[DND 5e] (Ex?)-Minions of Darkness

[Korosa]

The last thing your master said to you as the Holy Blade of Light pierced his side was this: "Witness and remember! This is not my last day. I will return, stronger than--." And then he slumped to the ground and the Dark Lord, once thought untouchable, immortal, impossible, was just a shell of empty flesh.

All that remained was you. His servants, his children, his lovers, his creations, all free.

All alone.


Hi all, I'm a semi-experienced GM, not hugely experienced with 5e mechanically. The pitch is basically this: All the PCs used to work for (or somehow were related to) a traditional dark lord, details tbd based on what the players want to do with the concept, and said dark lord has now been slain by some kind of hero. From there, the narrative follows the PCs in a traditional Tolkien-esque fantasy world as they try to figure out how to redefine themselves in the wake of their master's death and have adventures and potentially wacky misunderstandings.

I'm leaving a lot of the direction up in the air, so this could be a campaign where:
- The players are trying to resurrect the Dark Lord
- The players are happy to be freed from the Dark Lord but have to figure out how to atone for all of the evil they did in his name
- The players are trying to use the knowledge and power of their dead master to take his place
- The players are being pursued by a band of heroes and just want to retire to safety and maybe start a farm

Or a little of all of the above! Thematically, I'd like this to be a game that explores different relationships, not just between the protagonists and the Dark Lord, but between the protagonists and each other--what does it mean for one of them to be captive child of the Dark Lord and one to be his most loyal minion? PCs could range from a weird experimental monster the Dark Lord made to a hero who was captured but accidentally gets mistaken for one of them (and anything in between).

Gameatically (not a word), I'm thinking the players would start at level 3 or so, so they can't be killed by a common housecat but so there's some room for level progression. All races and classes allowed. 

Post in the thread if you're interested, this is a pitch for play by post forum game. You can also PM directly if you have any questions, but please post in the thread if you'd want to play, because then I can keep track of people interested.

EDIT - Now accepting character pitches

See https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=327858.msg15684237#msg15684237 for the rules and regs.

[Korosa]

Reserving this space for...things.

[AndyZ]

Keeping an eye on this.

[Marie Reynolds]

Hmm I would be interested in this.

What about a character that is not  looking for redemption but has instead decided to continue  the role that they performed  for the town or city that was built by the dark lord but now the residents want to start over and redeem themselves but  the character still continues in the role of the ruthless guardian  with a code to the town or city. The character likely held no loyalty  to the Dark Lord but  to the people of the town or city.

[Chulanowa]

Question; would this be angling more towards an "evil game," an "antiheroes game" or...?

What kind of dark lord are we talking about? Full-on Sauron? Or more like just "the king is a bastard"?

[Angie]

I'm always down for a good 5e game :)

[SilkenVenom]

Tentatively interested.

Will keep an eye out for more information.

[FoxgirlJay]

-hat toss-

I'm interested in a bunch of Goons trying to pick up where their Dark Master had left off with.

[Korosa]

Just FYI, I'm a very collaborative GM and I tend to assume world-building and game-building will be collaborative. Most of my tabletop RPG experience is on the indie side (Apocalypse World, etc). It means less work for me, but also that players get input into what exists in the world, as long as it doesn't directly contradict the themes or flavor of the game.

Question; would this be angling more towards an "evil game," an "antiheroes game" or...?

What kind of dark lord are we talking about? Full-on Sauron? Or more like just "the king is a bastard"?

Antiheroes or at least a gamut of evil to not so evil is my preference--not interested in running a full on kicking puppies torture game. Also interested in people making evil characters that become less evil over time, or characters who were deluded into believing they were doing good.

As far as the dark lord, I wanted to leave that vague until I got some people who were interested, but evil enough that people who worked for him are going to get some eyebrow raises and possibly people trying to stab them before they can explain. However, this is a character ideally some players would be conflicted about their relationship with, so he may not have been terrible to his minions or he might have been in the habit of making people feel indebted.

