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So just over a year since I last graced these forums and a lot in my life has changed. Transferred to Virginia... and then the two guys that I GMed for in Georgia got orders to the same base (teeny tiny world). We decide its time to get back to rolling dice... and one of the guys suggested they all roll evil characters.
Now the idea I'm going for is more humorous than dark and gritty as we do have a newbie at the table (i.e. my girlfriend and I don't want to completely scare her off with how demented I could be.) But honestly, it sounds genuinely fun. She is playing a Halfling Rogue, one of the guys is playing a Goblin Berzerker (with 7 Cha and just enough Int to learn Common... kinda), and still waiting on the other guy to roll, but he's being pressured to play a small race.
Basically, they will all start out as hired muscle for a crime ring in the capital city of Makeupanamelater. All level 4 to keep it from taking too long to get rolling. Something is going to happen to someone which is in turn going to cause something... and BAM... the three of them are now 1.) The Greatest Villains The World Has Ever Seen or 2.) The completely clueless and over their heads leading triad of the criminal syndicate.
I want to roll an antithesis Hero party that will try to thwart them every step of the way but I also want to throw in a "Boss" battle in each session... and when I describe a few of them I hope some of you will pick up what I am putting down.
1.) Lawful Neutral Werebat Rogue with a red falcon as an animal companion that looks suspiciously like a large robin.
2.) Four Ratfolk Ninjas with different colored Gi's. Blue, Purple, Red, and Orange. Lead by a Turtlefolk Samurai named Woodshard.
3.) An uber overpowered Paladin with a ring of levitation named Nam Repus. If they DO manage to get a one up on him, he'll just pull some random artifact out of his pocket that gives him a new power. Maybe later have them find some chunk of green glass that keeps him at bay.
So... here is what I am looking for. Anyone got any ideas how I should get these guys spooled up to run their own crime ring? And any more big not so baddies? (Totally down with stuff like them teaming up with a human bard named The Jester that has a really obsessive hate of the Werebat and so forth)
I LOLed at pretty much the entirety of that.
Only bit of advice I could give, is to have make a one-off 'Hero' whom happens to be some famous epitome of justice! He comes in and kills the boss. Said hero gets killed in the process. Your trio wind up in the room, probably getting chewed out by the boss for being incompetent before the Hero shows up. My advice? Captain Andoran.
Gang busts in, sees the trio standing over the bodies. Immediately start getting hailed as The Greatest Villains The World Has Ever Seen, while at the same time being completely in over their heads.
Now they've gotta deal with internal coups, your planned Hero types, and of course, basic law enforcement.
I like Artemis's "Mystery Men" plot. It creates a widespread reputation for villainy that is so good, no one in the populace will WANT to believe otherwise.
And that could really be the key to the whole campaign: the illusion of being bad is paramount to getting things done in their city. They MUST use their dark reputation to their advantage.
Some ideas:
- The local Thieves Guild Guildmaster has heard about the group, and is running angry and scared. He sends out agents to deal with the party, but the ones he sends out tend to spill-the-beans as to how things run in town. One of the last thieves figures out what the group is really all about, and becomes a valuable ally in his own bid to take the place of the Guildmaster.
- A group of adventurers is hired by a local monarch to track down these Ubervillains. THEIR party consists of
a. A Paladin who is incredibly stuck-up and egotistical, so much so that his hubris gets in the way of getting anything done. Look out when he's angry though. His inability to Detect Evil on the group leads him to believe he's dealing with masters of disguise
b. A wizard who is a really nice person, but he is a ...lustful...person. If played right, he can be kept distracted and even manipulated quite easily.
c. A cleric who is secretly evil, and has gone to great pains to hide her alignment. Her goal is to use her own group's reputation to get close to the local monarch and blackmail him/her (gaining favor, learning secrets, befriending enemies, etc.). She doesn't really care about the Ubervillain group, except as an opportunity to look like a hero herself. The party can turn the tables on her.
- A nearby orphanage is home to a slaver's guild. Each of the children there are some nasty little creature made up to look like a child from a distance. The real children have been shipped-off to some slave market. The party finds this out, and destroys the villain headmaster and destroys the place, making themselves look even more villainous for having destroyed an orphanage.
A good addition would be the Former Greatest Villain the World Has Ever Seen. She's out to get her title back, but she assumes that her nemeses must be muuuuuch smarter than they actually are or could be; she ends up playing the "but I know that you know that I know that you know" game and her plans for revenge are too convoluted to work on a party that just waltzes through them without thinking.
