Greetings!
I was wondering if there is a campaign/module available to run a group comprised of mostly "evil" characters through. I see the majority of the material is geared/themed towards the "good" party of Pathfinder adventurers out to save the day. Is there anything for folks that are hoping to ruin the day?
Fire Mountain Games has Way of the Wicked...its pretty great
I agree. The basis for it is wonderfully designed and it gives wonderful advice on how to run an evil campaign.
What I suggest, if you don't want to get the adventure path, is to have the following rules in your campaign:
1.) Ban good and chaotic evil alignments (Good alignment is a given because it puts the character at odds with the group and chaotic evil is hard to run because it will cause a lot of dissension among players if they role play the character correctly).
2.) Make the characters need each other (Nothing makes an evil game turn sour faster than... well, being evil. This tends to put characters at odds with each other over simple things (like how should we split the treasure?) and causes characters to backstab each other (Which isn't bad at end game but makes "players" ticked at each other near the beginning and over the broad campaign.) Make it so the players have to rely on each other for their characters survival and fortune. Make it difficult for them to just up and say they off the other character. Villains need friends too right?). I recommend (and so does the adventure path) to make the game a primarily LE one and give them common ground and a common overall goal to work on.
3.) Making evil choices is easy, actually being evil is hard (Most of the world hates them, troublesome adventurers try to ruin their plans, and even other evil villains will be messing with them. I'm not saying to make their lives hell, but the PC's should only be able to trust themselves and their closest "friends" (the other pcs) and they shouldn't be passive in their roles (Don't let them say "Let the minion do it" all the time. Make it so that if they do get minions that the minions can only do certain tasks efficiently and by themselves).).
4.) Don't push it (Certain groups are comfortable talking about certain acts of villainy. Make sure everyone is comfortable with what is described. Certain things may be outside their comfort zone and yours... Don't do it. Things can get awkward and creepy real quick. Also the players should also understand this. I don't know you or your gaming group and I'm not telling you how to operate, but even I have played games where the comfort barrier was broken and certain people didn't even know that they broke it.).
I hope this helps you. Have a wonderful evil Campaign.
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As far as rules material, there's Champions of Corruption.
Even more than normal, you want to make sure that your players are interested and looking for about the same type of campaign. This includes Arcanic Drake's excellent point 4, but is a bit broader.
Do your players want to commit crimes? Take over the world? Burn things? Backstab each other? Summon demons?
All of those actually can be valid and interesting (even backstabbing each other) as long as everyone's on the same page.
Just tread carefully and be sure to pay extra close attention to any shyer players you might have. It can be hard to shoot down another member of the group when you're shy, even if what they're saying sounds super awful.
Cheers!
Landon
Way of the Wicked actually has a free promo which consists of the player guide, some notes on running an evil campaign and the opening act of the actual adventure. The first book consist of four acts, the first of which you get to play to see if your characters are actually 'feeling' the evil-vibe.
In all, I'd say it is a wonderful campaign with interesting mechanics in some of the books. If the thought of burning cities, killing paladins, consorting with devils and daemons, slaying angels and ruling your own Devil Empire sound like something your players would enjoy, this is absolutely the campaign for you. Your villains will even get to run their own awesome dungeon!
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Excellent stuff...i actually printed off the free copy of the first part of Way of the Wicked to get our feet wet. We have had several conversations about the need for the party to work together, and not intentionally mess with each other. They may be evil, but the need to realize they are stronger as a unit, and need to act like it. We will see how it goes!
Excellent stuff...i actually printed off the free copy of the first part of Way of the Wicked to get our feet wet. We have had several conversations about the need for the party to work together, and not intentionally mess with each other. They may be evil, but the need to realize they are stronger as a unit, and need to act like it. We will see how it goes!
If you want excellent source material besides the Way of the Wicked Adventure path, look up the Black Company novel. The main characters are all part of a mercenary band that do less than savory things for their employers. A very good story with excellent writing.
The simplest advice I can give for an evil campaign is to make sure there is something that binds each pc together, such as service to an all powerful being, they all hate the same person, etc. They need s reason to work together or things can spin out of control.
One of the best ways to keep a group of evil PCs together is simply because their survival depends upon it.
Heroes hunt down villains, root out goblins from their warrens, right wrongs and slay evil dragons. Why wouldn't all things good and righteous hunt the evil PCs and try to annihilated them? If they're busy trying to stay alive and one step ahead of the heroes, they probably won't have much time for infighting. Besides, they just might need every member of the party to stay alive.
I'm playing Way of the Wicked now (partway through book 2). I highly recommend it. It's a lot of fun, and the GM comments on the quality of the writing in the book often. Definitely takes some work though, and it can be a tough adventure path because your foes are numerous.