Wednesday, January 9, 2013

RPG Wish List: Villains By Necessity

Books, Games, Comics, Movies TVshows etc that I wish where available as RPGs.
by Eve Forward

Ever wonder what happened after the series ended?

One hundred years ago, the Victory over the dark forces tipped the balance. The world is now a brighter, happier, kinder place full of peace and love. But the balance has gone too far, and the world is now sliding into the Plane of Light where it will soon vanish in blaze of holy light.

So it is up to an assassin, a thief, a druid, a dark elf and a cursed knight set out on a Quest to save Evil, their own skins, and consequently the world.

This book hard to find, but seriously deserves a comeback. Funny and quick moving, it perfectly reflects the standard fantasy tropes, while turning them completely on their ear. Plus Ms. Forward manages to do it all in the space of one book, though the referenced deeds of the Good Heroes sound like they'd fill a shelf-breaking epic (think Dragonlance and Lodoss War). If your gaming group is clamoring to run an 'Evil Campaign', this would be the place to start. If the group isn't familiar with the book, you can simply lift the plot wholesale.

This is NOT 'The Book of Vile Darkness' or 'Saw: The RPG', where the party runs around slaughtering people willy-nilly. While they don't really like each other much, each of the characters in the book are committed to the quest, albeit for their own reasons. They also quickly realize that they must work together or they will be eliminated or brainwashed by the Forces of Good. Killing and looting would get them noticed fast (but a little light larceny is fine). I think that this would be the toughest part to sell for any gaming group as most players don't really consider what it would be to be 'evil'. Instead some players seem to run evil aligned characters like demented psychos who would make the Joker and Hannibal Lector suggest that maybe they should go lie down for a while.

Just read the book. When the party travels through an enchanted forest they kill the Smurfs, what more could you ask for?
Suggested Supplements
While a Supplement for the world tipped into Light would be fun, Krynn or Mystaria or Middle Earth or your personal homebrew would work just fine. This works best as a stand-alone adventure.  … because Good is dumb.

Suggested Game System
Straight up old school all the way (D&D, Tunnels and Trolls, Rolemaster etc), though whatever game you choose must have an alignment system.  

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