Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Charles Phipps 10-18-07, 11:32 AM	All the recent talks about the gods has gotten me a little overloaded on the controversy with the portrayals of them (Divine vs. Anthromorphised). This thread is about something a little more down to Toril. Talk about your favorite villainous organization and why you love them. Moreso, tell what sort of role they occupy in your campaigns. You can talk about more than one. For me, my favorite is the Zhentarim They tend to occupy the role of the "Big Threats" in my campaign with the Black Network able to function as conniving Illuminati-esque manipulators on one end and the Fascist State/Mordor analogue on the other. They're not as powerful as Thay for the fact that they have an entire Empire to draw from but they're easilly as powerful as Cormyr and have tendrils stretching across the Realms. Not bad for a group that started around a single city state. I confess, I do my best to have the Zhents win a lot in my games to up their threat. Part of this is due to the thorough ass kicking they've recieved in a lot of novels. I have them currently having conquered Thar with mind controlled proxies mixed with large conversions to the worship of Bane. I also amusingly have them as a "civilizing" effect on the Region, with a country being built up above the Dales. (With the 100 year time skip in my game, the players are going to be horribly unnerved by a Zhentil Keep nation having popped up above their beloved dales) I figure that players should always feel that while they've thwarted this Zhent plot, 9 more are out there unopposed and successful. Of course, the Harpers have been opposing them for decades but who REALLY got the better of the deal of Khelban's truce with Fzoul? A Pit Fiend and a powerful artifact was destroyed but the Harpers were shattered in two with Fzoul free to consolidate his power. I also accent the "Trading Empire" version of the Zhents as opposed to just EvilWizardland. My least favorite is the Church of Cyric Really, I felt that the portrayal here was absolutely abyssmal. They're a bunch of disparate factions with no rhyme or reason that attack one another while accepting anyone into their ranks. It seems more like the Church of Talos than the Church of Cyric. Really, I've stated abundnatly my problems with portraying Cyric as the God of ******** with no real intelligence or sanity to his schemes. They really should have been something closer to the Knights of the Shield. And while I love the Red Wizards, I never liked their Trading Enclave Empire which was really something that should have been done by the Black Network (it's sort of their thing, ya'know?). The Red Wizards should be unconcerned with matters of Trade because of their twisted and nightmarish kingdom is self-contained.
Rinonalyrna Fathomlin 10-18-07, 02:39 PM	The Zhents, 'cause they often end up being FUNNY! :rofl:
Charles Phipps 10-18-07, 02:48 PM	The only group I never got really around to using is the Iron Throne. How are they not just poor man's Zhentarim or KotS? I don't see what they bring to the table.
18DELTA 10-18-07, 03:09 PM	:dancin: orc orc orc orc orc orc orc orc orc orc orc orc orc orc :dancin: You can never go wrong with orcs!:D Let them start to powerbreed, and your all set!!!:P
Phelf_Der_Zemit 10-18-07, 07:26 PM	Ive experamented with the shadow enclave recently and it did well, caution: high level gaming. shades whip on some low level a**
MerrikCale 10-18-07, 09:42 PM	My own actually. I have the Dhorgal Nath, a group of vampire knights who currently run the nearly ruined city of Nesme. A secret cabal of warlocks called the Brethren who are attemting to dominate the northern sword coast and have infiltrated the Arcane Brotherhood, Ruathyn, and a gang of pirates. And a rival adventuring company called the The Fangs of the Dragon
Phelf_Der_Zemit 10-18-07, 09:44 PM	Man.. I wan't to play in your game.
meto30 10-18-07, 09:49 PM	The Church of Tiamat. Thay. Cult of the Dragon. Those three are the major antagonists in my campaign.
OrderofUhlrik 10-18-07, 10:38 PM	Mine are non-canon villains FYI A Bane-lich who managed to assassinate Bane's son and assume Demi-God hood An ex party member half-orc who betrayed the party during the bane-lich debacle. Various spellcasters and evil undead (A trio of Nosferatu brothers for instance) even a cabal of drow/deep dragons. The most harrowing point was when the three groups came together with the help of several giant clans to menace and nearly destroy Luskan (Lacedons/water zombies on masse from the sea and massive army at the gates.)
Stigger 10-19-07, 07:56 AM	Zhents for comic relief... Cult of the Dragon for the weird, off the wall stuff... Gold Elves just to be mean to those elf-lovers on the boards... not often though for any of it, as I try to rely mostly on homebrew stuff since a few of my players know way too much for me to want to bother turning them into something useful. Easier to keep track of my own stuff than to do massive rewrites and all that.
Fabius Maximus 10-19-07, 05:55 PM	I'd think the Harpers (or some Harpers anyway) would make fine opponents. I also like the Red Wizards. Corporate overlords constantly undercutting other merchants? Yes, please. Sadly, they are in the process of unraveling themselves...
meto30 10-19-07, 06:59 PM	In my campaign, the entire Lost Empires region is turning into a war zone. Mulhorrandi Crusaders are bracing for impact as Szass Tam is influencing his nation into another war path. Thousands upon thousands of magically powered beasts and undead soldiers are being created, with a single purpose of wiping the name of Mulhorrand off the map. Tchazzar is working day and night to unite all Chessenta under his rule, and with Akanax defeated it seems his goal is not far away. The father of Chessenta will lead his united empire on a glorious conquest across the world, and he's going to start with Mulhorrand... And so the great empires of the east marche to the war that will change fate of the entire continent...
