dungeon crawl or done to death

Mick

New member
just wondering who would like to see rpg modules set up that dont require you to go into dungeons every time..or modules designed where good or evil characters could play them..we all who enjoy D&D know that every module basically made in the past 30 years are set to rescue someones daughter or kill the orcs or some such..I know ive been there myself..well now with 3.0 and 3.5 rules and d20 its alot different..you can play vampire necromancer if you want..so just wondering what sort of adventures those of you who actually still role play offline would like to see made as one of our next ventures is going to be modules.
 

Infidel Castro

New member
The first thing I\'d like to see is this moved to the Roleplay thread :innocent:

And not every module has dungeons, surely? Is that true? What about the island with all the dinosaurs on it - were there dungeons in that one?
 

Mick

New member
would that be the isle of dread or isle of the ape?.. or possibly one of a ton of adventures thats in dungeon/dragon magazine?..I think we all know theres not dungeons in every adventure..the point is I doubt very much there are very many modules out there that cater to non good aligned adventurers..
 
I think the problem with adventures catering to the non-good (evil) character is that most DM\'s, all that I have played with, don\'t like running evil campaigns. Remember you are supposed to be the hero. I had one DM that if you did something to become evil then that character became an NPC and you had to roll up a new character.

Just my 2 cents. :D
 

Mick

New member
Drake i agree somewhat I tried playing evil characters and its not easy as i think the majority of people are a reflection of a piece of their character so we mainly do good..but if there is no room for evil characters i dont understand how 3.5 has so many characters and rules for them..they should all be npcs then..say a anti-paladin for example..i guess the modules we would have wouldnt be like stuff out of the book of vile darkness by no means..but set in a city where its a more neutral attitude because really i think the majority of characters played arent played how their alignments are unless the person playing is really good..roleplaying usually takes a good deal of playing to learn what its about..not just saying ok my fighter kills the orc..I have a priest who basically every person she fights she tries and heal them if they are dying..shes overweight and doesnt get around fast..and basically very driven by her faith..i think we all go thru that hoard gold and monty haul campaign at some point the peopkle playing say i dont like playing this way and want more ..if they work for their levels then they feel they have really earned it..this is what we wanted to do with our modules i guess this post could be a mile long but always like to here others comments as no 2 dm\'s are alike;)
 
Agreed, we do tend to play our characters along our own personal belief structure. It takes a really good player to pull off a alignment opposed to their own beliefs.

I believe there is room for evil characters in D&D and other RPG\'s, I just think it might be a niche market. What I think might be cool is adventures that pose a moral dilemma for the characters, that could cause alignment shifts because of there choices.

Your priest sounds like she would be fun to run, but she also sounds like a pain to run.
 

Mick

New member
Drake I agree about the niche..i think the moral delima is a good idea..what i envisioned was there would be consequences on their actions..Shadowport being corrupt central they may be trying to oust the said corrupted or aiding them.. seems youre pretty fond of rpg\'s you should pm me if youre interested in doing some module work..yeah the priest is cool but hard...i try and play her like a real person not a walking curelight wounds medic;)
 
I do enjoy playing RPG\'s. I have never wrote anything before. I have idea\'s for adventures, some might be good too ;), I just never seem to be able to get them onto paper. So I do a lot of fly-by the seat of my pants DM\'ing, IE: have the basic story, goal, trials and tribulations, but no framework. My group seems to be fond of that style though. I think working on a module would be fun and would also help me out on getting my ideas onto paper.
 

Mick

New member
Drake well when we get the online city up we can get the bare bones down and start filling it out..the modules are based in sp but could be for anywhere..we are already working on a few minis for the sp line..korg being #1..the half ogre green..but anyways we would be taking submissions based on guide lines for the writers..so think on it..also if you have a group that could beta test the modules that would be good also..all d20 btw
 

Ebonbuddha

Active member
I don\'t think this is true. You can play an evil character and still let be a reflection of yourself. All you have to do is target the dark half and think what would an evil guy do. One group of friends who played in games of WHFRP (the early editions) played some really nasty guys. the GM didn\'t like running it for long because it got too uncontrollable.

