Nov 30, 2016 5:02 pm
PLAYING A DARK SIDE CHARACTER
Force user or not, your character is part of the Sith culture, so the information below regarding what it means to be a Dark/Villain type character applies. The following information is taken from various sources to give you a better idea of what being Sith, Dark Side, or VIllain means for your character.
Regarding non-force using characters: as you aren't tapping into the Force as a power, physiological effects will not apply to you, as your body isn't being used as a conduit for Dark Side energies. Also, you won't suffer Morality penalties for moving toward the Light, as the Dark Side isn't an integral part of your being.
Dark Side Philosophy and Morality
A simple way to view the Light vs Dark concept, as regarded in official canon: The Light Side of the Force is associated with creation and growth, whereas the Dark Side of the force is associated with destruction and decay.
One of the issues found in a Dark Side campaign is some players confusing the Dark Side with Chaos, and Pragmatism with Psychotic murder. The Dark Side is a point of view free of restraints, yet has purpose, almost always self-serving, or serving the Dark Side. A villain may kill, torture, etc., even to the point of enjoying a little, or a lot, but they rarely do it for pleasure alone. More often than not, it's a means to an end (Pragmatic).
Drawing on Anger and Passion to obtain Power isn't Chaos, it's just freeing oneself from the denial of desire via removing the shackles often associated with a 'Good morality' (Light Side oriented) perspective. Player's may not get this, and may instead equate the Darkside with the kind of senseless violence that leaves a river of blood in their wake. Randomly killing others with senseless violence is insanity, not the Dark Side.
A far more accurate portrayal of what the extended indulgence in the Dark Side does: it creates a loss of humanity, morality, empathy, and the ability to love, leaving the Sith or new Dark Sider amoral, cruel, selfish, sadistic and violent. Also, as your characters live on a planet that oozes the Dark Side of the force, the above effect would likely be more pronounced.
This change in values, ideology and personality is exemplified in canon, wherein the transition to the Dark Side is part of a transformation into a different person altogether, often leading those who turn to the Dark Side to take on a different name, as they regard their former persona as dead and destroyed.
The Dark Side isn't the kind of evil that necessarily brings forth random psychosis and violence. It is, however, evil in a way, as intended by canon, but very rarely senseless and without purpose. It is part of the living force, and the dark part of it. It does the opposite of the light side, and pervades the individual, in a way corrupting them, taking them further along a path of... well, darkness. It's what allows the character to kill the younglings, force choke his true love, destroy a planet, etc. Anakin didn't intend to do any of those things. But a fork in the road started him down a dark path, and became so much a part of him, that it became who he was, as he became even darker with the passage of time.
The Dark Side is a path of indulgence and emotional investment. Where the proper Jedi is aloof and distanced from feeling, the Dark Side practitioner revels in the ebb and flow of emotion. They use surges in it to fuel their actions. They let a more hedonistic value set rule. Well, hedonistic mixed with a flare of selfishness (not just what feels right, but what you need/want to get usually takes precedence over what's necessarily best for the entire society).
The difference between the dark and light sides also appears to be in how they feel to those who are aware of them. The light side at times has been described as a flowing river: soothing, constant, with hidden strength. In contrast, the dark side has been described as a roaring fire: obviously powerful, seductive, and potentially dangerous.
Turning to the Dark Side
The Sith call it enlightenment; however, no records explain exactly how a conversion to the dark side takes place. For some, the dark side was extremely attractive and almost impossible to reject. Every time a person in tune with the Force called on the dark side, they became more addicted to the power it brought them. The dark side's corrupting influence could take control of a Force user in certain moments. It was possible to be drawn to the dark side by proximity to a nexus of dark side energy, such as Malachor V or the Valley of the Dark Lords on Korriban.
