Anyone ever tried to play a game in which the PCs where the villains? Either part of an evil organization, or sect, or just some ruthless mercenaries and they had to fight (or just oppose) a party of NPC "heroes"?
I think it's a cool idea and good opportunity to bring some adult themes into a game ('couse the PCs would most probably be evil).
P.S. I am not speaking about PCs being BBEG, more like minions/lackeys, but more significant.
In my campaign that just finished up, the PCs started out in the employ of your standard corrupt government, slightly xenophobic, conerned with expanding, yada yada yada. They fell out of favor when they refused to kill an elf marauder as ordered, and we subsequently exiled. After a few sessions of making their way in the world and trying to find a purpose (apparently dropping plot hooks of a plot to wipe out the humans, and then an alien invasion weren't good enough
) they get roped into serving the church of Heironious (long story involving involuntary voluntary party combat
). While on this mission they discover a barbarian invasion is about to commence. While normally not a huge problem for their militarized cult and country, the barbarians were backed by a strange dark power and led by a vicious general who wiped the floor with the party in their first encounter, and left only one (or so he thought) alive to go back and tell the tale of their doom.
So the party gets revived and they go on their way to do their duty and report the happenings to the church hierarchy, and then the king himself. Well they then decide that they've done all that is necessary (partially out of fear of being destroyed again I suppose) and try to set off on their merry way. On the path of adventure and escape they come across a seemingly crumbling mage's tower and enter, escaping some harrowing traps and finding the court wizard locked in a battle of will with the barbarian mages. They lend their assistance and get roped into helping out fight the barbarians.
I know what your thinking this doesn't seem like their being evil... however after they get sent to open a line of dialogue with the elves to the south, the barbarian forces hit with the vengeance of... well an angry barbarian horde
The brave heroes get sent on a mission to go free the elves ancient allies, the green dragons (in this world Green Dragons are the BFF of the elves.) So they go off and find out that the same elf marauder they refused to kill earlier was the one preventing the dragons from coming to the aid of their old allies. They engage in a brief fight which ends with the marauder retreating further into his cave. At night the unofficial party leader sneaks back into the cave and switches sides, saying he's tired of getting his ass kicked
. So he and the marauder hatch a plan to break the back of the elf society. The party knows nothing of this, and fully believe the monk when he returns to the surface and tells of a harrowing battle in which he won a dragon orb.
The party returns victoriously to the elves, just in time to throw off a powerful offensive thrust from the barbarians. At a party held in their honor the night after, the monk commands the dragons to attack the elves, and then informs the party that the elves had planned on betraying them and were going to turn on all humans because of the barbarians. He then informs the party of the "virtue" of the barbarian ways, and along with an NPC Wizard whom they were supposed to have killed but ended up leaving alive
convince the party they should betray their old country, as they were already cast out of it. So the party becomes the forefront of the barbarian invasion, and for the last 5 sessions slowly conquer their home continent, and the last session ended with them setting up a permanent government, and then murdering the "minders" the barbarians left behind