I don't have much to offer for a campaign that is for a want for better terms "whimsically evil". That said, to match the overall feel that I believe that you are asking for I have a little to offer for the hero party.
1) make the good guys exude the impression and feeling that they are "a stick in the mud" or maybe "their long johns are in a twist". Allow their outlook on how to be a good person to feel somewhat silly or otherwise open for the players to make fun of them. Since you and your friends seem to be military personnel im sure you've heard your share of taunts and similar fun making without being truly despicable. Side note: I think this match the spirit of a Halfling rogue in role-play as well.
2) If you accept my #1 point as reasonable or a stepping stone then the party needs to reflect the attitude in game mechanics to the extent possible IMO. A paladin because of the forced alignment of LG just fits perfectly. But perhaps more importantly, every time the NPCs want to take any action against the lawful stupid philosophy, you as the GM can pull out all the funny or interesting situations you've encountered in your own groups that have had paladins. Play up on that comedy!! That comedy presents another stage for these characters to act and to have a connection with the real life players.
3) Once they become the leaders of the crime syndicate the monster aspect of the game becomes tricky to ever do again. Is that what you want? If that's ok with you then I would suggest you play off of the "growing the business" aspect. Let the syndicate be just overwhelmed with issues that are whimsical but serious enough to pose inconveniences to you and your prospects. Purely for example: A locally owned but syndicate operated bordello has had a lot of success in the past but recently has been losing profits. When you get there to find out why you see that the male and female "workers" have independently of each other gone on strike. One found religion, another was working too hard, another was not satisfied in their work, and a whole slew of things that make you want to laugh. Use your imagination. Your "evil" for being a pimp, or at least supporting it, but you still had some laughs and overcame challenges. If bordellos are too sensitive then look into drugs, pickpocketing, pawn shops ;) or whatever you believe organized crime would be involved in but will NEVER make anyone uncomfortable.
3.5) Again, purely for example: bring the opposing good guys in that bordello example. Let one of the NPCs be a cleric of Shelyn who takes part of his day to preach to the occupants of the bordello that they should change their ways. "Love is between two married people. Do not give in to flesh like Calistria's wayward clergy." or similar messages. Allow the comedy of a clergyman preaching to prostitutes to play out and then your players add more to the situation. But at the same time he or she is presenting a problem to your goals.
hope something is useful in there.
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They can find their home invaded by a good party which travels around in a purple carriage called the 'Mystery Machine'. the party consists of 1) Sir Frederick Jones, a blonde trapper archetype ranger 2) Dame Daphne Blake, a red haired bard with not inconsiderable disable device & disguise skills who usually uses unarmed combat 3) The Wizard Velma Dinkley, a female dwarven wizard who prefers to use her knowledge skills instead of her spells 4)Norville Rogers, called Shaggy perhaps because of his unkempt hair, a stealthy sylvan bloodlined sorcerer ho tries very hard to avoid combat and often uses the ghost sound cantrip to get out of combat type situations 5) Scoobert Doo, the possibly awakened hound animal companion of 'Shaggy' Rogers.
A male aasimar wearing a gold shirt with a corset noticable underneath, a male elf in a blue shirt, an older human male in a blue shirt and a dark-skinned human female approach the party and start talking about "fisbin" and wanting "a piece of the action". After a few minutes, the elf consults an amulet which makes a strange warbling noise and whispers to the the aasimar, who apologizes for wasting the party's time and says something about a "transporter malfunction".
90's cartoon and cult movies make for great sources of entertainment; don't be afraid of anachronisms. Cameos are your friend. cneterian has two excellent examples. I'm planning on something similar in a maybe-I'll-get-around-to-GM'ing-this homebrew Ghostbusters campaign, where I throw in a pop-culture cameo every third adventure or so. A few examples: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, The Big Lebowske, Evil Dead, Back to the Future, Super Mario Bros., Thundercats, The Blues Brothers etc...
Also, consider some kind of running gag. In my would-be Ghostbusters game, the odd missfire is a given, so I have the PCs destroy geraniums by the boatloads - and people complaining about it all the time. Think the Cabbage Salesman from the first season of Avatar: the Last Airbender.
Rip story concepts straight from existing works, then give them a twist somewhere halfway through. Fear not the silly. Maybe there's a Jack-the-Ripper-type killer on the loose and his work is bad for your group's business; when he's caught, it turns out to be (yet another?) small humanoid race who got tired of getting picked on for his lack in size?
The antithesis party is an excellent idea. Have them start off as a genuine threat, and slowly develop into a goldfishpoop-gang. Maybe even have them convert to the cause by the end.