I guess thematically I am going more high epic fantasy ala Tolkien or anime or something with this than grounded "this guy taxed the peasants into the ground and murdered people who disagreed him", just because I find the former less depressing.

Hmm I would be interested in this.

What about a character that is not  looking for redemption but has instead decided to continue  the role that they performed  for the town or city that was built by the dark lord but now the residents want to start over and redeem themselves but  the character still continues in the role of the ruthless guardian  with a code to the town or city. The character likely held no loyalty  to the Dark Lord but  to the people of the town or city.

Interesting! I was picturing something a little more roaming based--tying the game to a town like that leaves the characters stuck in one place--I would like for them to be able to travel from Evil!Land to other places (I also find D&D works better as a traveling game). So I'm not sure that concept would work unless there was a good reason for that character to travel.

[Marie Reynolds]

I could see  the character roaming and traveling  more   since they are going to  try and go legit just tends to check in on it once and a while could even be a source for some jobs for the characters.

[Revelation]

I'd be interested in this. I don't often get to play an anti-hero or a villain turning good or at least less evil, and both are fun to do. My initial idea would be something of a knight errant of the dark lord, perhaps someone who might have been in training to be one of the lords bodyguards or personal knights. My initial thoughts are a Paladin (Oath of conquest or vengeance could work for this I feel) or a hexblade pact warlock (Perhaps every knight of his order has to make a pact of some sort, though I do think the vanilla hexblade patron might not be the best fit).

My idea is the character may not be truly evil, but was raised to believe that the Lord was a benevolent leader of sorts - or at least, he and his family were treated well and he was glad to be of service to the Lord in some capacity. Going out and seeing the disruption/damage/chaos that the Lord caused might make them reconsider those thoughts, perhaps seeking to act as a better person over time themselves. At the same time, they were raised and trained to be a dangerous fighter working to secure a lasting peace for their lord, so as such they remain conflicted and feel the best means to end conflict or help others would be a swift and brutal end to their foes.

[John Birch]

I'm liking this concept-- I've never RPed in the context of D&D but I'm willing to give it a shot if you're willing to have a rank beginner in the lineup.

[Korosa]

I'm liking this concept-- I've never RPed in the context of D&D but I'm willing to give it a shot if you're willing to have a rank beginner in the lineup.

Absolutely, I'm not hugely experienced myself. If you want to make a character, I'd suggest making an account on dndbeyond, it has a walk through character creator.

I could see  the character roaming and traveling  more   since they are going to  try and go legit just tends to check in on it once and a while could even be a source for some jobs for the characters.

That could work!

I'd be interested in this. I don't often get to play an anti-hero or a villain turning good or at least less evil, and both are fun to do. My initial idea would be something of a knight errant of the dark lord, perhaps someone who might have been in training to be one of the lords bodyguards or personal knights. My initial thoughts are a Paladin (Oath of conquest or vengeance could work for this I feel) or a hexblade pact warlock (Perhaps every knight of his order has to make a pact of some sort, though I do think the vanilla hexblade patron might not be the best fit).

My idea is the character may not be truly evil, but was raised to believe that the Lord was a benevolent leader of sorts - or at least, he and his family were treated well and he was glad to be of service to the Lord in some capacity. Going out and seeing the disruption/damage/chaos that the Lord caused might make them reconsider those thoughts, perhaps seeking to act as a better person over time themselves. At the same time, they were raised and trained to be a dangerous fighter working to secure a lasting peace for their lord, so as such they remain conflicted and feel the best means to end conflict or help others would be a swift and brutal end to their foes.

This is a great concept and very in line with what I'm picturing for the game! I think a paladin would be a great character for this, someone who had a reputation as a knight in the service of the lord (so a scary reputation to the outside world). Hexblade warlock is also a great choice--that's going to introduce a kind of entity and a realm they came from into the story. Maybe that's the same entity the Dark Lord was pledged to, and he made all of his knights form a bond with it. 