MerrikCale 10-19-07, 09:10 PM	I always liked the People of the Black Blood. The pure savagery of that group makes for an intimidating bad guy
johnkretzer 10-19-07, 10:47 PM	I have used them all at one point or another(some before they were even published and detailed, like the People of the Black Blood had a group that was very similar to them). Though I tend to put my own spin on them. My favorite have been the Zhentarim...especialy since the PCs kill Fzoul and Bane replaced him with a different choosen. My least favorite is the Cult of the Dragon...I mean come on who can really support a necrodracoarchy as a form of goverment...though I guess not all villians need to be sane
Suin Bahhar 10-20-07, 10:53 AM	So far I have used the Jennestas tribe of the Yuan-ti as antagonists. Using thier biomancy to change the environment against the plans of their cattle, the people of southern Thindol. I used Sseth's (and the hidden Set's) clergy for the atmospheric evil presence they give, and the potential strife within the devout Yuan-ti clans. In my newest campaign in Chessenta I plan on using the Redeemers, a divine mercenary band of Lathander and the Harpers as the opposition of my evil pcs. The PC's are bound to step on the toes of the Knights of the Shield too, who in turn could turn the local thieves guild the Fire Knives and Cats Claws(Shadow Thieves) upon them. Further more minions of the petty vampire Shulgi (Untherian vampire rogue) are about to stumble into the party. I like the various divine clergies very much. Tchazzar, Set, and Lathander all have disastrous plans in the works. The most insidious one is the plan of a heretic Lathanderite (actually an arcane devotee of Pelor from a destroyed material prime seeking the artifect Doombringer) to destroy Luthcheq. Entropies destruction, sets free Tharizdun's fragment along with the trapped elder evil Chaos, will release of Chaos above Luthcheq and tumble the region into a planar chaos.
GothicDan 10-20-07, 05:48 PM	I'd most likely use the Twisted Rune, the Red Wizards, the Cult of the Dragon, and the Eldreth Veluuthra a lot, depending on the campaign, and most likely with multiple levels of intermediaries, perhaps even other organizations and subsidiaries (especially in the case of the Rune and EV).
MerrikCale 10-20-07, 09:15 PM	I'd most likely use the Twisted Rune, the Red Wizards, the Cult of the Dragon, and the Eldreth Veluuthra a lot, depending on the campaign, and most likely with multiple levels of intermediaries, perhaps even other organizations and subsidiaries (especially in the case of the Rune and EV). it figures you would like the Eldreth
Charles Phipps 10-20-07, 10:13 PM	Oddly, I'm debating using the Moonstars as villains in an upcoming campaign. I like to think that the Sun doesn't rise and set over Khelben and it's entirely possible he really screwed up by making his deal with Fzoul and breaking away from the Harpers.
GothicDan 10-21-07, 01:43 PM	Gasp, I <3 Khelben. How dare you blaspheme. :) And Merrik - I like them AS VILLAINS. ;) Or I'd actually love to make a less extreme faction that actually sees Sun Elves superior due to culture rather than race, who would like to try to teach humans the same values.
MerrikCale 10-21-07, 01:48 PM	Or I'd actually love to make a less extreme faction that actually sees Sun Elves superior due to culture rather than race, who would like to try to teach humans the same values. there's the GothicDan we know
GothicDan 10-21-07, 01:54 PM	You don't know me.
msatran 10-21-07, 02:18 PM	My belief is "run whatever makes the heroes the most emotionally sympathetic to the villain while still making sure that they have to stop them."
Sol_Odlanier 10-21-07, 02:50 PM	I also like the Red Wizards. Corporate overlords constantly undercutting other merchants? When you Say it like that it remminds me of Wal-M... well you know what:D
Fabius Maximus 10-21-07, 05:27 PM	When you Say it like that it remminds me of Wal-M... well you know what:D :D You know, you're lucky that this company actually tried to get a foothold on the market here. I probably would not have known what you were talking about. ;) Besides, the analogy doesn't hold. Discounters usually sell crappy stuff to cheap prices. The Red Wizards sell quality stuff and manage to undercut others. That's what made them so powerful in the economic sector that quickly.
GothicDan 10-21-07, 05:35 PM	Indeed. As poor as I am, I've stopped buying a lot of things at Wal-Mart because of too many scratched DVDs/CDs and clothes that fray too easily.
meto30 10-21-07, 06:38 PM	Wal-mart attempted to enter the Korean market and failed utterly because there was already three discounter corporations operating in the country, and all of them had higher quality standards. The only mystery is that those marts aren't that cheap. Why are they called discount stores if their products are no cheaper than the supermarket next door..? And how do they sell so well?
Rinonalyrna Fathomlin 10-21-07, 07:08 PM	Or I'd actually love to make a less extreme faction that actually sees Sun Elves superior due to culture rather than race, who would like to try to teach humans the same values. I like that idea--it seems like something that hasn't been done before.
MerrikCale 10-21-07, 09:10 PM	You don't know me. I know you like Sun elves (and physics and men especially brawny barbarians)
Charles Phipps 10-21-07, 09:12 PM	and obviously we know GothicDan! Anyman who uses the Dustman symbol must be..... A DUSTMAN!
selunatic2397 10-21-07, 09:31 PM	I am currently using the black blood boys...gotta love lyncanthropes! :) But, my all time favorite is dragons...Tiamat...the cult of the dragon... My gamers are real hardcore dragon slayers whom are always looking for the next big kill... When I described Inferno, they got all excited :dancin: :plotting: :w00t: The group's mage asked me what Inferno was...well known for... In a deadpan voice I replied, "He kills CITIES" The table got real quiet :bigeyes: :OMG! :blink: and they voted to go giant hunting. :D