Help With Evil Campaign - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Help With Evil Campaign

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
panda317
Jan 19, 2010 22:00:24 I just started running an evil campaign with a fun little twist - the characters have to be evil in order to restore the balance of the world which has shifted way to much in the favor of good. The world is currently divided among the big five gods of good and the church has become the superpower.

The problem I am having is getting them hooked into the storyline they want to pursue. I told my players that once they broke out of the prison (which they just accomplished last game night) they could pursue any path they want. The group has decided among themselves that infiltrating and deposing the local kingdom's government is what they want to do first. My only problem is I have no idea how to give them a way into all the politics.

The kingdom is ran by 11 lords who elect a king from among themselves to be a figurehead for the state. There is currently some fighting over what the position of king entails exactly and some ill will towards the church because all of the lords' kids are joining and pledging their entire lives and fortunes to it - the lords woud be frightened to actually make a move against the church though due to its power.

Any ideas on how to introduce them into all of this?

PS - I can provide more details about the world upon request.
#2
Grimbus
Jan 20, 2010 11:45:52 Well, first of all the players have to make themselves useful to one of the Lords. Let's say one of the Lords wants an amulet of charm that was sequestered by the Religious Organisation in charge. The amulet is stored in a guarded monastary . The Noble (or one of his henchmen) gives the players a replica of the amulet. The idea is that the noble will own and use the real one to gain influence whilst nobody suspects.

By completing this task you are setting the players up against the religious organisation in charge and giving them a patron who will call on them when he needs an expendable team of people. The players may become involved in diplomatic arm twisting and so on. The players also have an edge because they have to keep this Lords secrets which may or may not become useful in later adventures.

It may be worthwhile moving away from strict definitions of good and evil for this though. A superpowered church may believe it is good, but bre corrupt to the core. It might give you and your players a bit more flexibility - for example a Paladin could remain a Paladin whilst fundementally opposed to the church he was trained in.
#3
saethone
Jan 20, 2010 19:41:11 Is there a rogue in the party? He could forge some documents showing that one of the party is a lord by birth as well and deserves his chance to be king. Do they want to put themselves in control? Or do they just want to bring down the establishment. That could work to do either. Alternatively, they could force them into fued with the church
#4
strand0
Jan 21, 2010 3:58:24 Remember that the 11 Lords can't be too smart or incoruptable or should be OVERconfident. Your players' plans should have a better than even chance of working. Afterall they are the LED characters.

Maybe they could get the current King to believe he is God's chosen guy!
#5
ordrus
Jan 24, 2010 23:57:38 Every Lord probably has a retinue of servants and bodyguards right? As far as a hook goes, what if the captain of the Lord's guard got caught in some trouble. The party helps him out and he says he'll mention to his lord about how "respectable" they are. Easy way to gain the attention of one of the Lords in a feasible way instead of just giving them massive clout and somehow gaining the ear of a powerful nobleman in the kingdom.

As for the noble youth a possible idea could be that they are pledged special positions within the church for their donations. Maybe it turns out that the church is putting the youth into a secret sect and training them to become avengers (or religious assassins similar to the avenger class). And this is all a big master plan to place a hidden blade inside the houses of each of the noble Lords. Not only would the party have to fight religious ninjas but they have some dirt on the church which they can blackmail them for.

Just a few ideas. Good Luck!
#6
therion666
Jan 25, 2010 17:00:06 One of the characters could masquarade as the child of a deposed noble and approach the deposed nobles corrupt noble ally and offer to remove a problem. Maybe a classic monster hunt with some murder required ( the basilisk got the young priest before we could stop it but we have returned his body).
If they develope some presence among the nobles they could be legitimised then their storys told in court allowing them an avenue in.
#7
jack_of_all_trades_02
Jan 29, 2010 15:30:03 I have a good piece of advice to you. Watch Rome. In the series Rome is a very alignment neutral world that if anything leans towards Lawful Evil. This is not important. What is important are the characters and how they get into their respective situations.

For example one of the series lead characters Titus and Vorenus start out as Centurians then the become criminals, heroes, thieve's guildmasters, and even Senators. The answer is very simple. Its who you know.

My recomendation for you is to get them into an inadvertant commotion, maybe a thief tries to pick their pockets, and they are forced to deal with it publically. Or they inadvertantly kill the enemy of some big political bigwig. This would bring somebody out of the shadows. You want to create some Unaligned or even Evil adversaries who are willing to get them into politics for a price.

In Rome this Character is Marc Antony. He's dirty and shady, and totally douchey but he's a freaking Senator. The boys know him because of their time in the Army and they are approached by him later to run the cities biggest thieve's guild.

For your story I'd make one of the 11 Lords corrupt, and I'd give him a blacksheep kind of brother or sister. The party can get to the Lord because they are hired by the Lord's brother to kill one the Lord's political rivals or something. Then you can put all sorts of psuedo-political kinds of missions in the way. Seduction, Blackmail, Kidnapping, and Assassination are all wonderful tools of an evil political hopeful. Start them out small and have an evil somebody notice and bring them into something bigger.

