evil party motivation [Archive] - Wizards Community

evil party motivation [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
nagilfarswake
08-28-03, 03:39 AM in an evil party containing, say a CE rogue, what are some possible motivations for the rogue not to kill the party in their sleep when he gets the chance and just take their equipment? i'm about to start an evil campaign, and am playing a rogue who would act in such a manner, but i'd like the party to be somewhat cohesive.
Leap
08-28-03, 04:27 AM You need an enemy so strong and so devastating that they (the party) realise that teamwork is needed to defeat the enemy (it also has to be an enemy that will also not accept any of the party "joining up").

An utterly alien and racist group (think "Daleks") who refuse to accept others would be an example............

The catch is, evils are seriously opposed to sharing and combine this with a willingness to betray and cheat, so "cohesive" is not a word generally attached to them (unless they are forced to do so either by a powerful enemy or a strong "policing" system)..........
Trydan
08-28-03, 04:33 AM Ask the rogue the question... Do you get more wealth by teaming up with these adventurers or from backstabbing them now? Make sure the campaign offers more rewards to a team than to an individual, and you'll be fine.
Xysma
08-28-03, 08:14 PM That's why we quit tryng evil campaigns, everyone is always killing each other. The one evil campaign that actually worked for us was one in which we were followers of Bane and were competing for his favor. The DM had the good sense to have the High Priest of Bane who recruited us to command us NOT to kill each other until we had achieved our goal because we had all been chosen for our unique talents. Of course the DM was a first timer and the group was wiped out by a beholder (except for my charater, who ran) on the third week of the campaign.
True Balance
08-31-03, 05:57 AM i usually use this reasoning. if the party have been around a long time together then they can very well be good friends. even some of the most evil people have good friends. i guess some good advise is dont propogate killing PC's but always plan for a time they might try to kill you.
arcept / shambler / David parker
08-31-03, 02:32 PM i personally like th motivation of the CE thief saying "hey lets let these chumps do all the work, ill sit back, hold my tongue as long as i can and get paid for doing jack"

The motivation : GREED, reason he works with the team: bigger team = bigger treasure, besides i can poisen them all tomorrow after the job is done, right?

who says CE cant have friends, heck in my real life my best friend just stole $100 from me, there goes 20 years of friendship down the drain... darn fool even admited to it.

just remember CE only truly means that more often than not hes gonna break the laws and more often than not hes gonna think of himself not the group.

just because your ce doesnt mean you HAVE to betray EVERYONE you ever encounter... if you did that youd be an NPC villian

if the group your with kills lots of stuff use that as a fact to run with the heard.... they are fun and its a good way to meet people to doublecross and kill and since your in a group, if your a good lier, they will back you up and or take the fall.

-just my 4566 Cents
MagnaZero
08-31-03, 11:44 PM Perhaps all the members of the party are after something such as an artifact of immense power and need eachother's skills and talents to get to it. Mabey then one of them will backstab the others for the artifacts or they will SOMEHOW share it.
Shaun O'Braun
09-01-03, 01:03 AM Make a powerful enemy, with even more powerful items. The rogue should wait until just after the final battle, when his teammates are wounded, and then kill them all (or, that night), and take everything.

I'd be more worried about the evil cleric in the party actually, since after the final battle with the BBEG, when the disposition of loot is discussed, when the cleric heals himself fully and then takes out the wounded party.
Mobius
09-05-03, 12:43 AM Remember that evil characters aren’t necessarily 100% evil, just mostly evil. They will still possess small doses of the emotions found in non-evil characters: love, loyalty, pity, friendship, etc.

I can easily envision a CE rogue who has no respect for the law or the lives of others, yet values above everything two adventuring friends that he’s had since childhood. They could even be brothers or sisters. Loyalty to a select few can exist even for a CE character.

- Mobius
Unleash
09-05-03, 02:27 PM Our current Evil group has been working fine so far.
We have a human lvl 9 cleric of bane LE named Aromar, a human lvl 7Wiz/2Mindbender NE (my gf's char) named Ophelie, a human NE lvl 8 PsyWar (mine) named Deimos and a NE lvl 6 rog/3Ftr named Maika.

