"Evil” is a word that is probably overused. In the context of the game, and certainly of this Compendium, the word should be reserved for the dark force of destruction and death that
tempts souls to wrongdoing and perverts wholesomeness and
purity at every turn. Evil is vile, corrupt, and irredeemably
dark. It is not naughty or ill-tempered or misunderstood. It is
black-hearted, selfish, cruel, bloodthirsty, and malevolent.
- Rallaster, God of Torture
There are two recommended ways to deal with the concept
of evil in your campaign: the objective approach and the
relative approach. This second option is a variant approach
and should be used with some caution.
The Objective Approach
This is the straightforward approach taken in the D&D
game, and it is the one stressed in this book as well. From
this frame of reference, evil can be judged objectively. The
evil nature of a creature, act, or item isn’t relative to the
person observing it; it just is evil or it isn’t. This clear-cut
definition allows spells such as Detect Good and Evil to work. Conversely, an objective definition of evil exists because the detect evil spell works. Want to know what’s evil?
Don’t study a philosophy book, just watch who gets
hurt when the cleric casts a spell. Those creatures
are evil. The things they do, generally speaking, are
evil acts. If your character still isn’t certain, he can
summon a celestial creature or cast a commune spell
and simply ask, “Is this evil?” The higher powers are
right there, ready to communicate.
“ ‘Evil’ implies hurting, oppressing, and killing others. Some evil creatures simply have no compassion for others and
kill without qualm if doing so is convenient.
Others actively pursue evil, killing for sport or
out of duty to some evil deity or master.”
This objective approach to evil works well for
fantasy roleplaying games. Evil is a thing that a
hero can point at and know he must fight. An
objective concept of evil allows players (and
their characters) to avoid most ethical or moral
quandaries, particularly the kinds that can
derail a game session. If you run an adventure
about fighting gnolls, you don’t normally want
the entire session consumed by a philosophical
debate about whether killing gnolls is a good
thing or a bad thing.
The Relative Approach
A second approach considers evil to be a relative concept
that is wholly dependent on the attitude of the observer.
This is not the approach of most D&D games; rather, it
resembles how many people see the real world. Using this
variant outlook changes a game dramatically—at least as far
as “evil” is concerned. In the relative approach, evil is not
something that your character can point a finger at; it’s relative to each individual. While it’s possible for a number of
creatures (an entire culture, for example) to have a similar
view on what is good and what is evil, another group might
have a different or even opposite view. Of course, conflicting views can also occur if your D&D game uses the objective approach, but in that case, one group can simply prove
that its views are right.
In a world where evil is relative, a deity might put forth
tenets describing what is right and wrong, or good and evil.
But another god might have different, even contradictory
dogma. A paladin of one deity might talk about the evil, godless heathens across the mountains and eventually go to war
with them. If she does, she may find herself battling paladins of a different god and a different culture who look
upon the crusading paladin as an evil infidel.
If you decide that this is the approach you want, you have
some game-related decisions to make. For instance, in a
world where evil is relative, how does a detect evil spell work?
When two paladins of opposing views meet on the field of
battle, can they use their smite abilities against each other?
The easiest and best option in this case is to do away with
spells such as detect evil because they have no real meaning.
Take away the good and evil descriptors from spells (so that
any character can cast any of those spells), and disregard any
holy or unholy damage a weapon deals. Having to know or
determine the outlook of a character casting detect evil is
cumbersome and unwieldy, and it leads to confusion and
arguments over who should be affected by the paladin’s holy
sword or the cleric’s holy smite.
Defining Evil
Of course, even if you take an objective approach in your
game, evil people might not always call themselves evil.
They would be wrong or simply lying to do so, but they
might still deny their evil nature. Even the most deranged
mass murderer might be able to justify his actions to himself
in the name of his beliefs, his deity, or some skewed vision
of what is best for the world.
A killer might slay any children he deems weak or unfit to
reach adulthood. Another might kill children he believes
will grow up and become evil themselves. Perhaps such a
killer once had a prophetic dream telling him that evil was
growing among the children of the town.
On a larger scale, an evil priest might believe that to
better serve his dark god, he needs to destroy an entire village and sacrifice all the residents. Is that evil? Yes. Does the
priest see it as evil? No, he sees it as a demonstration of his
unending devotion and an aspect of his faith. Or perhaps he
does see it as evil and doesn’t care.
