How to Play Evil Characters - RPG Philosophy

[@jasonhendricks4802]

My daughter, playing her first game, summed it up pretty nicely, “If everyone knows I’m evil how will I get anything done?”.

[@TriMarkC]

Smart kid! Proud poppa!

[@grandadmiralahab9085]

Refer her to... politics. Her question will be answered.

[@patrickmiklos7008]

@@TriMarkC q

[@konberner170]

Usual answer is guns and lies.

[@Tony-dh7mz]

“If everyone knows I’m evil how will I get anything done?”. ....cheating

[@MySqueezingArm]

*Slaps roof of evil character* This baby has a rich backstory, interesting motivation, and still meshes with the group. He may be evil, but it just works much better this way.

[@willieearles3151]

I’ll take four or five and have them delivered to my table, please. *Oh yeah, it’s all coming together.*

[@TheTriforceDragon]

My goto example will always be Raistlin Majere from the Dragonlance novels. Self-centered and power obsessed mage, who nonetheless realized that his bad health left him vulnerable and thus sticks with and helps the main group for protection and support, all the while searching for ways to gain power. When he finally gets enough power to overcome his health problems, he still feels he owes the people who (even if unknowingly) helped him get to that point and makes a point of repaying his debts before cutting ties with the group for good and embarking on his own grander schemes.

[@lynxfirenze4994]

Yeah, I'm playing a great evil character atm with similar philosophy. He's also doing a lot of good at the same time, both because he isn't totally vile and because he understands the simple truth: he could rob that village of whatever they have, quite easily, but if he protects them instead they'll happily become his subjects and pay taxes etcetera. Same for a 'retainer' he 'recruited'. Sure he could probably have forced her to obey him with enough violence/intimidation but by rescuing her children and ensuring their wellbeing he gained a willing slave rather than a resentful one. But honestly I could talk about him for ages.

[@Kittykattarina]

Most real life evil disguises itself as good, so being evil in a game doesn't mean flaunting your evilness at every opportunity. You still need to function in society.

[@Lorian667]

The young Voldemort in Hogwarts was quite charming and nice to his teachers in order to get political power and acces to hidden knowledge.

[@mattinthehat3]

Precisely. Very well put.

[@PaulGaither]

@@thundermarkperun1083 - Well, moreover, Satan IS an angel of light. He is Lucifer, the Morning Star. Maybe you know it, but not everyone who may read my comment might: Devils are NOT "the Devil". Devils are lower beings in the hells. Subservants to Demons in many cases. The various named demons and devils often get confused for the biblical Satan/Lucifer by an average person.

[@mmestari]

​@@PaulGaither There's multiple different mythologies considering Satan, Lucifer, devil and demons. That is just your interpretation of it, and it's not really even that well-informed. These various mythologies were made up over time by different people, mostly as stories to condemn pagans and heretics or as attempts of systematization. There's not one cohesive consensus truth regarding them, that the "average person" just doesn't know.

[@mal2ksc]

@@PaulGaither Devils inhabit the Nine Hells (Lawful Evil), while Demons inhabit the Abyss (Chaotic Evil) and the two are perpetually at war with one another (the Blood War). At least that's how the cosmology stands as of 5e.

[@Gh0stClown]

One of the most memorable campaigns I ever played was as an all-goblinoid evil party. The idea was we had to build up our goblin tribe and take over the horrible swamp we all lived in. We basically got to be cartoon bad guys, it was brilliant.

[@almitrahopkins1873]

I had a goblin fighter/rogue I played in a normal game who built up a legitimate guild of bounty hunters and a guild of thieves, smugglers & fences at the same time. He wasn’t a villain, he was an anti-villain, but he was also Chaotic Neutral, not evil. He created a status quo in the underworld of the DMs campaign world.

[@vertigq5126]

The book “The Black Company” is an excellent example of an evil character claiming the protagonists as “theirs.” Soul Catcher is a terrifying and patently evil character, but she protects the protagonists as her tools and even maintains an eerie almost-rapport with them, with the result that the reader is always a bit uncertain about the relationship between Catcher and the protagonists. It definitely makes for fantastic tension.

[@jerrycunningham1820]

Love Glenn Cook. One of my favorite authors.

[@MrMoros1]

I'm reminded of a Lawful Evil character played by a friend in a campaign a while back. He was a Lawful Evil Battlemaster Fighter named Istvaan, the last remaining member of a family of minor nobles. He was born with severe sociopathic qualities, traits that commonly occurred in men in the family, causing him to develop sadistic tendencies and bloodlust. But he eventually found a way to channel his dark nature into productive means as a mercenary. In doing so he was able to satisfy his sadism by mercenary work to become a productive and fuctional member of society; hunting down bounties and killing monsters while breaking no laws and always paying his taxes with fairly earned coin. And if he happened to take a much more visceral satisfaction in his work than most, well....who's complaining? He only goes after criminals or monsters anyways, and there's never any shortage of those around.

[@RomanQrr]

The one thing I can say on "how to play an Evil character" is "Don't betray your party without a really good reason that they know of." I think being evil or good is all about breaking or upholding the implicit and explicit social contracts. Good characters follow those contracts, uphold them, create them, and even punish those who break them. Evil characters break those contracts, subvert them to their means, and avoid or redirect the punishment for doing so. But the adventurer party is build on implicit and explicit social contracts. As such the Evil character needs to know to not break those. To be Good within the party, but Evil outside of it. The party offers protection. deniability, reputation. Do not shoot your only shield in the back. That's bad for your health.

[@cameronjames3499]

Exactly, a vandal usually doesnt destroy/graffiti their own car even if they take great joy in doing it to other's. Sure their car might eventually break down from neglect or because they run it a bit harder than is prudent or hit a tree, but they dont set out to wreck it.

[@girlbuu9403]

Depends on the game and the players. Honestly if there is never any interparty turmoil a game can get boring for me. You have to rub up against each other at some point. That doesn't mean murder your friends in their sleep unexpectedly. But it can mean arguing with each other, yelling at one another, getting into fist fights, and even sabotaging minor goals. These things can happen in an all Lawful Good party and never happen in an all Chaotic Evil party. Some of the best games I have ever played involved a little PVP too... though some of the worse have as well. It is very circumstantial and unbelievably difficult to quantify. But I think it can be summed up like this. There is no wrong way to play a table top RPG. Just people with different expectations clashing.

[@stevenwilkerson2372]

@@thundermarkperun1083 I think it's better not to just think of them as a gang or understand that even gangs have goals. Unlike in a lot of media there's a reason they exist and understanding that reason is important on how they will function. You can be an extremely evil character and follow the letter of the law and yet commit untold evil acts using the law. You don't have to be a criminal by definition may be you remove your enemies through surreptitious means but you're never the one that ends up killing them, it's always the law. Finally yeah there is no honor among thieves so people will betray each other when it suits them so it's important as a GM when dealing with PCs it might be a good idea to try and create those circumstances for different PCs at different times.

[@stevenwilkerson2372]

@Al Kirk Also you can spend the entire campaign very subtly pushing the party to maybe make some bad decisions. Maybe you encourage them to remove the corrupt aristocracy of your homeland knowing there's no one else to fill the power vacuum, maybe you need certain items and artifacts to learn or create your devious master plan. There are so many reasons why as an evil PC you might want to travel with the goody two shoes and ate them in their adventure.

