Tips for playing a Malarite?

[Treiste]

So I got it in my head that I would like to play an evil druid.

+Evil druid RP looks awesome, especially with the intricacies of Malar's ethos
+Malar's a coded deity so no application
-No faith manager
-Not many (if any) active members
-Faith NPCs seem difficult to find, as Malar doesn't have huge temples in big cities
-Much harder to get started on an evil character (this is a whole topic by itself)
-Gathering spells is going to be a lot more difficult than on a good character
-Death essentially going to be permanent until supplicate is available
-No easy way to get back a lost amulet of communication

Does this seem about right? Is there anyway to make any of these easier without rolling a good character in an active faith? Am I just going to be killing slaves for weeks until I get fed up with it and ragequit?

[Harroghty]

I have enjoyed RPing with Malarites over the years (as a LG follower of Torm). Malar is not universally despised in the same way that a follower of Cyric or a demonic-looking tiefling would be in most civilized places; Malar is the natural world reduced to London's law of club and fang. A Malarite could be the tolerated, but chided member of a party including good and neutral PCs.

Just mind that you avoid the rangers of Mielikki and the druids of Silvanus (pretty much don't go to Ardeep) and you can have a tough, but interesting role-play experience.

[Ariala]

Hi! I have a Malarite, and while it is a little difficult, it certainly isn't impossible. There are at least 2-3 active Malarites, myself included, you just have to find us
Death is NOT permanent. Just need to make a few "friends" early on so when/if you do die, you can call on them for help!

[Treiste]

Thanks, that's encouraging. Getting faithed seemed like a huge obstacle, but knowing that there are active members eases my mind a bit.

[Ariala]

It will be the same as with any other faith that has no active FM. There is someone "upstairs" who handles the faithing.

[Treiste]

Sorry, I meant faith enquire. I don't even know where to begin to do that.

Before you told me that there were active players, I thought I'd have to bounce around the realms until finding a temple. Now I'm just going to have my character try to "cold call" one of these people.

[Aldren]

While I don't support the "cold call" theory of sending TELLs to characters you would realistically have no idea existed, also note that Malar has at least one temple and multiple NPCs in-game that you can "faith enquire" at to get started.

There should be no obstacles in the way for you *IF* you are active and roleplay your character's intent to follow Malar - we have a fantastic faithing IMM who handles exactly what you're discussing here.

I will also agree with and add to Harroghty's comments above. In addition, don't expect to be received with open arms and picnic baskets from any elf or Chauntean you find. I've always found Malarite RP challenging but very rewarding.

[Treiste]

I'm not sure I understand the metagaming distinction between "Oh, hello, I heard about you from a fellow follower of Malar." and "Oh, I read about the temple's location in a book."
One uses the OOC who list and the other uses OOC canonical sources found on the internet. In a game like this where are no real DMs to facilitate player interaction, it's up to the players to suck it up and put their characters into potentially uncomfortable situations (i.e. an evil character going to Waterdeep). Otherwise you're going to be whacking on dummies or dying alone in the wilderness until you tear your hair out.

Am I completely off base here?

[Mele]

When it's hard to find an npc to faith enquire at, simply set your title to something that translates to 'Hopeful of Malar' and I usually take care of it from there. :)

[Treiste]

When it's hard to find an npc to faith enquire at, simply set your title to something that translates to 'Hopeful of Malar' and I usually take care of it from there.

Sweet! I was under the impression that the Imm staff just handled administrative stuff and were hands off. Thanks for the info!

[Treiste]

Btw, I think I know what you're talking about with that temple. I didn't find the appropriate helpfile, because it wasn't linked to "help malar". Maybe this is more of a suggestion.

[Rhangalas]

Does this seem about right? Is there anyway to make any of these easier without rolling a good character in an active faith? Am I just going to be killing slaves for weeks until I get fed up with it and ragequit? I'm not sure I understand the metagaming distinction between "Oh, hello, I heard about you from a fellow follower of Malar." and "Oh, I read about the temple's location in a book."

• Wisdom or Charisma. Both of these ability scores give you a bonus to EXP gain. I think Charisma awards slightly more though. Pretty good deal for a druid.
  
  Slow-play it. When you are still in the training temple, don't use your EXP solely to get those next levels, because a lower level PC with some skill will survive the early content a lot better than a level 10 with unknown/amateur in everything. It might seem boring, but if you do this, you will actually be able to leave the temple sooner. What I do is: Use the first full level of experience on skills, use the second on a level; repeat.
  
  Deception. As long as you are not blatantly, Joker-style evil, you can usually piggy-back a goodly group to grab some EXP. It's not against alignment to use people, it's generally what successful "evil" people do. Which is also a plus, because this is NE behavior to the core. And hey, you might even wind up with the ins on some rangers to murder later on. It's good being evil.
  
  Meta-game... responsibly. Everyone uses OOC resources or knowledge to a certain extent to further the story of their character. As long as you're role playing it, I doubt the Gods will be too concerned about it. Trust me, you don't want to be the most humanlike non-human ever created... frown-towns everywhere. The only actions I have ever seen punished in this vein are multi-play and griefing.

I am not sure that you can expect people to forget what they have learned over the years of playing.

Good luck though, the game definitely needs more evil. I wouldn't be too concerned about faith or faith activity, because all a priest class really needs at those levels is some combat prowess and a healing prayer; you can build up the rest after getting established. To me it's more rewarding to choose an inactive faith and bring it to life than to just be another brick in the wall.

[Treiste]

Slow-play it. When you are still in the training temple, don't use your EXP solely to get those next levels, because a lower level PC with some skill will survive the early content a lot better than a level 10 with unknown/amateur in everything. It might seem boring, but if you do this, you will actually be able to leave the temple sooner. What I do is: Use the first full level of experience on skills, use the second on a level; repeat.