A dictator might order the elimination of an entire race
of good creatures because she believes them to be evil. She
might seek to dominate the world and bring its people
under her unyielding fist. But such a despot could also
believe that she is a good person and that the world will be
better off with her guidance. This attitude makes her no less
a villain.
Intent and Context
So, does the objective definition of evil imply that intent
plays no part in determining what is good and what isn’t?
Only to a degree.
Consider the paladin Zophas. When climbing to the top
of a hill of loose rocks to get away from some owlbears, he
triggers a rockslide that buries the owlbears and continues
down the hill, crushing a hut full of commoners. Is Zophas
an evil murderer who must suddenly lose his lawful good
alignment? No, although Zophas might still feel guilt and
responsibility. He might attempt to right the inadvertent
wrong as best he can.
But what if Zophas’s friend Shurrin said, “Don’t climb up
there, Zophas! You might start a rockslide that will crush the
hut!” Zophas goes anyway. Now is it evil? Probably. Zophas
was either carelessly endangering the commoners or so
overconfident of his climbing prowess that he acted out of
hubris. At this point, Zophas isn’t exactly a murderer, but he
should probably lose his paladin abilities until he receives
an atonement spell or otherwise makes amends.
If Zophas can clearly see the danger of the rockslide but
climbs up anyway because he wants to get away from the
owlbears, that’s clearly evil. In a world of black-and-white
distinctions between good and evil, killing innocents to
save yourself is an evil act. Sacrificing yourself for the
good of others is a good act. It’s a high standard, but that’s
the way it is.
The foregoing text defines three levels of intent: accidental acts, reckless or negligent acts, and intentionally evil
misdeeds. Sometimes, however, those categories are insufficient to determine evil intent. You are free to judge an act in
the context of other actions.
A maniac puts poison in a town’s water supply, believing
(wrongly) that all of the people in the town are demons. Is
that evil? Yes. A Glabrezu convinces a good character that the
townsfolk are all fiends that must be destroyed, so the character pours poison into the town’s water supply. Is that evil?
Probably not—at least, not in the context of the rest of the
character’s actions and the circumstances involved. Still,
good characters shouldn’t commit even remotely questionable acts on a large scale unless they’re absolutely sure
there’s no other way to succeed. It’s rarely a good idea to
destroy a town of evil people, because there might be at least
a few good people in the town as well.
But let’s make it even more complicated. Another character witnesses the good character about to put poison in the
town’s drinking water. Is it evil for the witness to kill the poisoning character in order to stop him? No. Again, the intent
isn’t evil, and the context makes such an act preferable to the
alternative. Standing by while a mass murder occurs—the
other choice the witness has—is far more evil than preventing the poisoning.
The Grey Area
Even with the most black-and-white, objective approach
to good and evil, grey areas will always exist. Consider this
example: A terrible disease has come to the village of
Varro, and the cure lies in the heartwood of the sacred
trees of the Varrowood. The villagers go into the wood to
get the cure. The druids of the Varrowood believe that the
trees are holy and should not be violated. They try to stop
the villagers. Is either side truly evil in this scenario?
Probably not.
Not all conflicts are based on good versus evil. It is possible
for two good nations to go to war. It is likely that two evil
nations will go to war. Is it evil for your character to kill a good
character if your character’s kingdom is at war with his? That’s
certainly a grey area. Characters who are extremely strict in
their moral outlook should examine the reasons behind the
war very closely. In general, quarter should be given and
accepted. Such a character should cause no more damage and
inflict no more harm than is necessary. If possible, he or she
should find a different way to resolve the conflict.
Evil Acts
Examining the actions of the malevolent not only helps
define what evil is, but it also gives an insight into the
schemes of a villain. What follows is more than a list that
defines evil as opposed to good. Read over the following sections to get ideas for villainous plots, schemes, motivations,
and personalities.
Lying
Misdirection, tricks, and manipulation are tools of the trade
for most villains. With such tools, they can lead enemies
into traps, both physical and otherwise. A well-told, well-placed lie can redirect a whole army, change the opinion of
an entire city’s populace, or simply make an adventurer
open the wrong door in a dungeon.
Some liars are compulsive; that is, they have a psychological need to lie. Others delight in fooling people. If a villain
can get a foe to believe a lie, he has shown himself (at least in
his own mind) to be superior to that foe.