[@khatack]

No, those social contracts are law vs chaos. Evil is about malice, a lawful evil character uses those social contracts to cause pain and suffering to others, they use it to do evil. A selfish character is not an evil character, an evil character might very well be utterly selfless in service of a greater evil, even though they might see that evil as good. A suicide bomber is evil. A sadistic torturer is evil. A genocidal tyrant who desires power in order to hurt others with it is evil. An evil character is necessarily a sort of villain, that doesn't exclude him from being a hero or side with the heroes when it suits them, but all evil characters are EVIL, they are MALICIOUS, not just selfish. An evil character doesn't simply want to destroy, they want to DEFILE.

[@dbensdrawinvids8390]

Whenever my players ask what alignments are acceptable to play in my game, I say "I don't care, it doesn't matter, but your character HAS to be able to play well with everyone else."

[@CitanulsPumpkin]

It really says something when "Make a functioning member of society." needs to be spelled out on a regular basis.

[@dbensdrawinvids8390]

@@CitanulsPumpkin Whoa now. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. These are player characters after all.

[@Pistonrager]

"Be able to get along", and "have a reason to adventure" are the most important things a character needs, followed shortly by rope.

[@danhedman8515]

@@Pistonrager Nah rope comes first

[@jonpeters8725]

@@CitanulsPumpkin Nah no DnD character functions well in society

[@Bluecho4]

19:15 "It's not like I didn't shoot you because I like you, b-baka."

[@dubuyajay9964]

"Yare yare daze..."

[@jeffreymilliman2306]

14:55 - "What reason does the rest of the group have for keeping this character around?" is pretty important. It's the question I asked myself every time my friend wanted to play a kender.

[@pietrayday9915]

YES - The Inevitable Annoying Kender and his cousin the Chaotic Gnome... The Lone Wolf that doesn't talk to, share will, or adventure with the rest of the party... The Lawful Stupid, Stupid Neutral, and Stupid Good Paladins, Druids, Monks, and so on who always seem to make unilateral decisions that run against the rest of the group every time... The Chaotic Evil Thief who spends more time plundering the party's pockets than the dungeon.... And, the "meta" varients, like that One Guy that interrupts everyone to say "you can't do that!" whenever someone comes up with a fun idea that doesn't quite fit inside-the-box, and has a rulebook or some unwritten ancient gaming tradition to fall back on to dictate how other players should role-play an Elf or Paladin or whatever "the Right Way"... the Other Guy who interrupts your turn to tell you what your character needs to do and say to follow the battle-plan he put together without telling you and flips the table if you don't do everything according to his script... and the Railroading GM who puts words in your character's mouth, makes your decisions for you, tells you what your character thinks and feels, and might as well be playing your character for you! And more. That poorly-played Evil Character is maybe the most obvious sore thumb on a whole handful of problems that just come down to players who don't seem to understand the give-and-take of a fun social game, and see "the spotlight" as a zero-sum limited resource that will run out if shared with anyone else..... I think the Evil Character Problem is basically the same problem as these others, but stands out a bit from the rest as "unique" because the license to be a jerk is, from the problem player's perspective, built right into the alignment, and it can be difficult for many of us to put our finger on why something is wrong, even thought the Evil Player seems to be doing it "right"!

[@WoobooRidesAgain]

I think a neat little motivator for an evil character would be a self-serving sense of security. The character's been hurt before, maybe they were even "good" at one point. But some terrible event, or a series of terrible events, made them feel deeply insecure about their place in their world, their safety or so on. Like they need to get this money to keep the world from kicking their life out from under them again. Perhaps they even think to themselves "I just need to get x amount of wealth to do y thing and I will never be evil again, it's just so I don't have to be homeless, vulnerable or impoverished again". Not only is the idea of accruing wealth for that feeling of security a good motivator for wanting money all the time, but I also think it's a great way to make an evil character relatable and even personable. Not sympathetic necessarily--they still would put other people's needs well behind their own if it made them a dime--but certainly more understandable and easier to jump into, as it were.

[@Keyce0013]

So Walter from Breaking Bad? His original motivation behind making and selling drugs was so that his family would be able to live comfortably and afford college after he died of cancer.

[@WoobooRidesAgain]

@@Keyce0013 That's a good example of such a villain and a pretty good one to point to when making one. Another variant would be Scarlet O'Hara from _Gone With The Wind_ . "As God is my witness, I'll never go hungry again" would be such a character's mantra, and that could just as easily apply to characters or even communities outside of their own, the thing that's theirs, as Seth's example goes.

[@Klomster88]

@@WoobooRidesAgain That totally describes my first ever LARP character. He grew up in a religious nut house in extreme poverty, and now managed to get somewhere in life and became one of the bodyguards of his city-states mayor. Ah, it was such a good character. He was a total fanatical patriot of that city, he also hated religion.

[@lawrencegillies]

Its like when Doc Holliday in the movie Tombstone was asked why he was standing with Wyatt Earp: "Wyatt Earp is my friend" "I got a lot of friends" "I don't"

[@cameronjames3499]

16:25 [Deadpan] "Tell them the price last". Why do I get the feeling that Seth moonlights as a Crossroads Demon?

[@Zedrinbot]

I'm playing in Hell's Vengeance right now as a player, an all-evil pathfinder campaign. We did some very evil things like rebuilding and protecting a hospital, lmao. we have a hard time being bastards.

[@BJGvideos]

Reminds me of how the yakuza will often spent a lot of money and time in disaster aid. They're doing "good" in order to build up public relations and encourage people to look the other way when it comes to their criminal acts.

[@invinciblemic]

Any thoughts on the campaign overall? Me and my players find it to be kinda meh in the first chapter.

[@Santzlol]

@@invinciblemic I'm dming it, you have to improve it a bit, but my players loves it

[@Zedrinbot]

@@invinciblemic book one is weak. It opens up into a sandbox in book 2. Book 1's biggest faults is it basically sets your party up to be a bunch of fall guys and doesn't give you enough incentives.

[@wendigo1619]

my group rip the wings off angels and steal their power through r*pe before selling them as slaves how hard is it to be even remotly evil

[@Outrider85]

I'm extremely happy and proud of you for going through this entire video without referencing Raistlin or Dragonlance even once.

[@Lobsterwithinternet]

I know. Even though he's a good example, everyone, and their grandmother has already used him to death. ☠️

[@lexi9956]

He fits pretty well though. He was never in it for "the Evuls" it was simply about he was willing to do whatever it took to achieve his goals, and as long as the party was aligned with those he had no real reason to betray or harm them or anyone else. The second he *did* though it was game on.

[@thebolas000]

*Slaps the roof* "You can fit so much character development in this baby."

[@punishedwhispers1218]

One of my group's favorites was an evil warlock that loved watching people die and served the goddess of death, but one of the party members was their grandma and they just couldn't stand to see their grandma be hurt. If an evil character is your friend, they are your best friend, morality and law be damned-you are their world

[@kuroinokitsune]

that game sounds amazing, you had grandma in it

[@girlbuu9403]

I had an evil character that near the end of the campaign killed her best friend and another PC who had been with her through thick and thin. He tried to stop her from achieving her goals. It fucked her up. Was the second time in the entire game anyone saw her cry, and she raised his son while trying to make sure he ended up more like his dad than his surrogate mother.

