Otherwise the next installment is delayed until further notice.

The previous two installments of D4rkVision only touched on motives driving the PC's. Most PC's have the motive to earn gold and magic items from villainous monsters.  This drive goes on with each success.  Evil PC's, when played wrong, tend to hinder these successes, however this does not always need to be the case.

So how do you drive PC's forward when presented with the obstacle of an Evil PC?  Often this has to do with the way the player of the Evil PC goes about his/her characters actions.  So what should be done?  I had hinted that the DM can help prevent this from happening before the game begins by setting ground rules.  Rule number one always being "All PC's need to work together in some way." Whether or not this is the same way between all players is up to the players themselves.

If these ground rules are bent to extreme situations and the player of the Evil PC starts getting out of hand, there are some steps that can be taken.  And at the same time I will address one of the readers questions:

"One question I always have (due to the way in which 4E PCs tend to be more powerful than just about everybody else in a campaign world) is how do you deal with a party of evil characters who don't respect the important npcs of the world? ...whether it be murdering kings and squashing the town guard or using a potentially abusive ritual such as Fool's Gold to cheat the rest of the world out of items and money... How do you handle an evil party abusing your 4E campaign world without using the 'Arrow Through The Neck' technique or something similar? Johnny_angel"

I'm sure that everyone knows the phrase "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." This can be applied to player actions in game.  The DM should decide whether or not an action deserves immediate reaction(such as the evil pc yelling out the position of the party and attracting the attention of the enemies) or can have a later consequence(Burning the scroll of Asmodeus sets off a chain of events that bring rise to the event that the PC's were trying to prevent in the first place).  Lets take a look quickly at two of the actions in the question above.

1. The potentially abusive ritual 'Fool's Gold' doesn't last forever, maybe long enough to cheat NPC merchants out of supplies, but it will have consequences.  It is up to you as a DM to decide the full extent of these consequences, however, that merchant who was just swindled out of his wares will likely want to hunt the PC's down to get what they owe.  Maybe a hired assassin, or elite bounty hunters. Give the players a few days from the transaction, then put them up against a group of bounty hunters or the assassin, or whatever choice you've made.  The real trick here is to capture the PC's not kill the characters.
2. Murdering the King/Crushing the Town Guard can have either immediate repercussions or similar repercussions to the above.  Town guard and even NPC kings don't need to be low level compared to the PC's, If they do however kill the aforementioned town residents, have them hunted once the body(bodies) are discovered, again - try not to kill the PC's, capture is what you are leaning toward.

Now these two above examples aren't necessarily the actions of Evil PC's, however are enough to ruin any game.  Another way to stop things from getting out of hand with an Evil PC(aside from completely disallowing one) is to give that PC a reason to continue working with the party, and not actively against them. This is another point I hinted in the first installment.  Again, Evil PC's have motives and reasons to adventure just as much as their non-evil PC counterparts in the party.  Maybe the evil PC was crossed by the main villain and was seeking a way to get vengeance, the good PC's have another reason for seeking out the same villain and meting out justice.  If the Evil PC isn't the one who strikes the final blow?  Sometimes this can set off an internal rivalry, other times it can set off the Evil PC to the point of in-fighting(an issue that can steer DM's away from allowing an Evil PC in the first place).

Internal party rivalries can be a good thing for driving PC's forward.  Try to keep it from going too far though, because this can lead to other problems and eventual breakup of the gaming group.

This brings up the second half of this installment.  Sharing the spotlight; in my experience as a player and as a DM, there are players who don't want to share the spotlight, always wanting the attention and focus of the game centered on them and on their character. These aren't necessarily the players of Evil characters, though those are included. What to do?  Make sure your players understand that they wont always be the center of attention, or if they insist, have every monster/enemy/encounter somehow center attention on that PC to the point that the player wants not to be in that spotlight all the time.

Be sure to Reward player in game actions.  If the rogue busts down a door that the stronger, and often larger, fighter wasn't able to, ensure that the fighter gets some credit for that success.  This way the players who were attempting to break down the door will be sharing that spotlight.

That's all for this week, Be sure to show up next time.  Also be sure to leave comments on the D4rkVision Blog thread with topic suggestions, questions or even offering advice of your own.

Next Week: BahBah Black Sheep.

This is a continuation from the first episode of D4rkVision.  In the first episode we discussed the initial introduction to playing an Evil PC.  Part two here will discuss how to deal with players who go too far with their alignment, specifically related to Lawful Good and Evil PC's.  DM's have all had that player who play the Lawful Good Paladin who wants to kill evildoers before they even do anything.  I've been a player on the end of a paladin's blade because of the Paladin's detect evil ability.  My main argument, I haven't done anything evil near you.  This changed the way my DM at the time thought on Evil characters(PC's specifically).

