Flamestrike
Legend
Why did they rescue her in the first place?
D&D 5E Deal Breakers - Or woah, that is just too much
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Why did they rescue her in the first place?
Mouseferatu
Hero
And this is why, in nearly all of the campaigns I run, I demand non-evil PCs, and why in many of them, I go so far as to demand only good PCs. And yes, I know that, in and of itself, is a deal-breaker for some. I'm okay with that. We wouldn't enjoy having each other at the table.
Flamestrike
Legend
You're missing a lot of fun. Evil parties can be fantastic with the right peeps.
But everyone has to be mature and on board for it to work.
Mouseferatu
Hero
I've done the occasional "all evil" campaign. Sometimes it's worked. Sometimes it hasn't. And if/when I get an idea for one, that'll be one of the few exceptions.
But the vast majority of my campaigns? No thanks. They wouldn't even work with an evil group, even if they were the most mature players on Earth. I still prefer plots that require heroes. (I don't run sandboxes. I avoid railroads, but I prefer my campaigns to involve plot, regardless of which side of the screen I'm on.)
But the vast majority of my campaigns? No thanks. They wouldn't even work with an evil group, even if they were the most mature players on Earth. I still prefer plots that require heroes. (I don't run sandboxes. I avoid railroads, but I prefer my campaigns to involve plot, regardless of which side of the screen I'm on.)
Rya.Reisender
Explorer
I could imagine evil parties to be fun when it focuses on combat. Roleplaying evil well is very hard to do and even most movies fail at it, so it usually would just end up with "I kill people because I'm evil" which is pretty two dimensional too.
But as DM I want to prepare for an evil campaign. I don't want to play one of the official modules with an evil party because they don't really handle that very well for example.
Generally I don't care much for alignment. If they behave too bad or stray too much from the campaign I'll intervene, but just small disturbances I'll go along and improvise.
The only time alignment came up was when the rogue tortured a goblin and said "I'm glad I'm not good aligned". I went along with that torture scene but because it dragged on really long and the other 4 players were pretty bored during that time I recommended after the session that maybe we should do less of the torturing.
But as DM I want to prepare for an evil campaign. I don't want to play one of the official modules with an evil party because they don't really handle that very well for example.
Generally I don't care much for alignment. If they behave too bad or stray too much from the campaign I'll intervene, but just small disturbances I'll go along and improvise.
The only time alignment came up was when the rogue tortured a goblin and said "I'm glad I'm not good aligned". I went along with that torture scene but because it dragged on really long and the other 4 players were pretty bored during that time I recommended after the session that maybe we should do less of the torturing.
KahlessNestor
Adventurer
Yeah, I didn't know what the hell I was doing lol Didn't even really know that was a thing. I just assumed. We were all new.
I rolled with it and we spent some good time seeing if the Unaligned guy realized they were cutting him out of a good chunk of treasure.
Now I figure it might not be as big a deal because I'm the DM. I don't care how big and bad yoi are. You start messing around and I can send something bigger and badder at you. I still would rather not derail things like that, but I would hope it would only take you needing to roll up a new character once to get the point.
Waterbizkit
Explorer
Speaking strictly from my own experience I find that Evil or "morally loose" parties tend to work a bit better a more sandbox style campaign. In the past when I've run into this sort of thing I never went out of my to discourage it, but I made it clear that actions have repercussions. The trick is to not turn this into a DM v the Players situation, which can be a hard line to straddle.
If the players are just play a little fast and loose, with lying, stealing and similar chicanery then they playing the role of say... the bandits/highwaymen that the authorities or heroic adventures might seek to capture. If they go full murder-pillage Evil the results will be appropriately more severe. Of course all the fun of this sort of thing is how they go about it. In one instance I had a couple of players start mugging drunks in the first session and actually killed one, admittedly inadvertently. While attempting to hide the body in what they thought was a clever way, they got spotted by guards, a chase ensued and they landed themselves in jail essentially awaiting a death sentence. It was quick, a bit of ultimately pointless fun and a lesson learned for them.
Another group ran quite different. Intelligent and charismatic con artists more or less. They weren't a good bunch by any means. They never helped anyone who couldn't pay, they often never actually did what they agreed to do if they could get some of the money upfront or lie about finishing a job. They'd double cross people, cheat, steal and generally look out only for themselves and their own personal gain. But they were smart about it, evaded authorities, paid off crooked guards and occasionally had a tussle with some heroes who came after them. It was a fun if entirely unheroic campaign.
So it can be done, but it's certainly not for everyone. The real key is, as I said initially, is to make it clear that actions have repercussions and make sure that when their selfish actions do eventually come back to bite them in the ass that it isn't because you're after them or trying to ruin their fun, but because when they do bad things there will be good people who will stand against them. It can be a delightful role reversal if done right with a good group.
If the players are just play a little fast and loose, with lying, stealing and similar chicanery then they playing the role of say... the bandits/highwaymen that the authorities or heroic adventures might seek to capture. If they go full murder-pillage Evil the results will be appropriately more severe. Of course all the fun of this sort of thing is how they go about it. In one instance I had a couple of players start mugging drunks in the first session and actually killed one, admittedly inadvertently. While attempting to hide the body in what they thought was a clever way, they got spotted by guards, a chase ensued and they landed themselves in jail essentially awaiting a death sentence. It was quick, a bit of ultimately pointless fun and a lesson learned for them.
Another group ran quite different. Intelligent and charismatic con artists more or less. They weren't a good bunch by any means. They never helped anyone who couldn't pay, they often never actually did what they agreed to do if they could get some of the money upfront or lie about finishing a job. They'd double cross people, cheat, steal and generally look out only for themselves and their own personal gain. But they were smart about it, evaded authorities, paid off crooked guards and occasionally had a tussle with some heroes who came after them. It was a fun if entirely unheroic campaign.
So it can be done, but it's certainly not for everyone. The real key is, as I said initially, is to make it clear that actions have repercussions and make sure that when their selfish actions do eventually come back to bite them in the ass that it isn't because you're after them or trying to ruin their fun, but because when they do bad things there will be good people who will stand against them. It can be a delightful role reversal if done right with a good group.
feartheminotaur
First Post
And that, to me, is the cardinal sin - Evil, Good, or Neutral.
feartheminotaur
First Post
Most games I've DM'ed for adults (DM'ing for my son and his friends is entirely different) the players start out Neutral and become Good as the main plot kicks in. "OK, now that I've done whatever was necessary to buy gear and level up, it's time to save the world!" sort of maturation.
I'm not sure why everyone feels the need to always be good? Some of the most fun I've had was a party of what were essentially raiders/pirates. We stole,we murdered and fought the righteous and it was a hoot.