[@Sorain1]

I've always loved the idea of an all evil party that runs on the nakama tropes. They just happen to be utterly evil, despite being great friends and willing to go through hell and back for each other. Having that tiny circle of trust is so important to them they do morally questionable (to their Evil alignment stance) things to keep it. The moral inverse of the paladin leaving the room for someone to be tortured for information without them having to stop it. You offer them huge wealth to turn on their friends and they won't do it, because that doesn't profit them. You offer them enormous power to turn on their friends and they won't do it, because they know they can rely on the power of their friends to back them up. That kind of truly warped instances of friendship tropes being played entirely, painfully, straight. They work for the BBEG that wants to rule the world, because once the hard work is over, they'll collectively gank the BBEG and take the empire for themselves, knowing they can trust the others to work with them against outsiders. Sure, they'll squabble over loot, but never to the point of self destruction. The only way they'd take divinity is if they and their friends are forming a new pantheon.

[@persephoneunderground845]

@@Sorain1 I know this is old but you *have* to watch Escape from the Bloodkeep. It's 100% what you just described. Power of friendship but it's all (rebranded) LOTR villains. It's also awesome.

[@80yates]

I really like your idea of evil characters as having very low empathy. I think this is the gold standard for playing these characters.

[@AlteredNova04]

Nah the way he described it, it's not that evil characters have low empathy, it's that they are very selective about who they show empathy too. They only care about their family and friends and everyone else can go to hell. Basically, evil characters have extremely tribalistic moral values where "outsiders" are not worthy of any consideration.

[@cryofpaine]

@@AlteredNova04 Both can be true. You can have an evil character who is extremely loyal to their group (say someone like Magneto), or you can have an evil character who is simply using & protecting the resources at hand, but wouldn't hesitate to throw them away without a second thought if it benefitted them somehow. Someone who would only rescue their party from prison if they paid, for example. The one with situational empathy tends to be a "from a certain point of view" evil character. The other is more universally recognized as evil (unless they are good at hiding it, or manage to amass a large following of devoted followers who will ignore & excuse that person's every action).

[@CitanulsPumpkin]

I came up with my favorite idea/motivation for an evil character while reading through the Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica. There's not too many justifications for playing a fully chaotic evil member of the cult of Rakdos in a party of "heroes." Unless you're a ringmaster in one of the cult's circuses and you're a fiend pact warlock whose main long term goal is to seduce the party's paladin to the dark side and get them to swear a new paladin oath to the demon lord Rakdos. You're always going to "do the right thing" and play along with all the party's heroics. And in your downtime maybe you take the paladin to see a few "saucy puppet shows." You take them to a bunch of off broadway plays and wine and dine one or more of your party members. Before each show starts you get up to go get everyone something from the concession stand, and then you slip back stage and tell your fellow Rakdos cultists running the show just what lines to alter and scenes/effects to play up to win over your party members. Then as time goes on, the shows get bloodier and deadlier until the other party members have no idea when a few satirical puppet shows in a busy market place turned into the stadium sized blood orgies the cult of Rakdos is known for. And the best part of it is it's entirely up to the paladin and the other party members if your big evil scheme works or not. If someone tries to call you out for turning the party evil just say "It's entierly up to Dweebles how he plays his character. I'm just showing everybody a good time."

[@andreww830]

This is exactly how I've played both of my evil characters. One was a disturbed necromancer who did some truly awful things and doesn't feel bad about it, but he still abided by his companions wishes and cloaked his evil as being for the "greater good." The other one is an Oath of Conquest paladin, who isn't villainous, but definitely has an inward pointing moral compass. Most of what he does is for him; if it benefits others thats ok but it's not his goal.

[@CountZeroOr]

11:10 - Gendo Ikari says "Hi". Or rather, he pushes up his glasses, and Fuyutsuki is delegated to saying "Hi".

[@GreenDM]

I clicked so fast, but I need to go to sleep. I will watch this tomorrow! You always make good videos, so excited to watch it.

[@SimonWolfie]

Here's a reminder to watch it, and to no surprise, it's good!

[@ididathink5295]

Another reminder

[@TheRepublic4]

REMINDER! (lol)

[@Fait231]

"Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun"

[@terrybeal2252]

Excellent Army of Darkness reference. 😎😁😂

[@angiemartin197]

Jayne was a perfect example of an evil character. Great video!

[@mikej8382]

I once played a drow elf mage in 3e dnd. He ran from drow society. And since he was in the under dark he was able to be pretty twisted. But most everyone in the under dark was evil. He wasn't a serial killer or mass murderer as much as someone you really didn't want to be standing between him and his goal. Was one of my favorite campaigns. And Neutral/Evil doesn't mean Neutral/Stupid. This video was a great explanation of what a great evil character can be.

[@bobjohnson5341]

I feel like the show Blacklist does a good job of having an Evil Character with other good PCs. I mean you have a criminal who is using the other's to expand his empire, but is still protective of the party. Then you have Dembe, who is straight up Lawful Good, but is trying to save the soul of Raymond.

[@nolgroth]

Dembe being one of the most awesome characters ever portrayed on television.

[@madmanwithaplan1826]

I am currently playing a neutral evil necromancer hobgoblin in one of my campaigns. One of the party members reminds my character of their son which they lost (maybe). So the whole the party is mine deal totally fits his motivations right now. I also ended up saving 8 tabaxi from torture and death because it was quicker than arguing with the elf.

[@logancole5101]

I actually plan on possibly playing a neutral evil necromancer noble who is after the people who kidnapped his daughter. He would work with heroes because you can't trust other evil people to help search for a little girl. Though of course he doesn't make it too obvious. This video is definitely going to be helpful.

[@talkan999]

My group and I have always called it "classy evil" vs "cliche evil". Classy evil is the type of evil that makes you say "Hell yeah! I'm in!" regardless of what two little letters sit on the alignment chart. Cliche evil is what horror stories are spawned from.

[@ElijahAtchley]

chaotic characters are waaaayyyyy more problematic than an evil characters. I like having evil characters in my campaign.

[@mauricewalshe8339]

Chaotic doesn't mean do random silly shit - which is where people make mistakes.

[@Keyce0013]

Chaotic just means they oppose or disregard the authority of the major power they live under. Captain Malcolm Reynolds (again from Firefly) might have had his own code of conduct, but he never liked to work with the Alliance, who were the major political power in that setting. He's a guy who believes that people are best left to their own devices and that they don't need a government to regulate what they can or cannot do.

[@mauricewalshe8339]

@@Keyce0013 exactly "there is a higher law" as Seward famously said

[@Atariese]

I started a group with a bunch of newbies. And like always i said during character creation: "Don't play an evil character!" I quickly ran over the alignment chart but then told the party not to fill in the alignment quite yet and that we can figure that out later. This is a tactic i like to use. But this was one time i was called on it. The rogue was very much a self serving character. He would steal when he found something he liked, he was constantly fast talking to get his way, even made contacts with the criminal underworld. And a few months in we had a deep discussion about alignment, during which i pointed out that i thought the rogue was doing a lot of evil acts. To which he looks at me and formally apologizes for his evil behavior, bringing up that during character creation i was very specific about the players not being evil. So i explained why i said that. "Look, i tricked you. That was a lie. However: you aren't disrupting the party's plans, you aren't murdering every npc you meet, you aren't acting like you own the world. That's what most people think when they try to create 'evil characters.' All i really was trying to do was get you to not be a dick to everyone. Being evil does not make you a bad guy. Its more that you help yourself before you help others."