Why it works:
2 girls and 2 guys are playing this party.
Deimos has lived 3/4 of life confined in a lair of Mindflayer's as a slave until providence sprung him out, thus he has no knowledge of the outside world and makes him a perfect puppet for...
Ophelie, the cunniving "innocent-looking" mindbender. Deimos is her faithful bodyguard since she give him is true freedom (he was arcane marked by the Mindflayers)
We were all volunteers in the Zentharim at Zenthil Keep as soon as we hit lvl 2, and have been working for our Imperceptor Ceres ever since. (That's going to change since de party got the rights to an old, distant, abandoned keep and that Ophelie is power-hungry.
Maika has seen her greed quenched and her bloodthirsty habits rewarded...she's litteraly on a joy ride.

Although that might all change now, since after an incident between Aromar and Deimos, the priest disunhorably pulled a fast one and cursed with -6 INT my Deimos. You can bet that as soon as he finds out (no way he'll figure that out on his own now with 8 INT), sparks are gonna fly...can someone say Mindblast/Displacement/Power Attack ? :behold:

Like it's been said: me your players start out has kin or friends in their bio and everything will work out fine...for awhile at least ;)
ck2001wendt
03-14-04, 01:11 PM The old Suicide Comic by DC has a bunch of super-villians (adventurers) stuck working with one another by the US government; they complete enough missions and they get pardoned for their crimes. I've always been interested in running a campaign like this. Two ways to go:

Have a powerful good nation capture evil adventurers, then send them on dangerous missions. Have a powerful Wizard cast Geas on them or use special magic items to keep them obedient (in Suicide Squad it was braclets that would blow off your arm if you moved too far away from the rest of your team). Alternately, have and evil Wizard or Lord as the boss. Either way, make the penalty for betraying your boss or your party death; even a CE Rogue won't want that.

Either campaign will probably break down at higher levels, when PCs can get out of the Geas.
beavis123
03-14-04, 03:17 PM Evil characters are party killers and they destroy campaigns.

Do yourself a favor and look at neutral characters!!!!!!!

