From: pentangl@spdcc.com (Scott Moir)
Subject: Re: Evil PC's without "Just hack-n-slash" and other problems?
Organization: S.P. Dyer Computer Consulting, Cambridge MA
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 1992 13:01:00 GMT

In article <BtpG7p.M79@acsu.buffalo.edu> dudek@acsu.buffalo.edu (David T. Dudek) writes:
>As a DM, I think that the alignment aspect of a character (PC, NPC, or
>monster) is very important to role-playing in AD&D.  I try to make sure
>that PC alignments are followed to some degree, although I'll never tell a
>player what to do.

Nor should you. I allow my players to be any alignment they want -including-
evil characters. Remember that it is YOUR responsibility to make the world
react to what the players to do/with/in it. Not just in the Dungeon, but in
towns, on the road, in temples, etc.. 

A group working with evil characters in it will get a rep based upon its
actions. If a player isn't doing what he should for his alignment, it changes.
Fine by me.. 

Say a paladin walks by the group in town and he notice the evil character,
or better yet, sees the character doing something Really Bad. They group is
going to have to deal with the paladin and his bretheren hunting down the
scourge that has had the gall to show its face before Their Mighty Wrath.

Being evil allows a degree of freedom, but it also causes a number of
restrictions. IF the DM is doing things correctly.
>- a character that was truly played as Absolute Chaotic or Evil would not
>  be trusted by his/her fellow PC's, and would rarely cooperate.
>
>- if one PC was of one of these alignments, it would not really allow any
>  of the other players to play Good characters (especially paladins and
>  rangers) because they would not associate with characters of the
>  aforementioned alignments.

Don't you see that this is part of the interplay that is SUPPOSED to happen
in the game? If you have a ranger and an evil character in the group, do
you think the ranger would just wander off? I would thing he would try to
'rehabilitate' the evildoer, or at the very least make every attempt to
not allow the evil character to do Bad Things.

Personalities clash sometimes. I am currently running a group that has
neutral and good characters, with one evil thief/mage... The group
-doesn't- trust this person, but they are on a mission, and they have
been chosen to work togther because of timing and urgency. They CAN'T split
up. It makes for interesting play. The players enjoy it too.

I have run a long-time game (9+ years) that has a few evil characters,
and some of the socio-political things that have happened have been really
interesting. 

Don't fall into the trap of thinking 'Oh, they wouldn't work together.',
let THEM figure that out. It is YOUR job to make certain that they are all
acting in character and alignment. If the evil doer decides that the heat is
too bad, then they will leave. But that isn't YOUR choice to make.

>- the game would be reduced to "kill it and get the treasure".

Only if you let it. Killing anything has consequences. Indescriminate
killing has even more dire ones.

>How could I as a DM and the players allow Chaotic or Evil characters in the
>party while still adhering to alignment and keeping the game interesting?

Creativity and actually refereeing the game. I will admit, there is one thing
that I do differently. When I run a game, I am telling a story. I let the
players help me write it. They are the main characters in it, after all. There
are many times that I don't know the final resolution of an adventure. I write
out the basics and the setting, but that gets updated and edited between every
session. It makes for a more realistic world, a more challenging game. It is
lmost like chess. Me on one side, the players on the other. Yes, I can kill
them all at a stroke, but like I said, I'm telling a story. I like to see how
it turns out too...

Scott

-- 
Scott Moir / Pentangle / Satyr ______ # "There's really only one requirement 
pentangl@Ursa-Major.spdcc.com  \ \/ / #  for a Prophet, and you've got it."
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These are my opinions, not SPDCC's    # "A mouth." - 'God' to J.R.'BoB' Dobbs