When you look at all the moral alignment options for D&D,  the "evil" branch is usually the first to be looked over. The rest of the campaign usually ends up as just your average protagonists fighting a bunch of bad guys and restoring peace to the universe. Great, right?

Well, usually, it is. But I was thinking, "What if I based an entire campaign on being absolutely horrible people?" Now, to explain, me and my friends already are horrible people. Our favorite comedians are nuclear weapons. In the very shallow logic of my thinking process, a campaign where the moral guidelines of society are completely ignored would honestly be really funny to try and play out. For once, being the villains would be fun. I mean, shows like Breaking Bad and Death Note are still entertaining to watch, even if the main characters have a seriously flawed form of judgement.

Now, I have a small inkling of an idea that I'm sort of pondering. What if there was a campaign based on the PCs running from everyone in society and racing against the forces of justice and goodness to race to create either a spell or some sort of mechanism that can singlehandedly bring a whole nation down. Oppenheimer D&D, I suppose.

We all have our hidden desires to blow up a housing complex, right? Right? Or maybe that's just me.

Help would be greatly appreciated in shaping out the plot or how things would work. Feedback on the general idea would also be cool!

I look at alignment in this manner: Good represents the selfless people motivated by the Greater Good. While Evil represents the people primarily motivated by Self-Interest. Neutral balancing between the two. I believe what you're wanting is a campaign for the people who just want to be evil for evil's sake?

I don't know of any specific campaign like that, but it should be easily doable as a DM. If your characters are the villains it's up to them to tell you their character's motivations. Maybe one does want to take over the world. Maybe one wants to destroy the world.They're starting out as nobodies so pick the "Arch-Villain" from Breaking Bad, Death Note or any other literature that you want to play and fits what the characters' goals are and have them working for him/her. They're villains. Eventually they'll strive to overthrow the boss. 

Let the players make the plans and then you have the world react accordingly. Whenever you need to make an encounter you build it with good aligned creatures from the monster manuals.

Well, you got most of that right. So basically, in terms of moral alignment, I would say that the characters basically commit whatever they want, however they want in an extremely chaotic sort of sense. In their point of view, they're mostly just goofing around, except with large, destructive weapons, blood on their hands, and a lack of empathy to even care.

Done that a few times over the years, and it can be a bit liberating if everyone is willing to commit.

The simplest form i can think of is the reverse of the "struggle to end the BBEG" -- the players (presuming they start out at level one) work to bring about the rise and return and rebirth (pick your flavor) of the Dark One, the blackest, most vile being who could even be just a myth.

Naturally, they have to get certain items together to give the bad guy power enough to return, and they aren't fools -- they have to come up with a way to escape the whole "bad guy arrives, kills loyal followers" kind of thing.

That gives you the different tasks and even lets you use published adventures (one of the things they need is located in there -- yo just add it in).

in terms of 5e, one of the big things to keep in mind when you do this style of campaign is the tiers of play stuff -- they move from local to regional as they go up in levels.

Other things to note:

have a good idea what the laws are, how crime is punished, and how judgment is carried out. The players should know these things before they start to play -- cant break the laws withou tknowing what the laws are. Also, especially if the "prison" is located away from the town/city/place of judgement. Like, say, a mine. This part matters for prison breaks.

At 1 - 4 levels, the "good guys" will be a lot like keystone cops, bumbing, haphazard. This gies the PCs a false sense of security.

at each tier above that they get better, and by tier 3 the local governments are sending out actual adventurers after them. 

We have a few evil characters in our world but they are not entirely psychopaths, just not altruistic.  

If you plan on playing something like this, why would the characters cooperate to begin with?  Wouldn't they just fight amongst themselves?  

I like AEDorsay's idea a lot but I think self centered people would have a hard time banding together to accomplish something with so many moving parts.  But hey, that might be part of the fun and the collapse of the entire idea would be the climax???

Evil campaigns are most definitely already a thing. The only problem with them is that player characters tend to kill each other - besides that small problem, evil campaigns are a blast. 

