In Defense of the Evil Character
You're right. I am a monster. And I've done bad. I've done things you cannot even imagine. Horrible, evil, messy things. And I've loved every. Damn. Minute.
Crowley, Supernatural
Evil player characters get a bad rap. This issue isn't the lawful evil character you've built, but how the players decide to play said character. Players will fall back on the tired old line, "But that's what my character would do." What’s missing in that statement is that a character's actions reflect what we think they should do. So is it the character or is it you?
Confusing, isn't it? A person's interpretation of how an evil character should be played is influenced by things they've been exposed to. Those who watch horror movies may view bad people as sadistic, murderous individuals who kill for no other reason than they desire to spill the blood of as many people as they can in 1 1/2 hours. People who study history usually define who the evil party was in a conflict based on who was the winner and who was the loser. Now that may change over time, as a detailed and honest look at a situation may result in us re-evaluating the actions of people and countries. Slavery and Colonialism were once seen as an integral part of how a country grew and was successful, but now we rightfully understand they were horrible practices. Until four years ago, the one historical person we could all agree upon who was pure evil was Hitler, but now the world is a shitshow inside a raging dumpster fire, so some people…well…I don't want to talk about it.
Lawful Evil. (LE) creatures methodically take what they want within the limits of a code of tradition, loyalty, or order. Devils and blue dragons are typically lawful evil.
Neutral Evil. (NE) is the alignment of those who do whatever they can get away with, without compassion or qualms. Yugoloths are typically neutral evil.
Chaotic Evil. (CE) creatures act with arbitrary violence, spurred by their greed, hatred, or bloodlust. Demons and red dragons are typically chaotic evil.
Player's Handbook
I'll start by stating the obvious. Characters should never be chaotic evil. Even if you love constantly being in combat, killing monsters, and rolling dice, its insanity isn't what D&D is about. The demon isn't a playable race (Yet. They've made bunnies into a playable race, so how far off can demons be?). We joke that players can sometimes be murderhobos, but raping, pillaging, and slaughtering everything in sight has no place in a campaign.
Neutral evil is a bit trickier. I've always thought of neutral evil as self-centered jerks with no morals or ethics. A neutral evil character wouldn't have any issues stealing candy from a baby or stabbing you in the back if it was in their interests. This can quickly lead to conflict and strife in a party, so neutral evil is out also. This leaves us with lawful evil. Here's where I break from most people on the topic of evil PCs.
You should be allowed to play a lawful evil character.
The Operative: I'm sorry. If your quarry goes to ground, leave no ground to go to. You should have taken my offer. Or did you think none of this was your fault?
Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: I don't murder children.
The Operative: I do. If I have to.
Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: Why? Do you even know why they sent you?
The Operative: It's not my place to ask. I believe in something greater than myself. A better world. A world without sin.
Serenity
Everyone, and I mean everyone, has an opinion on what TV, movie, or literary character defines the lawful evil alignment. The one person that almost everyone agrees is the embodiment of lawful evil is Darth Vader. I agree that Darth Vader is lawful evil, but if you wanted a more modern movie example - Return of the Jedi was released in 1983 - Thanos is the character that comes to mind. It doesn't get more lawful evil than someone who has no qualms about eliminating 1/2 of the universe's population to restore his vision of order. To me, the penultimate lawful evil character is Tony Soprano. Studying the progression of this TV personality provides us with a template for how to play a lawful evil character in D&D.
The show spends six seasons showing the audience the difficulties Tony faced trying to find a work/family life balance. The problem was that his job was the head of the New Jersey mafia, and his family was a collection of treacherous and manipulative people, including Tony himself. He did what he wanted when he wanted. He took what he thought was rightfully his by any means necessary. But being in the mafia also came with a stringent set of rules. There was an order to how things were done, which had been done that way for generations. Your lawful evil character would have to follow the same strict guidelines.
Side note: Don't mistake the panic attacks he suffered as a manifestation of feeling guilty. They resulted from the burden of leadership and indirectly the issues he constantly faced with his wife, uncle, nephew, and those who worked with and for him.
Listen to me, the only reason I did this was because you're my nephew, and I love you. If it were anybody else, they would have gotten that intervention through the back of their fucking head.
Tony Soprano to his nephew Christopher
No matter how screwed up they were, family meant everything to Tony. They may disobey him, want to divorce him, or even attempt to have him whacked. No matter what happened, Tony always remained loyal to them, even by refusing to let one of them be killed when he broke the rules. Now think of your party as the character's family. Your loyalty to them should have no bounds. That may require you to do some immoral things, but you're protecting your family. If you play a rogue, you won't steal from your fellow party members. Doing so would break your code and betray their trust. You may, however, slit the throat of an individual for the good of the party. Does this balance out what you've done? Maybe, maybe not, but there are many shades of grey, so hopefully, you can toe the line.
Developing a personal code is something you should do for your character. In the movie classic Leon, the Professional, our anti-hero has no problem killing for money. What he won't do is kill women or children. This is his moral code. Leon does, however, slaughter an insane amount of cops at the end of the movie to protect his “party”. Now, is Leon a lawful evil character? Probably not, but I'm using it as an example.
You could be ok with torturing someone for information but won't kill them if they provide you with the knowledge you seek. Don't get me wrong, torture is a horrible act, and I'm not saying it should be used on anyone. An evil person would probably use torture with boundaries they have set for themselves. The wanton use of violence on everything or everyone whose path you cross is chaotic evil. Killing within a unique set of rules you develop for your character is lawful evil.
I'm sure plenty of people will disagree with this outlook. Various creators throughout the editions have stated that evil characters should not be used. Lenard Lakofka of Dragon Magazine his article, For NPC's only: The Death Master says
The AD&D game should not have an assassin player character. In fact, no player should be evil at all…
Leomonds Tiny Hut, Dragon #76 (August 1993)
The 5th edition does not explicitly say that a character can't be of an evil alignment, but
As an evil character, Artemis is not an ideal adventurer. He began his career as a villain and only cooperates with heroes when he must — and when it's in his own best interests. In most games, evil adventurers cause problems in groups alongside others who don't share their interests and objectives. Generally, evil alignments are for villains and monsters.
Dungeon Master's Guide, (2014)
Talk to your table first if you want to play an evil character. Explain how you will roleplay your character so as not to be disruptive throughout the campaign. If the table does not want you to, respect the decision and move on. If they do agree to allow it, that's great. Just remember to stay within the boundaries you've set at the beginning and have fun.
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