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Message: <blockquote data-quote="shadow" data-source="post: 4586243" data-attributes="member: 2182">The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid "dens of crime" that Dickens loved to paint. It is not done even in concentration camps and labour camps. In those we see its final result. But it is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried, and minuted) in clean, carpeted, warmed, and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voice. -C.S. Lewis - The Screwtape LettersI have been dusting off my old homebrew setting and revamping it a little.  For a while I was debating on whether or not to keep the "big bad evil darklord" that I had envisioned when I first started my homebrew.  Although I like the idea of having a really bad, evil villain for the PCs to rally against, the idea of the darklord is so cliched.  Moreover, the stereotypical image of a darklord clad in black armor, living in a castle adorned with human skulls, didn't jive with my campaign theme of evil being tempting (so that characters have to watch that they don't become what they seek to destroy).Suddenly I had an idea for a unique take of a darklord - a Stalin-esque "dear leader" with his own personality cult.  Much of the great atrocities in real life are commited not by psychopathic murderers, but by smiling civilian and military leaders who promise their people a brighter future.The darklord in my homebrew is a charismatic leader that controls a police state.  Children are be indoctrinated from birth that only their "great leader" could guarantee a bright future.  Anyone who says otherwise is a traitor who needs to be dealt with.  People are taught to spy on their neighbors; children on their parents.  People who are suspected of being disloyal simply "disappear".Of course this leads to the question of how would much of this play out in a faux-medieval setting.  Would magic be integrated to keep survellience on the people? (My homebrew is very low magic.)  What would the secret police force be like?  How would the "re-education" camps be run in medieval technology level?Anyway, what do you all think?</blockquote>

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