Am I approaching my evil-aligned, Black-coded woman character in my fantasy ttrpg with tact?
Hi, i'm playing as a character I created from a previous ttrpg and adapted for a pathfinder campaign. in this universe i've made her a Black-coded tiefling wizard (because tieflings are cool).
Since I'm inexperienced with writing villains, I made her neutral evil.
After her parents sent her to an academy with good intentions, my character's mentors abused her talents. Due to their ruthless methods, the void fractured her mind. Now her core memories lie dormant, replaced with revenge and self-destruction.
I'm thinking about asking my dm if the rest of the party can help her with the power of friendship (so she doesn't destroy herself and everyone else with her own everything bagel)
Am i avoiding harmful stereotypes of black women?
I'll try my best to show how broken and unstable she became from her trauma behind closed doors. additionally, there doesn't appear to be any parallels of real life systemic racism in the campaign's setting. [ask slightly trimmed for brevity]
So this sounds interesting but with multiple pitfalls concerning the Strong Black Woman stereotype but also ableism. Intersectionality is important.
The power of friendship helpsĀ
Itās great if the power of friendship could be a support for your character and allows her to be vulnerable from time to time. Especially when it comes to trauma, there could be this ingrained sense that she needs to keep herself together at all times and never show the messier sides of what trauma can do to you.
Portray the abuse mindfully
Given how the evil-alignment was literally forced on her with the abuse, youāll need to be mindful of how she can be demonized for her mental health, doubly because of the Strong Black Woman stereotype, where people would have higher expectations of her keeping it together.Ā
Thereād be respectability politics going on as well as sheād be demonized for showing symptoms and deemed dangerous.Ā
Self-destruction and the Black women feel less stereotype
Given her powers, that would go double. Another thing that comes to mind it that whole āBlack Women feel less painā bs which could also play a part if you lean into the self-destructive aspect of her story. I donāt only mean the physical aspects; thereās multiple and more subtle ways that can play out.Ā
But when it goes hand in hand with the Strong Black Woman stereotype, it could lead to:Ā
Downplaying of her suffering
less compassionate responses from those around her.
Trauma shouldnāt be an excuse for her evil-alignment but it can lead to toxic coping mechanisms and ideas, especially since she seems maybe somewhat brainwashed by her mentors.Ā
If sheās forced to stop using her usual coping mechanisms and unlearning toxic behaviour and ideas, maybe by her friends, that would mean sheād also need to learn better ways.Ā
Thatās a very messy process that isnāt linear and so those moments will be a quagmire in terms of how to perceive those mess ups:
Will she be demonized for it?Ā
Will those high expectations choke her process?Ā
Will she swing hard in the other direction and dig her heels in?
As for the traumatic background, itās good to show the actual effects of trauma on a character and how it created an unsteady foundation for them as they grew up. That is something I see often attempted but also often poorly executed, so extra mindfulness and care on that part is warranted.Ā
Trauma doesnāt equate to becoming evil, but there are many messy aspects and chances for toxicity if not worked on/treated by said character. Cycle-breaking is a real, complex, and nuanced thing to explore.
The power of friendship can be a great support, but Iād warn against having that be the sole thing that heals them if healing is part of their story. Allow for relapses, and mess ups.
