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There are many threads on playing evil races or characters but considering a character with 3 permanent shadows and with traits like Cruel or with 4 shadows and traits like Murderous, Tyrannical, Treacherous or Thieving, the characters are very close to being like an actual evil character.

How do you handle them in your game? What is the most permanent shadow your characters had? One of my players is an Elf with 3! permanent shadows and he has just gained the trait Cruel this session. I am having a hard time to play this trait and aspect in my game and need some ideas.

As long as the Adventurer has not fallen completely into Shadow, I suppose that the player should be allowed to continue using him/her. As a Loremaster, I would want to give the Adventurer opportunities to try to redeem himself. If the player fails to take proper advantage of those opportunities then let the dice fall where they may.

The most important question is: does playing a cruel character bother you, or do you see it as an opportunity for roleplaying somebody you're not?

If it bothers you, then I guess you shouldn't overdo it, maybe talk to your LM and see if it's a problem, then maybe have him create an opportunity to redeem your character.

If you're fine with playing a cruel character, but you're finding it difficult, then remember you don't have to be cruel in all your actions. If the LM thinks the trait applies, he will tell you. Otherwise, just find an opportunity or two by session. Maybe torture a prisoner instead of asking nicely, or show how your character enjoys hunting a wounded animal instead of killing it quickly.

I am the LM not the player. About redeeming, does it remove the trait?

I'm not sure it should completely remove the trait. Maybe a redeemed character could behave normally most of the time, but would need a Wisdom check in difficult situations.

Also remember that a trait isn't a disorder. "Cruel", for example, doesn't have to mean you go out of your way to torture puppies. It can mean that, in the pursuit of your goals, you rationalize behavior that others might see as cruel. E.g. you justify not stopping to help the wounded traveler because you have to catch the fleeing orcs.

I think many of the rangers of Ithilien (Faramir's men) probably have a point or two of shadow trait: they come across as hard (and maybe even "cruel") as a result of having to operate so close to the Shadow for so long.

Totally agreed with Elfcrusher's assessment. It doesn't mean have been spiritually perverted.

It means when the pressure is high and you are faced with a tough choice in fulfilling your goals, you are more willing and susceptible to doing a little evil in order to perform a greater good.

Like others have illustrated, I think of a guy who gives in to the idea of torturing a man in order to save a whole village. The movie Dragonslayer ; a king who institutes a "lottery" of annual sacrifices to abate a dragon's desire for flesh, rather than muster a company of men to hunt down and kill it. Boromir ; his shadow score tainted his reason with passion, passion to use the ring to destroy the enemy rather than recognize that the ring would instead use him.

A player's reticence to play out a corrupted character's deeds is handled by the rules. The player can continue to act with the purest of intentions, and it's up to the Loremaster to take control away from the player whenever appropriate. When the player gets control of his character again, his distress at what the Loremaster made his character do is perfectly acceptable behavior for the character itself.