Evil free form campaign, someone be my muse? (CT players stay out!)

[Bear]

I need some help formulating my new campaign. The rough outline:

Forgotten Realms Campaign
location to be decided...

It's an evil campaign... the PCs are low level evil characters who are somehow in the 'employ' of a higher level (higher then them but not very high at all, maybe 5th or 8th lvl) NPC who holds some sort of leash around their necks (addiction, blackmail, hostages, ect...) This NPC is but the minion of yet another NPC higher up in the evil organization (which has yet to be decided, but I'm leaning towards the Cult of the Dragon).

Should the PC's know what organization they are in the 'employ' of? I'd like to say 'yes' this way I'll know if it's something they, as players, could get into... but also, I'd like to say 'no' to add to the mystery. What are the Pros and Cons of each?

Their master will send them to Town X with the goal of acomplishing a number of things. How the PC's acomplish these goals is up to them.
1) Set up base somewhere
2) Raise money for their masters cause (whatever that cause may be)
3) Keep an eye on a certain NPC who lives in town
4) Get as many people under their thumb as they can
5) Rucruit followers while maintaining a low profile

Additionally, there will be roadblocks put in their path... should they be discovered they will have to contend with good-aligned adventurers, their own minion revolts, and of course, their own internall squabbling, amongst other things.

Eventually the PC's will gain enough power to themselves, becomming more powerful than their master. Then they work their way up the ladder of the evil organization.

Potential problems:
Evil players like to kill each other
Evil players hatch plots individual of each other, games could become a group solo sessions as players vie for the DM's attention.

Can anyone play the part of muse for me... perhpas point out solutions/enhancements?

 

[VictorSim]

The best way to keep an evil party (or any other fractious party) together is to give them a common enemy. I’m not talking about a background NPC or other intangible plot device. You need a methodical ruthless opponent who is out to destroy the party and forces them to either work together or be destroyed. Ideally this opponent should be LOWER level then the party so that it is difficult for the opponent to succeed in his objectives. However the opponent needs to be smarter or more devious than the party to avoid getting detected and crushed.

If you really want to make the NPC tough but fair then make it a single PC outside of the main party. The first idea that comes to my mind for a suitable opponent is a 1st level LN cleric of Azuth, who has recently setup a shrine in the area upon hearing rumors that the Cult of the Dragon may be operating in the area. The cleric is seeking to add the arcane secrets of the Dragon Cult to the official Azuth Temple lore. The cleric has high diplomacy skills and takes every opportunity to influence the local leaders to create laws to counter the PCs actions, in the hopes of flushing out his quarry.

Example: if the PCs kill some citizens during their evil acts then the cleric uses this as an excuse to petition for mandatory peace bonding of all weapons within the town. Or even better if spells are being used to sleep or charm citizens then the cleric volunteers his services to maintain a list of all spellcasters and their known spells, if the rulers pass a law making it mandatory for all spellcasters to be licensed and their spellbooks must be periodically made available for examination. Similarly a law confiscating potentially dangerous magic items for the defense of the town might be passed. Etc.

This type of harassment would open up all sorts of opportunities for enterprising evil characters, especially in terms of black market smuggling of weapons, spells and magic items (along with the standard poisons and stolen goods). The increase in smuggling could be countered by the church volunteering to use detect magic to track down illegal magical goods. The church might also use paladins or detect evil spells to make a note of everyone in town who might be evil so that these individuals can be closely monitored as likely criminals. Monks could be trained on both sides to fight unarmed thus circumventing any anti-weapon legislation.

The list of thrust/counter-thrust tactics in such an escalating conflict could make for a very realistic and entertaining campaign. The secret is to keep the conflicts mainly between intermediaries and keep the main antagonists secret from one another as long as possible.

I admit that I am biased in my comments since I’ve always wanted to try pitting my skill against an entire party in this type of fashion therefore I am describing what I would consider my dream campaign.

Victor Sim

 

[Bear]

Thanks Victor Sim!

Those are some really interesting plot devices there! I like the 'unknown legal advasary' angle.

What other tasks can I put them to... Besides raising money and acquiring magical items to offer up to their dragon allies, anyone else know what the Cult of the Dragon would have their cultists do?