[@CRESELEG]

One of my favorite characters of all time was evil. He was willing to do anything to overthrow the king that put his father to death(I know cliché). When our campaign ended with my killing the king in front of everyone, they were all shocked, over 3 years no one had realized I was playing an evil character. He respected the party so much he hid his evil actions from them. Of course the king's guard kinda killed the whole party for my actions, but I will be damned if Valax didn't die with a smile on his face!

[@NerdMafiaSV]

I watched this video before I made an evil character a while back, and the "this is mine" mentality made her so much easier to play. She saved the world from destruction, not because she didn't want to see people getting hurt, but because if the world was destroyed, she'd have nothing to rule over.

[@SSkorkowsky]

Some people in the comments have tried arguing against that, but I've found it a useful approach and very easy to convey in a TTRPG. Glad to see it helped. Reminds me of an old episode of The Tick, "You can't eat the Earth! That's where I keep all my stuff. I must stop you"

[@magonus195]

You're so underrated, Seth.

[@Tony-dh7mz]

Who's doin the rating?

[@magonus195]

@@Tony-dh7mz viewers and subscribers, by the numbers. Matthew Colville, Matthew Mercer, Taking20, etc.

[@Tony-dh7mz]

@@magonus195 See, this is why I have no peers...

[@magonus195]

@@Tony-dh7mz No peers? What do you mean? Everyone has peers.

[@elaxter]

One of the first games I GM'd had an evil character. He was the most memorable part of that campaign. He was a Corpse Eater, a race in the game I was playing (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy) and ended up running a "jerky" stand for extra money between adventures.

[@burnttoast26]

Rule number 1 about this kind of thing: never work against the party just "because it's what my character would do, they're evil/chaotic neutral". If you ever do work against the party on something, you make absolutely certain that it's a damn good reason. You can be evil/CN without being a disruptive ass.

[@be1tube]

2:09 "Tic-tac-toe board of morality" reminded me of the Animaniacs bit "Wheel of morality, turn, turn, turn. Tell us the lesson we should learn."

[@WraithMagus]

The problem is that people have a really reductive view of alignment as personality traits (because only 9 personalities exist). The way that evil characters get a bad rap is for the same reason that thieves/rogues get bad raps for stealing from the party or chaotic alignment is an excuse to take actively self-destructive actions any time they want to be a role-play terrorist. Almost any time you hear about how an "evil" PC is a problem, it's always going to have a player who betrays the party "because they're evil". If you take the idea that almost any organization, no matter how noble (even if it's a religious institution with literal angels that can explicitly see the darkness in mortal souls), is going to have some people who don't fully live up to the creed of their organization. Sometimes, good organizations use bad people to achieve their goals, and those bad people will feel like part of the team. (A sadistic cop who enjoys brutalizing suspects still feels strongly about the fraternal bond of police officers, and the Blue Wall means even good cops protect their bad apples.) It's always been kind of stupid and unrealistic that D&D features gods of torture and murder that evil people pray to in return for being tortured for all eternity when even evil characters who can pay at least enough lip service to at least a neutral, if not good deity can enjoy a pleasant - if not euphoric - afterlife can escape that fate. In a game where you can *literally visit the afterlife while alive,* it makes no sense to have any but the most absurdly self-destructive characters pray to devil princes. You can just plain be a bastard who knows how to do JUUUUUST enough good to keep one toe in the Pearly Gates. Likewise, in real life, even people who are definitely horrific in their willingness to do violence, like a member Mafia, has their own code of ethics, and they will fight for those who are part of their friends or family, even if they have zero empathy for the many, many other people they hurt. You can also play "evil" as "damaged". They're willing to work with the party, but they're like Joe Pesci in Goodfellas - always one wrong word away from exploding on even their allies. Or else, they're fine to their allies, but highly vengeful or sadistic towards enemies. (This is often the case with "neutral" or "good" PCs, whose players tend towards extreme vengeful behaviors, where the DM has to step in and say the PCs aren't actually "good" - cue the drama.) Amusingly, in the game I'm currently playing, one of the players went with an evil character at first, a brutal, arrogant lay-noble who wanted to become a high noble no matter the cost... but one of my characters was basically a cartoonishly good celestial (lyrakien azata) who defeats enemies with THE POWER OF LOVE! In spite of being 324 years old, she permanently has the mind of a 7-year-old whose view of the world was informed by magical girl shows. Also, she was a good witch where I interpreted "cackle" as "cheer" (because I only use Protective Luck and then Fortune when I leveled up enough all day every day), which I perform by making rhyming couplets. The other player, for some reason, did not feel he could play a gritty realistic mercenary opposite her. ("Once more, I prove that evil is no match for the power of HUGS!")

[@The_Custos]

Nice, each 9 alignment could easily be broken down into major or minor just as a start, as neutral already is (neutral normal and commonplace, or true neutral).

[@SASKIYEAAAAAH]

I'm playing a lawful evil police officer in a Vampire: The Masquerade campaign currently for that very reason! This is very eloquently put

[@The_Custos]

@@SASKIYEAAAAAH hopefully not TOO much police brutality. 😂

[@SASKIYEAAAAAH]

@@The_Custos luckily he's far too incompetent

[@lperkins2]

"How many times do you have to catch a man lying to know he is a liar"? One. This applies to alignment too, a character can be evil (or chaotic), but only act on that when the "chips are down" or when the stakes are high, and it isn't a problem at the table. It can even lead to some fun tension of "is the vault going to contain an artifact of sufficient power for Karth to finally betray us"? (We were careful which missions he went on, for that reason). The best example of this is probably from the sci-fi show _Andromeda_ where a faction of the cartoonishly evil metahumans sided with the normal humans' empire, out of " _enlightened_ self interest". While the whole ethos of those metahumans was self-interest, but one subset of them was smart enough to realize their long-term self interest was tied to the fate of everyone else.

[@mrperfectjeff]

The most loved character I have made was a lawful to neutral evil tiephling. He was clearly an evil character out of the public eye, that may have had a thing for arson. He is/was a warlock in the service of a devil that was the pact holder of the warlock that saved his life from a sinking ship about a month or so from any land, and his deal was he had to mark 10,000 souls with his magic to bind their souls to the devil holding his pact. Friendly or otherwise alike, he just never told the party that his magic damned them for eternally.

[@banjolasse6169]

Spot on, Seth! I always replace the word "evil" with "selfish" in my head, because that transforms it from a nebulous concept into something real. My characters are always on the spectrum of evil, because I find it leaves me with much more interesting choices to make, as well as some free strife in the party (which is good). My characters have bought slaves and sold false plague cures, but that doesn't mean they can't feel shame, or love, or change their minds. I feel like when I play on the spectrum of evil I actually have to try to do some mental gymnastics and actually think about what my player would do all the time, whereas with a "good" character you can just sort of go with the flow because most quests are about helping people. Also, the part about the party being "yours" is a fantastic tool for any evil character. It binds you to them. But you also need to make concessions and follow the party as they agree to help the party find some farmer's lost pig or whatever the module calls for. Just make your character roll her eyes and complain all the way. Sitting a quest out because you're "evil" is a failure by you as a player.

[@Tonoborus]

The Hero of Canton, the man they call Jayne!!!

