How much evil can a mundane man cause?

[Storyteller01]

Start spreading propoganda. In D&D, only those in power have the means to differentiate the truth from a lie. When placed and believable stories can throw thousands into chaos (remember Orson Well's radio broadcast??).

The best part: unless their is a real enemy (dragons, orcs, etc) characters are less likely to check the story out (unless the local king or clergy rerquest it).

 

[Banshee16]

"How much evil can a mundane man cause?"

[opens newspaper]

Hmm...

I think the question has to be taken in the context of how much evil can they cause when there are heroes capable of fighting off hordes of enemy soldiers single-handedly, or jumping off a 200' high building and living are running around, actively stomping evil

Banshee

 

[The Edge]

I can imagine this very smart (slightly out of his head) guy getting access to other powers, leaders and other contacts, he could then try to influence them to do what he wants without them even knowing. Kind of like an evil one man illuminati. Spreading rumours, lies, stirring things up etc. Start a family feud, disrupt a guild, create unrest within a kings subjects, arrange for a gang to stop that vital caravan, frame a popular personage, and generally encourage evil whenever it shows. Found a cult of arson, sabotage, evil types, plotters etc and leave it to build itself and work on another one, perhaps bringing them both into conflict and causing chaos.

He could be both known by masses and a multitude of influencal figures, yet none by the same name.

While the PCs are fighting say the flimsy cults springing up all over, they have no idea of how to fight the source, all the time while the mayor, trade guild, and the thieves brotherhood all seem to be trying to hinder everything they do for no apparent reason. Even the beggars glance at them suspiciously in the streets.

Good thread, I think Filton Harbour is about to get meaner.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

"How much evil can a mundane man cause?"

Enough to make the movie Showgirls.

 

[WayneLigon]

Spreading viscious rumors and stuff. Ive always thought of playing an evil bard who just screwed over everyones reputation. Imagine the damage an evil bard devoted to ruining every hero he came across could do! ... Not to mention the general bad stuff he could do, ruining marraiges, destroying decent peoples reputations, causing a civil strife and resentment towards the government, etc.

I've done that on a small scale and the next D&D game I run, I'm doing it on a large scale. The damage a single bard can do, even without the numerous mind affecting spells, is pretty horrific once you think it through. I had this one NPC who was a NE bard; she simply liked spreading misery and discord because it amused her. The party ran across her handiwork in a series of villages: people turned against one another, young lovers who now hated each other, children convinced that their parents hated them. Suicides, murders, shame and despair followed in her wake.

 

[DamionW]

On a tangent to this thread, one character type I've been wanting to roleplay lately is a rasputin type of evil king-maker wizard. How many fantasy novels have you read where the good king is being twisted by an evil court mage that has him beguiled by whispering evil in his ear? These wizards can start wars, and bend the shape of the world around their will. My question is, how do those type of characters start their careers? Imagine a first level enchanter trying to work their way up the power ladder by first working with cutpurses and street urchins to get info to blackmail with, then twisting small merchants and mercenaries, important townsfolk, etc. Eventually at high level they'll be in the courts of the king, but how does one get that far? I wanted to try playing that out, but it isn't compatible with a typical adventuring party or a typical DnD party.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

I think the Bartender idea only can go so far with a mundane person. People talk and unless this person has some way to hold everyone in fear and prevent them from talking to one another, it will only last so long. At some point, people will figure out that this person is playing many sides and they will band together to put an end to this person.

I could absolutely see it with someone who is well connected and trusted by someone with real authority who would protect that person.

As for a "Slay it Forward" idea, that only works in theory because some people would feel obligated to honor the request and few others would object to someone doing good deeds for others. I think if you did (or perhaps threatened to do) an evil act to a random person and told them you expect them to do something evil to someone else, I can't see it going very far. Heck, the good version of Pay it Forward doesn't really work for long.

 

[NealTS]

The only problem I see is this: Once this bartender kills a few people, he won't be mundane anymore. He'll gain xp, which means he'll get levels, which means that he'll be able to take arrows to the face. Even if he simply weaves a web of intrigue, he'll gain enough "roleplaying experience" to quickly become more than human. Sure, he could continue taking Commoner levels, but if this psychotic killer had the ability to start warping people's minds with magic instead of simple chutzpah, don't you think he'd take it? At that point, he becomes just another evil mage plotting the demise of the local town. If that bartender wants to go on being just a bartender, he better stick to cleaning mugs and other such low-xp-yield activities.

I know, I know. It's absurd. But that's the RAW for ya. And I do apologize for being a bit snarky in my first post.

 

[jdrakeh]

I actually designed an entire 'capstone' campaign around this concept - the tagline was 'Heroes are forged, not born!' - but it ended up being too bleak for the people who playtested it, so the project was scrapped. Really, it made Midnight look like My Pretty Pony. I've always toyed with picking it up again, as I think that the basic premise had great potential for truly heroic roleplay - especially once the nature of the conspiracy was revealed. Spoilers follow:

Spoiler

The basic premise was that history's most heinous acts of evil in the fantasy world were engineered by a secretive cabal composed, not of uber-powerful bad guys, but of normal folks (there were a few well-respected rulers, guild masters, and former adventurers involved, but they were the exception, rather than the rule). All were involved for their own reasons, but fundamentally all believed that true heroes - and, thus, true hope - could not exist without true evil to struggle against. And true evil isn't exactly in large supply.

Basically, this hidden cabal - through an elaborate system of financing and influence - sought out potentially dangerous 'would-be' villains, and then anonymously provided them wtih funds, information, and other resources to carry out great evil in the world. Similarly, this same cabal would then arrange for potential heroes to stumble upon these schemes and, again, anonymously supply aid to them (planted magical items, companions hired for PCs to 'accidentally' stumble across, etc).

The rest was then left to fate - some hereos thwarted the evil while others died trying. In the event that a given group of heroes died, another would be 'recruited' to take over where they left off, until the evil was eventually undone in a spectacular show of heroism that the public could admire. There were, of course, 'fail-safe' measures in palce to ensure that said evil never got out from under the cabal's thumb (they could withdraw resources, quickly turning that Big Bad back into a minor foe).

The campaign itself used this cosmology to explain the otherwise glossed-over origins of the numerous larger-than-life heroes and villains in various D&D settings, and gave the PCs a truly warped (if well-meaning) world-wide network of baddies to rally against - if they ever discovered its existence (many PCs were content to not question the nature of evil, and were happy to smite whoever the cabal dropped in front of them, never becoming aware of said cabal's existence).

The road to Hell is paved with good intentions and, in the end, the cabal ends up being that true evil that they hoped to create. Que the epic confrontation with the ruling cabal members. All in all, a lot of potential for a memorable campaign, IMHO.

 

[Einan]

Except the bartender never kills a soul. He doesn't need to. He simply plants seeds and allows others to follow them through. And I agree, if said Barkeep was stupid enough to do this a lot in a short period, people would notice. But Gus the Evil Barkeep (c) is smart, so he confines his meddling to the long term. He is patient and he is helpful. Like Coach on Cheers, everyone loves him. He gives candy to children and food to beggars. No one would ever suspect Gus of evil. Because he's EVIL, people, not stupid. Evil does not equal stupid. I'm sure there are terribly evil people out there in real life spreading lowgrade nastiness who never get found out. If they're smart and patient, then even heroes who slay dragons would never even thing of suspecting them of evil.

I think that's my worst gripe with roleplayers. They always play in games where the evil villain is easily recognized. Where's the nasty evil BBEGs who evade suspicion? Where's the mastermind who is actually smarter than the players?

Sigh.

Einan