignificant ones mean being obviously evil and going against the "goodies." In fact, the most heinous, dastardly thing I ever saw happen on this server was when the chosen of Bane convinced everyone he was one of the good guys and even got knighted in the process....and then promptly used that position to sow discord and wreak havoc among the "good" citizens of the Isle. Corruption, lies and deceit are the three strongest weapons of evil. After all, which is more evil? The one who screams "I AM THE LORD OF DARK BUNNIES!" as he runs you through, or the one who kisses you gently with poisoned lipstick?

Your Friendly Neighborhood Lord of Dark Bunnies

[Preedy1978]

I agree with you about varying ways to 'act' an evil plot Hanah...my point is though, that even at a mere exchange of insults or curses from someone, the so called 'good' alligned characters decide to Open up a can of woop-a**!

Isnt that evil RP in itself? Good characters are supposed to be 'good'. Would they smite down some stranger just because of maybe a petty theft or abuse? I dont think so.
That in itself is RP, and what the so-called 'good' characters should be trying to avoid!!
An idea is that if the action is off of alignment too much, the character should get evil points....? Makes sense to me! Maybe even a shift from lawful or neutral or whatever...after all, murdering someone is NOT a lawful act, no matter what the provocation was. (unless it was self defence).

Cartoonic also makes another valid point....evil always seems to be limited because of server rules.
I know this has to be, because otherwise there would be absolute chaos, but how about maybe cartoonic or addicted (I know you love evil rp addicted!) could rustle something up for all of those evil players out there?

Oh, and one last point...Chaotic Evil characters ARE generally neurotic Hanah, generally bad to the bone and psychotic too!

[Cella]

Hanahs points are excellent.

I for one find her an excellent person to RP with, My character gets so frustrated with the "niceness" of Hanah. This is worked with and against on various situations.

I personally love the challenge of playing against the different personalities out there, the biggest challenge isn't so much that, it's trying to maintain continuity to the varying plots and storylines that occur.