[@Tony-dh7mz]

"Lets be bad guys" How did that work out for you Jayne? Mal almost vented him to space....

[@SirThorne]

Well stated. I've run a few evil characters and they each fit into the party well because they were what I like to call "affable-evil". They were friendly, charismatic, and happy to help people, as long as they aren't in the way. They valued the party *exactly* as you prescribed. They considered the party to be some combination of invaluable or endearing. These were characters who would turn on the party at the end of the trail should the perfect opportunity present itself, but not for anything except the total completion of their primary end goal. One of my characters was a Yuan-Ti snake cultist who wanted to usher in the end of days by awakening Dendar the Night Serpent. The goal was to end the world, and he would proselytize to the party openly. He would have sacrificed the party if it was the key to his victory, but he genuinely liked them and would regret the loss. The party kept him around because he was friendly, helped those in need, and he was great for negotiating with Hags, Vampires, and other obviously evil entities. He wasn't worried about dying to protect the party because he had absolute faith that he would succeed, and that the party would be there to see it happen.

[@hammond1994]

Oh! Thank God! A sane person is posting.

[@youcantbeatk7006]

What have you gone through?

[@Tony-dh7mz]

WHERE!! WHERE!! This is teh interwebs, are U catfishing Hammy?

[@gordonmcinnes8328]

My favourite character? A Lawful Evil Sorcerer 'cursed' with saving the world. The other PCs? Each useful in their own way to further the goals he actually wished to pursue (usually being good at killing wizards) and he would put himself out to some degree to save them (they are a valuable comodity to him) a.k.a. a pragmatic evil.

[@OptimusOmega6]

It bothers me whenever players or GMs speak out against evil characters. Evil characters can be extremely compelling when played well. Some of my favourite character that I or players in my group have played fall under the evil allignment umbrella. I could further ellaborate my philosophy but I then I'd basically be repeating the talking points of Seth's video.

[@Lobsterwithinternet]

I think most of the issues stem from players playing their evil characters as cartoonishly evil dicks than actual characters.

[@OptimusOmega6]

@@Lobsterwithinternet Oh, I entirely get that. It's not as though I haven't had my own personal experiences with bad players who use the evil alignments as excuses to be absolute asshats to their fellow players. I just hate to see that the negative impact such players have is so great that it turns people away from potentially great roleplay opportunities. It makes me realize how fortunate I am to have been able to avoid (for the most part) such toxic players, especially when I was first getting into the hobby.

[@AnoNYmous-bz2ef]

Stealing and fleeing with the McGuffin is probably my fave method of retiring an evil character I rolled up. Turning them into an NPC and possibly having to face them somewhere down the line.

[@matthewbrandt5053]

This is how I am playing my current dragon sorcerer, Tarthus the Scorched. He is evil, a red dragon, but he will not hurt the party for they are his allies and therfore like his treasure, his duty to defend them from harm.

[@The_Custos]

Played a warmage with an evil side, but only towards elves. 🧝🏻‍♂️ "No, we are not stopping because there is a treaty."

[@KookieMonstrMan]

My favorite evil character was a Tzeentch sorcerer in WFRP 2e. Sure he had moments where he sent his retinue to wipe out a town but those were narrative moments; where he really got interesting was when he disguised himself and replaced the emperor's advisor. Among several accomplishments he convinced the emperor to secretly call upon the vampires of Sylvannia to assist in a war with Kislev to the north in exchange for sending prisoners off to the vampires as cattle (while also having some of the retinue spread rumors of this). That political intrigue to undermine the empire was some of the most fun I've ever had roleplaying and it boiled over into the 'good' campaign that was also going on.

[@briangriffin9793]

A really fun thing is to be evil but hiding it from the party... Someone bullied the weakest party member? Evil rogue pays that bully a midnight visit with deadly consequences. Maybe the fighter always has cash because he acts as an enforcer for the local dealer on the side. Or sell information out... I personally love the reference to Vader and Jane. Excellent video

[@toko099o]

Don't even need to watch the video, here's how: Rub hands together. Make with the evil laugh.

[@Jermbot15]

Not really the topic of the video but, I find it endearing, yeah that's the right word, the way the Seth character is always so excited and positive about the characters his players bring to him. A great example of how a GM acts when he's seeing characters as the biggest component of a shared story, and not simply an audience for his story.

[@TARMHeLL]

Now I have to watch Firefly again, and when is the the co-lab with Professor Dungeon Master coming...

[@Y00bi]

I'm glad you brought up the fact that character's morality and desires should shift over time. In our Masks game, one of my investigators has gone from an unassuming, ex-military archaeology professor whose quiet life was upturned by a chance encounter with the Mythos. Before that fateful encounter, he was already struggling with PTSD from the Great War, about all the horrible things he told himself he had to do. It was just his duty to his country. He had to do it to survive. But slowly, as his sanity began to slip, he's come to realise that he was lying to himself, and that he enjoyed it. He needed it. When cultists murdered his wife and son, he no longer has anything to anchor him. He's completely embraced the natural born killer that went to war, and has set out on a suicidal, punisher-esque crusade. He's still fighting for a good cause, he'll still help people. Not because he cares about their plight, but because every abomination that walks the earth and the people that worship them needs to die, consequences be damned. That being said, he'll hesitate if his actions would endanger the rest of the party. Two of the other investigators have been there with him since the start, he cares about them.

[@civ-fanboy2137]

One time a new campaign started and I wanted to play a evil mage that controll you with his spells. In the end, he became the moral compass of the party :D

[@The_Custos]

You mean he controlled their compasses?

[@lightblckknight]

My favorite way to play alignment come from NWoD 1e: This is not their over arching personality, but when the chips are down, this is your base reactions.

[@visageliquifier3636]

A very good breakdown. Another example is "Otto" from "A Fish Called Wanda". He immediately turns on a dime a few times and is quite self-serving. A good line to draw for a further illustration may the difference between evil and unprincipled. A barbarian tribe might wander in to a lumber camp and cause a ruckus by just taking what they wanted and attacking anyone who tried to stop them. They wouldn't necessarily be evil though since they might work on natural law like the strong take what they can because they are strong or they were having a bad winter and the camp is getting supply runs of food. Evil is aware of other courses, but doesn't take them. If the barbarians were actually a highway robber gang who had a hideout nearby that they didn't want the lumberjacks to discover, they might ambush them dressed as barbarians to not only knock out the camp but keep it from being reestablished.

[@aspetty]

A friend of mine told me about to they had a player who was a good player the whole but every time he made a carbon copy paladin. Same God same alignment and border line same stats and skills. He refused to diversify even when the group could really use a different type of character. The game Master went to my friend and said, I need you to play a chaotic evil vampire. Yeah don't have the time but it was a very interesting year in roleplaying for them.

[@youcantbeatk7006]

Step 1: Cover yourself in oil. Step 2: Wait for it to rain. Step 3: Fly... I mean play an evil character.

[@Papa_Mike]

The best way alignments were ever explained: chaotic means emotions are in control, lawful means logic is in control, good means you almost always think of others before self, evil means you almost always think of yourself, or your immediate circle, before others. Good is selfless empathy. Evil is selfish apathy.

