Originally Posted by Brainer
Originally Posted by Zerubbabel
+1
I've been having a hard time making evil choices when I consider how the option may make me lose out on content (like camp-companions, or NPCs in the world). A lot of evil decisions involve slaughtering people indiscriminately, which is a bit "chaotic stupid," and the evil NPCs with whom you would collaborate lack characterization, in the sense that their evil is either a "chaotic stupid" kind of evil with the Goblins, or a mustache-twirling kind of evil, with the Drow True Souls we encounter. That doesn't really give them individual personality, so to speak. Volo is more than the "good guy" here; he's a confident storyteller, a goofball, and a bit of a moron. What else do we know about Minthara that isn't already encompassed under "Evil Servant of the Absolute"? Outside of loot, there isn't really an incentive to be evil beyond "My character is evil." I think the lack of camp-companions are part of a larger problem in implementing the evil options. Is evil completely lonely? I don't think so.

Admittedly, I haven't made a lot of evil decisions due to the above factors (there's still youtube), so I might be selling the path short. Would like anyone to correct me on things I got wrong.
The evil path could be interpreted as infiltrating the cult to understand your condition as they are directly tied to it / destroy it from the inside, or as you playing an opportunist with little regard for lives of others. Or you are just protective of goblins and don't like to see them pushed around. Or your character has a distaste towards tieflings and/or druids for one reason or another. You could rationalize the evil path in many ways, though I certainly agree that it requires a lot more work to be a suitable alternative. I am hopeful we'll get a githyanki route too, for the more orderly and constructive villains to pick.

+1 to Githyanki route for more orderly and constructive villains. Since there's no alignment system in place, it could be nice for the various evil factions to represent the many different flavors of evil, and for the faction(s) you choose to help you flavor your character. Off the top of my head, we've got Goblins and Duergar Slaver Rebels as a more chaotic evil, the Absolute and Sharrans as being a more neutral evil, and the Gith as a more lawful evil (though none should be "limited" by such an alignment interpretation). Some forms of evil are more subtle and insidious, like controlling and manipulating the lives and minds of others, while others are more opportunistic (with varying degrees of moral bounds), and still others are rabid and murderous. As it stands today however, there is a woeful lack of content-based incentive to be evil, forcing the player to do the heavy lifting in justifying any action, as opposed to reacting to incentives and consequences. Faction-based camp followers may be a way around this to an extent.

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