Cormyr and the Dalelands

I am curious if there are any peeps out there who would want to do an evil faction of some sort....was talking to another player about this they seemed interested as well as I but did not know if anyone would be interested in doing something like this.  Please post if interested.

Depends on the purpose of the faction. Some characters might be interested, others would not, depending on the intents and goals.

I think there is an established Zhentarim faction, but I don't believe it's currently active.

Count me in. If it doesn't fit an existing character I will make a new one for it.

Currently existing evil factions include:

Zhentarim/Banites
Thayans
Sharrans

All are in varying levels of inactivity/semiactivity.

This does not include any evil- or evil-leaning Guilds, either. There may be some of those out there as well.

I would be interested in this

I would be totally interested in doing a group thing if it can be hammered out what ought to be done. +1.

Do we get paid in the blood of our enemies?

The blood is a bonus perk.... I only accept gold and platinum. Good whores and fine wine don't come cheap.

Smas

Well, keep in mind, it's really not going to be possible to have an "Evil" faction in terms of being the Evil League of Evil or the like, just because there are lots of evil characters whose agendas may not converge, and who may in fact be bigger rivals with one another than with any "good" guys.

The really tricky part though (and this isn't to downplay or discourage, but merely to apprise - I'm all for evil roleplay) is how to resolve conflict. We don't really have a lot of good mechanisms for resolving conflicts, especially not in the sort where you might otherwise expect there to be.

Some of the problems that have arisen in the past, related to this:

> Hero type characters wanting to go after the Evil characters (and vice versa). Lots of accusations of metagaming and other stuff have swirled around this in the past.
> Sometimes in conjunction with that, People generally being unwilling to let drama/story/tension build, and wanting to go right for the throat.
> Members of an Evil-type faction deciding they want to quit the group, after already having been made privy to all the secret information on everyone else's characters and plans.
> Evil faction members that want to do something way beyond our scope, like effectively destroying Arabel, or some other grandiose plot, that we really can't easily support within the context of the game world and resources we have.

If we can find a way to address all the above Fire, with respect to players and DM/Server capability, would there be interest in supporting such from the DM side of the field?

That's up to the individual DMs.  We try to encourage factions/guilds to be more player-driven, though we certainly encourage DMs to take an active role with groups.

The only instance I can remember this being close to pulled off was when PCs got involved in a long-going plot thinking it was NPCs behind everythong. When it finally got figured out that it was a PC behind it, it became a metagamey clusterfuck.

Basically,some many people play the game to win instead of have fun, even if it means ruining fun for everyone else.

Granted, that might have never actually happened and I could be making it up. My brain is pretty fried.

Okay I shall be more specific. Are there any DMs who would specifically be interested in supporting such an endeavour? Please raise your hand if so.

Oh I'd absolutely love to see it. It's just difficult, is all

I certainly will not shy away from evil storylines. I tend to favor individual storylines over large group types. That said, I have been known to do something like this when we had a small Fire Knives group for a time.

One thing that usually helps is to have an OOC understanding that it's not fair to actively betray peoples' secrets (at least not without lots of consultation with the staff ahead of time).

The basic theory being, people are inviting you in to join in roleplay and revealing things they might otherwise be more paranoid about, and at the same time, they're not able to perma-kill your character to keep you quiet, so some consideration is required in turn. This doesn't mean people can't quit a group, can't repent/turn good/turn evil/whatever, just that there usually needs to be some figuring out about how to handle that without ruining stuff for others.

I've been decently active on Kimbell lately, need to start writing up stuff for the Red Wizards to get up to. There's 3-4 of us that are on in varying amounts.

~BR

I've got an evoker RW sitting around I used to play with Red Mage before he was bullied kicked out of the sandbox.

Ahem.

Let's be crystal clear on this.

Red Mage did not agree with the choices that we make in terms of the setting, wanted people to conform to his way of playing things. We wouldn't tolerate that. Eventually he quit the staff, because we didn't agree with his worldview, weren't going to force others to conform to it, and weren't going to let him dictate things to others, though we kept trying to work with him.

He then proceeded to lurk and troll on the forums and in game, nevermind harrassing two of the admins in PMs, until we finally had enough and cut him off from the server.

Oh no, I remember that one.  That definitely happened.  The metagaming cluster was set off by an OOC comment by a DM being taken ICly once the DM logged off for the sake of forcing a conflict (as one of the players in the quest was feuding with the villainous PC's player) and the whole plot arc wound up crashing and burning because by the time the DM got to address it the metagamed information had spread to half the server and couldn't be contained anymore.

