How to RP a Herald of Xotli?

Hi!

As a new player Im trying out the classes how they work.
I always loved the battle mage type, melee mage hybrids so HoX is a natural choice. But Im more or less a lore nerd too and like to play as a character dictates but I like more to play "good" characters.

So as the title says: how the hell should I play as demon posessed crazy evil maniac killer? Are all HoXs - in the rp sense - the same or are there some nice guys between their ranks?

If I just try to be evil in some way, trying to immerse myself in the role the most bothering things are quest. There are some answers/ dialoges you can only choose nice answers. :)

I know its not gamebreaking thing but I would appreciate any input.

Thank you.

Xotli is an elder god from beyond this realm who supposedly desires nothing more than utter destruction of everything that is not itself. That being said, it is difficult to RP a third of the classes in the game if you wanted to adhere strictly to the gods they worship, who desire nothing more than utter destruction of anything that does not belong to their god (Demonologist, Necromancer, Herald of Xotli, Dark Templar).

But to help you out of your conundrum, Xotli was supposedly worshiped by the Atlanteans, so to say that all worshipers of Xotli have to be evil, maniacal, and murderous is a little far-fetched. In the world of Conan, nothing is ever all good or all bad, and there are many levels of gray. Conan himself came to power by killing the last king of Tarantia just because he felt like it, which isn't that good of a 'good' objective for the namesake of the game. Meanwhile, 'evil' characters such as Yah Chieng and Toth-Amon are trying to protect and expand their empires using what powers are available to them, which is to be expected of any leader of any empire. They just happen to be opposed to what the player character is trying to do in their quest, so they are labeled bad. Also both of them tried to mess with the player character in some way, so they have that going against them. So just because you worship Xotli does not mean you have to be a bad person. There are evil Priests of Mitra out there too, I bet.

You can afford a lot of flexbility in how you RP a Herald of Xotli. What is your character's motivation for worshiping Xotli? Are they truly bent to the will of their god and want to see everything burn? Are they in it just for the powers and do the bare minimum to maintain their relationship with their god while they use those powers for their own purposes? Are they cursed into serving a god they don't like, and are actually 'nice' people who don't agree with the whole fire and destroying business, but have decided that since they have this power, they might as well use it? Maybe they are mistaken and think that Xotli is actually a nice god, and don't realize the true nature of the powers they are harnessing yet. Or maybe they are on a path of righteous vengeance for someone wronging them horribly, and will accept any help, even that of the worst gods, in order to achieve their goal. You can decide to play in many ways.

Finally, you don't have to bind yourself to Xotli in order to explain your powers. There are Khitan Heralds of Xotli. But Xotli was an Atlantean god, so how do the Khitans in the far east come to worship a god of a drowned nation from beyond the western shores? Hell, I bet you a bunch of Khitans can't even pronounce "Xotli". If you go to Khitai, you will see Priests of Yun and members of the Scarlet Circle who use powers like Xotli, but clearly have different beliefs. Yun may be in many ways an unsavory god himself, but if you dislike being bound to a god of destruction like Xotli, and you happen to play a Khitan, then Yun is another option. Or if you are Stygian, there are other gods to base yourself off of as well. You can be a Herald who worships Set, just not in the same way as the Tempest priests. Or Bast or Derketo. The possibilities are many.

Just remember to have fun :)

Thank you for your help! I didn't expect such a detailed answer, I really appreciate it.

Now I have the backstory in my mind :) I will post it when I'm finished. My english is not the best so I apologize in advance.

As an idea for an good HoX, what if the herald is an unwilling servant. The struggle to stay human and not turn into a destructive force could be interesting, or try to use the power for good without turning to xotlis will completly.

Yes I'm working on something similar.