Lawful Evil, "Dominator" A lawful evil villain methodically takes what he wants within the limits of his code of conduct without regard for whom it hurts. He cares about tradition, loyalty, and order but not about freedom, dignity, or life. He plays by the rules but without mercy or compassion. He is comfortable in a hierarchy and would like to rule, but is willing to serve. He condemns others not according to their actions but according to race, religion, homeland, or social rank. He is loath to break laws or promises.
This reluctance comes partly from his nature and partly because he depends on order to protect himself from those who oppose him on moral grounds. Some lawful evil villains have particular taboos, such as not killing in cold blood (but having underlings do it) or not letting children come to harm (if it can be helped). They imagine that these compunctions put them above unprincipled villains.
Some lawful evil people and creatures commit themselves to evil with a zeal like that of a crusader committed to good. Beyond being willing to hurt others for their own ends, they take pleasure in spreading evil as an end unto itself. They may also see doing evil as part of a duty to an evil deity or master.
Lawful evil is sometimes called "diabolical," because devils are the epitome of lawful evil.
Lawful evil is the most dangerous alignment because it represents methodical, intentional, and frequently successful evil.
Posts
Great info on the alignment. I never had anyone in my groups act as Lawful Evil before.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, NE is more dangerous than LE. LE is methodical, and thus in a way predictable. NE can be predicted in the same way. Still, NE can mask as LE if it fits the current needs.
ReplyDeleteCE is for primitives ;)
The alignment text is from the D20 SRD. I've found that some people play evil as a capital Eeeee-Vile, almost comedic in tone rather than menacing. It falls under the whole Chaotic Stupid alignment (combined evil with chaotic neutral). I'd love to play an evil game that wasn't that but it seems to devolve to that in the few evil games I've played.
ReplyDelete