[3.5] Need an Evil Race for a New Campaign

[ajfonty]

Hi all,

I'm starting a campaign, the beginning of which features raids/attacks from an evil race as a catalyst for the story. I was going to go with goblins for simplicity, but two of the players want to play as goblins, so I don't feel comfortable forcing the players to kill their own kind.

Is there any cool evil race that could act as a substitute? Is there any evil race in particular that you think is pretty awesome, and can still function as low level enemies?

I may create a new race for this purpose but I'm curious about your opinions.

[Calanon]

Hi all,

I'm starting a campaign, the beginning of which features raids/attacks from an evil race as a catalyst for the story. I was going to go with goblins for simplicity, but two of the players want to play as goblins, so I don't feel comfortable forcing the players to kill their own kind.

Is there any cool evil race that could act as a substitute? Is there any evil race in particular that you think is pretty awesome, and can still function as low level enemies?

I may create a new race for this purpose but I'm curious about your opinions.

The Vashar is an Evil race as described by the BoVD and is a personal favorite fluff choice for the Ur-priest :smallsmile:

Think Adam if he decided to say to God "Hey! you look strong *picks up spear and attacks God*" Now clearly god ain't havin that so he killed him and then a group of evil guys came by and said "Holy crap! we need more people like this guy! *takes his bones and makes an entire race based on that one dude*"

[ajfonty]

Vashar seem like excellent antagonists! They could fit in well in a mastermind/agent role for the greater evil power.

[deuxhero]

Kobold and Orc are pretty much the go-to low level baddies that aren't Goblins.


If you REALLY want to start things quick, low level demons and or devils work, and have more variety.

[ajfonty]

Kobolds probably need to be thrown in, but they seem almost too stereotypical to be considered a real foe.

[Kenneth]

Hi all,

I'm starting a campaign, the beginning of which features raids/attacks from an evil race as a catalyst for the story. I was going to go with goblins for simplicity, but two of the players want to play as goblins, so I don't feel comfortable forcing the players to kill their own kind.

Is there any cool evil race that could act as a substitute? Is there any evil race in particular that you think is pretty awesome, and can still function as low level enemies?

I may create a new race for this purpose but I'm curious about your opinions.


Drow.
they are EVIL and they are cool. i mean elves are cool and elves that are cursed is even cooler.

plus they are all about raids and hit and runs becuase in a full drawn out war, you fidn they are actually exremely weak there.

[Calanon]

Drow.
they are EVIL and they are cool. i mean elves are cool and elves that are cursed is even cooler.

plus they are all about raids and hit and runs becuase in a full drawn out war, you fidn they are actually exremely weak there.

Drows are STUPID and DOO DOO HEADS! nobody likes them :smallmad:

[Kenneth]

also drow scale in level with your PCs a lot better than kobolds or goblins and on top of that drow are actually intelligent much more so than goblins or kobolds. of course there are going ot be peopel who 'hate' on drow because of the whole drow explosion of polarity that came with 3rd ed. but I am referring to the 1st and 2nd ed version of drow where they were evil.. except for 1 guy out of the entire bunch, and were a mathc in every way agaisnt your party


so you might have some drow fans, drow haters, and people like me who are just gonan give you teh facst about them. the are evil, rading is what they do, they are a match at every level against your party and to top it off are capalbe of brilliant strategies and tactics

[Mato]

Corrupt (BoVD) Warforged (MMIII) called Metalxians.

The plane of Metalxia had many weapons at its disposal. Aside from the Metalxians themselves, there were artifacts, biohazardous spores and plagues, and mutational organic implements such as venom sacs.

Typical Metalxian soldiers made use of nasty blades and saws, though they often were equipped with plenty of claws, fangs, and brute force. Many had venomous fangs implanted in their faces, and others had poisonous stingers. They were stronger and more resilient to pain than the average human being. Some Metalxians had crossbow-arms, such as those used by the nightstalkers of Caliman, or the armament of the Reaper. These may have been beam weapons, like the scorching ray cannons used in the flying ships of the last Metalxian War, or perhaps fired projectiles of some sort.