Quote from VanZoeren >>

Evil campaigns are most definitely already a thing. The only problem with them is that player characters tend to kill each other - besides that small problem, evil campaigns are a blast. 

 I think that's the best final session for an evil campaign. A free for all to decide who rules it all. 

Sounds like you should do a pirate campaign. 

Fire Mountain Games published a 1-20 adventure path for evil characters called Way of the Wicked. Unfortunately, it’s not 5e but only Pathfinder for sure and possibly PF 2e. You could check it out for ideas at the very least. If you’re ambitious and think it’s worthwhile, I’m sure you could figure out a way to translate the mechanics. You might even get super lucky and, with some digging, find someone who’s already done it for you. Best of luck!

Quote from VanZoeren >>

Evil campaigns are most definitely already a thing. The only problem with them is that player characters tend to kill each other - besides that small problem, evil campaigns are a blast. 

 That and many players have issues actually being evil.  Especially when it's to sympathetic characters.

Which brings up another point: when the PCs are evil, it doesn't mean that their opponents have to be good.  You could run an evil vs evil campaign where the PCs are opposing the despotic warlord who's oppressing the common folk because they think that they should be the ones who are ruling the land with an iron fist.  Players are more likely to be fine with inflicting gratuitous violence on targets who are unsympathetic.

Quote from KoolBro >>

When you look at all the moral alignment options for D&D,  the "evil" branch is usually the first to be looked over. The rest of the campaign usually ends up as just your average protagonists fighting a bunch of bad guys and restoring peace to the universe. Great, right?

 I mean, evil campaigns can be reduced to single lines too. Generally it's players doing whatever random violence they want until they eventually turn on each other.

Honestly, there just isn't a lot to explore there. A good party is often wrestling with the temptation to commit small evils for the greater good, or to forgo the most righteous path because it's a lot more work. Evil doesn't have those kinds of hard decisions that prompt roleplaying. It's just random acts of cruelty and selfishness. There's never any temptation to do a selfless act because its easier.

So I mean if you're all 15 and just want to blow stuff up, it's great. But don't expect it to be fun or interesting for very long.

This makes me think fondly of the Necessary Evil sourcebook to the Savage Worlds system. Superhero system! Alien invasion! ... but all the heroes have been defeated, and now there are no capes standing between you and world domination. Instead there are these awful invaders thinking they can just walk into YOUR city and do whatever they want. Without any heroes to toss those aliens out, it's up to the villains to do the dirty work.

(Replace supervillains with Zhentarim, Shadow Thieves, The Clasp, Kargatane, ... Kenders?)

You can absolutely build a fantastic campaign around the idea of Enlightened Self-Interest, where a bunch of evil-aligned utter miscreants band together for a common cause in overcoming whatever thing that is currently preventing either of them from attaining their dread goals. And maybe, reluctantly, do some good along the way. But only while keeping your eye on the big picture and the Greater Evil you can cause in the end!

About the "actual adventurers" thing, that's a stroke of genius! I would have never thought about that. Thinking in reverse.

Quote from Velstitzen >>

We have a few evil characters in our world but they are not entirely psychopaths, just not altruistic.  

If you plan on playing something like this, why would the characters cooperate to begin with?  Wouldn't they just fight amongst themselves?  

I like AEDorsay's idea a lot but I think self centered people would have a hard time banding together to accomplish something with so many moving parts.  But hey, that might be part of the fun and the collapse of the entire idea would be the climax???

 

 

 hmm, you do have a point there. however, as a party, it's kind of this whole "united under one flag" sort of thing. i do get what you're hinting at though. who knows, it may very well be a turning point in the campaign!

Quote from CharlesThePlant >>

Sounds like you should do a pirate campaign. 

 Hmm, a pirate campaign. It does sound interesting, although it might limit the amount of things the PCs can do. I'm probably wrong, since I have no experience in pirate campaigns whatsoever, heh.

