Friendship is Dragons
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Page 1684 - Disbelieve It
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Newbiespud
30th Apr 2022, 6:00 AM
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Belkar: Would I lie to you?
Roy: Yes
Belkar: Okay, would I lie if I didn't have anything to gain from it?
Roy: Yes
Belkar: I mean, if I didn't have anything to gain, no one had anything to lose, and it wouldn't be real funny?
Roy: ... possibly.
Roy: Yes
Belkar: Okay, would I lie if I didn't have anything to gain from it?
Roy: Yes
Belkar: I mean, if I didn't have anything to gain, no one had anything to lose, and it wouldn't be real funny?
Roy: ... possibly.
You beat me to it. Fun fact, I'm actually planning to play a halfling ranger with barbarian-dips in homage to Belkar for my next character.
The best thing I love about Belkar that that since his "turn" towards being more "good" it has only made him funnier with his snark. He is an excellent example of how to get a murderhobo to work with a mostly good-natured party.
Belkar got tired of pulling easy pranks on the party. Roy learned how to utilize Belkar. Belkar developed attachments to animals, and eventually to the rest of the party as well. And then he learned how fun it can be as an "evil hero"
And he's even made the "ultimate extreme apology", literally saying sorry to anyone who isn't his animal companions for the first time in his life.
Plus Bloodfeast and Mr Scruffy are legitimately intelligent and awesome in their own rights, which adds to his character in turn.
Plus Bloodfeast and Mr Scruffy are legitimately intelligent and awesome in their own rights, which adds to his character in turn.
I’ve made an Evil-aligned character who would work well enough in a Good-aligned party. He’s an assassin, a contract killer, for an organization that… Isn’t exactly good. Think the Mafia, but it’s not “protection money”, it’s… “Insurance payments”. You pay, you’re insured against contracts up to some amount relative to what you pay. You don’t pay, well… They’re not gonna waste resources going after you, but if a contract comes up, they’re not gonna simply ignore it. And they’re not against doing, shall we say, “legal contracts”.
And all this leads into how he’d work in a Good party. He has one goal: kill his target. He’s not above using any tool he can get his hands on to do it. And an ill-treated tool doesn’t work well for long, so he treats his tools well. Kills besides his contract, or those who stand between him and his contract, are pointless, wastes of resources, he doesn’t do ‘em. He’s not allowed to accept uncontracted payment, or contracts that don’t go through his Boss, so he doesn’t get any of the party’s loot, as there’s an unwritten contract within adventuring parties concerning loot and how it belongs to the party… Gifts aren’t payment, though.
So… Yeah. Good-aligned party, he wouldn’t clash too badly. A good Evil party, he’d fit right in. Stupid Evil or Murderhobo party? Well, he knows exactly what to do with those who risk his mission…
And all this leads into how he’d work in a Good party. He has one goal: kill his target. He’s not above using any tool he can get his hands on to do it. And an ill-treated tool doesn’t work well for long, so he treats his tools well. Kills besides his contract, or those who stand between him and his contract, are pointless, wastes of resources, he doesn’t do ‘em. He’s not allowed to accept uncontracted payment, or contracts that don’t go through his Boss, so he doesn’t get any of the party’s loot, as there’s an unwritten contract within adventuring parties concerning loot and how it belongs to the party… Gifts aren’t payment, though.
So… Yeah. Good-aligned party, he wouldn’t clash too badly. A good Evil party, he’d fit right in. Stupid Evil or Murderhobo party? Well, he knows exactly what to do with those who risk his mission…
There's a number of ways to make an evil hero work with a good-aligned party.
One is "Yeah, I'm evil, but my boss is a rival of the BBEG; I'm willing to work with the Good Guys and even temporarily play nice in the name of defeating that guy."
Another is "Yeah, I'm (lawful) evil. I'm also extremely self-interested. I'm willing to take legitimate contracts, as long as they pay. Mind you, I'd be happy to take evil contracts as well, but only if I can talk my non-evil meatshields into it..."
One is "Yeah, I'm evil, but my boss is a rival of the BBEG; I'm willing to work with the Good Guys and even temporarily play nice in the name of defeating that guy."
Another is "Yeah, I'm (lawful) evil. I'm also extremely self-interested. I'm willing to take legitimate contracts, as long as they pay. Mind you, I'd be happy to take evil contracts as well, but only if I can talk my non-evil meatshields into it..."
“‘Meatshields’? That sounds like a terrible mistreatment of tools. Tools only work well if they’re cared for properly. You don’t have to be nice about it, of course, but a broken tool is useless to anyone.”