PDA

View Full Version : Evil Campaign



Thajocoth
2009-07-08, 04:15 AM
I just ran my first session of an evil campaign. It was fun. The PCs worked together and everything which was my primary worry when starting the campaign. Also though, I made it a little more freeform than I've done before. I got to sit back and watch as the players discuss how to succeed in their mission, without having ANY preset notions in my head of possibilities they might try, which is a lot more fun...

Unfortunately, I need to find a replacement for one of the players. Twice they simply left with no warning to eat or sleep. It's obviously a bad time for them to play... This leaves the party with no defender.

If you care to know anything about the session:
The players start off as initiates in Xiviria's cult. Xiviria is a black dragon who worships Vecna. She hides under the city of Nerusia below the cellar of Razorbeard's Tavern. Xiviria gives the party their first mission. She recently sent a group to retrieve an item for her, but the party struck a deal with the guards. They told them of Xiviria and agreed to give them more information, such as where her lair is, once they're escorted to safety in another city. This party's mission is to kill that party without leaving any sort of trail behind. The party's staying at The Fine Vine, a tavern known for it's wines. The tavern's also a competitor to the Razorbeards, so any damage it suffers would help the cult. And, finally, the group has a map that the party will need for their next mission. The party they're sent to kill has a Goblin, Hobgoblin, Changeling, Gnoll and a Cannibalistic Human.

So the party introduces themselves to one another and prepares to go at dusk. They reach the place with no problem. It's full of Eladrin, Elves, Humans & Half-Elves mostly. The party is a Kobold, Bladeling, Genasi, Changeling and Tiefling, so they stick out like a sore thumb (except for the Changeling). Here's where they split up... The Kobold, Deithkag, takes a walk around the building, looking for a door to a cellar or storeroom. The Tiefling (Chance) and Bladeling (Zeorin) both go into the bar section, one to a table and the other to the bar and try to blend in. They also look around for a door to a cellar. The Changeling (Dante) goes up the stairs to the first floor with rooms and begins knocking on doors trying to "find where his party is staying". (That's the lie he gives.)

So, Deithkag finds the door, on the outside. It's locked, but he gets it open and enters the cellar full of barrels of wine and spare wooden things, like tables, chairs & stools. Zeorin finds a similar door inside, and a good stealth roll later, he's with Deithkag. Meanwhile, Dante gets a response from one of the doors he knocked on. It's a couple who's too busy to help him find his party. As he leaves them, an Elf and Human from the bar pass him walking up to the 4th floor holding pitchers of alcoholic beverages. He follows and hides well enough to find out that they're the Changeling & Human from the group they're supposed to kill. A good bluff later and the party thinks he's their escort out of there through a secret door in the cellar.

A few minutes later and a bunch of skill checks later, mostly bluffs, the party all knows the plan and has the permission and key from the bartender to have their targets follow Dante into the cellar and kill them there while the others wait down there, barricade the door to outside, and prepare to ambush. This all goes very smoothly. After killing 4 of them, the Changeling or the party they were killing bolted for the door and was taken down just as he got it open. Zeorin slammed the door shut and the party began moving the barricade from the outside door to the inside door while Deithkag set up to ignite the wine barrels.

As they left, the barrels burned, the wine ignited, the whole place wound up on fire. The exit through the cellar was barricaded and under the main exit is where the fire started. A few of the barrels exploded too removing enough of the front wall for the building to fall forward and hit the bakery across the street. There were 5 floors, 4 with rooms, and the bar section had 30 people in it. Between the explosions, fire, cut off escape routes and impact of the one building against the other, nobody at The Fine Vine survived and no one suspected the party of anything.

Xiviria was quite happy. She upgraded them from Initiates to Novices, gave them a wondrous artifact that aids in the casting of rituals and had the cult's enchanter upgrade their gear. (A level 1 enchantment each.)

As for the missing Defender, I'm going to toss in a temporary DMPC until I find somebody. Valna, the Elf Warden owes the cult money and works for Xiviria to pay off her debt. She's kinda quiet and is open to tactical suggestion (like any good DMPC).

-----

Has anyone else had success with evil campaigns?