Quote from Born_of_fire74 >>

Fire Mountain Games published a 1-20 adventure path for evil characters called Way of the Wicked. Unfortunately, it’s not 5e but only Pathfinder for sure and possibly PF 2e. You could check it out for ideas at the very least. If you’re ambitious and think it’s worthwhile, I’m sure you could figure out a way to translate the mechanics. You might even get super lucky and, with some digging, find someone who’s already done it for you. Best of luck!

 Hmm, that's an interesting thing to look at. Definitely noted for future reference, although I don't really have any experience with Pathfinder.

Quote from 6thLyranGuard >>

Quote from VanZoeren >>

Evil campaigns are most definitely already a thing. The only problem with them is that player characters tend to kill each other - besides that small problem, evil campaigns are a blast. 

 That and many players have issues actually being evil.  Especially when it's to sympathetic characters.

Which brings up another point: when the PCs are evil, it doesn't mean that their opponents have to be good.  You could run an evil vs evil campaign where the PCs are opposing the despotic warlord who's oppressing the common folk because they think that they should be the ones who are ruling the land with an iron fist.  Players are more likely to be fine with inflicting gratuitous violence on targets who are unsympathetic.

 Hmm, that's one thing to look at. For the most part, my friends shouldn't have any problem at all being evil ( again, we're absolute horrible people lol ), but as AEDorsay said, if people are willing to commit, it can be pretty fun.

For that other part, I definitely can understand that. A "two wrongs do make a right" sort of campaign is definitely easier to handle and seems more justified.

Quote from scatterbraind >>

Quote from KoolBro >>

When you look at all the moral alignment options for D&D,  the "evil" branch is usually the first to be looked over. The rest of the campaign usually ends up as just your average protagonists fighting a bunch of bad guys and restoring peace to the universe. Great, right?

 I mean, evil campaigns can be reduced to single lines too. Generally it's players doing whatever random violence they want until they eventually turn on each other.

Honestly, there just isn't a lot to explore there. A good party is often wrestling with the temptation to commit small evils for the greater good, or to forgo the most righteous path because it's a lot more work. Evil doesn't have those kinds of hard decisions that prompt roleplaying. It's just random acts of cruelty and selfishness. There's never any temptation to do a selfless act because its easier.

So I mean if you're all 15 and just want to blow stuff up, it's great. But don't expect it to be fun or interesting for very long.

 Definitely. I've been thinking about that for the entire time since the conception of the idea, and I definitely don't just want a free-for-all mayhem campaign. Well, I sort of do, but not in that sense. If I really just wanted to inflict mayhem for no general reason, I probably would have just taken to GTA. 

Remember, in the minds of evil, unless they're insane or just chaos-loving ( which, to be honest, my PCs would probably resonate with ), they aren't evil. They're fighting for their own purpose, which to them is the real right solution. 

Driven in the right direction, a good backstory, plot, and a tiny bit of uncontrolled mayhem should make for a fun evil campaign. Or maybe I'm wrong, but only time ( or a well-justified reply ) can tell.

Quote from Halcyonesse >>

This makes me thing fondly of the Necessary Evil sourcebook to the Savage Worlds system. Superhero system! Alien invasion! ... but all the heroes have been defeated, and now there are no capes standing between you and world domination. Instead there are these awful invaders thinking they can just walk into YOUR city and do whatever they want. Without any heroes to toss those aliens out, it's up to the villains to do the dirty work.

(Replace supervillains with Zhentarim, Shadow Thieves, The Clasp, Kargatane, ... Kenders?)

You can absolutely build a fantastic campaign around the idea of Enlightened Self-Interest, where a bunch of evil-aligned utter miscreants band together for a common cause in overcoming whatever thing that is currently preventing either of them from attaining their dread goals. And maybe, reluctantly, do some good along the way. But only while keeping your eye on the big picture and the Greater Evil you can cause in the end!

 Well, this is a pretty fun idea to look in. Enlightened Self-Interest should seem like a pretty fun thing to base a campaign around!