[@MasonFries]

Great video. Made me remember I have an evil character written up which I had allot of this in mind while creating, and I can't wait to play him. He's a Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer. The "Evil" comes from the obsession he has with his blood/power. Above all things, he wants to embody his bloodline wholly and actually *become* a dragon. This leads him to be constantly grasping for power and knowledge that may lead him to his goal, and he has little issue stepping on others to get such things. But, he's not a mustache twirling villain. He doesn't *want* to be bad, or hurt people. He's just selfish in his pursuit. He'd take the diplomatic approach before cutting down everyone in his way. But, at the end of the day he wants what he wants and he's going to get it by any means necessary. I thought making the "evil" come from his motivations, rather than an enate desire to do wrong is much more realistic and less one-dimentional, and the points raised in this video reinforce my thoughts. Now I want to play the character even more! Can hardly wait.

[@rexhazelwood7302]

You sir, have made a very valid point. I would also add that "Evil" is a state of mind as well as a perception of others. So now let me rile up some "hate" from fan boys & girls from the GOT series. People were upset when Daenerys burned King's landing to the ground , stating it was not in her nature and it was a change in her character arc etc. I say she is and always was..EVIL. Firstly, if you look at her family history, it is in their nature, but more importantly look at what she did. She had her "enemies" burned alive , she took an army to a foreign land to conquer it in some deluded idea that the people of the West needed to be freed. Daenerys was also charismatic enough to pick up non evil allies along the way since she presented a credible claim to the throne and she gave our short sighted "good" heroes a reason usurp the throne, which I believe was more about vengeance for both Tyrion & Jon . It also explains why Varys was killed, he realized her evil but by then, it was too late. Some great source material to read for other ideas of how to play evil would be the Elric series or some of the Gor books . I think it can even be argued, Conan had a bent for evil, but anyhow, I have rambled on long enough. Love your videos Seth, keep up the good work.

[@Lobsterwithinternet]

That's a great example! Never really thought about it like that.

[@The_Custos]

Agreed.

[@justseffstuff3308]

This reminded me of this conversation I had with a friend when I was little I was talking about some warlock character I was making or something, but then asked him how I'd ever actually get to use an evil character without disrupting a game since *obviously* an evil character's goals would run directly counter to the good PCs, right? So this friend explained that evil ain't just evil for the sake of it, not every evil character's goal is gonna be to kill the good PCs, that say, if the PCs are clearing out an abandoned mine, maybe the good PCs are doing it to get rid of monsters that are threatening the town, while the evil character's doing it for the reward, or for some powerful amulet they think is at the end of the mine. Core memory right there, it tends to come to my mind whenever I think of evil PCs just walking around outside and chatting with a friend... fun. Nowadays, I've got a full-on Chaotic Evil character that I don't think would really disrupt a game at all! Barring some very specific circumstances that won't happen until very, very late in most games anyways.

[@pop_ulation]

i am definitely reminded of raistlin from the dragonlance series as a good example of a more or less evil character working for a good cause, as long as it aligns with his thirst for power.

[@blackhammer5035]

Whether Jayne really "betrays" his own crew is somewhat debatable, considering he's been the victim of in-party violence (for no really good reason) at that point. While the action still fits the Evil Agenda, there is an element of Looking Out For #1 aside from just "money was too good." Sadly, Firefly's writing has a tendency towards Mary Sues, so his being stabbed as a legitimate motive gets ignored by the plot.

[@theteacher7136]

What came first the chicken or the egg. Did River have a sense of what was going to happen or the intentions of Jayne? This being said by someone who loves Jayne’s character.

[@girlbuu9403]

I have a much bigger problem with Vader saving Luke being called a good action motivated by evil. It is fine to say Vader is still evil, and that he considered Luke 'his', but the story deliberately states there was still some good in him. He was an evil person doing a good thing for good reasons.

[@Alverant]

I liked the video. Your definition of evil (selfish without empathy) is pretty good. I can see evil characters working in the right setting and justification. For example, someone who joined the PCs for protection of some sort or wants redemption but isn't sure how to do it. There was a TV series called "The 100 Lives of Black Jack Savage" where the ghost of the pirate Black Jack Savage teamed up with a white-collar criminal who fled the US to save 100 lives to balance the 100 lives their lifestyles have taken. It didn't last long but these were selfish people who did good for selfish reasons (avoid going to hell) and start to learn empathy before it got canceled. There can be a lot of character drama and development there.

[@mikemccoy5092]

Well done you have a interesting way of explaining things and yes I could see the firefly cast as a party of space adventure

[@Valtremors]

Every villain has something they hold important. It is the actions they are willing to go through to either protect or obtain "it" what defines them.

[@Kilo6Charlie]

I am actually running a game where I encouraged my players to play Evil characters. I am doing a whole corruption arc thing and the goal of the players is to resist it long enough to find a way to escape the realm they got trapped inside. It's a Legend of Zelda game and they are sorta trapped in the Dark World by Ganon. My players are having fun so far, but they have no idea

[@robertmcdonald3736]

I played an evil PC for a D&D 5e one-shot (an "anti-villian" on a Gramascian Square, qua one of Matt Coleville's takes on being an evil PC). He was a Conquest Paladin. His motivation? "The world is messed up . . . so I need to rule it."

[@ketrava0425]

I'm so happy you made the lateral with Jane cobb. I used to play a character based on Jane Cobb mixed in with a little drunkard and pit fighter in a LARP and essentially was more lawful evil and generally followed the sith code. I realize that that sounds like a big ball of edgelord but that character was actually known across the national network because he got the big dangerous things done and organized groups to make it happen. That big maze that was killing 10 15 people at a go once boneyard took over we had only one expedition fail in 2 days and that was because they refused to follow instructions. boneyard loved to hurt things but understood that that wasn't okay in the eyes of the law so he found ways for the law to make it okay. He wanted everyone around him stronger so that if something big came along he didn't have to fight it himself and constantly pushed everyone and more so than anything he loved fighting big hard targets that made everyone else shaking their boots showing they could be beaten and then convincing others if you lived the hard life you could be like this too.

[@jackphoton]

Perhaps one of the best evil-character-moves I had was in a mid-high level group of 5 or 6 w/ my assassin disguised as an imprisoned 1st level magic user who lost his books. The party took pity and me along for the ride. I did have a wand which I helped the party to fight their enemies with as best I could; until it was time... Killed almost all of 'em, iirc. They hated me for nixing their guys, but my swindle earned their praise. That was some fun role playing. Went on to Grandfather the Flanaess and lives in retirement, polymorphed as some other creature in a place where no assassin would think with big-magic/ anti-scrying protections guarding him. Knowing what I (our old group) knows now about worldly doings and genuine intrigues, achieving that rank would have likely been harder these days, but still more than well fought and earned at the time those decades ago. He was a good one. I'd tell you his name, but he'd have to kill you. So I'll stay quiet for everyone's sake. It can't be any wonder when you hear an actor talk about how they enjoy the chance to play an evil role and cut loose from their 'normal' fare. There's a clip around here of Caesar Romero contrasting his typical latin-lover/hero roles/career and leaping at the chance to be The Joker. He'd never really heard of or read Batman before that, just jumped at the character. Awesome insight, great guy to hear speak. Then there's the fun times playing a good character corrupted; Darth Vader the Paladin turned Anti-Paladin. (Except their Paladins are chaotic and Anti's Lawful, I guess Jedi's are: personal liberties and freedoms guaranteed thru the state vs. personal responsibility and duties to the machine.) We always started a new game cycle with the simple question, "Good, neutral or evil campaign?" As I'm only recently out of cryo-freeze and hazily gathering that the corporo-group-think Ack-Acks have taken the sting out of AD&D; making it easier, softer, rounder, safer w/ go-faster stripes and shiny-shines. Maybe I'm wrong. I dropped at 3rd Ed by when the corporo-greed-machine had already more than fully consumed TSR before it became 'Dungeon the Gathering' from whizzers on the coat tails. Thanks for your vids, Seth.

