How many of us genuinely enjoy playing 'evil' characters?

This is what my 'evil' PT of Origins boiled down to.

For a mage to annul the Circle was...pretty evil, I guess, but she hated the place.  Not that that was the fault of the mages that died, of course.

The choices made in the Brecillian Forest and the Deep Roads, though, were pure pragmatism.  The golems are available only to a Warden that doesn't have a heart and the Werewolves of objectively superior in the Final Battle to the Dalish Archers.

Can't remember a lot of the minor decisions now, but the theme of the PT was, 'if this will make me stronger in the end, I'll do it'.

Petrice: it's Mother Petrice now
Hawke: okay, Sister Petrice
Petrice:

For DAO and DAI I tend to play Lawful Evil characters to the extent that the game's options allows for that, but I don't make any choices that seem cartoonish evil for the sake of it. So stuff like the Dark Ritual or siding with the Werewolves are genuinely a no-go for me.
But inflicting as much damage as possible among the Dalish camp, and using them as meat shields in the final battle? Executing Alistair to deny Eamon's pawn, and siding with Bhelen and possibly Branka, or attempting to kill Morrigan? --- absolutely.

For DA2 it's simpler, my Hawke is mage and genuinely believes Orsino a threat to his ascent to power and will ride the Templars all the way to the Viscount's throne. He's willing to side with whoever he believes will save the most lives and, more importantly, elevate his status in Kirkwall.

DAI's more complicated since it's very difficult to be lawful evil - even if you're actively trying to be. So I ended up having that be the one and only game where I deliberately try to roleplay a protag who isn't corrupted by the lust for power.


Mother Petrice did nothing wrong and the Qunari were armed heathens occupying a city state for 3+ years. If there's one gripe I have with DA2 it's locking the ally option behind an aggressive personality. 

Playing "evil" character isn't my cup of tea.
But playing a morally questionable character is fun.

I'm super into seeing every option play out for myself so I've played some characters that were just absolutely the worst people. I've got a world state saved in the keep called *ya done goofed* which is just all the worst choices I could possibly think of. Can't wait to see how that plays out.

Some of the choices really make me feel bad like giving Fenris back to Danarius for example, but I'm holding out hope having to experience the remorse will at least give a unique experience related to it in DA4.

I do kind of enjoy being evil to people in games 90% of the time though. Side effect of working in customer service I think 😂

This is what I have been saying in my earlier posts. There has to be some sort of justification why your person does something that may be viewed by others as evil because otherwise they ought to simply walk away, not wanting to have anything more to do with you.

In DAO it is sort of understandable that people would stick with you because you are dealing with the Blight and historically the Grey Wardens are known for doing what they have to do to get the job done. With you being only one of 2 wardens in Ferelden for much of the game, you could argue that you shouldn't risk yourselves unnecessarily, so why end up fighting someone if you don't have to? So from that point of view, you could justify doing a deal with the slaver or with Kolgrim, although at least with the latter that will definitely turn some companions against you.

In DAI, again, it is sort of understandable that people will ignore or try to excuse more questionable decisions and actions because you are the only person who can seal rifts. You also have a degree of quasi religious authority to back you up as well and historically the Chantry has endorsed some really questionable characters simply because they did what they did in the name of the Maker. People could leave your party but usually it is because you tell them to, not because they exercise a degree of self determination.

However, in DA2 I never understood why there wouldn't be a mass rejection of you if you give Fenris back to Denarius, which to my mind is a really evil and unnecessary thing to do with no real justification to it. He is variously Varric's drinking and gambling party associate, Isabella's friend with benefits and Sebastian's potential convert to the faith and yet all of these people continue to support Hawke after this. Even Merrill, who at least makes vocal objection at the time, still continues to regard them as a friend. (I've never done this myself, only seen it on You Tube).

Many actions in game that people label as evil or at least ruthless, can actually be justified in the context of the game world as either pragmatic or the common sense approach but if it goes against the moral compass of a companion, it ought to have consequences beyond just losing a few plus points on the approval scale. That did happen in DAO but has become less common since then. I also feel there should be negative consequences when you take the goody two shoes decision even though it is patently extremely risky and may put other people in danger. For example, leaving Connor running around possessed and free whilst you head off for the Circle. In some respects this is not a "good" decision, yet it always has the best outcome.

I don't like one-dimensional characters so much. With Shepard it was usually a good mix between the two, with the odd extremist PT in between to see what that brought.

Yeah but the problem with that in ME2 and ME3 was that if you weren't consistantly bad or consistently good you wouldn't get all the dialouge options later in the game. Like I never got the renegade dialouge option when it came to Tali and Legion's dispute after their loyalty missions in ME2.

Genuinely evil?

No - but I can't recall a game that I've played which let me be so. Let me be a really shitty person? Sure, plenty of those. Heartless? Of course.

But actually 'evil', through and through?

I'd really like a game that lets me lean into being an 'agent of chaos'. I'd really just like to be able mess everything up for everyone, while fixing...whatever is wrong with the world in that given moment.

There's the Obsidian RPG called Tyranny. I hear that's basically tailor made for evil characters.