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Multiplayer Roleplaying, Evil and Good Parties

Leaf_EaterLeaf_Eater Member Posts: 71
Im not really sure about how the multiplayer system will work in BG:EE but when I play games with friends, I end up playing the thief or bard most of the time as an evil role. I sneak off looting during battles and pickpocket my friends as we walk through cities picking up quests.

Obviously when playing online with other people, if you pickpocketed them it would be pretty douchy but that happens in the life of adventuring.

I was wondering what some other views are on what Multiplayer Roleplaying interactions should be like.

Comments

  • CheesebellyCheesebelly Member Posts: 1,727
    Well, in my current MP session with @Kitteh_On_A_Cloud, we do roleplay on some points : we follow the course of the story, without sidetracking much. We dump the fallen as we can't afford resurrecting (actually, read it we dump the not needed) and characters have their parts : me being a tanky healer, her being a loot lover, Minsc being the mash potatoer and Xzar being... insane I guess?

    So... yeah we may not roleplay a lot, although the ideas proposed by you are intriguing. Too bad that the host can actually steal any non-equipped item from other players' inventory anyway XD
  • BhodarBhodar Member Posts: 21
    You can always start RP discussions about whether to take a side-quest or not and how to complete it. If you're evil, you can say that if they take the quest, you'll kill the quest-giver and see if they believe you or not :D
  • alannahsmithalannahsmith Member Posts: 143
    I'm not looking forward to the mulitplayer at all. For that I'll stick to Diablo 3. I enjoy the single player experience of all the Baldur's Gate games (and ADnD games in general).
  • SchneidendSchneidend Member Posts: 3,190
    Good and Evil characters can generally get along, or at least tolerate one another, as long as they're played more like real people than caricatures. Good characters don't bring up how much they care about peace and doing the right thing in regular conversation the same way the average person doesn't spew forth their political or religious beliefs unprompted. By that same token, Evil characters don't just blurt out how much they'd like to kill, rape, or rob.

    I think a great instance of an arguably evil character getting their philosophy across in a way that didn't instantly cause weapons and blood to be drawn was an early point in Dragon Age: Origins, when you encounter a priestess yelling at a merchant who is charging too much for his wares in a time of crisis. Morrigan suggests that any of the refugees would be the ones charging high prices if the situation were reversed. To her, it's only natural to take advantage of the weaknesses of others and use your own strengths. Alistair makes a sarcastic remark about what a wonderful person she is, but nobody battled to the death.
  • AnduineAnduine Member Posts: 416
    I do not multiplayer randomly, and I have rules that all party members, myself included, must abide by. As a result, I only play with my core group of friends.

    1. Good alignments only.
    2. No pickpocketing.
    3. Character equipping/advancing always takes priority over profit.
    4. No wanton slaughter of NPC's unless provoked or if they are evil. (My parties generally have more than enough Detect Evil spells and a knowledge of the game to know who, but confirmation does not harm.)

    These rules are too restrictive for the vast majority of players I have encountered, and I am perfectly OK with that. However, they are ideal for my playstyle and sometimes enjoyed by my friends, and that's really all I hope for.
  • BhodarBhodar Member Posts: 21
    I promise I won't pickpocket, but having an evil aligned character in your group can be fun :D
  • MoomintrollMoomintroll Member Posts: 1,498
    One of my players repeatedly kept on trying to pickpocket her companions so they abandoned her. She then ran into an orc warrior's lair on her own, failed to account for how she got past the guards (they were all dead) and got her head cut off.

    actions have consequences! it was one of her first times roleplaying and she was "trying" to be evil, but with no sense of self preservation.
  • AnduineAnduine Member Posts: 416

    One of my players repeatedly kept on trying to pickpocket her companions so they abandoned her. She then ran into an orc warrior's lair on her own, failed to account for how she got past the guards (they were all dead) and got her head cut off.

    actions have consequences! it was one of her first times roleplaying and she was "trying" to be evil, but with no sense of self preservation.

    I commend you for being a practical DM.
  • moody_magemoody_mage Member Posts: 2,054
    Evil and good mixed parties can work as long as they can agree of the overall objective. Then just might disagree on how best to achieve that directive.

    I like playing Lawful Evil characters however should the character ever be questioned they would truly regard themselves as good rather than evil. As long as the evil person isn't being chaotic stupid and being disruptive then evil and good parties can provide interesting opportunities in RP.
  • KerozevokKerozevok Member Posts: 695
    Anyone knows if we can always create a custom party for a solo game ?...
  • kamuizinkamuizin Member Posts: 3,704
    Just to add based on the last comments: Evil =/= stupid.
  • DragonspearDragonspear Member Posts: 1,838
    kamuizin said:

    Just to add based on the last comments: Evil =/= stupid.

    One of my brands of evil that I like is my assassin. She's unsuspecting but never quite been able to go toe to toe with anyone. Plus she was given a very practical piece of advice when she was young. "Those who fight fair, fight dead." So she looked into poisons when she was at Candlekeep and trained herself in how they operate. The fact that she ended up being good at killing in the end, and that her father was the lord of murder. Well she just decided that it fit. She likes power and has a code of armor, but she will use any means necessary to avenge Gorion (and stop Sarevok) and then rescue Imoen and stop Irenicus. But unless you do a detect evil or know alignment spell, you'd never actually know she's evil because she knows that its wisest to keep it under wraps.

  • neleotheszeneleothesze Member Posts: 231
    edited August 2012
    @Dragonspear Well said.

    I think playing an evil character doesn't always have to be about doing overtly evil things.

    I like evil characters who simply refuse to help those less fortunate because they simply don't care about harm being done to most other people. So if alone they might say "Go away!" to a starving beggar and while in company they might say "I'm so sorry lady, I can't help you save your son, I'm busy." Even loyalty to companions can be explained by possessiveness. "They took my Imoen" would be understood by Good aligned party members as care and by Evil party members as losing a valuable thief and faithful minion. But I'm rambling now :)
  • SchneidendSchneidend Member Posts: 3,190
    Anduine said:

    I do not multiplayer randomly, and I have rules that all party members, myself included, must abide by. As a result, I only play with my core group of friends.

    1. Good alignments only.

    What about Chaotic/Lawful/True Neutral? What if somebody wants to play a Blackguard or Assassin?
  • DragonspearDragonspear Member Posts: 1,838
    @Neleothesze I don't mind the rambling. I'm trying to think of evil type characters. One thing a LOT of them share is the Machiavellian Principle of "The ends justify the means." In and of itself that's not exactly evil so much as heavily discouraged in our society.

    Using that as an absolute for any evil character still gives them plenty of freedom, and their ability to determine their ends (some may be like Dorn and care only of power which can be considered pretty ruthlessly evil).
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