Post originally by Chad Underkoffler at 2004-02-17 22:15:58
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Rob hit the high points adequately.

"Are there powerful villains in the game?"

Yup.

"How does a villain become powerful if they wind up destroying their souls through their Vice(s)?"

They're very smart (as Rob mentions proxies and "soul economies of scale," or very in tune with their Shadow (basic drives -- food, sex, safety, dominance).

Which makes them all the more scary.

"Would casually evil real-world people, say muggers, CEO's, etc., be 'Dead Inside' in game terms, if they were encountered as characters?"

Not usually. They're probably just (bad) Average People.

"Is there some aspect of evil or Vice associated with the player characters, seeing as they start out with no soul?"

Every character has a Virtue and a Vice, representing the strongest higher and lower drives within them.

"What is the motivation or realization required in the character's frame of reference for deciding that today is the day he or she is going to go out and start trying to get a new soul?"

It's called Discovery, and it's part of character generation. Also, the setting reality is that being Dead Inside while within the Real World is depressing, painful, and socially-crippling for most normal soulless folks.

Hope these answers help!

CU