Taking Another Whack at Surface Evil RP. Who Wants In?

[Tekill]

If I can get this crew together I/we will be seeking you both out. Maybe my murder hobo gang, can fill out your ranks when needed or bring you jobs/plot lines.
If I can get just even 1 or 2 more players I think I should be able to get started. So far so good though....

[Deathgrowl]

Oh, this again. I've had my most active people in the Zhentarim leave due to a lack of guild involvement. So yeah, I'll get 'excited' when the Zhentarim gets thrown a bone again, once in a blue moon. Until then... -shrug, and reads the BG newspaper-

I don't want to sound like an arse here, but honestly a guild that relies on DM bones to be alive, isn't doing very well at all. Guilds get attention by taking initiative to doing things without DMs. Make up a reason to go kill some high end boss every now and then (gathering balor blood for DAAARK RITUALZZZZ?). Create player-driven events to promote the guild (public hanging of a made-up level 1 character played by some willing player?).

This isn't unique to evil guilds. It happens to absolutely all guilds - good, evil, neutral, morally irrelevant.

[ShineDown]

Oh, this again. I've had my most active people in the Zhentarim leave due to a lack of guild involvement.

Sent you guys a pm ...gotta be over a week ago now but deleted it recently, figuring you guys weren't active anymore. Had another pc asking about Zhents too. Told him to use the forum as well. Haven't seen him on since last week.

[blowuup]

I think we're going about this Surfacer Evil RP wrong.

We don't need to be consolidated by Alignment, the need to make a change, be beholden to the same goal or ideology.

The readon Good Characters succeed is because their characters are friends. If our Evil Characters just get together and bond with our similarities, our goals and evil acts will be more organic rather than forced.

We should get together in Soubar and just have a good time, with evil included.

[Shadow]

I think we're going about this Surfacer Evil RP wrong.

We don't need to be consolidated by Alignment, the need to make a change, be beholden to the same goal or ideology.

The readon Good Characters succeed is because their characters are friends. If our Evil Characters just get together and bond with our similarities, our goals and evil acts will be more organic rather than forced.

We should get together in Soubar and just have a good time, with evil included.

Everything can be arranged....For a price of course.... *holding a menacing bow*

[Darkwind]

I think we're going about this Surfacer Evil RP wrong.

We don't need to be consolidated by Alignment, the need to make a change, be beholden to the same goal or ideology.

The readon Good Characters succeed is because their characters are friends. If our Evil Characters just get together and bond with our similarities, our goals and evil acts will be more organic rather than forced.

We should get together in Soubar and just have a good time, with evil included.

100% This. I expressed interest in this initially mainly with my "DM" hat on moreso than my player hat. I've been a DM more often than not in P&P games so being an antagonist is second nature at this point.

There is way too much angst about this entire thing IMHO. You simply need a basic ideology / concept of some sort even if its just 'break shyte' although that is pretty weak / lame I think, but just an example. Then you get somewhat like minded people together. The rest should happen iteratively / organically otherwise it is stiff and forced.

If you are "doing it right" you will attract attention rather quickly anyways, if you are not, you won't. It is fairly binary. DM attention at some point would be necessary for the big sweeping changes type of stuff. But the initial seeding and minor mayhem or skullduggery requires only willing participants.

If I rolled a character for this endeavor it would be under this basic premise with a mix of 'here is our goal' and stream of consciousness in the moment hijinx.

[The Whistler]

I've played evil almost exclusively throughout my nwn2 career and I can't stress blowuup's point enough. Get to know your partners in crime better, their worries and ambitions. Set time aside for bonding with eachother. Bash a bugbear's skull in and have a laugh about it, or grab a beer together- doesn't matter. Whatever you do, don't just let your faction/group RP devolve to sterile meetings and briefings every other week.

[chad878262]

Just a few ideas/examples that might assist whoever ends up in this group with sticking together.

- Looking at groups like the Zhents, Sharrens and other 'evil' guilds, you might note that they might be 'evil aligned', but that doesn't mean they are constantly betraying each other. They often RP very much like good PCs might. There are friendships, loyalties, shared goals, mutual respect, etc.