Some ideas I've come up with:
Cult wants the power of Lathander diminished in the area and tries to thwart their rise in power somehow... sends in the PCs to do the job.

Abduction of local potion maker, so the Cult can enslave him to create potions (for a dragon ally) till 'the end of his days' (IE: he runs out of XP due to his constant potion making).

The town houses a cleric who was our PC's lords' previous mentor before he turned to evil... the cleric is now training a new diciple and plans to use him to thwart his previous, now corrupted, diciple. (sound too contrived? Deja-vu Obi-wan and Luke Skywalker vs. Darth Vader?)

Recruitment missions... a powerful necromancer has set up shop in the area bringing too much attention to the region. He must be absorbed into the cult, forced to move or totally destroyed.

I have this half baked plot in my head involving the Campaign Setting 'Dragonstar' where a scheming Galactic Black Dragon wants to become the eternal ruler of the galaxy and discovers the existance of Toril and the Cult of the dragon (ONLY the Cult of the Dragon on Toril has the knowledge of dracolich creation in all the universe). So the glactic black dragon hatches a plot to become a Dracolich and sends a messenger to open discussions, he wants to keep his moves VERY secret. Of course the Cultists see this as the beginning of Sammasters Prophecy come true and are TOTALLY JAZZED... but something goes wrong... (and thats as far as I have things planned)

Can anyone else come up with stuff I can throw at them that will embroil the PC's in their rise to Maniacial Evil?

 

[VictorSim]

Based upon your description of a location where the Cult of the Dragon is inconflict with the Temple of Lathander, I would recommend Saerloon (a major city in Sembia known to have Cultist activities) as the starting location for the PC employer. Sembia is also known as having a strong Lathander following in it.

I recommend slaving operations as the means of raising gold. Each slave is worth 50-100 gp (FRCS pg 87) which can add up very quickly for a successful slaving party. A smart party would enslave kobolds, goblins and orcs (all of whom make better mine slaves than humans) since no one is going to miss them and make a fuss about their disappearance. The slave trade is very competitive in Saerloon with the Eyeless Mask, Red Wizards of Thay and Dark Moon Monks of Shar all competing with the Cult of the Dragon for this lucrative market. An advantage of slaving missions is that any published modules involving these non-human races can be easily adapted to suit the plot hook of a slaving mission.

Presumably it is a Wearer of Purple who employs the party and he truly believes in the Undead Dragons shall rule the world prophesy. If I was a crazed power hungry evil mage with this belief then I would be attempting to become a Dracolich and thus an eventual ruler of the world. The first step in this plan would involve becoming a dragon. This can be done using the Ritual of Unlearning or Ritual of Vitality found in the Savage Species book pg 149. These rituals are probably already known to the Dragon Cult but if not then my first objective would be to find them (ie. adventure hook for sending PCs to recover a lost tome of knowledge).

The rituals cannot be cast on oneself which poses a trust issue for evil wizards. I would teach the ritual to a lower level (minimum 7th) wizard (like a PC eventually) and then Charm Monster or otherwise attempt to magical ensure that the PC would not betray me. After successfully completing the transformation to Dragon then I would attempt to kill the PC so they could not spread the knowledge of the Ritual. (After all if your going to be one of the Undead Dragons ruling the world then you probably don't want a bunch of other Undead Dragons moving in on your territory).

The rituals cost an exhorbitant amount of gold and XP and the minimum caster level is 7th so the party employer wants the party to succeed on their quests up to the point that he betrays them.

Those are my preliminary thoughts on plot ideas.

As for the plot ideas that you mentioned:

1) Killing Lathander clerics is always a good idea because that Sun domain Greater Turning is rather nasty against Dracoliches.
2) Abducting the local potion maker is an OK evil plot but I'm not sure I would trust the potion maker not to poison the potions under such duress. Rather I would kidnap his wife or daughter and have him pay in potions on a weekly basis for the privilege of visiting them. If he betrays us then his dependents will be killed. In addition to having the PCs performing the kidnapping, they could also be in charge of defending the kidnapped victim (when the inevitable good party comes along and tries to save her).
3) A "diplomatic" mission to recruit a necromancer would be an interesting challenge for evil PCs.
4) The Galactic Black Dragon plot should probably wait until the PCs are epic levels.

Victor