| "Hello, My Name is Boris, and I Am An Evil Bastard" | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Aug 21 2011, 01:40 PM (300 Views) | |
| kismetrose | Aug 21 2011, 01:40 PM Post #1 |
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Last night, in a discussion with one Teh Players(TM), he expressed a sentiment that I've heard many times before: "No one really believes they're evil." That notion hasn't entirely set well with me in real life for a number of reasons, but mostly because it's just too pat to account for the way humans can view themselves. But since we've been playing in an evil campaign with a wide variety of evil people, it gave me pause to consider it in a gaming context. What it comes down to, for me, is a spectrum, and I tried to express the whole of that spectrum in the NPCs of Thay. Some people really don't see themselves, their motives, or their actions as evil. An NPC from our game who embodies that perfectly is the bard Gulyas, who you can read more about at the bottom of this page. Gulyas aimed to be the life of every party and to enjoy every pleasure he could because that was the whole point of living. He knew that not everyone would agree with him, but he didn't understand why his "partners" would get so fearful, angry, or hateful over it. He was always generous with gold and finery and compliments, so he just figured that they couldn't be happy when they had it good. They were recalcitrant, too stupid, or too attached to silly moral codes to see a grand opportunity for fun and profit. (He never really understood how the word "pedophile" could be held in such low regard. Yes, the man was all kinds of fucked up.) Some people know that some of their actions have been evil, bad, wrong, hurtful, and tainted, but they find some way to deal with it. Some folks feel guilt, even if it wasn't enough to stop them from doing it in the first place and even if it won't stop them from doing it again. Other folks harden themselves and believe it was necessary. Some fear when it will happen again or even look forward to it because it is wrong and forbidden. The cleric Belza is a fine example of this state. As the head of a noble household in a major port, she knows she'll have to be willing to do very nasty things very quickly to protect herself and her family. When the ugly choices come due, she will be the one expected to call the shots, and she's already accepted that she will do what needs to be done. If someone's made her mad enough, she might even enjoy it. But overall, she finds it distasteful, generally wasteful, and tries to keep it to a minimum. And then there are people who know they're bad and make no apologies for it. Boris has been a hard son of a bitch for so long that he no longer questions when it began or why, if he ever cared about such things. Life is cruel, and so is he - but he will also see to it that things get done. There's no need to dress it up for people, especially in his own household, and he enjoys making others suffer. The power (and their ridiculousness) tickles him. But he rarely gets carried away with it, and everything is applied toward his greater ends, which include benefits for his family. Other family members have come to see him as a necessary evil; he's usually a fantastic asshole to deal with, but he keeps things running smoothly and isn't as much of a direct tyrant as others would be. His prudence and cunning have kept them wealthy with far less bloodshed than there could've been. For Boris, it's not just about what's necessary. He accepts what he is and what he'll do, and judgments of "right" and "wrong" can go fuck themselves. So, I'd be more inclined to say that few people believe they're wrong, and most folks have ways to rationalize it away when they are. But even that doesn't encompass the case very well. =/ Edited by kismetrose, Aug 21 2011, 01:40 PM.
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1:25 AM Jul 11