Intelligent villains often concentrate on gaining ranks in
Bluff to facilitate their lies. Of course, being liars themselves
alerts them to the fact that others probably lie just as much
as they do. Thus, they often have a high Sense Motive modifier as well.
Lying is not necessarily an evil act, though it is a tool that
can easily be used for evil ends. Lying is so easy to use for
evil purposes that most knightly codes and the creeds of
many good religions forbid it altogether.
Cheating
Cheating is breaking the rules for personal gain. When evil
villains cheat, it’s not just at games. They create contracts with
clauses that they can manipulate to trick others. Villains
manipulate officials so that evildoers are set free instead of
going to prison. They rig their enemies’ equipment so that it
breaks or does not function properly. Cheaters may threaten
the lives of a councilman’s family to make him vote for their
plan. They may use spells and poison to ensure that a particular gladiator dies in the arena so that they can earn a profit by
wagering on the survivor.
Cheating can take many forms. For example, a cheater
might trick two enemies into fighting each other, or fool
an enemy’s lover into betraying his or her loved one. A
cheater might challenge an opponent to a rigged contest or
a fight that is rigged, or simply make an agreement that he
or she has no intention of upholding.
Theft
Any child can tell you that stealing is wrong. Villains, however, often see theft as the best way to acquire what they
want. Evil people pay only for things they cannot take.
An evil character needs a reason not to steal. Fear of being
caught is the most common deterrent, but sometimes a villain elects not to steal an item because he or she doesn’t want
to incur the wrath of its owner. For example, a Drow cleric
might pay a rogue for a magic item. The cleric isn’t averse to
stealing from the rogue, but she pays for the item so that the
rogue will continue working for her.
Betrayal
A betrayal is often nothing more than an elaborate lie, but
its implications are greater. Such an act involves earning
someone’s trust and then using that trust against him or her.
Common acts of betrayal include learning and then revealing secrets, or using trust to get close to one’s enemies for an
attack or theft.
Betrayal does not have to be intentional—or at least it
does not have to start intentionally. Sometimes a character
can be tempted into betraying someone whose trust he or
she earned legitimately. Children can betray their parents, a
lover can betray a lover, and a friend can betray a friend.
However, it can also be more complex than that: A king can
betray his people, a husband can betray his wife’s family, and
a human can betray his entire race. Virtually any sort of link
between two creatures can eventually become the foundation for betrayal.
Murder
Killing is one of the most horrible acts that a creature can
commit. Murder is the killing of an intelligent creature for a
nefarious purpose: theft, personal gain, perverse pleasure, or
the like.
The heroes who go into the green dragon’s woodland lair
to slay it are not murderers. In a fantasy world based on an
objective definition of evil, killing an evil creature to stop it
from doing further harm is not an evil act. Even killing an
evil creature for personal gain is not exactly evil (although
it’s not a good act), because it still stops the creature’s predations on the innocent. Such a justification, however, works
only for the slaying of creatures of consummate, irredeemable evil, such as chromatic dragons.
Evil beings delight in murder. It is the ultimate expression of their power and their willingness to commit any sort
of heinous act. It shows that they are either powerful
enough or detached enough to do anything they wish.
To particularly evil creatures, especially those with very
alien outlooks, murder is itself a desirable goal. Some such
creatures hate life and despise all that lives. They relish
either death or undeath and thus seek to quench life wherever possible. Such creatures are usually (but not always)
undead themselves.
Vengeance
Revenge is a powerful force. An act of vengeance does not
have to be evil, but the evil mindset usually redefines the
concept as “revenge at any price.” Vengeance without limits
can quickly lead to all sorts of evil acts.
For example, suppose someone steals a magic ring from a
kuo-toa wizard. The wizard breaks into a duergar fortress to
use a crystal ball to locate the thief. The kuo-toa teleports to
the thief ’s location—a busy tavern—and begins hurling
lightning bolts into the crowd. The thief gets away and uses a
non-detection spell to keep such a close call from happening
again. Undaunted, the wizard magically adopts an inconspicuous form and begins to track down the thief ’s family members, torturing them for information regarding his whereabouts. Such a scenario depicts the evil side of revenge.
Forgiveness and mercy are not traits that most evil creatures possess. Vengeance for wrongs committed against
them—or even for perceived wrongs—is the only appropriate response.
