So we're getting ready to roll characters for the playtest, and, true to form, some of my players are already asking if they can roll evil chars. While there are specific guidelines in the Doomsday Dawn scenario regarding character creation, there is no mention of appropriate alignments. I've only banned CE chars in my own homebrew, seeing the other two evil alignments as having traits that can still allow them to function in most group settings, but my own gut says to ban all evil alignments for the purpose of the playtest, so that my players can get through the scenarios with as little in-party stressors as possible, or to keep someone's character from veering wildly off-course because of their less than heroic alignment.
But I'd love feedback from other GM's running the playtest, as well, if possible, from the Devs, regarding whether y'all have any opinions on the matter.
No. "Evil parties" are a specific genre choice, and aren't really appropriate for the playtest which should be as much of a classic dungeon crawl as can be made interesting. I don't think it's any more appropriate to playtest evil PCs than it is to try to playtest a horror game or a courtly intrigue game. We can save that stuff for later.
I think it's fair enough. The rules don't prevent it, and if their are some major issues that come up when you try it's best they be caught in the playtest stage. For one thing, if they end up significantly over powered somehow, I don't want to deal with every power gamer begging to be allowed to play them. Similarly, it'll surely be a headache for devs and GMs alike if either decides they want to try an evil campaign and they are broken or under powered.
TL;DNR: Go for it, playtesting is for finding overlook-able flaws in a system.
PCs need to be able to engage in what is a heroic storyline. If players do not use being evil as an excuse to derail it, then it could work, but being (or pretending to be) virtuous
heroes kind of defeats the purpose of choosing evil. And likely RPing with NPCs will skew sideways.
Given that I see little to no support in the rules right now..., I think you'd be shooting yourself in the foot.
I mean there's a magic item that makes your character Sick if you use it when Evil.
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I don't think it really matters? I've only skimmed, but as long as they stick to the rails, which in a dungeon crawl isn't hard, they should be fine. They're testing combat, not roleplaying. Make sure your players stick to all the fights.
Besides, someone has to test negative energy channelling on a cleric. Wait... Good clerics can do that now? *checks rulebook*
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Besides, someone has to test negative energy channelling on a cleric. Wait... Good clerics can do that now? *checks rulebook*
Good aligned clerics of Abadar, Irori, Nethys, and Calistria may elect to channel negative energy.
So we're getting ready to roll characters for the playtest, and, true to form, some of my players are already asking if they can roll evil chars. While there are specific guidelines in the Doomsday Dawn scenario regarding character creation, there is no mention of appropriate alignments. I've only banned CE chars in my own homebrew, seeing the other two evil alignments as having traits that can still allow them to function in most group settings, but my own gut says to ban all evil alignments for the purpose of the playtest, so that my players can get through the scenarios with as little in-party stressors as possible, or to keep someone's character from veering wildly off-course because of their less than heroic alignment.
But I'd love feedback from other GM's running the playtest, as well, if possible, from the Devs, regarding whether y'all have any opinions on the matter.
I'm planning on allowing all alignments (only because I feel I shouldn't be houseruling alignment out of the game entirely), but only because I know the group can play with evil characters without detracting from or derailing the game.
That said, if you aren't sure your group is going to manage evil without making the game more stressful and difficult to deal with you should probably ban it from PCs. No reason to willfully make the game less fun for you and your friends
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If your players don't play Evil Stupid, they should be fine.
On the otherhand, if they cannot help but play Stupid Evil...then I'd probably disallow it.
What's the difference?
A character can be evil, which means they may be selfish, and yet value friends, loyalty, and things that they value in life. Even if they would put their own lives above others, they still can be heroic and act in ways that heroes would be seen.
(ala...Deadpool...ala Raistlin...ala...Magneto in the new X-men movies occasionally...etc...etc...etc).
On the otherhand, a Stupid Evil Stupid character seeks to disrupt the party, betray their friends, and typically just disrupts the roleplaying session.
Update:
Thanks for all the feedback! Based on the way the playtest adventure is divided up, the compromise I came up with for my player is he could roll up an evil char for one of the parts (not the recurring char) and we'll see how it goes.