[Zaer Darkwail]

I voice interest to join in, I have an idea of running one lesser minion of the dark lord who overtime developed a canny way survive against odds. A goblin rogue, the last of his clan who got wiped out by heroes who stormed the dark lord's stronghold.

[Korosa]

Okay, it seems like there's enough conceptual interest in this that I'd like to ask people to start submitting character concepts. This is first come, first served and I am going to cap at five players, if we get that many. All classes and races in D&D supplements are legit. I'm going to say characters should be level 3, but they'll probably get to level 5 pretty quickly. I can probably be talked around to starting at level 5, I just think its easier for people to grow into their characters. Because this is PBP, I am not going to play with XP rules, we're just going to do strict level advancement. Generally, I preferred XP but book keeping.

Please submit:
1. Your character concept. You don't need to do the mechanical building now if you'd prefer not to, but a clear picture of what class and race your character is and what role they play in the narrative. If you have a character sheet, that's even better! Feel free to throw in some hooks--did your character betray the Dark Lord by opening the gates for the hero? etc

2. One thing your character knows about the Dark Lord (this does not have to be true in the global sense--a character can 'know' that the Lord is a kind and fatherly individual, even if he's very much not.). A character can also absolutely know something like 'where the Dark Lord kept his secret spellbook'. Also I keep saying Dark Lord, but if there's some kind of strong preference for a Dark Lady, that's fine too.

3. One thing your character knows about the world. This can be conceptual, like 'all humans hate elves' or literal, like 'the land of Morrow is haunted and full of ghosts'. It can be like 'I know the hero who slayed the Dark Lord is secretly corrupt'.

The latter two are opportunities to put stuff into the game you'd like to see. The game will start immediately after the Dark Individual is slain, with the party in the castle having to deal with basically an invading army who is here to overthrow--them, so it would be a good idea to make sure your character would have a reason to physically be in an evil castle.

I think that's all from me for now! Hit me up with any questions, excited to see what people come up with.

[Revelation]

I admit I am not quite sure on gender/race for my character yet, so my concept is going to be written a bit differently in order to be a bit more easily changed when I decide on that. I hope such is not an issue?

Character concept: Paladin, oath of conquest.

As a member of the Order of the Iron Rose, my character had only recently become a knight when the hero broke through our defenses and stormed the lair of the dark lord. It was my sworn duty to protect the lord at all costs, but when allies of the hero likewise broke through and sought to aid their champion, it fell to my knightly order to hold the line by any means necessary for our master. Yet at a critical moment in the heat of battle, I noticed servants trying to escape the conflict, including a servant girl that had always been kind to me. I broke ranks to ensure their safety despite knowing that even a single missing knight could lead to my order being overrun.

What I know about the dark lord: There was a story told amongst members of my order, that our Lord was once a common born man - a man who had seen the injustices of the world by so called righteous gods and sought to challenge them by any means necessary. He was to ensure a new world order, one where all would be equal, and the gods would be cast down as the false idols they were. Rumor has it that he lost a lover to illness and spurned the gods after his prayers fell on deaf ears.

What I know of the world: The city state of Horizon lies to the east, and is the last city state from the broken lands to resist the dark lords conquest – they held the line with a desperate weapon that claimed the lives of thousands, both of my lords and their own men. There now lingers a no mans land where the sky is that of endless night, and nothing grows within the once fertile valley the battle took place within.

[Korosa]

I admit I am not quite sure on gender/race for my character yet, so my concept is going to be written a bit differently in order to be a bit more easily changed when I decide on that. I hope such is not an issue?

Nope, this is great! Welcome to the party.

[FoxgirlJay]

1. Meris Searhammer, Forge Cleric of Surtur (Faerun Pantheon), Tiefling. She learned her craft and faith from the Fire Giants, finding a strange kinship with the massive, flaming men, and her own hellish heritage and adoration of fire. When the heroes came and took down the Dark Lord, she waited out the storm by hiding in an emptied out Tempering barrel in her Forge.

