Why cant i worship an Evil Deity?

[liaratsoni84]

Well, if the choice of deity and background are completely cosmetic and have no effect at all on gameplay, then why can't they give you the option to at least type in your deity's name/background? That would solve lots of problems and allow people to have the ultimate choice for roleplaying purposes. It's kind of silly to have things like Cyric tattoos and drow in a game without Cyric or Lolth as an option for worship.

[bruddajokka]

Meh it's probably because your supposed to be a force for good. Struggling against the forces of evil, and all of that jazz.

[novanine1]

I don't know it would appear that alot of people play DDO and enjoy it; which doesn't even support deity worship. It's better to leave the evil factor out, because it warrants playing a character most party meembers don't want to get involved with. It would also create more problems for game mechanics. I've played 1,2,3, 3.5 as well and feel that options was never neccessary, for the most part it is better to have campaigns revolving around good fighting evil. The developers would really have to alter things to create campaigns for evil based parties anyways.I'm sure for the TOOLSET it might be possible, so put your hope in that.

[chthonicmythos]

I do not now if anyone has mentioned it yet, but if you listen to the NOC podcast posted in the main msg board around here then you will hear them talk about adding in things like evil gods for people to worship for RP purposes, they just have not added them in yet but it is planned.

Did people not see this post? It makes this thread obsolete. It looks like we will get to worship evil dieties, so you can be a follower of Asmodeus going around murdering the Ashmodi. Or a follower of Loth killing drow. Both those groups are backstab happy though so it's probably not too out of the ordinary.
Don't forget, we are still early beta, and I doubt the Cryptic team is just sitting around.

[elminban]

4E *is* D&D. You may not like the edition, but that doesn't negate the fact that Fourth Edition is, in fact, a true edition of Dungeons & Dragons. And yes, 4E encourages players to choose good or neutral deities. After all, the base game assumes the PCs are heroes. The evil deities still are there, and the DM can choose to allow their worship, but the game doesn't assume they're available.

That's not a 4E thing, by the way. I don't know any DMs who allow the worship of evil deities outside special campaigns or in special circumstances. From the AD&D 2nd Edition Player's Handbook:

"Third, some people choose to play evil alignments. Although there is no specific prohibition against this, there are several reasons why it is not a good idea. First, the AD&D game is a game of heroic fantasy. What is heroic about being a villain? if an evilly aligned group plays its alignment correctly, it is as much a battle for the characters to work together as it is to take on the outside world. Neutral evil individuals would be paranoid (with some justification) that the others would betray them for profit or self-aggrandizement. Chaotic evil characters would try to get someone else to take all the risks so that they could become (or remain) strong and take over. Although lawful evil characters might have some code of conduct that governed their party, each member would look for ways to twist the rules to his own favor. A group of players who play a harmonious group of evil characters simply are not playing their alignments correctly. By its nature, evil alignments call fro disharmony and squabbling, which destroys the fun."

It should also be noted that 4E did, in fact, include fairly expansive rules for playing evil campaigns, with the Heroes of Shadow supplement (which reintroduced the Blackguard class, the Necromancer and Nethermancer Mage schools, and so on) and the Menzoberranzan supplement, which focused entirely on drow society.

That said, I do think evil gods should be there, as not all people who worship them need be evil. And since alignment is a nonissue anyway (FINALLY), it would simply mean that they came from a bad area (perhaps a citizen of Thay or Netheril) or even that they are somehow attached to that patron, despite their protests and attempts to get away. I don't necessarily believe that those need to be available for launch, especially since I"m unsure what exactly your choice of deity actually does mechanically. But I'd like to see them eventually.

But, with the Thayans, the Netherese, the orcs, the demons rising from the Chasm, the Ashmadai and maybe even the Dead Rats, there's going to be plenty of evil to fight, and little, if any, capital-G Good things to take on. (Though, I must say, getting involved in the dustup between the Sons of Alagondar and the Harpers would be fun.)

Ammon Jerro was one of the best characters I have seen in a video game. From his voice acting, to his determination, to his faults and weaknesses. He was in NwN2 so obviously 2nd ED never heard of him. He is a great example of how true evil character works. I really felt NwN2 in general did an awesome job at debunking the myths of character alignments. In 2nd ED a lawful evil character could literally lay siege to an entire town and as long as he spared the women and children he was lawful evil. A lawful good character could not steal an apple from said town. As time has gone on DnD has improved and changed alignment.

[mvinsted]

Im gona play evil all the way im lucky cos i follow the one and lies is a major factor in my game so if the quest line but is non evil it is what i do out of quest that maters but that they made it so you can not take an evil path makes me not want to play the game and that
Pains me alot cos fr is in my bone and i would properly still game if for that reason only what happent to the constand battle of the faith
That was sutch a big part of the fr ... i can follow kelemvor and not cyric!!! Kelemvor the cowerd at midnights trial ups sorry hehe but
good only takes away what d and d rly is you make your own path

[wabortias]

ya but what about the warlocks, pale masters..spirt shaman, class's an as a shadowDancers rouge. i like being lawful evil . most my class's are in game yet an all are Evil i Hope i lest get a druid.. i lest worship death with him, Hope you can go in all the realms of limbo,(all the lvls of hell an hevan, maybe even the shadow dimensions, any one thing We might get Those quest??

[drudgy]

Ah, the great Black Hand himself. Such fond memories adventuring in the Barrens of Doom and Despair as my illusionist Mage in AD&D.

It would be cool if you had that kind of choice in Neverwinter, but I imagine it would be hard to come up with story for every single one of the deities in the handbook.

[venomdemme]

I would like to see more options added. I do not see why we can not have Evil Deity. Because all the Background/Deity with nothing more then rp fluff. This does not effect the story or add exclusive quest and that stuff. So just let us pick evil gods or let us pick god haters.

[mvinsted]

Well good and evil can workt togetter cos lets say the evil abd godt fight
Over a city and now comes somthing that will kill them all what to do gang up and fight after