Metalxians that were entirely completed were mainly metallic, some of which took entirely different shapes than the newt, becoming huge behemoths of steel, wire, and gears. The Gargantua is one example, using its sheer size to outmatch any opponents it would meet on the battlefield. Its huge claws were large enough to fit as much material and debris as an earthmover, and were capable of crushing down virtually anything in that space. Mechanical devices were one of the potent forces in Metalxia's armies. Many of Metalxia's constructs were semi-magical, while others were complex combinations of purely mechanical processes and magic only imbued them with life.

One of Metalxia's greatest weapons was the engineered plague. Nano-technologically improved spores took out entire populations on various planes, these plagues were a major threat during the invasion. They were unleashed by Metalxian carriers, such as the Plaguelord and the Defiler. There were different pathogens created by Metalxia, but a few may have also been contained or enhanced specimens of the phthisis that inflicted the last plane before their fall. These were part of an odd concoction, as described in Metalxian progress notes; according to the text of other carriers, a disease is described that causes rashes, nausea, fever, cough, muscle aches, then delirium, convulsions, and death. This may have been a generic plague outbreak.

See if your players get the reference ;)

[Arbane]

Hi all,

I'm starting a campaign, the beginning of which features raids/attacks from an evil race as a catalyst for the story. I was going to go with goblins for simplicity, but two of the players want to play as goblins, so I don't feel comfortable forcing the players to kill their own kind.

Lawful Evil humans? Think Vikings, Aztecs, or Huns.

Might have the same problem with killing their own kind, though...

[croaker]

Jermlaine-they are nasty tiny faeries usually to scared to attack on there own , thow a level of warrior on it and you can have some nice bug smashing time.

its in monster manual II, only reason i mention them is because all the normal ideas were taken

and i was assuming level 1-3

[Adrayll]

Drow.
they are EVIL and they are cool. i mean elves are cool and elves that are cursed is even cooler.

plus they are all about raids and hit and runs becuase in a full drawn out war, you fidn they are actually exremely weak there.

Any race based on being "Like, they're totally just like X, except, like, all evil and angsty, and like, they dress all in black..." makes me wince just a little. I blame Mr. Do'Urden though :smallannoyed:

I think that a good idea is to use a humanoid race for the most part, as they scale the best, between just adding class levels, and having the intelligence to capture/train monsters, summon demons/devils, etc to assist. Give more variety than a demon horde or the like.

[ajfonty]

Lawful Evil humans? Think Vikings, Aztecs, or Huns.

Might have the same problem with killing their own kind, though...

It could work.

I'm more worried about goblins PCs killing goblin NPCs because they may think, "Wait, I'm not much different from these guys, why am I with the other PCs against these goblins?"

[jiriku]

If you intend the campaign to run to high levels and for this race to be a chronic recurring villain, a race with inherent spell resistance is a good choice, because they're tougher on the casters who usually dominate at higher levels. I really like githyanki or githzerai, but drow are a decent choice too.

[MukkTB]

It depends on how long you want them to be a threat. But on the subject of Goblins. If goblins are always chaotic evil and some of the party members are trying to be not evil then the party is screwed. If goblins aren't always chaotic evil then some of them have the free will to be evil. Having the opening be against goblins isn't any worse than having the opening be against naughty bad humans when there are decent humans in the party.

You can even go ahead and explain goblin politics to the goblin PCs. "They belong to the moontooth tribe under warleader Gaack. You're Bitterbug tribe. They peed on your sacred shrine to nosepicker last month."


If Goblins are normally always chaotic evil then PCs trying to play good goblins seem silly. Personally I don't like demanding sentient beings be always x alignment. Outsiders yes. Things that have been tainted with strongly aligned magic or outsider influence yes.