First off, I love you all. THIS is the reason I play Pathfinder. For viewers like you. Now, to toss out some replies.
@Artemis Love the idea. The whole "whoever kills the boss is the boss" idea could come from some Orcish mentality. I had originally thought of the Boss being a Mite and stupidly easy to take out (kinda Great and Powerful Oz type) but I like this sooooo much better. I'm thinking the Boss is going to be some Garrosh Hellscream like character, endgame material, and said Paladin hero will be too. Reflex save as he just bursts through the wall as the door is not large enough to allow him to pass through. Tell the PCs that if they stood on each other's shoulders HIS shoulders would still be wider than they are tall
@Owly Love your ideas too, especially how each of the Hero party has some major character flaw that can be exploited. One of my Players loves trying to break my games and that gives him a creative license to do so... in a way that works. As for the orphanage, maybe their informants bring news that sales are dropping and that is where the money seems to be going to. The gang could request that the party go over there and "Show em who's boss in dis town"
@Arachno. I was thinking something along these lines as well. Evil doesn't mean you ONLY fight Heroes. Not EVERYONE is a clueless as the gang is about the new leaders. Some pretty big villains would hear about his death and travel the world to take a shot and grabbing the reins.
@Renegade. The one that really pinged for me in your ideas was #3 because I came across that as well. I have 3 of the 4 beastiaries and honestly 90% of the creatures are geared to be taken on by "Good" characters. Sure there are angels and archons... but that might be a bit TOO epic for what I am going for. My solution to this is instead of a hundred little unique combat situations, each session will build up to a climax of one really good one (that mirrors a superhero or something. I really enjoy the brothel idea, and the cleric offers some interesting solutions... kill him, or convert him.
@Cnet I will probably steal this idea, but I'm going to make a few tweaks. I don't want to beat the players over the head with the cameos, but rather drop enough hints that the second someone figures it out they face palm. Instead of the "Mystery Machine" I'm thinking the "Conundrum Contraption" Scooby would likely be an anthromorphic dog race with a severe speech impediment. And I HAVE to get someone to say "And I would have gotten away with it too if it wasn't for you meddling Lawful Good Aligned Heroes"
@Propsken The pop culture idea is kinda what I'm going for so I'll be digging through alot of them and thank you for the Goldfish Poop thing. I had to look that up... and TvTropes quotes Disgea when you do which is kind of where I got the idea that a Chaotic Evil character does not HAVE to be blood, guts, and gory. As for the Antithesis party, I think that every other session or so they will pick up a new member. Their goal is to seek justice of course... but also to get revenge for being made fools of so many times. We can call them "The Revengers" :D And I just got the image of an Orc Berserker named "Krulk" in my head.
One thing I would consider is making an NPC that is a stereotypical brutish bodyguard to travel with your party. On occasion a drag out brawl will have to happen and your party is a bit lacking there. Perhaps he could be modeled after Andre the Giant in the movie "the princess bride" as he is inept but provides more comedy. He wouldn't need to be around all the time but a guest star that shows up when you think of a truly epic scene.
Mostly dotting for interest. But if they fight a cleric, give the cleric a wand of divine trident. When s/he activates the wand, moves it around, or attacks with it, you can hear them making weird humming/buzzing sounds. Bonus points if they have to reactivate the wand in the middle of a fight.
Also, in conjunction with some of the ideas above, if they work for the local crime syndicate i dont think they should know right away. They could be the refuse collectors for the city (going around picking up trash with the trash cart). They think its great that everyone is scared of them, but people are scared because the refuse collection service is a protection racket. The pcs, the actual refuse collectors, have no idea until they accidentally take over the whole business.
I think it'd be humorous if the leader had them go to an unpaying customer's home while they're not there to steal their underpants and burn them at the front stoop of their shop as some sort of failed intimidation method.
I think most people here have given you some excellent advice on big badguys. My only addition is that if you make many of the "innocent" people total jerks that deserved bad things to happen to them, it grants a much more "light hearted" air to being evil.
The best example of this is the Monty Python muck farmers or the French men holding the castle. Yes they might be the victims of the player's crimes but they are all so rude and obnoxious that they had it coming.
Here are some more specific ideas I have used before:
1: The old beggar lady on the corner tells the party every day that the last pile of flem she coughed up looks better than they do.
2: A wizard (who they might have met sometime previously but do not remember) sends them a sending spell every night a 2:30 am advertising his latest in "Magical performance enchantment! Get Bigger Longer!".
