How much evil can a mundane man cause?

[jdrakeh]

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?

Where they'd least expect him - in the party (and, yes, I have seen this situation in-game).

 

[Darth Mikey]

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

I play RPG's for fun, relaxation and escape from reality. By definition and example what you describe happens everyday. Our world is full of sick, twisted, evil people. From politicians to the media, criminals, even police and governments. There is no truth, only spin. People commit evil acts like you describe every day and the average person is powerless to stop it.

I can watch a Litany of the Damned live on the 6 o'clock news.

And there's not a damn thing I can do about it.

So, after listening to this garbage all week, I'll sit down at the gaming table and break out the character sheets and dice.

And when stuff like that happens in the game, I'm gonna find something EVIL and kick it's butt back to hell. And if i'm feeling particularly upset, I'll follow it down to hell and crush it some more. And on a really, really bad night, I'll have the cleric resurrect it, so I can kill it again.





And while none of that will change anything, I might feel a little bit better.

 

[Jondor_Battlehammer]

This one ordinary man could have researched the resting places of powerful artifacts that would allow him to cause terrible things to happen. More or less the opposite of the DMGs warnings about dues ex mechana. This could end up being very comic bookish, which may or may not fit your game.

Or he could have created them from scratch. Only a handfull of people were capable of thinking up the atomic bomb, but many were capable of using it. What if some expert found an alchemical mixture of mundane materials that allowed anyone to wield magic, and the only limit to that magic was the cost to craft the focus, and the skill in putting it together?

 

[Aaron L]

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.

Exactly what I had in mind.


Chaotic Evil Barbarian: "I've disembowlled 10 men with my bare hands, eaten thier hearts and drank thier blood, and raped thier women while thier children watched!"


Neutral Evil BARD: "Yeah? Ive convinced 5 villages to commit mass suicide, after spending a year of thier lives hating each other and themselves, the mothers killing thier children out of jealousy of thier lost youth, children slitting thier parents throats as they slept out of fear and anger, and they never knew the twisted songs I sung and stories I told with a smile drove them all to it."


CE Barbarian: " ...thats just evil."

 

[interwyrm]

Two words: Eric Cartman.

 

[Drowbane]

Anyone remember a movie where a kid try to improve the world by causing people to help each other (help random people and ask that they help someone random in return , hence propagating good)? Not much to make an adventure though...
Now in our typical DnD world what if there was the opposite: a regular person, (merchant, artisan, artist...) that try to expand evil. Still kind of classic...

Now what happen if he is NOT a member of a demonic cult or the usual suspects. He is alone, he wants evil for evil's sake, he has no clerical power, doesn't worship any evil god, and isn't a wizard or a powerfull fighter. At most he might have a few abilities that are either common forregular floks (levels of expert or maybe rogue) or abilities that can occur spontaneously (1-3 level of wilder or sorcerer).

Now what can he do? Let's see if we can get enough idea to make Lysa the barmaid or Joan the smith a devious BBEG, that is more dangerous though his plans than the orc warlord nearby.

Here I shall misquote: "Belief in the Supernatural is not necessary... as Mankind is more than capable of every kind of Evil". I have no idea who said it, or how its supposed to go. Just going by a faint memory.

Anyways, "mundane" man is capable of just as much evil doing as a Cultish of (Insert Demonic enitity here). I've used this very sparingly in my games, as people expect the bad guy to be over the top... but sometimes the one slaying innocents is just a deranged commer with a pitchfork.

 

[Thia Halmades]

My campaign uses a frappe of what I'll call 'real' evil; things that can be done by normal people, everyday (murder, lying, charging high interest, etc.) and 'fantastic' evil - devils, demons, ancient cults, etc. To answer the question what can one man do, you've got a lot of good things flowing in this thread. So first, DamionW:

- Let's say you're good. You do good deeds, you believe in the general goodness of those around you. You gain satisfaction from the deeds you do. By rule of nature (balance) you must have a foil. We've ALL known this guy; whether it's the town bully, a wicked enterprenuer who runs people out of their own businesses and then 'buys them' so he can take on the risk of the local 'crime boss' who somehow NEVER bothers him, there's a tangible evil there that can grow and spread.

- Evil organizations. Let's leave 'adventurer' out of this for a minute, and look directly at the base scenario. One of the precepts I run my campaign by is that everyone - EVERYONE - is classed. Whether it's a heroic class, a base class, a PRC or an NPC class (expert, warrior, etc.) everyone has a class. Major NPCs take on PC classes. My Hobgoblins are notorious barbarians, and tend to Rage at the sight of Elves.

The Mafia, the Yakuza, the Triads, any branch of Shadow Government (re: the X-Files) are all fantastic examples of normal people doing evil things. Those evil things can generate interest from larger, deadlier authorities. What can start off as 'Gus the Bar Keep' can easily keep pace with the PCs as they go around, putting out the fires generated by Gus, and here's the best part:

- Tell Gus ALL of their plans. Gus is their BEST FRIEND. You want evil? You really wanna bend the minds of your PCs? Get into their heads. Who could've known we were here? They'd never consider Gus, especially not if he's smart, has a scape goat, and has 'constant rumors' of a 'well crafted intelligence organization for the local BBEG Union."

By the time anyone figures this out, the PCs are ... 10th level? And Gus now has powerful allies and is in the center of an intricate web. There's no evidence that he, himself, has ever committed a crime. You get some possession fiends involved, you're good to go. A plot like this, with a persistent villain, can take you all the way through Epic.

Sometimes evil comes from derangment of despair; sometimes its rewarded, sometimes its punished. Sometimes they're the same thing (Ravenloft). Sometimes the only motive people have is that they hate people. But that's what makes it interesting.

 

[genshou]

*Bites tongue, screaming through teeth in frustration*

Must not reveal spoiler from my Story Hour... must not reveal spoiler from my Story Hour... must not reveal spoiler from my Story Hour...

 

[Aust Diamondew]

Anyone remember a movie where a kid try to improve the world by causing people to help each other (help random people and ask that they help someone random in return , hence propagating good)? Not much to make an adventure though...
Now in our typical DnD world what if there was the opposite: a regular person, (merchant, artisan, artist...) that try to expand evil.

Ever hear of displaced agression? Anger spread to someone else even though it was another person who pissed them off? Same kind of thing. I remember the demon Crowley in the book Good Omens made a highway or something get built in a horribly bad fashion just piss masses of people off just a little bit and he orchestrated a plan to cause every persons cell phone in London to go off for five minutes straight (or something along those lines) just to piss them off a little bit with the idea that they'd pass their anger and evil on to other people and it'd multiply.

 

[Odhanan]

He is alone, he wants evil for evil's sake

Why? Nobody, nobody thinks of doing evil just for the sake of doing evil. Everyone has a reason to think it's actually the right thing to do.