Why Be Evil?

[*MimiFearthegn]

I really don't think that factional RP is end of all.

. . .

For a fiend or a celestial who's only visiting Sigil on their way elsewhere their own inherit "factional" distinctions of good/evil will be more important.

It doesn't have to be the "end of all" for your character. Its just the means-to-the-end if you're searching for power or to "be someone" in the city.

If your character is just the outsider or clueless "passing through" then factions are confusing and weird and probably don't fit the character. That character's goals probably also lie outside of the city of Sigil, and so "ultimate power in Sigil" isn't an issue.

So what incentive do they have to do evil acts? You can make more money by adventuring with less risk then mugging robbing or murdering some one. The only way to gain power in sigil is from a faction and the factions themselves aren't striving for more power so eventually you will be stuck there. No gods or invading force can enter sigil so using sigil as a platform to launch invasions on other planes, while it would be a neat plot, simply cant happen in sigil.

. . .the fun of RP? Seriously, we are a light RP server, which is without a main campaign 50% of the time. If you want to push forward PC plots, then you have to assume some basics in the world, and create some motivation for your character.

If greed is just about your gold count, then yes, greed is boring. But the fun part of RP interaction is playing a greedy character, not the actual amassing of gold (though being a merchant is quite practical for being both greedy and amassing gold!). The fun of being power-hungry is maneuvering your PC towards a position of power, climbing the ranks, and rallying people to advance your agenda.

My point is - your motivation for "being evil" is that you want to play a character with evil quirks. The fact that everyone gets rewarded the same for doing certain mechanical things isn't really important; what matters at the end of the day is whatever your character thinks will get them to their goal the fastest, and the sort of story you enjoy telling.

Oh, and you can totally launch an invasion from Sigil. You don't need gods to ambush unsuspecting planes. :)

[*Strawberry Jam]

I think the feeling of a police state is more of a result of the design and small scale of the server. Where you can't represent crowded streets and a market place that takes half a day to get thru. The small scale means it's easier to keep an eye on everything and the harmonium npc patrols cover more effective ground and much faster than in a 1:1 representation of Sigil.


As for evil, the way I see it is two fold. One it might be fun to play a bad hero, then there's ppl that want to play a villain. I think the idea of playing evil as a villain is essentially flawed for any collaborative experience. A DM that runs a plot can do things that a player can't, an npc villain isn't spending 99% of their downtime socializing and humanizing with the heroes. Well they might be but that would be a pretty big plot twist which leads to the final essential flaw. A villain usually dies, end of plot, no respawns.

I think the umbrella of thievery in general is more of a chaotic thing than it is evil. Murder is usually evil but it depends on context. Here's another flaw in d&d, the alignment system is intended for humanoid characters with humanoid morals. Sources for monsters will sometimes contradict humanoid morals for example fey often do actions that a human might consider evil while maintaining a good alignment. Some settings regard all fey as evil while their alignment tends to be mostly good. Animals are often violent if they feel threatened and may kill but they're not evil, they're mostly neutral. Likewise killing an animal doesn't make a humanoid character evil as the context is different.

Some things are seen as irredeemably evil, they usually involve the destruction or damnation of a soul. I say usually because then there's a caveat that the "god" of a petitioner can use them any which way they need, sometimes merging them with the domain. Tho this does make devils and demons evil cos they use souls for personal gain just to get ahead.


I think good/evil antagonism is a pretty pointless reason to play an evil character on a server that doesn't support pvp. It's more like flavor text rather than something which significantly changes your style of play. Most of the leveling areas are also evil/neutral aligned, only 1 I think is good aligned.

[*RavenousB]

For me, i just think up a character and play it. I think that is the best way to go about things, but other people can disagree. If you play a devil or warlock or etc then you can play a calculating irredeemable villain. As undead, deathknight, etc you can play a cold and emotionless character with no regard to morality. You can play a smooth criminal with shady morals. There are a lot of different types of characters with all sorts of motivations, goals, or even a lack there of. The same can be said about any alignment. It's more about the character you are playing then a desire to play an individual alignment.

[*Embersworn]

That's why the factions and thus law in sigil is the key for anyone other then chaotic (which i don't think you can be a chaotic aasimon or devil)

Aasimon can have any Good alignment (they must because otherwise they'd be unable to act as servants to CG or NG deitites, for an example), though LG is the most common one (CG or NG divine messengers usually are Guardinals or Asuras).
Archons are always LG.

Still, a canon Aasimon would find it very hard to stay with any Sigilian faction outside of maybe Sensates or Indeps.

[*Mr_Otyugh]

CG or NG divine messengers usually ale Guardinals

I know this one was a typo, emphasis added by me, but I just have to comment. That's one celestial build to party.

[*Strawberry Jam]

Guardinals would be neat if someone would make more animal heads. =)