I seriously advise you to watch the Show. It'll tell you how to go about dirty inner political workings in an ancient civilization.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 panda317 Jan 19, 2010 22:00:24	I just started running an evil campaign with a fun little twist - the characters have to be evil in order to restore the balance of the world which has shifted way to much in the favor of good. The world is currently divided among the big five gods of good and the church has become the superpower. The problem I am having is getting them hooked into the storyline they want to pursue. I told my players that once they broke out of the prison (which they just accomplished last game night) they could pursue any path they want. The group has decided among themselves that infiltrating and deposing the local kingdom's government is what they want to do first. My only problem is I have no idea how to give them a way into all the politics. The kingdom is ran by 11 lords who elect a king from among themselves to be a figurehead for the state. There is currently some fighting over what the position of king entails exactly and some ill will towards the church because all of the lords' kids are joining and pledging their entire lives and fortunes to it - the lords woud be frightened to actually make a move against the church though due to its power. Any ideas on how to introduce them into all of this? PS - I can provide more details about the world upon request.
#2 Grimbus Jan 20, 2010 11:45:52	Well, first of all the players have to make themselves useful to one of the Lords. Let's say one of the Lords wants an amulet of charm that was sequestered by the Religious Organisation in charge. The amulet is stored in a guarded monastary . The Noble (or one of his henchmen) gives the players a replica of the amulet. The idea is that the noble will own and use the real one to gain influence whilst nobody suspects. By completing this task you are setting the players up against the religious organisation in charge and giving them a patron who will call on them when he needs an expendable team of people. The players may become involved in diplomatic arm twisting and so on. The players also have an edge because they have to keep this Lords secrets which may or may not become useful in later adventures. It may be worthwhile moving away from strict definitions of good and evil for this though. A superpowered church may believe it is good, but bre corrupt to the core. It might give you and your players a bit more flexibility - for example a Paladin could remain a Paladin whilst fundementally opposed to the church he was trained in.
#3 saethone Jan 20, 2010 19:41:11	Is there a rogue in the party? He could forge some documents showing that one of the party is a lord by birth as well and deserves his chance to be king. Do they want to put themselves in control? Or do they just want to bring down the establishment. That could work to do either. Alternatively, they could force them into fued with the church
#4 strand0 Jan 21, 2010 3:58:24	Remember that the 11 Lords can't be too smart or incoruptable or should be OVERconfident. Your players' plans should have a better than even chance of working. Afterall they are the LED characters. Maybe they could get the current King to believe he is God's chosen guy!
#5 ordrus Jan 24, 2010 23:57:38	Every Lord probably has a retinue of servants and bodyguards right? As far as a hook goes, what if the captain of the Lord's guard got caught in some trouble. The party helps him out and he says he'll mention to his lord about how "respectable" they are. Easy way to gain the attention of one of the Lords in a feasible way instead of just giving them massive clout and somehow gaining the ear of a powerful nobleman in the kingdom. As for the noble youth a possible idea could be that they are pledged special positions within the church for their donations. Maybe it turns out that the church is putting the youth into a secret sect and training them to become avengers (or religious assassins similar to the avenger class). And this is all a big master plan to place a hidden blade inside the houses of each of the noble Lords. Not only would the party have to fight religious ninjas but they have some dirt on the church which they can blackmail them for. Just a few ideas. Good Luck!
#6 therion666 Jan 25, 2010 17:00:06	One of the characters could masquarade as the child of a deposed noble and approach the deposed nobles corrupt noble ally and offer to remove a problem. Maybe a classic monster hunt with some murder required ( the basilisk got the young priest before we could stop it but we have returned his body). If they develope some presence among the nobles they could be legitimised then their storys told in court allowing them an avenue in.
#7 jack_of_all_trades_02 Jan 29, 2010 15:30:03	I have a good piece of advice to you. Watch Rome. In the series Rome is a very alignment neutral world that if anything leans towards Lawful Evil. This is not important. What is important are the characters and how they get into their respective situations. For example one of the series lead characters Titus and Vorenus start out as Centurians then the become criminals, heroes, thieve's guildmasters, and even Senators. The answer is very simple. Its who you know. My recomendation for you is to get them into an inadvertant commotion, maybe a thief tries to pick their pockets, and they are forced to deal with it publically. Or they inadvertantly kill the enemy of some big political bigwig. This would bring somebody out of the shadows. You want to create some Unaligned or even Evil adversaries who are willing to get them into politics for a price. In Rome this Character is Marc Antony. He's dirty and shady, and totally douchey but he's a freaking Senator. The boys know him because of their time in the Army and they are approached by him later to run the cities biggest thieve's guild. For your story I'd make one of the 11 Lords corrupt, and I'd give him a blacksheep kind of brother or sister. The party can get to the Lord because they are hired by the Lord's brother to kill one the Lord's political rivals or something. Then you can put all sorts of psuedo-political kinds of missions in the way. Seduction, Blackmail, Kidnapping, and Assassination are all wonderful tools of an evil political hopeful. Start them out small and have an evil somebody notice and bring them into something bigger. I seriously advise you to watch the Show. It'll tell you how to go about dirty inner political workings in an ancient civilization.