Lone Wolf: the game of foolish heroes doomed to fail?

[redlaco]

Star Wars RPG, which in no matter what three (suggested) eras of play the characters are in, they are in the midst of an almost unwinnable battle.

Absolutely, I found that it's important to have some focus, otherwise some players tend to wander aimlessly and lose interest.

and lets not forget the mightiest of foes...the sheer insane number of tables in a Rolemaster campaign (sorry couldn't resist!)

ROLFOL :lol: I hear the first Middle-Earth was not shabby either in this department.

it gives the party a reason to band together and play as characters who work to achieve something beyond their next spell or magical weapon, to play as heroes instead of coin and fame seeking adventurers, which in my book is what I enjoy both playing and running.

Definitely. I've tried a few times to play an evil campaign but we got bored of it since the relation is : the good guys wait for the bad guys to make some evil deed, and then they pursue them to avenge the innocents wronged. So basically, nothing happens unless you start comitting evil deeds. The only good exception to this rule is playing a party of demons in "In Nomine", since the so-called "angels" are sometimes as scheming and back-stabbing.

Although it can be argued that many "good" adventuring parties keep on invading the lairs of neutral creatures to slaughter them without mercy. So the line is sometimes blurred at best.

 

[Madbiologist]

I agree, I enjoy the deperate dark heroic fantasy setting.

As for evil campaigns, I tend to get bored of them quickly as a GM. There might be several reason but first I can say is because I can not stand how most people play evil, alot of my players play it a "poche evil". What I mean is it reeks of "I am so evil, look at me, I am a <insert whatever that is normally evil> *hssss*". And the better ones can ony play fundementally evil (demonic like beings), which gets cliche fast. I only two people that could play the human evil in a evil campaign. And one person who does a sociopath right.

Oddly enough I had better Evil PC in games where they had to play "good guys". One player made a Red Robe for Dragon Lance, and by the end, I was like your a Black Robe really... Despite that he was still able to be in the party. And he plays the evil human perfectly.

I think the biggest problems with an "Evil Campaign" is that evil doesn't go adventuring, and in games where adventuring seems the main premise, things quickly get boring. Evil characters work better into goal objective games, where evil people have reasonable goals, which I find it easier in sci-fi then in fantasy to pull off (and in fantasy only doable if the other PC are good).

 

[Wordmaker]

The thing is, most players want to play "evil" characters not so that they can actually play it truly evil, but so that they can get away with having masses of power, and hurting people indiscriminately, assassinating the King instead of protecting him, ransoming the princess instead of rescuing her, and doing it all with the most distustingly powerful weapons and magic available. That's not evil, it's being a jerk.

 

[redlaco]

As for evil campaigns, I tend to get bored of them quickly as a GM. There might be several reason but first I can say is because I can not stand how most people play evil, alot of my players play it a "poche evil". What I mean is it reeks of "I am so evil, look at me, I am a <insert whatever that is normally evil> *hssss*". And the better ones can ony play fundementally evil (demonic like beings), which gets cliche fast. I only two people that could play the human evil in a evil campaign. And one person who does a sociopath right.

You're right, despite appeareances, playing an evil PC requires far more "talent" than impersonating a straight good guy. Too often, it turns out as a pathetic "Dr. Evil" caricature.

I think the biggest problems with an "Evil Campaign" is that evil doesn't go adventuring, and in games where adventuring seems the main premise, things quickly get boring. Evil characters work better into goal objective games, where evil people have reasonable goals, which I find it easier in sci-fi then in fantasy to pull off (and in fantasy only doable if the other PC are good).

I agree all the way and will explore the taint of chaos in my upcoming B5 game... Easier as you say in a sci-fi setting.

assassinating the King instead of protecting him, ransoming the princess instead of rescuing her, and doing it all with the most distustingly powerful weapons and magic available. That's not evil, it's being a jerk.

Yeah, I've seen that way back then when I first played D&D almost 20 years ago (we were teens of course). In fact that was the reason that made me stop to play. Only a couple years ago I decided to get back to RPGs as I heard about news of a new B5 game... And now Lone Wolf !