The Dangerous Antagonist

Character Description: This character is a hero with an attitude problem. He's grim and humorless, and never fights just to give someone a drubbing—he fights to kill. He's driven by some powerful, unsympathetic motivation: A desire for revenge, overwhelming desire for a possession, or even a near-psychotic desire just to be left alone. He must be carefully played so that there actually is a reason for him to accompany the other player-characters, and the DM may need to remind his player occasionally that he can have friends and loyalties, even if he prefers to conceal that fact behind hard-bitten mannerisms and an evil temper. Naturally, this personality type has few or no romantic inclinations or relationships.

Best Suited For: In terms of alignment, the Dangerous Antagonist is appropriate for all of them. Different alignments result in different motivations: A Lawful/Good Dangerous Antagonist has been embittered by events in his life, while a Chaotic/Evil character is a sociopath. In terms of Warrior Kits, most are appropriate; the usual exceptions are the Cavalier and Swashbuckler, who tend to be better-tempered characters.

In Combat Situations: The Dangerous Antagonist fights in a smart and deadly fashion (unless he's a Berserker). He prefers a "Take no prisoners!" attitude, but can allow himself to be overruled by his friends, especially if they can persuade him that there's a practical reason for it (just being merciful and humane isn't good enough). He can be a good combat tactician for the team, directing his allies to fight in the most deadly and efficient manner possible; or, he could be a wade-right-in fighter who vents his hatred on his enemies.

In Role-Playing Situations: This character generally doesn't do role-playing negotiations with NPCs, unless the PCs are attempting to intimidate or frighten the NPCs. The Dangerous Antagonist must be played carefully; many Dangerous Antagonist characters are merely kill-crazy fighters with overinflated opinions of themselves, and so it's very easy when playing such a character to aggravate the other players with his pretentiousness. In other words: Be menacing, but concentrate that menace more on NPCs than your PC allies.

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