PDA

View Full Version : 3.5 Evil Campaign (Idea Suggestions)



Vknight
2011-01-04, 11:45 PM
Ok to put this simply, my group has always played 4e.
But finally I've been able to convince them to do a 3.5 game.
Sadly the last time I did anything 3.5 was about 3-4years ago.
This game is an Evil Campaign & I'm exceptionally happy because it lets me have fun with an edition that was my spark as a Nerd.

I am looking for suggestions for the campaign.
Anything can help monster ideas dungeons story.
Links to sites or play by post games.

Also thanks to the fact my players are new to 3.5 & so accustomed to 4e they are going to need my help in designing there characters.
As I've said before it's been awhile so links to character builds would be helpful. Nothing to overpowered, that's why I'm asking I naturally min max & it annoys me; that I do it so I want my players to have, characters like what they have told me, rather then the horrible min max monster I would create.

This is just me asking for help because well I'm out of practice.
I don't remember all the ins & outs for 'Level Adjustment' & 'Multi Classing' so the 2week time period gives me time to study. Quick notes on this would also help.

Information if your willing to help
I'm letting them use 32point buy because I'm a nice guy
They are starting at level 5
This game doesn't start for the next 2weeks so I have plenty of time


Here is a List of 3.5 books I have in my possession to use.
Monster Manual 1-4
Eberron Campaign & Player Guides
Forgotten Realms Campaign
The Book of Vile Darkness
Dungeon Masters Guide 1-2
Players Handbook 1-2
Races of the Wild
Races of Eberron
D&D 3.5 Race Index
Expanded Psionic's Handbook
Masters of the Wild
Players Guide to Monks, Paladins, Wizards, Sorcerers, Bard, Clerics, & Druids
Complete Adventurer, Divine, Scoundrel, Psionic, & Warrior
Sword & Fist
Tome & Blood
Tome of Magic
Tome of Battle
Unearthed Arcana
The Quintessential Psion


What My Players Want to Be
-Sorcerer [No Clue what Race he wants to be]
-Snake or other Lizard creature [Rouge, Ranger]
-Elf, Ranger or Cleric
-Wizard, Rakshasa
-Fighter or Psychic Warrior, [Has yet to choose, Probably will be Human]
-Does not Care he tries to fill the parties weaknesses

-Player That May or May Not Join Us-
-Some Fast Moving Hard Hitting Class (Does Not Want To Be a Barbarian)
As for Race Tiefling or something similar

Thanks to all of you that looked at this & especially to all of you that helped me.

Extra_Crispy
2011-01-05, 12:41 AM
Evil campaigns are a little hard from the fact that why would a bunch of evil characters be working together. If you can work that out well before hand that will be a great help. With good it is easy, they are there to defeat the evil monster and save the people. With evil their motivation is either to dominate, steal, or kill, usually. So a group of people that are only out for themselves, to rule or be the most powerful, wont want to work together as equals. In a group of PC's that can be hard to run as other will not want to be subservient to a single other PC.

I ran a short lived 3.5 evil campaign a long time ago. Dont remember the exact character classes but we had a thiefling and a half orc in the group. The way I got around the working together problem was that a very powerful evil wizard pulled them together, just as they were about to be lynched and killed. They did not know each other untill this wizard pulls them together and binds them with a magic collar to do his bidding. Now they can work together because they are being forced to be minions of this evil wizard AND they now have someone they can all work against, the evil wizard. They also continued to work together because they know they cant get free by themselves. It was a little tricky trying to transistion to a completely leading campaign where I was telling them where to go and what to do, to them doing what they wanted, but as I had long time dnd gamers in my group they worked on that themselves by comming up with magic items and spells that would stop the control. They still had the collars on though so they still worked together to try to eventually get fully free of the wizard.

Good luck with the evil game

teslas
2011-01-05, 01:53 AM
As the previous poster said, one of the common ways to draw evil characters together is to have them be forced to work for a common goal--at least during the start of the campaign until they are all knee deep into things.

Cursed artifacts, good or evil lesser deities, a wizard did it, what not. The constraints of this bond should not be too harsh in the way they must achieve freedom or revenge so the players do not feel like they're on rails.

I strongly warn against letting anyone play the Stupid Murderous or Short-sighted Chaotic Evil types. Suggest that players should come from Lawful or Neutral Evil backgrounds if possible. Giving them small incentives such as greater starting wealth or a low-power magic item for good backstory ideas never hurts.

If none of your players really know 3.5 and you don't think they're the show-robbing optimizing type, then it sounds like you don't have to worry too much about their characters.

Careful with that Rakshasa. I doubt you're letting him play one from the SRD at level 5 so I'll leave it at that. You're definitely going to want to brush up on level adjustment and racial hit die before letting them play non-standard races.

