Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Chronomage 05-25-04, 03:46 AM	Hey all. I was just wondering if anyone might know whether or not I'm unduly worried about my upcoming evil campaign. It's set in the Forgotten Realms, and the party has shaped up to the best expectations of a vile group. There's the aspiring blackguard, the cleric of Cyric, the aspiring Red Wizard/Diabolist from BoVD, the Rogue/Assassin/Zhentarim Spy, and a monk or Maiden of Pain from PGtF. All in all I like this group and look forward to running the campaign. There's just one thing that concerns me: Balance. In D&D the forces of Good are stronger by and large than the forces of Evil. Just look at the Half Celestial and compare it to the Half Fiend, or the Book of Vile Darkness compared to the Book of Exalted Deeds. This wouldn't concern me if the group was just screwing with the commoners and other evil organizations, but the party wants to get in the ring toe to toe with the forces of good. They want to fight a Fist of Raziel, burn alive a priestess of Mystra, and so on. I'm worried that I'll be forced to give them substantially weaked opponents whose CRs are no more than 3 higher at the most. Normally, I can dump a CR +4 on this group and expect them, when they're well prepared, to either kill it or call a draw. Am I going to have to pull my punches in an Evil Campaign?
malakaiunseen 05-25-04, 08:00 AM	I am currently running an evil campaign and I thought the same thing when I inspected the rules, I'm not even game to let my players anywhere near a place of pure good, they'd get eaten alive by anything their CR or higher. I think the players have to take advantages of the "moral weaknesses" of good characters, have them set off an avalanche that threatens the village full of innocents and then attack the fist of raziel while he is caught in a moral quandry. Look at Yoda in the end of SW ep. II he let Dooku get away because he was compelled to save the others, good characters have ways of being exploited for their virtue, and who better to exploit their weaknesses than a group of pitiless evil PCs.
Grudthak 05-25-04, 09:45 AM	I would recommedna suggestion to your PC's that they may need a little more grunt... By that I mean of course; A Cohort (At the least) Have at least one PC recieve an order from a higher-up that they are to setup a church and gather a following. Once the congregation is big enough, they can attempt to take on the good guys! And hell, setting up an evil church secretly in a good area and gathering a congregation makes for excellent RP situations!
Maraxus 05-25-04, 10:01 AM	Yes, this is fantasy - the evil has the overwhelming numbers. Try to start them low. A good first quest for evil clerics and blackguards is "find a magic item that hides your alingment, or you can be tracked as easy as an elephant on the plane of porcelain." Than remember, that the heros of good can't be everywere. It would be good for the PCs to have a powerful ally that works as an informant that tells them, when some heros are on their way to hunt the evil-doers down, or that their next target is to well guarded (and they need a diversionary tactic).