#and not with immediately jumping through narrative hoops to explain why my tav would even bother

[wakinguponsaturday]

In lieu of a joke post about how people who choose to do "evil" playthroughs have much greater willpower than I can ever aspire to (was in turn based combat against Wyll with tears in my eyes), I gotta say I'm disappointed with the evil route, at least insofar as it manifests in act 1.

Not in that you lose some companions for attacking the Grove - there should be consequences to suddenly turning on a bunch of innocents - but in that aside from bloodlust or rp'ing that your character hates tieflings, there isn't really a compelling reason to do so. What does siding with the goblins offer? An easier fight, technically, but on paper beforehand you're told to go after 3 people that can each be isolated in the goblin camp, versus the entire druid grove, so why would the player assume the latter would save time or effort? Conceivably they could offer information about the Absolute, but it doesn't feel like there's enough dialogue to justify that - what with Gut trying to kill you almost immediately and Minthara going straight to demanding your obedience. Why do you have to default to an avid worshipper right off the bat, when it would be perfectly reasonable to play into your ignorance and gather information about the Absolute from her followers first, with the promise of more if you gain their respect? I'll admit that this could be difficult if True Soul is already a position of authority, but these interactions could feel a bit more tit for tat by laying out some lore breadcrumbs to pique interest. Or I'm imagining if there were some sidequests or even conversations like that with Rolan, Cal and Lia with the goblins that could lend them some character traits beyond violent and happily violent.

After the raid, you're given the option when speaking to Volo to say that you had to convince the goblins that you were on their side. But when did you decide that would benefit you. What [PERSUASION/DECEPTION] dialogue options or discussions with other party members lead up to that. If Wyll and Karlach are going to advocate for eliminating the goblin leaders, who's playing goblin's advocate? The motivations don't need to be laid out as plainly as the narrator going 'hey, this could be manipulated to your benefit', but it would be neat if everybody had something to say about the possibility of the raid before it actually happened.

I tend to style 'evil' characters as being self-serving and spiteful rather than bloodthirsty for the sake of it, and maybe that's on me for just looking for things the game isn't designed for. But from that perspective, the most in-character choice seems to be skipping out on this conflict altogether. Which I would think most people are disinclined towards in favour of seeing as much of the game (and gaining as much XP) as they can. I would love to have Minthara as a companion, but my power-hungry wild magic sorcerer isn't going to be convinced into some quick genocide on the hunch that she'll prove more open to sharing later. If you're playing a Dark Urge and leaning into it, this probably works well, but it doesn't seem well suited towards other interpretations of what evil entails.

(Also seen other people point out that the druids have some not at all subtle racism going on, and as a tiefling it would have been nice to have the option to save the tieflings and leave the druids to fend for themselves.)

For anyone out there who has sided with the goblins, would really love to hear your thoughts on it/what guided that decision! Or if there's some dialogue that I'm missing out on! I want to like it, but it's looking like a lesser alternative right now. I'm genuinely debating going back, getting Halsin and then leaning into the Absolute with Act II with the rationale that they're presenting an obvious way to get through the Shadowlands. Once it becomes clearer what the Absolute is/how much danger they're in in trying to stand against it, then I can see the characters playing along, but in Act I the motivation feels weak.