[ajfonty]

It depends on how long you want them to be a threat. But on the subject of Goblins. If goblins are always chaotic evil and some of the party members are trying to be not evil then the party is screwed. If goblins aren't always chaotic evil then some of them have the free will to be evil. Having the opening be against goblins isn't any worse than having the opening be against naughty bad humans when there are decent humans in the party.

You can even go ahead and explain goblin politics to the goblin PCs. "They belong to the moontooth tribe under warleader Gaack. You're Bitterbug tribe. They peed on your sacred shrine to nosepicker last month."


If Goblins are normally always chaotic evil then PCs trying to play good goblins seem silly. Personally I don't like demanding sentient beings be always x alignment. Outsiders yes. Things that have been tainted with strongly aligned magic or outsider influence yes.

I see what you mean. The PC's are lawful neutral, I believe, and one of the two is even clanless through their backstory.

[Runestar]

Whenever anyone mentions drow, I think of their +1cr and -2con and go...:smalleek:

They are great fluffwise, but I feel they lack the crunch to make them durable enough to be credible threats. :smallannoyed:

You could go githyanki. There's even an entire arc built around them about an extraplanar invasion as their lich queen aspires to deityhood. :smallsmile:

[Dragonsoul]

How about the Ethergaunt from Fiend folio, they're creepy and powerful, not to mention your players won't have heard of them and they're spellcasters.

[DoctorGlock]

Ethergaunts
Lesser Fey'ri (until level 4 that enervation is scary, even then their natural talents make them deadly threats for some time) Also make incredible wizards. Close to hitting range and they are a bit fragile however. They should qualify for initiate of the faerie mysteries though.

[hushblade]

Lawful Evil humans? Think Vikings, Aztecs, or Huns.

Might have the same problem with killing their own kind, though...

Vikings and Huns seem more CN than LE, and I'd probably call the Aztecs LN that worship a LE god.

[grarrrg]

Is there any cool evil race that could act as a substitute? Is there any evil race in particular that you think is pretty awesome, and can still function as low level enemies?


Gnomes.

Gnomes are evil.

[Fengle]

I've always liked hobgoblins for an invasion. Organized militaristic goblins that aren't weak or stupid. I'd play one often if it weren't for the LA.

[Darjh]

What kind of evil are you looking for? Others have already thrown out the classic tribal orcs/kobolds/whatever. Hobgoblins are LE militaristic, closer to the parties LN alignment. Devils and demons are also good, depending on level. They have low variety early on, so that could get dull.

[Ecalsneerg]

I'm going to just throw it out there... humans. Human bandits, and bandit kings, and other bandit-related things are a staple of all kinds of fantasy. They can also fulfil a wide variety of roles (you want archers? Give the Bandits some Warrior levels and some shortbows! You want spearmen? Do it. Spellcaster? An Adept, who is a bandit hedge wizard!)

[Aegis013]

Gnomes.

Gnomes are evil.

Whisper Gnomes. Refluffed for evil.
Chaos Gnomes. Because chaos.

[FearlessGnome]

Lawful Evil humans? Think Vikings, Aztecs, or Huns.As a Swede, I'm offended that you'd refer to Vikings as Lawful. :smallbiggrin:

[ajfonty]

What kind of evil are you looking for? Others have already thrown out the classic tribal orcs/kobolds/whatever. Hobgoblins are LE militaristic, closer to the parties LN alignment. Devils and demons are also good, depending on level. They have low variety early on, so that could get dull.

Imagine a plot with many evil races banding together to fulfill the wishes of an evil deity. There'd naturally be different tiers of enemies in that force, with some of them serving as grunts while others as the more elite troops.

The reason I ask for specifically evil enemies is because they'd all be on the same "side" so to speak; they'll be a few evil humans and such, but there also needs to be a clear group of enemy races that will eventually work together as a part of an "alliance" to carry out the deity's master plan.