Trekkin
2011-01-05, 03:10 AM
If I may crib Peter Hamilton yet again, mutual dependency can be as effective a means of getting the evil party together as a common goal. Give them a deadman switch, magical or otherwise, that requires them to all be alive and in reasonable proximity to each other in order for each of them to stay alive. Player A dies if Player B moves too far away for 24 hours, B does the same if C moves too far away, and so on. Depending on how you structure it and what in-game entity inflicts it on them, it can still let them plot to incapacitate each other (which lets them be happily Evil) and with level-appropriate encounters it becomes a tactical choice between what they need out of their fellows and what they want to inflict upon them.

hamishspence
2011-01-05, 03:57 AM
There's a variety of types of Evil that can be used- they don't have to have internal tension, after all.
You could have a group of people who are good friends and long-standing allies- but are evil towards a particular group of enemies.

A bit like "soldiers for an Evil Empire" so to speak.
Or members of a ruthless criminal organization- that has members very loyal to each other.

DragonOfUndeath
2011-01-05, 04:49 AM
I'm currently in the middle of an Evil 10th level campaign on these boards.
We all worked (forced or otherwise) for a Lich who died before campaign start (we killed him >_>). We actually found a prophecy saying we would leave the Material Plane in flames if we worked together but if we fought we would all die horrible deaths.
Basically make their characters work together in-game.

Prophet_of_Io
2011-01-05, 05:24 AM
Well I'd say the biggest thing about Evil Characters is knowing what kind of Evil characters your PC's are going for. The group that wants nothing more than to slaughter countless innocence to appease a dark god would play very differently than the Group of Schemers who convince an entire town that they are nothing short of Saints while carefully trying to seize the kingdom.

For campaign idea's my suggestions would be something along the lines of:
A) The PC's wake up in a fiery oblivion finding out that each of them has recently been slain for one reason or another (let them pick if you like and try to weave it in) however a Fiendish source (Demon, Devil, Dark God or Otherwise) reveals that he will grant each of them life and a chance at vengence if they first help him with some grand plan. Give them a burning mark and the ability to speak with the Dark One 2/week or so that would function like Commune. If you let them pick their deaths, and/or who killed them, work those characters in to give the PC's that sense of sweet revenge. (Making sure to mention the reaction when they see the Man/Woman they personally killed now appear before them)

or

B) An Even greater Evil has blackmailed, bribed, threatened, or otherwise Forced your young evildoers to go out on a quest to retrieve some Mystical Object or destroy an opposing force from the inside. Now your Hero's.... Villains are forced to work together as they attempt to succeed at the suicide quest they've been charged while simultaneously plotting how they might betray said Greater Evil and take his power (army, magical object, or whatever) for their own.

Just some suggestions.

Also, be careful of how many players you have. 3-6 is manageable but beyond that and it's too hard to keep order, or not enough play time is distributed.

Chilingsworth
2011-01-05, 07:47 AM
That Rakshasa could be a problem, since its ECL is quite high. If you're using the monster class, it'll be awhile for him to get any wizard levels.

Also, I noticed no one wants to play a cleric. If any of your players change their minds, try a cleric of Kelemvor (Forgotten Realms.) His clerics MUST channel positive energy (to turn undead) but he accepts Lawful Evil clerics. A good way to get arround the "evil clerics can't heal for crap" tendancy. You might also want to remind your players that the classes don't all come with their own healing method.

Yora
2011-01-05, 07:51 AM
That Rakshasa could be a problem, since its ECL is quite high. If you're using the monster class, it'll be awhile for him to get any wizard levels.
But like nymphs, the racial levels already include sorcerer levels. So at level 14, you're allready a 7th level sorcerer.
I think it's the awsome resistances like DR 15/ good and piercing, Natural Armor +9, and Spell Resistance 27 + class levels that cause the massive LA.

Chilingsworth
2011-01-05, 08:03 AM
But like nymphs, the racial levels already include sorcerer levels. So at level 14, you're allready a 7th level sorcerer.
I think it's the awsome resistances like DR 15/ good and piercing, Natural Armor +9, and Spell Resistance 27 + class levels that cause the massive LA.

yeah, but the player wants to be a wizard, not a sorcerer..:smallconfused: Given that, why be a Rakshasa?

Yora
2011-01-05, 08:06 AM
Probably doesn't know how a rakshasa in 3rd Ed is build.

Vknight
2011-01-05, 08:11 PM
Thanks for all your help.

My plan to get them to work together is one part prophecy they do not know about. The other part a powerful Lich that is using them so they can't fulfill it.

Yeah the Rakshasa I'm trying to convince other wise & she may instead play it with sorcerer levels.

On good news the Elf decided to be a Mystic Theurge once he can so they now have a healer/arcane.

The guy that wanted to be a Fighter has decided to instead be a SoulKnife. Help:smalleek::smalleek: