Roleplaying Lawful Evil

[Neo10101]

Hey all, one of my friends is starting up a Mass Effect Campaign and I decided to roleplay a drell assassin (similar to Thane), however I decided to be Lawful Evil and follow the lawfulness of the compact with the Hanar, however evil the other rest, killing, my habits outside of the compact, etc. Now don't have to much experience roleplaying Lawful Evil so I was wondering if some roleplayers could give me some tips, or just some ideas of what someone lawful evil would do in just day to day lives, dealing with others, hard situations, quick thinking, etc. Thanks all.

 

[s0p0g]

FIRST!

ooh, a tough one
congratulations. LE is the hardest d&d scheme to play (no, not absolute neutral, as that is bull and in general not possible), imho & those of my friends

maybe it'll help to think about the two parts of the alignment seperately, and what they mean to both you and the character, and THEN what they mean when put together

what is lawful? - i think that's rather easy, as the definition is quite clear, i suppose
what is evil? - that's the tricky part. at least if you do not translate "evil" with "being a dickhead" (the latter isn't evil, it's stupid. for refernece: see all the really cool villains in books or movies or plays or...; i do not think the cool villains are those who eff around "just 'cause")

what are the goals of the character?
what are chraracter traits/values/moral ideas he follows/holds dear and why?
[maybe add some more questions here]

and when you can answer all of the above seperately, throw the answers into a nice big bowl and stir it until properly mixed, and then you'll know what the character would do in certain given situations.

if you aren't sure, why don't go through some situations (which should have more than just two options, and if only two then please not those plain choices we have to see in newer bioware games (KotOr, MEffect, DA)) in your head and think about what you see as the most probable and characteristic reaction of the character


p.s.: if the above, in parts or as a whole, doesn't make much sense, please forgive me, as i worked all night and i am tired and hungry and english ain't my native language and thus i might not be able to express what i mean in exactly the way i actually want ^^

 

[Neo10101]

FIRST!

ooh, a tough one
congratulations. LE is the hardest d&d scheme to play (no, not absolute neutral, as that is bull and in general not possible), imho & those of my friends

maybe it'll help to think about the two parts of the alignment seperately, and what they mean to both you and the character, and THEN what they mean when put together

what is lawful? - i think that's rather easy, as the definition is quite clear, i suppose
what is evil? - that's the tricky part. at least if you do not translate "evil" with "being a dickhead" (the latter isn't evil, it's stupid. for refernece: see all the really cool villains in books or movies or plays or...; i do not think the cool villains are those who eff around "just 'cause")

what are the goals of the character?
what are chraracter traits/values/moral ideas he follows/holds dear and why?
[maybe add some more questions here]

and when you can answer all of the above seperately, throw the answers into a nice big bowl and stir it until properly mixed, and then you'll know what the character would do in certain given situations.

if you aren't sure, why don't go through some situations (which should have more than just two options, and if only two then please not those plain choices we have to see in newer bioware games (KotOr, MEffect, DA)) in your head and think about what you see as the most probable and characteristic reaction of the character


p.s.: if the above, in parts or as a whole, doesn't make much sense, please forgive me, as i worked all night and i am tired and hungry and english ain't my native language and thus i might not be able to express what i mean in exactly the way i actually want ^^

well, the goals of the character would be baiscally just to live out life and not be put down, baiscally to live life unhindered, except for when Hanars (especially the one he is close to) asks him to do things because he has a lot of respect for them.

His traits revolve around killing because hes agreed to do the killing for a specific hanar, among other questionable requests, and his traits more or less revolve around the killing, he has very little recognition for life other than hanars and some drell, unless those in question can help him further certain objectives or help him later.

what he holds dear is his relation to his well known hanar, that is mostly it, and his relation to his weapons.

 

[crudus]

Lawful evil represents methodical, intentional, organized evil(to quote the Pathfinder core rulebook). They are evil, but honor tradition or a code of conduct. They may murder hundreds, but not murder women and/or children for example.

Notable LE characters: Magneto and Boba Fett.

 

[RaNDM G]

Lawful Evil is very hard to pull off since most games link being evil to being a total asshole (ie: Fable, Fallout, anything with a morality counter). Instead you should follow a code focused on staying in a position of power. A good example of a Lawful Evil character in fiction would be Darth Vader, who maintains the Empire's control of the galaxy through the use of force.

Here's a basic guideline of how to act Lawful Evil:

Step 1: Follow the law and respect the authority of others. That doesn't mean you can't do anything dastardly, but you can basically do whatever you want by exploiting legal loopholes.

Step 2: Be selfish. Horde everything for yourself and don't give anyone else a cent's worth of charity unless they have something to offer you in return.

Step 3: Associate with criminals often.

Step 4: Threaten or corrupt others into doing your bidding, preferably in a manner which doesn't leave a trace back to you.

Step 5: Destroy evidence and tie-up all loose ends.

Step 6: Don't kill unless the situation calls for it.

By doing this, everyone will know you're a bad enough dude, but you will also be respected as somewhat of a criminal mastermind.

BTW: Shouldn't this be in the off-topic or gaming sections?