Most game masters gon\'t like evil characters playing because of this.

Originally posted by Mick
Drake i agree somewhat I tried playing evil characters and its not easy as i think the majority of people are a reflection of a piece of their character so we mainly do good..
 

Mick

New member
ebonbuddha i agree somewhat.. alot of times they just want to kill each others character..only way it works is if they actually cooperate ..or have no choice in the matter im thinking this would keep the chaotic types thinned out fast..common goal is a good glue..several plots at once may be interesting tho....well roleplayed characters would work well but new players would die fast thinking they can do whatever they wished and no consequences in their actions..seen this happen before..
 

Naukhel

Active member
While I own a great many modules, I rarely use them, because they\'re so....
bland.
I am a creator of worlds. I don\'t often give specific \'quests\' for the party to go on. Rather, I give them a goal, and let them go about it as they will.
And running along in the background while they work at these things is a global political mess that keeps the world living and thriving around them.

As to good or evil characters... My method seems able to accomodate either.
If they go treasure hunting, then they research, or do a bardic lore check, or something equally appropriate, and go about it however they wish.

The party moving through my current world ranges from true neutral through lawful evil, without a single \'good\' in the mix, and they seem to be enjoying themselves a great deal.

Last night at the New Year\'s party I attended, a friend of mine who used to be in the game in question paid me quite high praise, saying that I\'d woven the best world he\'d ever played in. And he was still relatively sober when he said it.
 

Mick

New member
Naukhel perhaps you might wanna have a go also..give me a pm if this would interest you.since you sent the pdf i think you might be interested :D
 

DM of Doom

New member
As a DM, I personally disallow evil PCs.
Two reasons:

1) I like to run a campaign where the PCs are heroes. There\'s enough evil shit in the real world to occupy my mind, that I don\'t want to have to deal with it in fantasy land as well. Besides, I never saw what fun it is to burn villages and kill the locals when it\'s the bad guys hiding in the hills that have all the good treasure and XP value anyway.

2) Unless you\'re talking about a one-shot adventure, it just doesn\'t work in a \"band of adventurers\" type of setup. Being evil, and therefore greedy for money, power, etc., everyone is often too busy trying to gain the upper hand and backstab the other PCs to cooperate on any serious level. If you like playing games against each other, then I suppose evil PCs might be for you, but otherwise, I\'d say skip it.

As far as modules for said evil PCs go, bad idea in my opinion. See point 2 above for my reasoning as to why having a well-drawn out plot for the PCs to \"follow\" is about as useful as a screen door on a submarine.

And besides, from what I\'ve seen both on this forum and from friends and personal experience, most DMs don\'t really get into modules. I know my thinking tended towards: \"Do I spend this money on a module that\'s one use only, or a supplement that everyone in the group can use over and over?\" Kinda like buying a potion of healing when there\'s a fully charged wand of healing with the same price sitting next to it.

I don\'t mean to sound demeaning, but you were looking for input. When I see an adventure designed for the PCs to be the \"bad guys\" I basically go :rolleyes: and move along.
 

Mick

New member
dm i agree alot of what you say.I think theres people who buy everything that basically comes out..and people who design their own..our modules will be designed to be either played stand alone or as a campaign linked together with the online free city/world..our eastern front minis would be used in the modules and packaged dealed together so the gm has monsters/npc\'s wit the modules...of course it will be sold separately also if they dont think they want the minis but those that do buy the packaged deal will get exclusive minis only in that deal so its a new idea plannd for this year come convention time..most likely the first one exclusively for Gencon.
 

Zora

New member
Originally posted by Drake Farstrider
Your priest sounds like she would be fun to run, but she also sounds like a pain to run.

I think it sounds more like she doesn\'t RUN at all...lol

Seriously, I have to disagree with the DM of Doom...but only slightly.

I think AN evil character or 2 in a campaign could work, DEPENDING on the player.