Just one of the risks you run with being an active menace as an evil PC.  It's a rewarding road, but a dangerous one fraught with peril and hidden land mines.

Less thread hijackery!

If anyone is interested in joining/assisting please contact myself or carp via PM or in game. Thanks.

Another thing to note is that Cormyr is renowned Faerun-wide as being one of the most lawful states out there. Cormyr is known for order thanks to Azoun IV. I think the most successful evil force would probably fit as a LE group weaving its way into the politics of the country, something like the Thayans.

That or the Banites. Or possibly a servant of one of the Archdevils. Any LE Big Bad, really.

The longest standing evils on this server, as I've noticed survive by being subtle.  Really, there's no need to be flashy or obvious.  my characters aren't for the most part.

Alternatively, you can plan to play a more openly evil character or make such a group but than you should think about how it will end on a fitting way. Consider it a limited lifetime story with a planned closure right from the start.

The same way as the best TV series are usually the ones which know when to stop and end themselves, instead of drawing it out and becoming a bore, losing all their charm and wit they have started with.

I think it is more satisfactory to have a limited lifetime (permakilled/retired) character which was a blast to play and went out in a blaze of dark glory, leaving a lasting mark on the server, than trying to play it indefinitely, at all costs. The later will surely lead to frustration, due to both IC and OOC factors mentioned above.

Oddly I think it's easier to justify not revealing secrets for a redemption turn than for a Evil turning on Evil split. Odd I know but Evil Turning on Evil is where everyone involved will be looking to destroy the other person and fast. A redemption can have the person changing hoping that those who they worked with, maybe grew close to, will follow them one day. Certainly when Valar turned that was the excuse I used to have her not run around betraying her former allies. 

The only challenge here is finding a way for your character to still be evil. If one is always hiding their evil and pretending to be a decent person, at what point is it no longer an act? That's been a challenge in one of my games since I tend to make games for non-evil aligned parties, and being more adaptable in that regard is something I need to work on.

Chiming in on the "no longer an act"...

When they have the option to do an evil act and choose not to for a moral reason.    It's a challenge, and nothing says that evil characters don't have crisis of conscience now and then.

Being evil and/or jerk to an other PC is generally not a good idea, mostly due to the OOC considerations, even if ICly it would be the correct thing to do. Unless your RP partner is OK to handle it.

Because of this, evil PCs mostly hide their true self from other (good) PCs -or at least, restrain themselves around them- and getting evil on the NPCs. But NPCs need DMs to handle. So actually what an evil char really needs is DM support and time to be evil.

It's time to dust this thread off. I'm here to join Team Evil. Come find me (I just started yesterday).

I have an evil character that I really do not play for she is effectively a high functioning sociopath. Otherwise, kept under control by fear. :-D So I make her work that way.

Echoing people in this thread, you do have to play it smart, for even with other evils around there is backstabbing between (and within) evil factions due to the nature of evil. Including the LE ones (they just typically do it via toxic social politics, discrediting, etc to make people lose favor versus outright betrayal). 



Best,
Arya

Admittedly my favorite evil borders on antihero or antivillain. The ones who might protect their country at all cost but accept collateral (like Amanda Waller from Suicide Squad) or have a Punisher disposition to them. The one I described is not in that category, but again, controlled by fear.

I'd make a new character in that sort of area except I have a neutral (bordering evil) that already fills that spot more or less.


Best,
Arya

Keep in mind that you can't really be openly evil in any way, most DMs don't seem interested in running evil events/catering to evil shenanigans given their lists of interests, and the majority of the community is not a fan of player conflict or PvP.

If you want to still play evil, which I totally get, you'll only be able to do evil things in a niche environment such as with a group that is oocly okay with such or with a DM that is fine with it. Anything you do to drive conflict essentially has to be through a DM event to create content for non-evil PCs.

For me, personally, people here weren't really friendly to me OOCly until I made my paladin of Helm I would suggest starting with a neutral/good character to get your foot in the door.

There IS the Zhentarim which is more or less active currently (the only official evil faction) but that in itself is sort of niche. It's up to you.

There is also the Thayans, who enjoy being 'tolerated' in Cormyr due to help in a major plot. However, they are definitely not liked, and as any other evil have to play it smart. They also risk ruining the reputation for the others further, and that has a different baggage of its own here.

Then again, can anyone expect different if someone might risk drawing attention to evol plot?

We have a few shady mercenary companies for groups that are more 'friendly' to Cormyr. Still evil, though.


Best,
Arya