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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Sylvan" data-source="post: 1736102" data-attributes="member: 22021">Give them hints and then crush themI run into this once in a while and its quite discouraging whenthe PC's start doing evil acts and twisting the story around. I typically start steering the pc's in the good direction. Some of these steps work right away, some of them continue on until the painful end. Its important to distinguish between those who want to play evil games and those who want to disrupt the session. Step 1Reactions from npc's and important encounters start going south. As some have suggested, their reputation will start to spread. Hints about a bountyhunters, vengeful family members and heroes looking to make a name start showing up. As one person stated give them the "visual" on what they are doing.Step 2A group of good aligned npc's show up and launch a well planned attack on them. They wait until they are asleep, study them for days (especially if they are in a city) or after a especially nasty encounter that has the NPC's weakend. The problem is these are young, relatively low level npc's and the party, even wounded or ambused should take care of them fairly easily. The NPC's might get a lucky shot in or catch someone asleep but once the party is up and running, they should easliy overcome them. I am assuming the party will kill them outright and not take any prisoners. The PC's discover a journal dipicting some of their past attacks and evil actions, Wanted Dead or Alive posters etc. This starts one chain of events.Step 3If they do something really reprehensible and worthy of note for the dark gods -give them some recognition. Dark Gods reward evil in the same way the good gods do. Only these gifts may be more visual. If they are waton slaughter's (which it sounds like they are) One of them grows razor sharp talons, or the ability to drain blood or something -but its a visible "change" in how their charecter looks and feels.Most of the time parties tend to get weirded out and start backpedaling other times the party jumps deeper twords evil.Either way, their new dark masters expect them to continue their ways. Step 4The chain of events started in step 2 start to get nasty. Big brother of the ranger they killed is pissed, or perhaps the mages master learns of his promising apprentices death.  Perhaps just mommy finds out (they were young adventurers) and she goes to the proper authorities and gets things running. PC's start getting indications that someone out there is looking for them. Most players tend to ignore the history of the NPC's they kill.Even worse some infamous bonuty hunters (not do gooders but the Clint Eastwood shoot-em-all type) might take them on.Step 5 The visible gifts are impacting how they interact in cities, villages and whatnot. The party has difficulty engaing in trade, buying potions and scrolls so they must go underground, slipping deeper into the evil underbelly of whatever world they are in. Evil people aren't nice and they learn that when the potions are mislabled, or in some cases poisoned or they work but they are the "generic type" working less effectively. If they pc's kick and push around guild members they can quickly find themselves sucking down a potion vial full of green slime rather than a potion of healing. If they interact with these people, that is the quickest way for paid informants of step 4 get a location on them.Step 6Encounter with a group of do gooders of their power level. This can go either way, and the do-gooders are a mix between "we will take them prisoner" and kill them all. The do gooders seek to bring them to justice for the most part.If they survive they are again rewarded in some fashion by the loot but more importantly the dark lords who have given them the gifts of evil.If they don't the party and campaign is overStep 7"The PC's Out" A powerful lone and myterious individual takes the party down. Rendering unconsious and incapacitating the partyThis is a pretty heavy handed step and I have used it only when I really want the party to continue the game.One game the party was staying at an inn. They fell into a deep sleep and all woke up with a scroll on their chest, dipicting what transgressions they have made and the outcome of serving evil is. They are invited to meet this person in a place of his/her choosing. They accept or refuse.If they accept, they go through a ritural of some sort with an antonement and a geas or other powerful magic to set the campaign back on track.They usually receive some sort of gift or power for their choiceIf they refuse, the lone figure is never seen again.If they attack or otherwise deceive the lone traveler, ALL hell breaks loose and typically its the end of the game.I have used step 7 twice in 15 years. The first group took the geas, and now served the cause of good. They played up the whole "former evil" party and it turned out to be a source of good roleplaying for the rest of the campaign. they even used their evil reputation to infiltrate a evil cult/cabal. The game was littered with encounters with the plots and servants of the dark gods that once they servedThe other time, the party accepted, and planned to ambush the lone stanger. (Who of course is powerful and intelligent enough to expect this) The party showed up, and attacked him. As they attacked him, I stated "The dark and cloaked figure seems to morph and change shape, his cloakexpanding and shaping into wings, his skin becoming scaled and shimmering gold in the moonlight. The look of their faces when I plopped a Gold Dragon miniature on the table will live forever. Thier party torn to pieces.Step 8Effectively the PC's have to contend with greater and greater challenges, NPC's bounty hunters and family members, racking up XP if they scucceed and ending the campaign eventually if they don't. The key here is to not take everything so personally. Sure the fact that your campaign got messed up is bad, but I have just as much fun watching the "evil campaign" develop as I do my own ideas. I had one game last for over a year of sessions. They died together is a very nasty dungeon who's denziens and traps didn't care if they were evil or not.You just have to remember that they are here to play a game and have fun, not fufill your storyline and meet your expectations/</blockquote>

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