2. Meris appreciated the Dark Lord's tastes when it came to armor, but much preferred crafting for him and him alone. The droll of crafting arms and armor for the dark masses sometimes nearly drove her insane.

3. Tieflings are still treated as devils by the common folk, driving them to sterotype conforming darkness. Outcasts in common civilization, yet there are rumors of a shrouded city, where all the outcast half-spawn Tieflings are welcomed in to a community of their own.

[Chulanowa]

1. Irethe is an Aasimar rogue (possibly multiclassed). Pardoning the cliche, she is not like other Aasimar, "blessed" by some celestial patron; rather she is a creation, the product of the Dark Lord trying to bend heaven's own beings to his will and bind them in flesh. To some degree he was successful; Irethe knows she is not the only one like herself, and certainly there is a fragment of a celestial being that shapes her form and whispers to her. Trained in infiltration and exposure, Irethe proved to be at least partially responsible for her creator's downfall; the celestial spirit inside her urged vengeance, and she used her skills to feed information to rebellious forces.

2. She knows that the Dark Lord was not "pitch black" - his methods and end goals were painful, even evil, but he sought something more; to transcend such concerns and attain godhood. She suspects his death may have been part of that, and she was a pawn all along.

3. Beyond the cities and trade routes, the world is wild and untamed. Old ruins dot this wilderness, remains of others who thought themselves emperors and demogods-in-flesh; ruins now ruled by barbarian satraps, hermit wizards, greedy dragons and the like.

[John Birch]

Alright, here's a little something. I ran with Changingsaint's bit about the dark lord's initial desire to right the wrongs of the world (which I'm assuming kind of went off the rails)-- if that's off the mark though just let me know!

Sawm Sorban is a human fighter, an aging veteran of wars and battles past who remains a formidable force even as she stares down her twilight years. You wouldn’t know it to look at her, though-- she’s an affable, good-humored woman who appears to take very little in life seriously, who loves a good song just as much as a good fight. That light-hearted disposition, however, masks the very same ruthless sense of justice and right that drew her to the dark lord’s side in the first place-- just as it masks the uncertainty that began to gnaw at her as the dark lord’s quest for justice became more and more a quest for power. Now that he’s gone, Sorban’s determined to fight for a better world on her own terms, but that noble goal is haunted by the terrible things her own consequentialist view of justice led her to do-- and by her complicated feelings towards the loss of the man to whom, for all her doubts towards the end, she had once pledged herself.

Having known the dark lord somewhat longer than many of her younger peers, Sorban knows something of the person he was in times past, although she does sometimes wonder (in those rare moments when she finds herself given to introspection) if she really knew him even then.

She also knows-- as many do, it's hardly a secret-- that the Spice Isles in the south, known as much for their sea shanties as for their eponymous spices, were once a country of their own before they were conquered decades ago by an enterprising imperial power on the mainland. The war was long and grisly, but the eventual fall of the Isles led to an exodus of battle-scarred Islander veterans out into the world-- one of whom, her sense of justice warped and hardened by her experiences at war, became the woman called Sawm Sorban.

[Rummy Tum Tum]

This looks interesting!

1. The concept I have in mind is a dragonborn wizard who joined the dark lord after his search for immortality saw him outcast from his school and his name ruined. He delved a little too far into necromancy and was a little too eager to gain forbidden knowledge for anyone's liking. His core belief is that the soul can not only be returned, but reforged, he only need understand the means and the cost--though the latter is barely a concern in his mind.

I'm thinking his reasoning behind his search is noble, perhaps to bring back lost family or to ensure he never loses people again, but he's selfish enough to have gone to such lengths as to serve the dark lord to get what he wants. What he cares about, he seeks to protect, so funnily enough, he managed to ensure he cared about very little as he served evil. Now, his benefactor is gone and his search is at a standstill, and he needs to find something to latch onto while avoiding those who rightly seek to make him pay for his crimes.