3: Some young yahoo with his new horse likes to make it rear on it's back legs and whinny loudly every time he passes the party, especially if they are having a conversation.
4: If they go to a ball or social event have a group of elves constantly refer to what the party wears as being "so last decade"
As you know your players very well personally I would also suggest adding in NPC targets that do things you know push your player's buttons in real life. I had a friend who hated use of the word "bro, brah, broski, etc." so of course, he met someone who used those as many times as he could in every sentence. Suffice to say the NPC was killed quickly but the table unanimously agreed that the NPC had it coming.
Silkinsane wrote: 2: A wizard (who they might have met sometime previously but do not remember) sends them a sending spell every night a 2:30 am advertising his latest in "Magical performance enchantment! Get Bigger Longer!". Yikes! That wizard needs to be sent to the same level of Hell as the child molesters and people who talk at the theater.
Silkinsane wrote: 3: Some young yahoo with his new horse likes to make it rear on it's back legs and whinny loudly every time he passes the party, especially if they are having a conversation.
Extra points if said yahoo is a ranger who wears a mask, and the horse is named Argentum.
Love the ideas! Keep em coming!
Also thinking of home brewing up some of the quest rewards they find. Two wands that come to mind:
Wand of the Chronomaster. Dispute its name, so far as you can tell, this magical device does not seem to have anything to do with time. Rather, it looks more like an overly complicated screwdriver. Effect: Once per session it can be used to repair or disable a mechanical device as if the user rolled a natural 20.
Wand of the Neuralizor. Found on the body of one of the Inquisitors in Black, this device emits a flash of blinding light that somehow confuses those who look directly into it. Effect: Once per session, the wand may he used to completely erase the memory of 1+1/2 Use Magic Device skill Creature of the past 24 hours. Used in combat, all creatures must make a reflex save to cover their eyes (if they know about the wand) or a harder will save to overcome the effects. Users may also make a deplomacy check to give false memories of the elapsed time, though a failed check will negate the memory loss.
"Light hearted evil"? They could fight off a legion of "chaotic naghty" demons.
Check out the series MythAdventures. Similar plot of unanticipated hero who is not really all that good.
/cevah
So finally got everyone together to play the first session last night. The party consisted of Kale the Drow Bard, Dominic the Halfling Rogue, and Deathface the Anti-Pal. They wake up in a prison cell with the Captain of Omryka's King's Guard (whom they will later come to know as Captain Omyrka) gloating over their capture and returning to his duties.
The Bard greases the floor and feigns death which causes the fodder guards to come running. After a short intro to movement, the rogue (first time player) snatches the keys, unlocks the "evidence chest" and arms the party, a short intro to combat ends with one guard dead and the other two locked in the cell the party escaped from. The Bard convinces the other prisoners to rise up against their oppressive captors with such gusto that they don't realize they charge down the tower unarmed... Leaving the party to escape simply by strolling through the carnage.
They find their way into the sewers, where they are chased by a carnivorous blob, hacking through a rusted grate that pours out into the ocean to escape. Disguise themselves and return through the gates, and return to the Inn that acts as a front to the syndicate.
Ushered below, they discover that the syndicate's lair is actually an abandoned and forgotten Undercity. They meet the boss, a Goblin larger than any of the party had ever heard of. As they prepare to give him the glowing green gem that they had been sent to pilfer in the first place, the wall erupts and a Palidan more mountain than man surges forth with his great sword. The Goblin Boss rises with a war hammer that appears to be a battering ram with a handle and the two engage in mortal combat. As the two strike simultaneous killing blows, the guards upstairs come rushing down. The Palidin vanishes in a while of shimmering dust that is gone before the doors burst open... And the Goblin boss chokes on his own blood.
The Boss has always been the strongest, smartest, cruelest... But never the oldest. In this society, the boss rises to power by slaying the one who came before... And as the guards burst in, the only logical explanation is that these three did so.
A perception check noted three things. A red and blue spider that had been motionless the entire time, scurrying away. Every metal object in the room shifted at the moment of his death. And that glittering dust still had an aura of life. End session one.
Lol. I love the bard already. (Also: High five for using my 'beat-the-boss' idea!)
Definitely looking forward to seeing where this goes. Keep us posted, eh?
How'd the players feel about the set up? Seems like I would have loved every minute of this game myself, lol.
if ever you're in a bind as a villain and don't want to go all murderhobo, just ask yourself "what would skeletor do?"
My favorite superhero spoof
...an immensely strong, "well-nigh indestructible", dull-witted, Lawful Stupid paladin whose battle cry is"Spoon!"
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