Sunday, February 10, 2013

Neutral Evil

Neutral Evil is going to read very similarly to the Neutral Good character. This is a person who cares about themselves more than anyone else, but isn't fanatic about it. They'll break the law, but only if the reward is worth the risk. If they can get out of trouble through a loophole, they'll definitely take it, but they aren't looking for the loopholes and may not be committing crimes just to use this trick.

Much as a Neutral Good character is one we could see ourselves being under the right circumstances, we can easily see ourselves becoming Neutral Evil under the wrong ones. Casual greed defines so much of our culture, and it is only a small step down the path.

Evil works so well for antagonists that this is also an alignment that is interesting to see from places of low and high power. An average Neutral Evil person may coerce people to give him things; he may find a lost wallet and take the money before leaving it in a lost and found box. A Neutral Evil character in power may falsely charge somebody with a crime to extort a bribe, but would actually release that citizen and leave them alone if they paid up without causing any trouble.

The lack of conviction, or the swaying between lawful and chaotic actions, makes these characters difficult to read, and harder to trust. By not being extreme, they become far scarier in tense situations.

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