This was a quite annoying thing to have happen to me and this was back when I played in 3rd edition(3/3.5), when paladins were restricted to a single alignment.  In the current edition any class can be any alignment, most people however stick with Lawful Good, Good and Unaligned with the reasoning that the books only support that.  I allow my players(when I have them) to play any alignment they want, even the Evil and Chaotic Evil pair.  Chaotic Evil characters tend to be the more destructive of characters, from setting buildings on fire to cutting random people apart, DM's have an easy time justifying playing this alignment on their end.

Do players have just as easy of a time?  Not really, though its not entirely because they don't know how to play the Chaotic Evil alignment.  Its more because players of chaotic evil characters rarely know where the line should be drawn, tending toward flying overboard.  What happens?  Most often the game becomes less fun and the players of the non-evil characters get upset.

How does the DM know when the Evil PC is going overboard?  First clues usually start subtly, maybe a bit of in-fighting among the PC's, an accusation laid against another PC.  It becomes more obvious when the in-fighting results in PC vs. PC.  The trick is to keep the PC's on track, guiding them away from the growing disruptive behavior.  At the end of the session(or even on a break in the game), take the player of that evil PC, or in some cases the good/lawful aligned PC, and discuss their in game actions with them. Explain how those actions are affecting the overall game fun.

Going back a little to the first of this series, there is a second question the DM should be asking.  Though this question is one that the DM has to determine the answer.  Is this player mature and responsible enough to handle an evil pc? This is a judgement call on the DM's part, if you(as DM) feel that the player will not be able to handle the evil, then that player should be advised against playing an Evil character.

It is quite often that an Evil PC gets played by less than prime candidate and the play gets disrupted.  How to handle this? Simple, set down some rules before you begin, and stick to them.  This goes both for full groups of Evil characters as well as for an individual within a group of good/unaligned characters.  Yes this even applies for those of you who DM earlier editions.

Next time: Driving the Motives & Sharing the spotlight with evil PC's and NPC's.

As an introduction to this blog, I would like to welcome you and introduce you all to the idea behind this thread.  I may not have years of DMing under my belt, however as a DM I have discovered that other DM's and even players seem to have an issue with playing or including Evil PC's in their games.  Playing good characters seems to be what many agree to, however in D&D and other games there is always room for going against the norm.

This being said, lets take a walk through moral ambiguity and the implications of evil. The PHB defines Evil as Tyranny and Hatred. This is a pretty basic definition for this alignment, a more complete definition of the evil alignment is on the very next page and actually echoes my thoughts on such an alignment.  Evil characters don't necessarily go out of their way to hurt people, but they're willing to take advantage of the weaknesses of others to acquire what they want.

As a DM this is pretty simple to play with, for example you might have a Warlord NPC who hires the PC's to help him "defend" his lands from invaders.  Seems like a good thing on the surface right, however in reality this warlord might actually be the tyrant leader of a people who drove the original peoples of this land from their homes and is now guarding against their return by exploiting the PC's desire to hold peace and freedom for those living there.  Yup, it's that simple for a DM to play an evil character.  But... What about the Players?  Can they play characters who are evil, but act like they are good?  Or do players see the alignment of Evil as an excuse to do whatever they want in game?

Lets explore this a little further.  First, I have played characters who were PC's of a non-standard alignment.  The trick is not to go overboard, let the DM know your PC is evil, and that this PC is going to do what he wants at times in order to get what he/she feels he/he needs.  The DM will likely need to ask one simple question before allowing it; Will he co-operate with others to attain his/her goals?  Likely the PC in question has a reason behind using the other PC's to get this goal completed. Maybe its because he/she doesn't like what would happen if the main antagonist of the story were to win, or succeed at a plot that conflicts with that of the Evil PC. Should the DM work with his/her players to help define the PC's goals and reasons? Yes, this helps keep the game fun for all.  This is all too often forgotten by seasoned and unseasoned DM's and players alike.

So the answer to the co-operation question is yes, what's next?  Goals, every PC and NPC needs a goal or reason for existing.  NPC's who farm, farm to make money for their families and food for their king/emperor/lord.  PC's are probably being driven by the need to get gold, the wanderlust of their character or just the overall desire to do something in the world.  Evil PC's have these goals too, though they might not be as pleasant sounding.  Stop the Evil NPC from ruining the Evil PC's plans, get rich etc.  Most times this coincides with the Good PC's goals, who are trying to save the world from the Evil NPC.  If it doesn't directly, then the DM should be working with his players to ensure that the goals have some sort of symmetrical reasons that lead to a similar place.

Does the game end for the Evil PC when the BBEG is finished off? No, the Evil PC may have grown fond of his allies, who by now probably also are aware of his less than kind alignment, and wish to continue adventuring with this group.  Maybe the BBEG that was finished off was only a henchman/henchwoman of the real enemy, and the real enemy still plans on going forward with his/her plan.  In this way the Evil PC can continue along with the group, still seeking to attain his/her goal and stop the real enemy.

Next time: What to do about Evil PC's who go overboard?  Or, Give me a Break - you seriously want to do that?