Fear was most often the starting point in a slide to the dark side—for, like a plague, it could quickly and rampantly affect individuals, groups, entire populations of cities, and even planets; and like a stream that becomes a raging river, it led naturally to anger, chaos, and unbridled power, if left unabated. When fear was thus allowed to fester and go unchecked, it could take hold and create a concentration of dark side energy that bordered on being something that approached a vergence or nexus in the Force. Those who were Force-sensitive could, often with great facility, detect such concentrations. Such detection occurred, for example, by a young Anakin Skywalker and his Master Obi-Wan Kenobi when they arrived on the planet Radnor: "Anakin reached out to the Force to feel what he could about the mission ahead. He exchanged a glance with Obi-Wan. The Force was dark here. Fear had gripped the population of both cities—and with fear came desperation, anger, and chaos
Effects of the Dark Side
Many find the dark side to be addictive, unable to resist its pull the more they were subjected to it. Even as their physical bodies slowly decayed, Dark side users became more powerful in the Force. Additionally, Darth Plagueis believed that there were distinct differences between the energies of the light and dark sides as well as distinct differences in how one drew upon each.
The dark side, much like a strong, addictive narcotic, affected not only the mind of the user but the appearance as well. As one immersed oneself deeper within the dark side of the Force, its malevolent power took a toll on the body. Darth Bane explained that the reason for this physical degradation was because flesh and bone lacked the endurance to channel the immense power of the dark side indefinitely.
Many darksiders experienced a change in the pigmentation of their eyes, as their normal eye color would transform into a luminous, sulfuric yellow. Often the skin would also lose pigmentation, becoming pale and mottled while veins became increasingly visible. The hair would also lose color, making it appear as though the darksider was aging rapidly. The user's voice would also be altered, becoming a few pitches lower and raspier. In time, the corruption could go beyond mere cosmetic details and directly impair physical abilities.
King Ommin of Onderon was a proficient Sith sorcerer for most of his life, and the dark side held him under its decaying influence until he eventually became incapable of movement and needed support from a cyborg exoskeleton in order to survive. Another extreme case of dark side corruption was Darth Zash, whose extensive study of the dark side led to immense physical degradation and eventually a fatal terminal condition. The worst case of this transformation would be Darth Nihilus, who was completely consumed by the dark side both mentally and physically. Eventually, he became an aberration of the dark side that existed only to consume life
Force user or not, your character is part of the Sith culture, so the information below regarding what it means to be a Dark/Villain type character applies. The following information is taken from various sources to give you a better idea of what being Sith, Dark Side, or VIllain means for your character.
Regarding non-force using characters: as you aren't tapping into the Force as a power, physiological effects will not apply to you, as your body isn't being used as a conduit for Dark Side energies. Also, you won't suffer Morality penalties for moving toward the Light, as the Dark Side isn't an integral part of your being.
Dark Side Philosophy and Morality
A simple way to view the Light vs Dark concept, as regarded in official canon: The Light Side of the Force is associated with creation and growth, whereas the Dark Side of the force is associated with destruction and decay.
One of the issues found in a Dark Side campaign is some players confusing the Dark Side with Chaos, and Pragmatism with Psychotic murder. The Dark Side is a point of view free of restraints, yet has purpose, almost always self-serving, or serving the Dark Side. A villain may kill, torture, etc., even to the point of enjoying a little, or a lot, but they rarely do it for pleasure alone. More often than not, it's a means to an end (Pragmatic).
Drawing on Anger and Passion to obtain Power isn't Chaos, it's just freeing oneself from the denial of desire via removing the shackles often associated with a 'Good morality' (Light Side oriented) perspective. Player's may not get this, and may instead equate the Darkside with the kind of senseless violence that leaves a river of blood in their wake. Randomly killing others with senseless violence is insanity, not the Dark Side.
A far more accurate portrayal of what the extended indulgence in the Dark Side does: it creates a loss of humanity, morality, empathy, and the ability to love, leaving the Sith or new Dark Sider amoral, cruel, selfish, sadistic and violent. Also, as your characters live on a planet that oozes the Dark Side of the force, the above effect would likely be more pronounced.
This change in values, ideology and personality is exemplified in canon, wherein the transition to the Dark Side is part of a transformation into a different person altogether, often leading those who turn to the Dark Side to take on a different name, as they regard their former persona as dead and destroyed.