Deception. As long as you are not blatantly, Joker-style evil, you can usually piggy-back a goodly group to grab some EXP. It's not against alignment to use people, it's generally what successful "evil" people do. Which is also a plus, because this is NE behavior to the core. And hey, you might even wind up with the ins on some rangers to murder later on. It's good being evil.

Thanks for the advice. This is actually what I was doing anyways. It's a little harder in Zhentil Keep because the newbie zone mobs are noticeably worse than the newbie area in Waterdeep. I made the mistake of leveling too fast on my first character and then sat dead for almost 20 hours waiting for someone to revive.

One of the problems I'm having is that I really don't want to take my evil character into Waterdeep yet. I realize this is a huge handicap, since the game is designed around Waterdeep. I'm already feeling the pain here in several ways.

Thanks for the tip (Harro too for saying the same thing essentially) about grouping. I plan on doing that. The gullibility of good people is one of the best tools evil people can use to their advantage.

[Rhangalas]

Hehe, yeah the Deep is hands down better than the Keep in all regards to leveling a new PC, but another good way to offset the disadvantage is bounty hunting bandits near the ruins outside of the throat, they spawn a decent amount there and you won't have to foot it too far out and back to sell trophies, it's a quick way to get a little funding for starter gear.

Just thought I would mention it, because I rarely see many PCs using the bounty system anymore...

[Treiste]

Well, the guard at Waterdeep gate advertises it. It'd be nice if the guard at The Throat did as well...

[Alitar]

It's part of the reason there is a kismet cost/requirement for evil characters- not to take points, but to make sure the player has a bit more understanding of the game so they might make these sorts of connections or leaps. Evils get fewer hints and overall have a tougher time, but it really is rewarding roleplay. I wish you the best of it!

That said, having the guard at the Keep advertise that he accepts scalps does sound like a good idea. Or even just putting a sign up over a big bucket-o-scalps. Even an inherently evil city doesn't like the disruption to trade and commerce that Bandits create.

[Treiste]

Are there hidden minimum requirements for the faithing process? e.g. to get a quest you need to be at least level 10, with 50 hours.

[Mele]

Level 10 is required, as this is when your character becomes 'not new' IE: Loses newbie protections that can potentially be abused for favour gain. (A level 5 evil could kill dummies in the newbie temple for favour and gain it very quickly.)

In general you won't get a quest without a good amount of hours for roleplay, but there's no specific number. (50 is a nice number, as an "around" reference)

[Glim]

So I got it in my head that I would like to play an evil druid.

+Evil druid RP looks awesome, especially with the intricacies of Malar's ethos
+Malar's a coded deity so no application
-No faith manager
-Not many (if any) active members
-Faith NPCs seem difficult to find, as Malar doesn't have huge temples in big cities
-Much harder to get started on an evil character (this is a whole topic by itself)
-Gathering spells is going to be a lot more difficult than on a good character
-Death essentially going to be permanent until supplicate is available
-No easy way to get back a lost amulet of communication

Does this seem about right? Is there anyway to make any of these easier without rolling a good character in an active faith? Am I just going to be killing slaves for weeks until I get fed up with it and ragequit?

Can I talk about this? I would love to be able to offer some insight. To be fair it has been a long time since I have played so please understand some information may be outdated. But I would love to help and encourage someone interested in this role:

+Evil druid RP looks awesome, especially with the intricacies of Malar's ethos

Oh it is and it is a druidic role that has a unique viewpoint compared to everything else. Malarites are essentially darwinists to the extreme. Nature is harsh and brutal and all of life, not just specifically combat, is considered a test for your very survival. If you are strong then you will survive and please Malar, if you are weak you die and the cycle of nature moves on. They believe in protecting the forest the same as the good natural deities but they are willing to go to much further lengths and believe fear and intimidation is one of the best ways to advance their viewpoint. In their minds they are the true protectors of nature and they represent the actual truth of the wild. They work closely with Talos and (oh god I can't remember the other Triad member), but they are very different in their methods.

-No faith manager
-Not many (if any) active members
-Faith NPCs seem difficult to find, as Malar doesn't have huge temples in big cities

Cities make you soft anyways Often times that is where the roleplay is. I always thought it a bit silly to think you were required to sit in the woods by yourself all of the time. It could get a bit lonely but if you can't find the RP, often times the RP finds you.

-Gathering spells is going to be a lot more difficult than on a good character

Yes, as a smaller niche the Malarite faith always used to get less attention. Not purposefully but just the way things work as areas pretty much had to be built specifically for them. Spells were hard to come by and sometimes you had to make due. Druids in general were always kind of weak as polymorph/shapechange was more roleplay than combat and you did not have access to metal armor like the rest of the priest classes. You could still be very strong due to your spells and weapons but never as strong as a priest. If you roleplay right, people will think you are stronger than you are and often times that was a great challenge. Also, due to the lack of Malarites it was easier to be recognized.

-Much harder to get started on an evil character (this is a whole topic by itself)

I never found this the case. In fact because evils had a hard time, others were much more helpful. There is a bit of an unspoken brotherhood among evil characters and they are usually very helpful. Also, you do not have to be black and white, in fact I would recommend against it. People and their relationships are complex and your character should be too.

-Death essentially going to be permanent until supplicate is available

Other imms always would help out here, but yes, make friends with some priests.

-No easy way to get back a lost amulet of communication

Honestly no idea what this means!

In short, yes, it is challenging. Played right all characters are in their own ways. But I think it was one of the most fulfilling and complex paths you can take and there is always room to grow. Happy Hunting!