Lieutenants

[MrEdwardNigma]

We all know evil loses in the end. They always start off with everything on their side, but it doesn’t seem to matter much. Eventually some weak hero will stand up, somehow manage to beat all the monsters and armies evil has and save the day. That’s all great, of course, but what if you’re on the other side of the spectrum, What if you’re one of the evil guys?

That’s what this RPG focuses on. All player characters are lieutenants of the evil overlord who has almost taken over the entire world. And then the hero rises, and things start going badly. Can the lieutenants somehow turn the tide, go in against destiny?


This is just a very rough campaign idea, but I'd like to know if it's worth working on, or very unoriginal and not fun to play. Suggestions for the campaign are welcome too.

[jindra34]

Unoriginal. Worth trying. Requires an ostensibly powerful Overlord dude. Players may feel like they are being railroaded. other than that it should work.

[TheLogman]

An excellent idea for a campaign or at least a session. Give the player characters power over both the Evil Forces, but also Castle Design, and finally, make them powerful in their own right.

However, there are things you must consider. Firstly, because this would be a larger scaled area, everything must be reactive, every action the players take should have rippling effects all over the land. Remind them that the Greatest Evil Overlord is not one that forces the others to serve him, but the one who convinces others to serve him. Just because they are evil doesn't make them stupid, tactless, or most importantly, a short-term thinker. Encourage planning. careful thought, ect.


It could be a really amusing campaign, as it serves as a sort of role-reversal. Instead of you designing the castle and setting up the guards, it's them. Instead of them being the sneaky types, the ones who try to foil the plans, it's you.

[MrEdwardNigma]

Yes, designing the defenses of the evil lair or whatever would be part of their job, as would distributing the troops be. The lieutenants would compete with each other to be the evil overlord's favorite, they would also ploy against the evil overlord, attempting to take over his throne.

Trying to track the team of heroes and stopping them would be the main focus of the campaign though. I'd use plot devices such as an oracle they could visit, hoping it could point them to the location of the heroes, the discovery of small groups of resistance fighters, a roaming hero who used to be part of the heroes' team but now wanders the lands alone, but might be able to shed light on the heroes' plan.

The evil overlord obviously has one fatal weakness, much like a ring that is bound to him and weakens him immensly when it is destroyed or something. The overlord would be trying to keep this a secret, deploying troups to this end himself, the heroes would be aware of it somehow, trying to use it to win the war, and the lieutenants would have to stop them, but they could also use the knowledge of the overlord's secret themselves to become the new overlord.