To give a couple of examples of different situations I\'ve been through:

We played a high-level VERY short game (4-5 sessions) of evil characters that came from diverse backgrounds to cooperate on a common goal. The OTHER players\' ideas of being evil: \"I kill him\". This in regards to a lowly acolyte in a temple who didn\'t do what he wanted right away. Not in the PC\'s OWN temple, mind you. Sigh. MY idea of being evil: give every child in the town a silver piece. Give one child 2 silver pieces...

This other time, somewhat recently, I tried having my PC do something that would turn him evil. ALL justified by roleplaying. Would have been perfect: one evil, with a twin who wasn\'t. My idea was for the tortured soul who was loyal to his friends/family, but felt the ends justified the means. Very japanese story elements to it. Could\'ve been GREAT, especially with some of the other players in the game. Should\'ve known better with that GM. Not even 1 day later (game-wise), a creature dropped out of thin air, pretty much giving my secret away, and taking the corrupting essence out of my PC for itself.

Mind you, I wasn\'t there for that session.:mad:

If done right, it can work. I\'m still waiting.
 

DM of Doom

New member
Originally posted by Zora
Seriously, I have to disagree with the DM of Doom...but only slightly.

I think AN evil character or 2 in a campaign could work, DEPENDING on the player.
Agreed. It depends on the Player. From my conversations with fellow games on this topic, a majority of players would be the kind of backstabbing, scheming, knee-biting jerks I spoke of above. And, in my opinion, those players would be roleplaying in character for their PCs of those alignments.

Yes, the bad guys can get together to reach a common goal, but it\'s a treacherous journey and one that (once again, IMO) wouldn\'t last long if everyone was playing in character.

Also, Zora brings up another good point. One or two evil PCs in a mixed party can work out fine. (Unless you are the group\'s Paladin...) I\'ve been in on that scenario on all three sides, as the good guy with an evil party member, as the evil guy, and as the DM (in my early days on all three counts.) It makes for some interesting roleplaying, to be sure...
 

Usideann

New member
Originally posted by DM of Doom
As a DM, I personally disallow evil PCs.
Two reasons:

1) I like to run a campaign where the PCs are heroes. There\'s enough evil shit in the real world to occupy my mind, that I don\'t want to have to deal with it in fantasy land as well. Besides, I never saw what fun it is to burn villages and kill the locals when it\'s the bad guys hiding in the hills that have all the good treasure and XP value anyway.

I disagree on this point... evil does not mean that they gp burning down vilalges killing babies... Evil just means that it is against societies Ideals of that good is... MOST people put into the belief that the idea of good is from the anglo-saxon belief system that is in place today... but rember it use to be \"GOOD\" to do a sacrafice of a living creature although today that would be wrong or \"Evil\" when in those belief system they where absolutly ok with it...

Now with that in mind is there really a differnce of evil or good rather than how you look at people from differnt societies...

maybe I look at Roleplaying as a way to take a look at things from differnt perspectives... In my world Slavery is the norm... Even the Churches have slaves that tend the grounds ((they tend to be nicer to them than private owned ones)) So what happens when the Paladin from this Society and thier GOD who sais this is ok goes to the Kingdom on the other side of the mountains a 6 month journey that is not made anymore... and they view slavery as wrong?

Does the Paladin loose thier Holy nature... No because it is granted by a god that sais it is ok... and these people being negative to him are calling him evil because he has servants...

What it really comes down too Is the whole Idea of a character Alighnment... Is it really a Good way to measure a way a character is suppose to act? Reaistically no... A Lawfull Good person might hord some special treasure from the king, as well as Chaotic Evil person may tell the king right where it is, just because he still has to live inthe king\'s (for know mhhhahahahhaa) kingdom...

Our group has gone so far as to make Alignments almost non-exsitant everyone can do good, everyone can do evil... Powers wich have those prerequisits (protection from Good Protection from evil) deal with intent... so Proction from Good cast on a dieing person makes it harder to be healed...

Ok well I am just ranting now... sorry

Usi
 
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