- You don't have to be an evil group with your own agenda. You could be an adventuring party that is simply less altruistic than some. Heck I think that is kind of how some of our various mercenary guilds got started. Just make your party of however many PCs with some form of IC agreement as to splitting the shares of loot etc. and enjoy a simple premise of a group of adventurers who've banded together for better chances of success. You may all be mercenaries, but perhaps there are still friendships within the group....maybe even some rivalries between members that flare up at times. Point being, you can start your 'evil RP' small and allow it to grow based on IC RP, conversations, activities, etc. Every evil overlord starts somewhere! Who's to say your group may not be the next terror of the Coast, but trying to be that without growing TOGETHER is a recipe for folks losing interest. Build up your player base through organic RP and then formulate plans to take over the world.

- Instead of defining yourselves as "open evil" or not, consider the characters without making alignment THE defining characteristic. Instead think about what goals characters have previously accomplished (and HOW they accomplished them) as well as what failures they've had (and HOW that has effected them). Think in terms of personality, behavior, actions they have taken and will take and then assign the alignment from there. Maybe you have more of a Lawful Evil group bent on dominating those lesser than themselves, perhaps a Neutral Evil band looking out for number one, or maybe a Chaotic Evil group dedicated to a dark god(dess) or simply a bunch of psychopathic, narcissistic serial killers. Maybe some of each! Just don't go around saying "I'm evil, deal with it" Let your actions show others who/what you are.

- Meet up, have some inn/campfire RP, some adventure RP, mix it up, but just make sure you meet at least once a week for an hour or two to keep each others story moving forward. In addition (and I know 100% RCR makes this a tough sell) consider NOT starting with a bunch of level 30 evil guys. Start at level 10 or less and level up together with your group, at least for a couple months. Allow the PC's to grow in power as they grow in story. This will allow the various PCs to form bonds in character through fireside chats and harrowing adventures. If everyone starts at 30 some will be mostly just focused on campfires and others will only engage when there is [insert PvP, DM event or whatever other activity they are after]. When everyone is not yet epic there is always a reason to log in, roleplay together, go on adventures, earn gold, find new equipment, etc. If everyone just creates their envisioned level 30 PC with fully loaded/muled gear there is little point in story building for anything outside of antagonistic or event driven RP. Unless you're all joining a pre-existing guild which I don't think is the stated point of the thread/group.

[Steve]

Evil Fun Friends Group has been tried many times before, always failing because supposed "this is who my evil character JUST IS IC" difficulties, challenges, disagreements, and attitude.

No shit. I've tried it 3 times myself, and every time the same shit happens: excuses to NOT be supportive and NOT be "friends," even when the motives and ideology align.

Best wishes!

[Deathgrowl]

I have a level 23 drow that I am going to RCR into some kind of evil surface character. You guys convinced me to try this.

I haven't quite decided on the kind of character yet, but I am adamant that it will be an unapologetic evil. It will also be a melee fighter with a flail. And a human.

Who wants me?

[Kiran]

Recently returned evil surface rper, though most of my toons end up dead/run away I am always up for some evilery, though I am more of the intrigue/spy/infiltrate from the inside kind of rp type.

Do let me know if you need something similiar - Happy to also pvp, though I am awful at it...

[blowuup]

I have a level 23 drow that I am going to RCR into some kind of evil surface character. You guys convinced me to try this.

I haven't quite decided on the kind of character yet, but I am adamant that it will be an unapologetic evil. It will also be a melee fighter with a flail. And a human.

Who wants me?

Deathgrowl and others willing to take on this experiment, what's your usual playtimes?

I can usually log in around 7:30 PM PST Monday-Thursday, 5:00 PM PST Friday.

[Deathgrowl]

European evenings. And all day in the weekend. And a bit into the night on Fridays and Saturdays.

[Kiran]

European evenings myself, and throughout the day I am usually around.

I work from home as such, but on EU time.

[DreadArtemis]

I have a character to RCR I would jump in on.

I am in GMT -4

Totally vibing some evil. I have two characters ready to go. If anyone in interested let me know. I would be either 16 or 17th level.