help the vivisectionist!

[koluminar]

Now on to the question.
I am playing a vivisectionist alchemist in an upcoming campaign, that being said, I need to know how to play my character without being evil, this is a gestalt game and my character is going vivisectionist beastform alchemist with blood kineticist. This character will be a member of a party tagging along with the avatar in a last airbender style campaign. I need to keep evil actions on the downlow while maintaining my class fancies. I do not want my character to be a blood hungry beast. However he is fascinated with blood, and all the things you can do with it. I plan to flavor him as a plague doctor long trenchcoat, bird mask, whole nine yards.

How do i get along with the party when my class abilities might make my dm want to smite me in the place i stand?

The question is. How would i roleplay a non-evil vivisectionist blood kineticist? Im at a loss here.

[Ms. Pleiades]

They know how to inflict pain in some of the most excruciating ways possible, they just choose not to on innocents. Basically, have the character know what they can do is downright terrifying, but also be willing to extend mercy and aid despite how others may react to it.

[N. Jolly]

I'd say they're just very knowledgeable about how to end fights quickly. Sure they sneak attack, but that's because they know where to aim. Things like Sap Adept and Bludgeoner would be good feats. I mean especially if you're going with an ATLA style world. I wanted to do something like that too, where actually killing someone was incredibly rare and treated as a high crime.

A non lethal dealing vivisectionist would be perfect for that kind of thing, play up their knowledge of joints and nerves to identify their strengths rather than everything else.

[Gulthor]

I'm not sure I'd recommend it (because it's not optimal), but in our Iron Gods campaign, my cohort is a Vivisectionist/Chirurgeon. Interestingly and not inappropriately, the two archetypes stack.

With that in mind, this character is an extremely skilled and talented surgeon. He has sneak attack because he's devoted his life to the study of anatomy. But just as he can use this knowledge to deal additional damage, he can also use it to ease pain and suffering (anesthesia.)

Sneak attack in and of itself is not evil - the Rogue doesn't have an evil alignment restriction, and neither does the vivisectionist.

It's also odd to me that other characters are allowed to know all of these abilities without being considered evil. Deathwatch is not an evil spell. Skill substitutions aren't evil, either. Anthropomorphic Animal, Baleful Polymorph, Awaken, and Regenerate aren't evil. I understand that three of those extracts require being cast as part of a surgical procedure, but I'm not sure I understand why surgery has to be evil, and your character doesn't even ever have to ever apply this knowledge.

So, it may be a little sub-optimal - Chirurgeon isn't *terrible*, it's actually pretty good if your GM says Infused Curative is just straight-up Infusion instead - but it is a way that I think you can bring the pieces together in a decidedly non-evil package.

[Alexander MacLeod]

"If an artist can create beauty with paint and brushes then why can't a scientist create life with flesh and bone?" — Victor Frankenstein

A non-evil vivisectionist should be played more Dr. Gregory House than Karl Ruprecht Kroenen, more Dr. Thomas Dent Mütter than Dr. Josef Mengele.

[koluminar]

I love you guys! Thanks so much! Keep the ideas flowing!