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
nagilfarswake 08-28-03, 03:39 AM	in an evil party containing, say a CE rogue, what are some possible motivations for the rogue not to kill the party in their sleep when he gets the chance and just take their equipment? i'm about to start an evil campaign, and am playing a rogue who would act in such a manner, but i'd like the party to be somewhat cohesive.
Leap 08-28-03, 04:27 AM	You need an enemy so strong and so devastating that they (the party) realise that teamwork is needed to defeat the enemy (it also has to be an enemy that will also not accept any of the party "joining up"). An utterly alien and racist group (think "Daleks") who refuse to accept others would be an example............ The catch is, evils are seriously opposed to sharing and combine this with a willingness to betray and cheat, so "cohesive" is not a word generally attached to them (unless they are forced to do so either by a powerful enemy or a strong "policing" system)..........
Trydan 08-28-03, 04:33 AM	Ask the rogue the question... Do you get more wealth by teaming up with these adventurers or from backstabbing them now? Make sure the campaign offers more rewards to a team than to an individual, and you'll be fine.
Xysma 08-28-03, 08:14 PM	That's why we quit tryng evil campaigns, everyone is always killing each other. The one evil campaign that actually worked for us was one in which we were followers of Bane and were competing for his favor. The DM had the good sense to have the High Priest of Bane who recruited us to command us NOT to kill each other until we had achieved our goal because we had all been chosen for our unique talents. Of course the DM was a first timer and the group was wiped out by a beholder (except for my charater, who ran) on the third week of the campaign.
True Balance 08-31-03, 05:57 AM	i usually use this reasoning. if the party have been around a long time together then they can very well be good friends. even some of the most evil people have good friends. i guess some good advise is dont propogate killing PC's but always plan for a time they might try to kill you.
arcept / shambler / David parker 08-31-03, 02:32 PM	i personally like th motivation of the CE thief saying "hey lets let these chumps do all the work, ill sit back, hold my tongue as long as i can and get paid for doing jack" The motivation : GREED, reason he works with the team: bigger team = bigger treasure, besides i can poisen them all tomorrow after the job is done, right? who says CE cant have friends, heck in my real life my best friend just stole $100 from me, there goes 20 years of friendship down the drain... darn fool even admited to it. just remember CE only truly means that more often than not hes gonna break the laws and more often than not hes gonna think of himself not the group. just because your ce doesnt mean you HAVE to betray EVERYONE you ever encounter... if you did that youd be an NPC villian if the group your with kills lots of stuff use that as a fact to run with the heard.... they are fun and its a good way to meet people to doublecross and kill and since your in a group, if your a good lier, they will back you up and or take the fall. -just my 4566 Cents
MagnaZero 08-31-03, 11:44 PM	Perhaps all the members of the party are after something such as an artifact of immense power and need eachother's skills and talents to get to it. Mabey then one of them will backstab the others for the artifacts or they will SOMEHOW share it.
Shaun O'Braun 09-01-03, 01:03 AM	Make a powerful enemy, with even more powerful items. The rogue should wait until just after the final battle, when his teammates are wounded, and then kill them all (or, that night), and take everything. I'd be more worried about the evil cleric in the party actually, since after the final battle with the BBEG, when the disposition of loot is discussed, when the cleric heals himself fully and then takes out the wounded party.
Mobius 09-05-03, 12:43 AM	Remember that evil characters aren’t necessarily 100% evil, just mostly evil. They will still possess small doses of the emotions found in non-evil characters: love, loyalty, pity, friendship, etc. I can easily envision a CE rogue who has no respect for the law or the lives of others, yet values above everything two adventuring friends that he’s had since childhood. They could even be brothers or sisters. Loyalty to a select few can exist even for a CE character. - Mobius
Unleash 09-05-03, 02:27 PM	Our current Evil group has been working fine so far. We have a human lvl 9 cleric of bane LE named Aromar, a human lvl 7Wiz/2Mindbender NE (my gf's char) named Ophelie, a human NE lvl 8 PsyWar (mine) named Deimos and a NE lvl 6 rog/3Ftr named Maika. Why it works: 2 girls and 2 guys are playing this party. Deimos has lived 3/4 of life confined in a lair of Mindflayer's as a slave until providence sprung him out, thus he has no knowledge of the outside world and makes him a perfect puppet for... Ophelie, the cunniving "innocent-looking" mindbender. Deimos is her faithful bodyguard since she give him is true freedom (he was arcane marked by the Mindflayers) We were all volunteers in the Zentharim at Zenthil Keep as soon as we hit lvl 2, and have been working for our Imperceptor Ceres ever since. (That's going to change since de party got the rights to an old, distant, abandoned keep and that Ophelie is power-hungry. Maika has seen her greed quenched and her bloodthirsty habits rewarded...she's litteraly on a joy ride. Although that might all change now, since after an incident between Aromar and Deimos, the priest disunhorably pulled a fast one and cursed with -6 INT my Deimos. You can bet that as soon as he finds out (no way he'll figure that out on his own now with 8 INT), sparks are gonna fly...can someone say Mindblast/Displacement/Power Attack ? :behold: Like it's been said: me your players start out has kin or friends in their bio and everything will work out fine...for awhile at least ;)
ck2001wendt 03-14-04, 01:11 PM	The old Suicide Comic by DC has a bunch of super-villians (adventurers) stuck working with one another by the US government; they complete enough missions and they get pardoned for their crimes. I've always been interested in running a campaign like this. Two ways to go: Have a powerful good nation capture evil adventurers, then send them on dangerous missions. Have a powerful Wizard cast Geas on them or use special magic items to keep them obedient (in Suicide Squad it was braclets that would blow off your arm if you moved too far away from the rest of your team). Alternately, have and evil Wizard or Lord as the boss. Either way, make the penalty for betraying your boss or your party death; even a CE Rogue won't want that. Either campaign will probably break down at higher levels, when PCs can get out of the Geas.
beavis123 03-14-04, 03:17 PM	Evil characters are party killers and they destroy campaigns. Do yourself a favor and look at neutral characters!!!!!!!