Sat 6 Dec, 2008
Should players be allowed to run evil characters? Does this make life difficult for the GM? Could it make the player themself evil? Can they actually play evil well?
2 Responses to “Evil PCs?”
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cara says:
In some games. I don’t think they should be playing ‘evil’ characters in a campaign with other players that aren’t also evil, semi-evil, or neutral. Party cohesion is somewhat important…. The GM tends to get upset when the party members are killing each other…. depending which character is dying. Some PCs need killing. I don’t think that playing evil character makes people evil, I think that you’re either going to end up with a badly played evil character or the player is already conniving enough, or smart enough to play the evil character. Some players are good at playing evil characters, but some people shouldn’t be allowed to. Some people can only manage some form of neutral, but it’s bad when they try to play evil characters. In my opinion, it really depends on which players are involved.
katie says:
One could make an argument for playing an evil character as an outlet for any diabolic thoughts that are totally unacceptable in real life. It’s also kind of fun for the players to fight good for once–sometimes having foes that are a lot like their own characters.
It depends on how the GM runs it. There are pretty much two methods: First, there’s the larger than life, where you gloss over the worst and it happens behind the scenes and out of play. Most people are more comfortable here. Second, there’s the dark. You need both more mature players and GMs, but it gives players a chance to interact with a different side of their characters’ world. It can be a very useful tool for the GM and give the players more of a feeling of depth. They also learn a lot more about their foes.
Since evil doesn’t cooperate, you can still have the PCs fighting evil–they just do it in a very different manner. And if, at the end of the campaign, it becomes PC against PC…that can be pretty fun for the players too. During the course of it, though, it can be a bit of a pain. Thus, the GM should encourage subtle conniving and betrayals. Evil doesn’t have to be stupid and brutish.