Worshipping Evil Gods and Demons
Priests who revere dark powers are as evil as the beings they
serve. In the name of Vecna, Erythnul, or Lolth, these foul
emissaries make living sacrifices, conduct malevolent rites,
and put schemes in motion to aid their patrons. Sometimes,
the activities of evil cultists are straightforward: kidnapping
victims for sacrifice, stealing money to fund their temples,
or simply following a dogma that requires murder, rape, or
activities even more foul. Other times, their machinations
are far subtler than such overt crimes.
For example, an archdevil such as Belial might begin a
scheme by instructing his followers in a town (through
dreams, visions, and commune spells) to drive off families
with healthy children of a particular age. In twenty years,
when such children would have been adults in their prime,
Belial intends to unleash a powerful Cornugon to steal a
valuable artefact from the local church. With few able-bodied adults available to stop the theft, the Cornugon is
more likely to succeed.
Evil temples are sometimes secret places hidden within
unsuspecting communities. Beneath an old barn, in a warehouse, or simply in a back room of someone’s home—an
evil temple can be anywhere. Larger, more permanent
shrines to malevolence are usually situated farther away
from civilization—at least, far away from good-aligned communities. Such an evil church may be a towering structure
of stone covered with macabre reliefs and filled with terrible
statuary, standing alone in the wilderness. Other evil temples may be surrounded by towns or cities populated by foul
creatures.
Animating the Dead or Creating Undead
Unliving corpses—corrupt mockeries of life and purity—
are inherently evil. Creating them is one of the most
heinous crimes against the world that a character can
commit. Even if they are commanded to do something
good, undead invariably bring negative energy into the
world, which makes it a darker and more evil place.
Many communities keep their graveyards behind high
walls or even post guards to keep grave robbers out. Graverobbing is often a lucrative practice, since necromancers pay
good coin for raw materials. Of course, battlefields are also
popular places for grave-robbers—or for necromancers
themselves—to seek corpses.
Casting Evil Spells
Evil spells may create undead, inflict undue suffering, harm
another’s soul, or produce any of a slew of similar effects.
Sometimes, a nonevil spellcaster can get away with casting a few evil spells, as long as he or she does not do so for an
evil purpose. But the path of evil magic leads quickly to corruption and destruction. Spells with corruption costs (see
Corrupt Magic) are so evil that they take a
physical and spiritual toll on the caster.
Damning or Harming Souls
While harming one’s enemies physically is not inherently
villainous, harming their souls is always evil. Only the
foulest of villains could actually want to cause pain to
another creature’s eternal aspect. Creatures without corrupt
hearts simply dispatch their foes quickly, believing that sending a villain off to the justice of the afterlife is punishment
enough. But evil beings like to capture foes and torture them
to death, and some even prefer to torture the souls of their
foes, never granting them the release of death. Worse still,
some evil beings use their foul magic to destroy an opponent’s soul, ending his or her existence altogether.
Consorting With Fiends
If characters can be judged by the company they keep, then
those who deal with fiends—demons and devils—are
surely evil beings themselves. Fiends are the ultimate expression of evil given animate form—literally evil incarnate. Destroying a fiend is always a good act. Allowing a
fiend to exist, let alone summoning one or helping one, is
clearly evil.
Occasionally, a spellcaster may summon a fiendish creature to accomplish some task. Such an act is evil, but not terribly so. However, some characters, particularly those who
worship demons or devils or see them as valuable allies, may
work with (or for) fiends to further their own ends. Worse
still, some mortals sell their souls to fiends in order to gain
more power or support. Although dealing with fiends or
selling souls is risky at best, the lust for power is a temptation too strong for some to resist. But fiends have great
power, infinite life spans, and a delight for double-crossing
others, so it’s not surprising that most characters who ask for
a fiend’s aid end up on the wrong end of the deals they make.
Creating Evil Creatures
Some villains are not content with simply consorting with,
summoning, or controlling evil creatures. They feel the
need to go one step further and actually create such creatures with foul experiments or evil magic.
Evil warlords sometimes create legions of horrible monsters (or have their underlings do so) and lead them into
battle against the forces of good. Demons, devils, and other
foul creatures guard their fortresses. The desire to create is
strong, and so is the desire to have a large number of easily
controllable minions. Both creation and control demonstrate power, and power-mad villains are all too common.
