A troubling arc

[Another_Poet]

So here is the arc of the PCs in the Castles & Crusades game I'm in.

Spoiler

Show

Can anyone see a problem?

[Human Paragon 3]

Step 11: The devils come and thank them for the great job so far, give them their next assignment.
Step 12: ???
Step 13: Everyone's in hell including the good cleric. New campaign.

[Toliudar]

OOC, this certainly sounds like it will become decreasingly fun for player of the good cleric, and for any other players who are introducing evil characters less out of desire than to simply fit in.

The 'good' news is that most campaigns that go that far into depravity almost inevitably end up in PC disunity - since there are fewer motivational levers that work on such characters to force them to work together - and the campaign screeches to a halt. Hit the reset button.

Which is, I suppose, pretty much what Guard Juris said.

[Another_Poet]

Yeah. I am considering suggesting to the group that we make new characters, and ask the GM to use our old ones as villains in our introductory session.

That said, so far everyone is having fun at it - there don't seem to be any hard feelings. But I feel unsettled after some Hitler-like comments from one of the characters at the last session.

[Lapak]

Assuming you have enough credit with the group that they're willing to go along with this, they've handed you a powerful motivation for a new group:

You announce that the PCs have become the most significant villains in the area, and you're activating the Party Gone Bad Contingency Plan. Roll up a new party, go on their first simple adventure. When they return to their home base afterward, reveal that their home village has been massacred and everyone there was sacrificed to a Soul Furnace by deceitful mass-murderers.

Let them see things from the other side and try to become powerful enough to bring the psychopaths who murdered their families to justice.

[Another_Poet]

Assuming you have enough credit with the group that they're willing to go along with this, they've handed you a powerful motivation for a new group:

You announce that the PCs have become the most significant villains in the area, and you're activating the Party Gone Bad Contingency Plan.

Love the plan Lapak, but I'm one of the players, not the GM :)

[Lapak]

Love the plan Lapak, but I'm one of the players, not the GM :)

Aha! Missed that somehow. Well, I hope you have fun with wherever it does go!

[randomhero00]

Am I the only one confused about the chart?

Also, you could always have a messenger from a good god come down and offer redemption if you wish to stick with current party.

[wumpus]

First: Did the players really want to play good characters? I'd be surprised if you aren't the good cleric and the rest of the party has been trying to go evil.

Second: It also looks like "roleplaying = playing your alignment" is part of the rules here. Maybe thats just Castles and Crusades (it seemed to be the rule of AD&D), but it seems to be one of the stupidest parts about alignment. As far as know, Vaarsuvius is not required to "act evil" even if hir alignment dropped below some critical line.

[Vladislav]

I actually was in a group of supposedly good PCs (there even was a Paladin!) who killed an innocent via a "shoot first, ask questions later" mentality. They then proceeded to kidnap and imprison the man's brother, on the off-chance he might have wanted to take revenge on them. (the brother didn't do anything wrong, his only sin was being the victim's brother)

The Paladin didn't fall.

Needless to say, I ran from this group as fast as I could.

[Another_Poet]

First: Did the players really want to play good characters? I'd be surprised if you aren't the good cleric and the rest of the party has been trying to go evil.

I'm actually not the good cleric. I was a neutral Illusionist till he died, then I rolled up a half-ilithid (GM allowed it as a custom thing because of the unusual place we were in at the time). I had intended to play him Neutral as well, but once the rest of the party got even eviller I thought, "Well, I can't imagine a mindflayer runt being the voice of Justice," so I went with it.

Second: It also looks like "roleplaying = playing your alignment" is part of the rules here. Maybe thats just Castles and Crusades (it seemed to be the rule of AD&D), but it seems to be one of the stupidest parts about alignment. As far as know, Vaarsuvius is not required to "act evil" even if hir alignment dropped below some critical line.

I think a lot of PCs have actually shifted alignment. Most started out Good or Neutral (except for one Evil cleric) and have now shifted to Neutral or Evil (with one Super-Evil cleric). It's a very sandbox style campaign so the lack of a single Big Bad Evil, and the desperate measures needed to survive in the place, have left us more focused on making our own fortune than saving the world.

Honestly it's been fascinating to watch, it wasn't till the last session I started to get worried.

[HerrTenko]

So basically, you're getting worried because some character in a (quite very) evil group is starting to be really Hitler-style evil? What's the problem with that?

[Gnoman]

I'm actually not the good cleric. I was a neutral Illusionist till he died, then I rolled up a half-ilithid (GM allowed it as a custom thing because of the unusual place we were in at the time). I had intended to play him Neutral as well, but once the rest of the party got even eviller I thought, "Well, I can't imagine a mindflayer runt being the voice of Justice," so I went with it.



I think a lot of PCs have actually shifted alignment. Most started out Good or Neutral (except for one Evil cleric) and have now shifted to Neutral or Evil (with one Super-Evil cleric). It's a very sandbox style campaign so the lack of a single Big Bad Evil, and the desperate measures needed to survive in the place, have left us more focused on making our own fortune than saving the world.

Honestly it's been fascinating to watch, it wasn't till the last session I started to get worried.

If you're an ithilid, have you considered eating everyone?

[Another_Poet]

If you're an ithilid, have you considered eating everyone?

Best answer so far.