[@dirkmaes3786]

Just an idea - like a D&D alignment map you can also create an equivalent alignment map for different types of evil. method: brutality - manipulative motivation: fear (coward) - perversion brutal-coward: hitmen, henchmen... brutal-pervert: sadist, hired muscle, torturer... manipulative-coward: con artist, thieves, 'nice guys'... manipulative-pervert: crime boss, psychopaths...

[@jhinpotion9230]

Your description of the, "Evil Hero," is super good and should be common knowledge in the TRPG space. Our current 5e party has two such characters (one is mine), and they work just fine with the most goody two-shoes honourable samurai warrior around. To one, fitting in among a group is of utmost importance, and these people will accept her. To the other, heroism is an investment, and playing the part to gain connections, wealth, power, and keeping his powerful companions on his side is just the smart thing to do.

[@TNTtheinsane]

Alright Seth, you've convinced me. I'm evil.

[@seandremel337]

I’ve really enjoyed the idea of playing a character who skirts the line of being evil. One of my favorite concepts that I want to try one day is a D&D 5e Paladin with Lawful Good alignment, but is working his way towards Oath of Conquest. The reason for him to conquer? He’s seen what happens as a noble’s child when there are too many factions with power who try to control as much as they can - nothing gets done as well as can be, and ultimately the people they oversee feel the consequences. This became very clear when his home city was attacked by an evil army, and the city was almost lost because each faction with warriors tried to do something different to protect their own interests. So now, my character has the following philosophy: “I will bring all under a single banner - mine. Once all are under a single rule, chaos will be ended, and all will prosper under my watch.” Essentially, he is a benevolent ruler who is also a tyrant. Anyone who challenges his authority (when he’s strong enough) will be swiftly executed. Those who help promote his vision are rewarded with better positions to help his kingdom. Asking what is it they consider theirs: everything.

[@WolfmanXD]

I'm playing in a curse of strahd campaign, and my first character was a lawful evil changeling warlock. He cares only about power, enough power to break his patrons hold on him. He was sticking with the party because he knew that if he did, he'd get strong. But, when we got to the amber temple at level 6 (as I now know is apparently WAY too low for that place), we suffered a crushing defeat. One of the other pcs died, and we had to retreat pretty quickly. While we were there however, I received a cursed staff of frost. It made me crave power, not much of a curse when you consider that's already what I craved. So after that, we went to the dinner date with strahd, and when he offered us power to join him, I jumped at the it, without second thought. My warlock betrayed the group and joined strahd. I feel like it was MUCH more impactful coming off the heels of losing a pc. We felt powerless, and now we were being offered all the power we needed. It was a great moment in the game, as the only other pc there that was close to my warlock felt the crushing weight of that betrayal, and now harbors a seething hatred for him. I now play a lawful good kalishtar cleric, and we've yet to run across my warlock again (that we know of. Like I said, changeling). While I was with the party, I never screwed them over in any way, or hit into conflict with them. My personal brand is evil was that, if something stood in my way of getting what I wanted, I'd resort to less then wholesome means to get the results I wanted. But I would never let those means get between myself and the players, because I knew that sticking with them was my best path to power at the time. But as soon as the opportunity presented itself, I jumped. Even in my betrayal, however, it never came up pvp. I never attacked the party. If it came down to it I would have cast wall of frost and just escaped that way before actually attacking them. Now that that character is now in the hands of the dm, all bets are off though. I believe we decided that if/when he confronts the party, or vice versa, that I'll roleplay him, but the dm will control him in combat.

[@lightstudios1421]

8:09 I like the "What's theirs" mentality. One way to approach that scenario while still maintaining an "evil" standpoint, is to rescue your companion "by any means necessary". Did you capture a few enemy NPCs who may have information? Did the party's attempt to persuade them failed? Ask them to wait outside and give you a few minutes with them. If they agree, change your behavior drastically towards them, the party is no longer there to show mercy. Take out your weapon of choice, and make sure they understand you are not playing games. Then, whether or not you get what you needed, go back to your more laid back demeanor and move on. That character duality can be both interesting and terrifying. You can scheme, plot, betray, lie, blackmail all without a shred of remorse, just to recover your companion.

[@zsheets7483]

I've been playing an evil PC (yuan-ti cantrip specialist) in a 5E game for a while now and it's been a huge hit. The group is all part of a guild, and he's made himself very valuable to the rest of the PCs, and will usually follow orders even if he bends them a little to make some extra on the side. One character in particular he's saved from imminent possession/death (or at least severe injury) on no less than three occasions, though he also did plant evidence (successfully, without being caught or implicated) to implicate that same character to hide his own failed attempt at misdirection.

[@taylorh1872]

As someone who has been thinking of a potential Lawful Evil character concept for awhile now, this was a great video. It helped cement some things I was thinking of as well as taught me a few things (such as the whole sales pitch idea.) I can’t wait till I find the right party/campaign to play this character (a drow sorcerer who’s goal in life is to be a legend to the entire world no matter what, in his mind achieving immortality and praise through his impact as he wants everyone to remember his name for as long as physically possible.) Evil characters, if played right, can be really fun and I am excited to see how this character bounces off of other characters, how they affect him and his goals, and how he would react if they got in his way. It’s just really compelling for me and I hope I do it right. *Slaps character* See, DM, this funky little circus man can fit *soo* much potential in him let me tell you-

[@davidm3190]

I was thinking of Jayne Cobb right from the beginning of this video. I can think of a few other lovable villains: Bron from Game of Thrones, Doctor Smith from Lost in Space and Titus Pulo from Rome. I usually model my characters along these lines. Evil but with motivation and a sense of loyalty

[@dubuyajay9964]

Doctor Doom? He loves his people, his country, and his mom...but he still wants to rule the world. For the greater "good" of course.

[@GoDamnWeird]

I've been playing my favorite AD&D character since 2001, he's a Neutral Evil dual class Psionic/Assassin whose only friend during the years 575 - 580CY was a Chaotic Good Gnomish Thief (Boxman Kit) who lived in the Bag of Holding he found one fateful day. The concept of "Mine" is spot on. "My" ratswalchin' friend. "Mine." He's been on numerous adventures with different parties(580-585CY), despite his reputation as a remorseless sociopath who may kill any or all of them at a moments notice if the price is right (he is one of the Stranglers of Ket, and the Last Knight of the Shriven Sickle); oddly he never has, and on his terms it's them who'll betray him in such cases...but there again; they know he will be coming for them as long as they live, if they do. But they'll never know when.

[@LeoMilani7]

I'm halfway through the video and have already learned a shitload of things. Great video!

[@andrewohoro]

My favorite way to play an evil character is a character who’s motives are evil but who’s actions align with the group. I have a Yuan-ti College of Whispers Bard who is working to establish alliances and gain favors to eventually manipulate those allies towards helping her achieve her goals of rising in Yuan-ti society... and summoning Dendar to the Material Plane to swallow the world.