The Dark Side isn't the kind of evil that necessarily brings forth random psychosis and violence. It is, however, evil in a way, as intended by canon, but very rarely senseless and without purpose. It is part of the living force, and the dark part of it. It does the opposite of the light side, and pervades the individual, in a way corrupting them, taking them further along a path of... well, darkness. It's what allows the character to kill the younglings, force choke his true love, destroy a planet, etc. Anakin didn't intend to do any of those things. But a fork in the road started him down a dark path, and became so much a part of him, that it became who he was, as he became even darker with the passage of time.
The Dark Side is a path of indulgence and emotional investment. Where the proper Jedi is aloof and distanced from feeling, the Dark Side practitioner revels in the ebb and flow of emotion. They use surges in it to fuel their actions. They let a more hedonistic value set rule. Well, hedonistic mixed with a flare of selfishness (not just what feels right, but what you need/want to get usually takes precedence over what's necessarily best for the entire society).
The difference between the dark and light sides also appears to be in how they feel to those who are aware of them. The light side at times has been described as a flowing river: soothing, constant, with hidden strength. In contrast, the dark side has been described as a roaring fire: obviously powerful, seductive, and potentially dangerous.
Turning to the Dark Side
The Sith call it enlightenment; however, no records explain exactly how a conversion to the dark side takes place. For some, the dark side was extremely attractive and almost impossible to reject. Every time a person in tune with the Force called on the dark side, they became more addicted to the power it brought them. The dark side's corrupting influence could take control of a Force user in certain moments. It was possible to be drawn to the dark side by proximity to a nexus of dark side energy, such as Malachor V or the Valley of the Dark Lords on Korriban.
Fear was most often the starting point in a slide to the dark side—for, like a plague, it could quickly and rampantly affect individuals, groups, entire populations of cities, and even planets; and like a stream that becomes a raging river, it led naturally to anger, chaos, and unbridled power, if left unabated. When fear was thus allowed to fester and go unchecked, it could take hold and create a concentration of dark side energy that bordered on being something that approached a vergence or nexus in the Force. Those who were Force-sensitive could, often with great facility, detect such concentrations. Such detection occurred, for example, by a young Anakin Skywalker and his Master Obi-Wan Kenobi when they arrived on the planet Radnor: "Anakin reached out to the Force to feel what he could about the mission ahead. He exchanged a glance with Obi-Wan. The Force was dark here. Fear had gripped the population of both cities—and with fear came desperation, anger, and chaos
Effects of the Dark Side
Many find the dark side to be addictive, unable to resist its pull the more they were subjected to it. Even as their physical bodies slowly decayed, Dark side users became more powerful in the Force. Additionally, Darth Plagueis believed that there were distinct differences between the energies of the light and dark sides as well as distinct differences in how one drew upon each.
The dark side, much like a strong, addictive narcotic, affected not only the mind of the user but the appearance as well. As one immersed oneself deeper within the dark side of the Force, its malevolent power took a toll on the body. Darth Bane explained that the reason for this physical degradation was because flesh and bone lacked the endurance to channel the immense power of the dark side indefinitely.
Many darksiders experienced a change in the pigmentation of their eyes, as their normal eye color would transform into a luminous, sulfuric yellow. Often the skin would also lose pigmentation, becoming pale and mottled while veins became increasingly visible. The hair would also lose color, making it appear as though the darksider was aging rapidly. The user's voice would also be altered, becoming a few pitches lower and raspier. In time, the corruption could go beyond mere cosmetic details and directly impair physical abilities.
King Ommin of Onderon was a proficient Sith sorcerer for most of his life, and the dark side held him under its decaying influence until he eventually became incapable of movement and needed support from a cyborg exoskeleton in order to survive. Another extreme case of dark side corruption was Darth Zash, whose extensive study of the dark side led to immense physical degradation and eventually a fatal terminal condition. The worst case of this transformation would be Darth Nihilus, who was completely consumed by the dark side both mentally and physically. Eventually, he became an aberration of the dark side that existed only to consume life