The Fiendish Vessel: How Do You Play It In A Good Party?

[Halae]

So, I've been going over various ways of playing classes that I haven't spent much time with, and one Archetype that really stood out to me due to my love of playing tieflings (it's such a versatile race!) was Fiendish Vessel. Coupled with the Devil Spawn Tiefling type being best suited to a cleric in my opinion and having a lot of synergy with Archdevils and Asmodeus, that's what I've decided to go for. The penalty to charisma also mitigates the problem that is Channel Evil, as it means I won't be tempted to use it nearly as much.

Despite this, and my character being evil (Lawful Evil, but still), I'm having a bit of a hard time figuring out how to roleplay the character in a mostly good party (we have no paladin or other holy type, so that's not a concern), and could use some advice on how to manage that. Does anybody have any suggestions?

[bookrat]

Focus on the lawful part, rather than the evil part. He's a stickler for contract (especially if they are in his favor), and he tries to find loopholes in any given contract or law to make it in his favor. If that happens to also benefit his allies, so be it.

If he knows that his party doesn't like evil companions, then he actively tries to hide it, and any evil acts he commits will be secured behind a wall of legality. Make sure he never does something "evil" without it being fully legal. For example, he may own a slave and have no qualms with selling his slave if it brings him profit or some other advantage. He may not call it a slave if the party frowns on such things, but it may also be perfectly legal.

Really play up the lawful part.

[Duiker]

Set it up from the very beginning that your long term goals sync with the party's. Lawful evil does not mean idiotic short term only stupid. So to keep party peace, ensure out of character that it's rigged that the only long term in character decisions will be to be loyal to the party first. Your methods of choice may never line up, but you will never betray them in that case, because it's against your long term interests.

One good way of doing this is to have a backstory of revenge. The boss of the adventure is responsible for destroying your life and you want revenge. Or that the evil enemies are fascists who absolutely loathe tieflings on an ideological level. Your interests will always rest in opposition to them.

The key is, it's a party game. So take it upon yourself to figure out a reason why at every step that your character would help the good guys and be loyal to them. That's a far more interesting roleplay challenge, and interesting story, than blindly clinging to "but my character would..." and screwing up the game.

[bookrat]

^What he said.

Also, for Wrath of the Righteous, I reversed the fiendish vessel and made it a celestial vessel for my tiefling. You may want to consider that as an option.

[UnArcaneElection]

^I don't know what AP the original poster is in, and I know that the original poster said Lawful Evil, but Wrath of the Righteous makes me think of an Abyssal option: What if the Fiendish Vessel was a worshipper of a Demon Lord that was at least thinking of seeking redemption?

Of course, this would require considerable GM buy-in to become possible.

[Halae]

I'm not going to be playing in an AP actually.

That said, even if I was, Wrath of the Righteous is friendly to Asmodeans because it's the abyss that's leaking in through the Worldwound

[Samasboy1]

Maybe the other PCs have a contract for your services, thus you are bound to them.

Or a priest higher in the church hierarchy has commanded you to assist them (for whatever reason), so you must obey.

[Cap. Darling]

Samasboy1 wrote:

Maybe the other PCs have a contract for your services, thus you are bound to them.

Or a priest higher in the church hierarchy has commanded you to assist them (for whatever reason), so you must obey.

This is good advice. Make a contract that you cannot escape and stick to it. There is Lots of good roleplay in trying to be Evil when under the command of someone that is not. Offer them easy solutions and try to corrupt them in game. But be clear and honest with the others that you know where the game is going and will go that way with them. The character can be like the genie of legends trying to corrupt the wishes of its master:)

[Doki-Chan]

There's also a lot of mileage in the heel-face-turn scenario: i.e. trying not to be Evil when under the secret plans of someone who is...

Start out "nominally bad" (Diet Cola of Evil (TM): Just one calorie, not Evil enough...) or Neutral (or at least someone who has been drawn into reluctant minor evil acts and is skirting the line) by having to stick to certain Contracts/Geas etc. Then admit to doing something minor and getting blackmailed by a "Big Bad", and profess a willingness to go through some sort of redemptive arc... you can even blame further "slip-ups" on your "nature" you are trying to fight against. (This option gives you possibility of retraining maybe?)

If you can find some other PCs that are sympathetic to your plight, they may club together to help you with some way to fulfill your Contract/Geas the "least evil" way... (or in other words, get the party to do your work for you...)

It leaves some options open as to whether you want to be redeemed or not at the end... (muahahahaaaa) However, never be caught saying anything that's an outright lie...

Another possibility (if using Tome of Horrors?) is Fiendish Vessel of Charon and you are effectively a Bounty Hunter for those guys who have Missed The Boat... (Reaper?) so you CAN work with the good guys as one of their targets is a bounty of yours?

[Guru-Meditation]

* Focus on the Lawful part. Present it big-time. Justify questionable actions with it.

* Be loyal to your companions. They are the ones who will most likely raise you from the dead, instead of simply looting your corpse, should you happen to get killed.

* Do not try to corrupt them or any other hogwash about bothering them with your "Evilness". Be glad that they are NOT evil! When you are evil, the best amount of evil characters in the group is 1. You. Very unlikely that they will betray, backstab or rat you out should the occasion come up. - Just think of what extra hassle you would have to put up with should you be forced to group up with other evil dudes. You never know what schemes they are hatching.

* Dont offend your groupmates with evil deeds. Hide it! Do it when they are not present. Dont let them find out. Even better then having a very good Bluff is not even giving your groupmates any reason to even ask any questions!

* Show your groupmates that your and their goals align. (And this should be true especially from a Metagame-Perspective!)