[@swaglordxxx836]

I remember I played a DnD game once where I was an evil character.. and what drove my character forward was the need for his little sister. His little sister was taken from him and so the only reason he joined up with a party was to get help getting to her. And anything that got in his way did indeed regret it lol. He didn't let anything stand in his way to reach his sister. . Just watching this reminded me of that for some reason...

[@Drejzer]

***THAT ENDING*** glorious.

[@jimg1787]

This is actually a very good topic. I think the thing you have to remember is when playing an "evil" character, you are only evil from OTHER PEOPLES perspective. To give you an example, I once wrote a backstory for a character who was a surgeon. She lost a child on the operating table that she could have saved but wasn't allowed to because of the laws governing fusing humans with technology. She quit the profession and went underground. When the authorities eventually caught wind of what she was doing and raided her home they saw blood everywhere animal and human parts fused with machines and they were horrified. This woman was insane and evil. But from her perspective she was solving a problem. She was fixing what was broken by ignoring the moral implications.

[@SanguinaryBlade]

Essentially, play a character first, alignment last. Always been the way I see it. I lowkey hate alignment systems because it automatically tries to peg a character into a single box, quite literally.

[@Bigslam1993]

I play a Lawful Evil noble. She wants to raise the reputation of her Noble House in the eyes of other Noble Houses, by performing objectively badass deeds. One could say she is any other alignment, but if her Family's reputation was threatened, she'd do any number of heinous things to remove that threat to her ancestry's legacy. For the table, that means she does things that are objectively good for her own selfish reasons. When it comes to any typical D&D plot, she can work with a Lawful Good Paladin, for the purpose of doing whatever the quest is. Hell, she might even learn to value those guys, as friends even.

[@sael91]

This video is fascinating to me if for no other reason than it really establishes one important thing: The GM and the players have to know what everyone views as good vs evil when role-playing and making characters. What one person might view as evil might be selfish, antagonistic or villainous to someone else. It's important to establish terms between parties before entering into any contract, including social contracts

[@flibbernodgets7018]

My favorite example of how an (in this case Lawful) Evil character can work with a party of good characters is in StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void when Artanis and co. work with Alarak, who is a high-ranking member of a brutal society that worships the BBEG. The "good guys" help Alarak overthrow the old leader and become dictator, and he in turn helps them fight the BBEG. Alarak is such a fun character! His attitude is summed up very well in this quote, during his duel with the old leader: "You cannot oppose Amon and win. You will lead our people to ruin, Alarak!" "You're right about one thing, Ma'Lash; I *will* rule them!" Also, his voice actor is John de Lancie, who played Q in Star Trek: TNG, who doed such a good job sounding arrogant and snarky.

[@tay-dor7147]

Another reason an evil character might save their kidnapped friend is this: If they didn't that'd be sending a message to his enemies that he is weak, that he allowed an enemy to kidnap one of his associates and did nothing about it. Regardless if he likes the kidnapped character, he can't let the insult of his associate being kidnapped go unanswered.

[@mikep6263]

I've always found that Karl Edward Wagner's character Kane made a good template for an evil PC. He's evil to the core, but not in a maniacal way--sometimes, he's even sympathetic or kind, as long as it benefits him. Good reading if you don't mind paying a small fortune for his works, which have sadly been out of print for many years.

[@bensaylor9093]

Thanks for another awesome video, Mr. Skorkowski.

[@amberlyveil8856]

"Truth does not do as much good in the world as its counterfeits do evil. " -Daniil Dankovsky, Pathologic 2

[@grimkaizer8417]

In 4E I played a Revenant Warlord named "Tyrant" who was Lawful Evil. In life he was a brutal but efficient King who killed the corrupt aristocracy and drafted a plan to defeat his Kingdom's existential enemy but on the campaign trail my army got attacked by an elder dragon. I survived but only long enough to return to my city where it was being sacked by Drow. Now some hundred years later I was brought back to get my revenge and also stop the Dragon invasion. So even tho the rest the party were Good, we had a shared goal, Tyrant respected talent and merit above all, and would mesh with the party in critical moments. And the natural conflicts born between us was in RP heavy social moments or during a moral dilemma. It was a blast.

[@irkalla100]

As someone who likes to muddy alignment systems just for writing purposes, this is all excellent advice! I've made the most villainous clerics and honorable bandits because it's fun. It's immersive! If done right it is enjoyable for everyone.

[@Snarkwraith]

This kinda makes me think about how I had a character with a negative character arc, a wizard twilight sage that venerated undeath (specifically vampires) who went full necromancer half way through (partially because I wanted to use a feat that was pretty evil: soul-powered magic). She would do whatever was needed to learn knowledge short of forming pacts with higher powers (she wanted to have power that she achieved on through her own means and she didn't want anything to be able to hold power over her). She was neutral with some callous pragmatic tendencies at the start and over the course of the campaign she began the path to vampirism, first by becoming a dhampir, then later a full vampire of a unique bloodline she ended up creating herself. That was when I shifted her alignment since it felt fitting and I had the idea that now that she was a step closer to undead her empathy/moral inhibitions lowered so she would go farther with experiments than before. Later in the campaign the party needed to get into a city so she started a cult of necromancy within it to get some insiders, but during that arc she was taken by surprise by the cult's genuine dedication and passion for learning magic so she kept them and looked after them. Long story short she became evil but never really paraded it around and since they were working for a dubious empire she was able to secure some "research materials/magical ritual components" and she would steal souls of those who made themselves her enemies but would generally remain cordial and respectful of the party/general npcs (other than one person she had a genuine hatred for but never killed that character out of courtesy to that character's sibling who had joined her following). She was on pretty good terms with most of the party, other than the one, and even in the last bit of the story where the party did something that really made her untrusting and dissatisfied with the group she still helped with the last bit when the sibling character made a pact with her. Evil was never really part of her goal, her end goal for gathering as much power as she could was strictly so she would be equal in power to the most powerful, it was more of a defensive mindset than a "I want to conquer the world" mindset... which is good since it was a mythic campaign she actually ended up becoming an actual deity lol (wasn't exactly planned but I found a mythic feat that gave her domains and the rest kinda just fell in naturally since I nat 20'd some REEEAAALLY threatening/substantial checks). She looks after her own and if it weren't for the amoral magical experimentation and the soul stealing, she'd probably still be neutral, though likely would still be somewhat callously pragmatic.

[@FinbarGallagher]

I think that the alignment system and the perceived restriction it places on the moral compass of characters are why so many players make their characters Chaotic Neutral (To the point it has essentially become something veteran players consider taboo - Chaotic Stupid). Players, especially newer ones, don't want their characters to always act morally evil or morally good, so they pick one of the Neutral Alignments since they perceive that as giving them the most freedom in roleplay. It's one of the main gripes I have with D&D, but it isn't necessarily game-breaking for me, though it does bring to light one of the things I love about games like CoC and especially Delta Green, there's nothing that gives the impression one's character has to have certain ethics/morals (or lack thereof.) Hell, in Delta Green morally ambiguous behaviour is practically a necessity, especially when it's for good reasons. Excellent video as always, Seth

[@c.cooper2877]

There are so many characters in fantasy fiction who are evil but not villainous -- thank you for making that distinction!