sesokeriton

I'd like to see an evil path that is done in a way that it isn't just cartoony evil. What I mean is, that you can say you did the right thing after you're finished with the evil path and you couldn't have achieved the same things by doing the good path. I guess the best way to understand this might be to view it as a goal oriented pragmatic path. Instead of making choices by a moral compass, you make choices to achieve a goal and success can't be achieved by staying true to that moral compass. Let's look at an example of how this might work. The starting situation is this. You're a member of an organization, that has fallen from glory. You're weak and are vulnerable to the whims of greater powers. You are used as pawns in their games with little regard to your safety or wellbeing, but it's the only way for you to survive in that world in your weakened state. You've endured this type of living for years now and the abuses you've suffered have set you on a patch to change your own and your organizations future. THE GOOD PATH: You work your hardest, you keep your oaths and you finish your missions succesfully. Through many trials you ally with a noble faction, build a good reputation for yourself and your organization. Your position and status in life is greatly improved, but you will remain as a minor faction in the world. A respected and capable one allied with noble allies and a bright future(likely with a spouse/children to look forward to), but your fate is still tied to the fate of those larger entities and your past glory days are behind you. A good ending for your character and for your faction. THE EVIL PATH: You you know the only way to truly regain control of your fate is to regain your position as a greater power in the world. Oaths, friends and alliances aren't trivial matters, but in the end you know they're tools you use in order to achieve your goals. Supporting a weak ally to the end will only hinder and weaken you, so you're prepared to cut your ties/betray them to gain favor with a rising power. You know religiously following rules and tradition makes it impossible to achieve your dream. You have to be prepared to gather allies and make dirty deals in order to ensure you chance at the top. Lastly and most importantly you know someone else has to fall in order for you to take their place and they're not going to give that power up voluntarily. In the end your hands are covered in blood and you've used others as sacrificial pawns, but you've regained your position and you alone determine your own future, so you can live with your choices. Another good ending for your character and for your faction, where you did evil things but can still genuinely feel good about your character and choices. That is what I want. I want the character to be a hero of the story no matter if I play a good or an evil path. I don't want to see some cartoony villain who wakes up and goes "What evil should I do today? Muahahahaaa" or "I'll taunt and kill this pointless pesant because I'm evil and that is what evil people do. Muahaahahahaa". No one does that. That's not evil, that's just horribly bad writing.