[RPG] What to do about a morally ambiguous character heading towards evil

alignmentpathfinder-1e

I'm currently involved in a really fun campaign with close friends and am running a PC with a troubled past. The character is Chaotic Neutral and has typically exhibited not entirely consistent characteristics: on the one hand, he's greedy, coarse and violent; on the other, he often stands up for those who can't stand up for themselves, who would be victimized (e.g., he might advocate for a wrongfully condemned man, or stay the hand of a friend ready to kill the last goblin as it begs for its life, etc.)

So far, I've tried to keep the PC fairly morally neutral; he gets along with the other PCs fairly well, and is happy to undertake quests (so long as the reward's good), but he has his own motivations and they aren't good, per se.

The GM has recently introduced some elements of my PC's backstory in such a way that enables, if not encourages, my PC to move into less morally ambiguous territory; whether this was the GM's intention in introducing these elements is unknown, but the result is that my PC's goals are now most likely evil, although the character likely doesn't see it that way. In some ways, I suppose, this is natural; isn't everybody a good guy in his own mind?

(And the goals of the PC will be pretty clearly questionable, arguably even to the PC: they involve enacting revenge on beings he at least philosophically knows are good-aligned, and potentially causing other mayhem, and he's prepared to do more or less anything, so long as it doesn't involve hurting those he considers innocent – so long as they stay out of his way)

At the end of the day, I think that I'll need to talk at least to the GM regarding my concerns, but I would appreciate opinions on the following before I do:

How much should other players be aware of my plans?

In-game, my PC has managed to avoid divulging most of his backstory to the other PCs. Usually, when this has come up, he's been able to casually provide vague answers and change the topic without too much prying. Bits and pieces of backstory have appeared from time to time – knowledge of strange arcana, familiarity with strange languages, etc. – but the other PCs have mostly let it slide. Out-of-game, players probably have a better idea of what I'm planning, although they may not be aware of how far I'm willing to go to do what I feel like my character would do.

How careful should I be about players' reactions to having my PC manipulate other PCs?

My PC is a fighter – a fairly high-intelligence fighter, FWIW, but a fighter nonetheless, and to accomplish my PC's goals will almost certainly require help – and who better to help than the other PCs? Out of combat, my fighter's intimidation and knowledge checks are solid, but for diplomacy, bluff, spellcraft, casting, etc., there's not much for it. A few points worth mentioning: (a) none of my plans would (at least directly) harm any of the other PCs, and that's certainly not my PC's intention in any event; (b) I would have no problem being made to roll checks to convince the other PCs to help me (bluff, persuade, etc.), and would gladly role play the result upon failing; (c) these activities aren't completely outside what we'd be doing anyway, and doing them would have other advantages for the PCs (i.e., I won't be hogging the show).

If my character does manage to enact his revenge (and he may never finish doing so), assuming the actions are metaphysically evil (e.g., knowingly killing a good-aligned entity, etc.), does this make my character evil? What about the other PCs – are they evil? If not, do they turn on me?

I enjoy playing and don't want to do anything to jeopardize the game; that said, my character has a bit of the Inigo Montoya – you killed my father, prepare to die! thing going on, and the GM basically just told me where to find the guy I've been looking for (not quite, but dropped a huge clue). None of the PCs are of classes that would necessarily suffer from an alignment shift (I think), but how would performing these almost surely evil acts affect how my character is expected to play the game from then on?

Best Answer

but how would performing these almost surely evil acts affect how my character is expected to play the game from then on?

To me this is the most important thing you asked. The answer is: Not At All.

Your character appears to have a well-defined backstory and personalty. Those things define how your character should act. Alignment should reflect those, and that's all. Your alignment changing because of your actions should NOT affect how your character acts, as the alignment just shifted to reflect what you were already doing.

Don't fall into the trap of going "oh I got revenge and the DM made me evil, so now I'm throwing out my character's persona and going supervillan."

Alignment is there to help people who don't have a clear personality for characters, provide game mechanics for things like Smite Evil, and provide some restrictions that we could probably do without. It's not there to act as a straightjacket on what is a well-developed character.

Now, the actual act of getting revenge and fallout from that might cause your character to behave differently. That's RP and entirely in-bounds. If the party treats you differently afterwards that is going to have an effect, but the alignment system doesn't reflect that very well. (Parties can shun good aligned people too.)

How much should other players be aware of my plans?

Depends on the players, really. Are they players who will be okay with some manipulation and secrecy? Or are they players who really value team cohesion and won't appreciate being led around for a secret potentially evil plan?

There's not a good way for me to answer that, as you know them better than I do. I would say that your character probably won't tell them more than necessary unless he's sure that telling them would make them more willing to help.

How careful should I be about players' reactions to having my PC manipulate other PCs?

Same thing as above, really. Some players would have no problem with it at all, others would be rather unhappy.

If my character does manage to enact his revenge (and he may never finish doing so), assuming the actions are metaphysically evil (e.g., knowingly killing a good-aligned entity, etc.), does this make my character evil? What about the other PCs - are they evil? If not, do they turn on me?

While killing a Good creature like an Angel could be called an outright evil act, one evil act doesn't necessarily make you evil. Mortals almost never follow alignments perfectly, they're a mix of different acts and it's more the trend that determines it.

The other PCs may or may not have their own alignment trouble, depending on the situation. How much do they know about why they're helping you? How good are they usually?

And no, if they're helping you do this knowingly and your alignment shifts because of it, they shouldn't just automatically turn on you. That wouldn't make sense, would it?