Another way to create evil creatures is to allow the monsters themselves to remake fallen foes in their own images.
For example, a bodak’s victims rise the next day as new
bodaks, and a werewolf can spread its evil by infecting
others with lycanthropy. Characters who foster such
processes are often interested in spreading evil for evil’s
sake. Such evildoers love the chaos, death, and suffering that
such monsters bring.
Using Others for Personal Gain
Whether it’s sacrificing a victim on an evil god’s altar to gain
a boon, or simply stealing from a friend, using others for
one’s own purposes is a hallmark of villainy. A villain routinely puts others in harm’s way to save his or her own
neck—better that others die, surely.
The utter selfishness of an evil character rarely leaves
room for empathy. He is so consumed with his own goals
and desires that he can think of no reason not to succeed at
the expense of others. At best, other creatures are cattle to be
used, preyed upon, or led. At worst, they are gnats to be
ignored or obstacles to be bypassed.
Greed
Greed is so simple a motivation that it hardly seems worth
mentioning. Yet it drives villains perhaps more than any
other factor. Greed is tied into most of the types of evil
behaviour mentioned here. Ambition taken too far—particularly advancement at the expense of others—can manifest
itself as greed. Lust for wealth, power, or prestige can lead to
jealousy, theft, murder, betrayal, and a host of other evils.
Bullying and Cowing Innocents
Bullying is simply a symptom of an obsession with power. A
villain who has power over another likes to brandish that
power to prove her own might, both to herself and to others.
Such brutes feel that power has no worth if others do not
know about it.
Although the archetypal bully is a strong and powerful
thug, other kinds of bullies exist as well. Sometimes a bully
uses magical might rather than physical prowess to cow
those around her. Sometimes the power is political in
nature. The ten-year-old princess who forces bards to sing
songs of her beauty or else face the wrath of her tyrannical
mother (the queen) is indeed a bully.
Bringing Despair
Evil creatures often enjoy spreading pain and misery to
others. Some do this because breaking the spirits of others
makes them feel superior; others sow despair for the sheer
joy it provides them.
Sometimes encouraging misery runs counter to other evil
goals. For example, a blackguard interested in bringing
despair might leave his enemies alive but wounded,
defeated, and broken (and maybe even cursed or magically
corrupted). However, refusing to finish off one’s foes isn’t
always the wisest course of action, because the blackguard’s
enemies might heal themselves and oppose him again, with
a vengeance.
Similarly, a misery-loving fiend might tell a captured foe
his plans before he kills her, just to revel in his victim’s
despair. Such a creature wants its enemies to realize how
utterly defeated they are.
A villain with a love of misery may attempt to break his
foes, either instead of or before killing them. Straightforward techniques such as torture can break an enemy, and so
can more elaborate schemes, such as destroying the good
aspects of an enemy’s life, one by one. If the villain’s foe
delights in the beauty of an ancient forest, the evildoer
might command fire elementals to burn it down. If the foe
has a lover, the villain could capture and torture the loved
one—or turn him or her against the foe. The villain might
also frame the foe for others’ crimes, spread lies about him,
destroy his home, or infect him with a disease. A crafty,
despair-loving villain makes it unusual for the foe’s loved
ones to speak his name except as a curse.
Despair-loving creatures delight in spells such as bestow
curse, contagion, and sorrow. Such villains love using any magical effect that does more than simply kill their foes because
they consider death too pleasant an end.
Tempting Others
Temping good individuals to do wrong is an evil act. Plots
with this goal are largely the purview of demons and devils
that seek to corrupt mortals in order to taint their souls. The
products of a tempter’s work are larvae, the physical manifestations of evil souls on the Lower Planes (see Chapter 7).
Larvae are valuable to fiends; in fact, they are a form of currency in their own right. Some demons and devils, particularly erinyes, succubi, and glabrezu, spend almost all their
time corrupting mortals with offers of sex, power, magic, or
other pleasures.
When evil mortals tempt other mortals, often the temptation comes in the form of a bribe to get others to do what the
villain wants. For example, a wealthy man might convince a
woman to kill her father in return for a vast sum of money.
Unlike a demon, the wealthy man doesn’t care about corrupting the woman’s soul; he just wants the father dead. Still other
mortal evildoers might tempt someone to commit an evil act
for the sheer pleasure of spreading temptation.
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