Re: [DL] {DL} Playing the Dark Side

["Dave Haendler" <DHaendl1@swarthmore.edu>]

> Let me lay this one out here for youse guys... should players be able to
create outright evil PC's?  If so, how would one work them in to a campaign?
>
> I think I'm opening a can o' worms here... heh heh heh.... :)

     You're treading in pretty dangerous territory when you make evil
characters. A genuinely selfish and mean-spirited PC can royally screw up a
posse in less time than it takes you to say, "Holy Mephistopheles, Batman!"
Just think of all the stupid, counterproductive, and dangerous things that
player characters do be accident when they're trying to be good and heroic.
Now think of someone who will do all that stuff ON PURPOSE. Unless the
Marshall wants to run a game where half the session consists of ducking
lawmen, fighting off lynch mobs, and trying to keep one player's actions
from dragging everyone else down, totally self-serving characters are a
no-no.

     On the other hand, an evil character who knows how to work well with
others can be a blast to play. In my last Deadlands game, I was playing a
Mad Scientist who mocked the faiths of the Blessed, lied frequently, and got
his laboratory equipment by theft and fraud. He was a selfish, hateful man,
and role-playing him was a total blast. However, because I didn't do
anything like betray the party or wantonly get into trouble, he worked
reasonably well with the rest of the group (which needed an investigative
character, anyway). The moral: evil can work, but only when done in a proper
and orderly fashion.

                                        ---Ghoull