the bad guys you fight are often organized, so why not evil pc's

[Jolly Giant]

I've been DMing an evil campaign for almost 5 years now, and it's been the most fun I've ever had gaming! It's been a very refreshing change from always playing heroic good guys. I recommend it!

Though the PCs have alignments ranging from LE, via NE (leaning towards N), to CE, and they all belong to different faiths, they've stuck together and stuck up for each other more than any other PC-group I've been involved as a DM or as a player. Not that they havn't sometimes gone off on individual quests, but they've never plotted against each other or backstabbed each other in any way.

The "tricks" I've found most successful in preventing them from fighting between themselves are these:

1) Make sure they have common enemies.

2) Make sure they always have so many enemies after them that they need to stick together and watch each others' backs.

3) Make sure to give them decent rewards for their joint efforts; let them see that teamwork pays off.

Three very simple rules that have worked great for my campaign!

 

[shilsen]

That's what I'm talking about - not some Blackguard "I'm bad, I'm bad, here, watch me kick this puppy" evil, but the evil that loves their wives, children, pets, country, religion, etc, and the elimination of anything that isn't those things.

That's the kind of evil I always like to have in my games. Few things freak out the good guys more than when they break into the villain's lair and find him reading a story to his little girl, while his wife is ironing his shirt in the next room

 

[kigmatzomat]

That's the kind of evil I always like to have in my games. Few things freak out the good guys more than when they break into the villain's lair and find him reading a story to his little girl, while his wife is ironing his shirt in the next room

I love the likeable evils. IMC there's been a few beings (calling them people might be stretching it) that the group has actively avoided using detect alignment spells on so they don't actively *know* the person is evil. Not that it would have that big of an impact since one of the PCs (Burne) is evil in the party-friendly enlightened-self-interest fashion but it makes it easier on the ol' conscience.

Of course I mix it up with the "distant but comprehensible evil" of liches, the psychopathic evil of many undead and the absolute unholy evil of demons.

I love hearing :
cleric: "He's like us....just evil."
paladin: "So....he's just like Burne."
cleric: "Yeah."
bard: "We can work with that."
Burne: "Yeah, we better be sure he doesn't double cross us. He'll sell us out if someone offers him enough money."
paladin: "True."
cleric & bard: "......"
Burne: "Hey, any chance we can work it so he doesn't get a share of the treasure?"
bard: "Yep, just like Burne."

(as to why there's a paladin around an evil rogue: the paladin wants to travel with the cleric and the evil rogue and the good cleric of a neutral god have a decent working relationship. )