Using outside players for BBEG - OG Myth-Weavers

Notices


GM Workshop

A community-created and maintained place for Game Masters of all systems to bounce ideas around. It's a place for inspiration and sharing tips.


Using outside players for BBEG

   
Using outside players for BBEG

Hi all. First post of 2013, woot!

Anywho, I'm thinking about adding 1 or 2 players as antagonists for the story I'm running. It's a Window based game, mostly freeform.

I'd like to create dynamic, realistic encounters at some points. I had an idea to create a Mercenary Captain and a Sergeant. The Captain would be a "player lite" role, where he would receive information and work at the strategic level to move his troops. The Sergeant could be the guy/gal sent out to lead the attackers of the main party. His goal is to stay alive and report back.

I think the Sergeant could be a fun role, but the Captain might get boring to a player. I like the idea because it would add the randomness or depth of thought that would be hard for me as the GM to do.

Any ideas, improvements, or just "this is a bad idea because..."?

Appreciate any help!

The captain requires a certain sort of player to make work. I, personally, would LOVE to play that role. The BBEG part aside, I like strategy sims. TB or RT. And can think quickly and analytically.

The problem with me... is the part where I'm probably a bit too good at it to be the BBEG against most players... to put it bluntly, I wouldn't lose. Once the heroes prove they can beat a single strike force... I'd either find a way to buy them. Or use every resource at my disposal simultaneously to overwhelm them. There wouldn't be a middle ground.


So you'd need characters (and, more importantly, players) who know how to play the game and play it well. Either that, or it'd have to be a Luthor/Superman thing... where, frankly, the baddie would legitimately win... if the hero wasn't so incredibly powerful.

In the Fiends game I'm playing, the DM recruited some other players as "bounty-hunter"-type characters to come and try to kill us. They were told it would be a PvP one-shot in which they would likely get killed (they did) but it was fun, so I think that sort of thing can work well if done properly.

If the entire role of the Captain is to do what you tell them to, then no, it won't be very interesting. At most, they'd be a subordinate co-GM, helping you flesh out bad guy plans.

The Sergeant...maybe, maybe not. Depends on how much freedom you're willing to give them to act. Will you tell them the desired outcome of a given encounter, or give them free reign and you'll deal with the end result, whatever it may be? That kind of thing. The less freedom they'll have, the less useful it is to have a different person running it.

Whatever you do decide to do, it's essential to have some other line of communication to this person, like IM or IRC. PMs isn't good enough. You can do it that way, but it really isn't good enough.

I'd love some sort of command position. Count me in the group who'd find it fun. Of course, I can't in the least keep up with the brilliant TanaNari who's secretly controlling the government, or could be, at least.

Sweet, that helps guys Got my 2 recruits right here.

I'm looking for the Captain to be fed info by me, and to choose where and how he will try to take the group down. Ambush, frontal assault, etc. I'll have to wing some logistics for him so it's not "create your own". I think initially it would be fun to gather info and react to the heroes, learning their strengths and capabilities. What might make it interesting is if the Captain is willing to play a Spy-Lord-ish type guy. He could disguise himself and make contact with the group, trying to steer or stall them into trouble. The logistics of getting his spread out network of mercenaries, and recruiting more, would make this something feasible.

The Sergeant is more of a direct combat type. I'd like for him not to die, at least for a while. He would coordinate the attacks on the party in more detail. He'd be seen by the group, the one to talk with them if any talking is done. He'd also order the attack or retreat. He's tasked with reporting back to the Capt. and keeping some manpower alive.

I do plan to weight it toward the heroes, but I'll accept whatever consequences come. The Window system does leave some wiggle room, and hey, if they wipe... well, it happens. New heroes aren't hard to come by, lol.

I'm not too worried about "overwhelming", as this is a nordic medieval quest, and the mercenary group is spread out in little pockets. They'd have to be gathered ahead of time and travel of the party, plus the party might divert and cause all the planning to be for not. So without a great source of spying, it might be wiser to spread forces out in a screen more than a small army.

Well, TanaNari, Zelkon... who prefers what position? The Captain won't be in combat, he'll deal more with logistics and strategies, hopefully some preference for personal spying in disguise to spice it up. The Sergeant will be the guy on the ground, who could possibly be killed. He'll be the guy who the party deals with and remembers.

I'm all about withholding open information, allowing RP to be the communications. If one person knows something, I private them the info, allowing them to RP it as they please. I think I'd open a 2nd game with forums, and could move text and info back and forth between games (mostly to keep the players in the dark).

It's freeform, so does take a little getting used to the game's style. The player would have to be flexible and open with that. It's not D&D in the world sense at all. What monsters there are, are pulled from literature more than D&D. Magic is exceptionally rare, but is weaker and more versatile than D&D styles also.


Though they are pretty sneaky and might have found this thread by now, lol. (shakes fist at them)

Eh, I guess I'm stuck with the tactical genius. Tana, wouldn't your role fall more under strategy?

Little bit of A, little bit of B. Tactics aren't *just* for on the battlefield maneuvers, after all.

Tactics are short-term, on-the-fly decisions like "Oh look the vampire's standing by a window, lets try and force him back then rip down the curtains so the sunlight burns his unholy flesh!".

Strategy is the pre-game plan, like "We're going to fight a vampire, we'll all load up with holy water and crossbows with holy bolts with no heads and get him in a pincer movement!"




 

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
User Alert System provided by Advanced User Tagging (Lite) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
Last Database Backup 2024-03-19 11:26:08am local time
Myth-Weavers Status