2. My character knows that the Dark Lord sought to build an army of the dead, not as his main force of course, but as fodder that would be easily replenished the more they killed. The Dark Lord was close to understanding how one magic adept could create numerous walking corpses on their own, but he neglected to fully share his knowledge with [insert my character name here]. Perhaps his work is hidden somewhere.

3. One thing my character knows about the world is that magic is a powerful commodity that everyone wants a little bit of. Some even say there are back channels where darker magics are dealt in.

[Bibliophilia]

Just in case you need an extra later on...

1.  She's the niece of the, now dead, Dark Individual and was, as a child, one of their biggest fans.  She didn't understand that their favorite Aunt/Uncle/Auncle was a Bad Person(tm), she only knew them as the one who always snuck her sweets when she was in trouble and let her play with cool, esoteric, occult objects.  But, as she got older, she began to struggle with the knowledge that someone she loved so much could be a completely different person to the world at large.  She tries to be like them, but deep down inside she's not a Bad Person(tm), and so there's conflict and secret generosity, kindness, and compassion (all of which make her feel very guilty).  To assuage her guilt, she serves as her dead relative's cheerleader, i.e. the adorable, goth, half-elf Bard that is secretly bubblegum pop, but tries for death metal.

2. She knows that the Dark Individual had multiple hidden towers and fortresses, as well as cabins and underground bunkers, where they would sometimes disappear for quiet study and retreat.  There are mystical objects, tomes and all sorts of other potentially useful things locked away in these warded and expertly disguised retreats.

3.  She knows that there's a fabulous Bardic college where the best of the best can go to hone their craft and truly find their muse, just as there are master colleges for most crafts, where only the most promising students are accepted.  There's the wizarding university, the elite fighter's camp and the rogue's, well, that one is suspected to exist, but no one knows for certain.

[Korosa]

We are officially closed for character submissions! Big thanks to everyone, there are some awesome concepts for really different characters and we have a great and diverse cast!
Quick Roster -
<TBD>, Paladin, Oath of Conquest  - Changingsaint
Irethe, Aasimar rogue - Chulanowa
Sawm Sorban, human fighter - John Birch
Meris Searhammer, Forge Cleric of Surtur (Faerun Pantheon), Tiefling - FoxgirlJay
<TBD> Dragonborn wizard -  Rummy Tum Tum
<TB> Half-elf bard - Bibliophilia (tentatively?)

Irethe, Aasimar rogue

Oh, I love this, the ascension to godhood is a great trope and the idea of her being something he created to get him further there, but ended up backfiring, is excellent.

Sawm Sorban, human fighter

I am a huge sucker for competent older female fighters, so this immediately made me happy. Also really appreciating the different views we're getting of who the Dark Lord used to be when he was younger--I'm picturing him and Sawm sharing a pint.

Meris Searhammer, Forge Cleric of Surtur (Faerun Pantheon), Tiefling.

LOL I'm just imagining all of the heroes racing past this barrel. Also really like that you added world details about what people think of a particular race--and the idea of a tiefling city is excellent.

<TBD>, Dragonborn wizard

Oooh I love the idea of a necromancer who started with good intentions (and maybe still has them!), but ended up desperately seeking the pursuit of power.

Niece of the Dark individual

In every game I've GMed, I tend to try to cap my games and always end up adding at least one extra person. Meaning, if you want to play, come join in! I love the idea of a bubbly half-elf bard related to the Dark Lord, and everyone around her being very confused by the contrast.

[Korosa]

And here is the OOC thread: https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=327872.0

Please head that way in an orderly fashion, thank you everyone who expressed interest in this game, I am psyched, I think it's going to be a lot of fun! Going to lock the recruitment thread for now, please make all further posts in the OOC thread.