The Warlock's Tower: Betraying the Party

The poor stegosaurus learns the hard way - Guess he didn't watch The Land Before Time like we did

Sadly my reputation is such that I can no longer afford to use this tactic….but no matter - I have other ways of getting what I want.  However, that doesn’t mean it still can’t be of use to you.  In fact I recommend it as a great way of cutting your teeth on the road to becoming a master warlock!

Maybe it was your character concept, maybe the GM asked you to do it, maybe you were just following my footsteps….but however it happened you’re playing a traitor.  While this type of gaming can be a lot of fun, you also need to walk the fine line of not ruining the game for everyone else.  Always double check with the Game Master before making up a traitor character, and try to get a feel of what type of game you are playing, to make sure that a traitor is appropriate.  Once that is set, here are some quick and easy rules to get you to the top of your game, and help you get away with that perfect crime.

Rule 1:  Don’t tell anybody.  This may seem obvious, but it’s the main way things like this slip out.  When I say don’t tell anyone that means in game or out of game.  Remember loose lips sink ships.  Don’t brag about it to your friend, don’t tell that guy that isn’t even in the plot.  If they are in the game, or have a chance to be in the game or talk to other people in the game, don’t tell them.  All it takes is an innocent slip of the tongue and your secret is out, and you get jumped and that’s probably it.  It’s easy to get excited and want to brag about how good you are doing, but even I once told a group of people at a dinner I was a secretly a Black Spiral Dancer, cause we were telling war stories, and were all clearly out of character and next game….Bam, I get jumped by a Werewolf pack….who all heard “In character” from the people I was talking to that I was a BSD.  Sadly I was more than a little prepared, and the werewolves simply hastened the fall of their caern, BUT I was kicking myself the whole time and felt like such an idiot for making such an amateur mistake, and if the players had been thinking instead of just using brute force my plans could have easily all been ruined. 

Rule 2:  Play your character.  That is make sure you are playing all your quirks, and you know have your motivations down.  This is so important for the traitor.  Now we have talked before about being consistency as the key to being a great Villain (If you don’t remember see the previous Warlock Tower article) It’s just as true if not more so for the traitor.  First, it’s fair to the other players.  It’s always nice when they can pick up on something and feel good about themselves for.  Back to the Black Spiral Dancer example his first two infiltration attempts didn’t go so well.  The first one…well that wasn’t my fault… but the second one a player picked up on a phrase I had been using from the last disguise.  It was a great scene, and even though it blew my cover it was a lot of fun to see other people figure it out.  The next reason it’s important is because it can be scary.  When a player hears their friend singing the song the murderer always sings, or when they see that tattoo on you that the rest of the cultists have, it makes for a great and stunning reveal.  And the last reason is the Kaiser Soze reveal.  If you do manage to pull off everything and get away with it, and bring down the party/game/whatever, then you want the players so busy thinking back and being like “Oh Yeah….but wait….OHHH….what about when…it all makes sense now.”  Not only is it the crowning achievement for most master minds, but if done right the other players won’t be too mad t you!   

Rule 3: Leave yourself an out.  Both in and out of character.  Sometimes it doesn’t work out, and the Game Master changes his mind, sometimes things start to go south, and it’s apparent the other players would not like the plot.  And sometimes they figure things out way too fast.  For in character reasons to go back to the light side think of some things that would make sense and either allow you to keep playing the character or allow you not to betray them.  You could be planning on betraying them but then fell in love with one of the other PCs, you could be moved by their kindness during the adventures, or my personal favorite you could be a deep cover triple agent, and then tell the players some needed facts about the enemy to get into their good graces again.  Just make sure you have something plausible in case you or the Game Master changes their mind.  Also always have an escape plan in character because you never know what will tip another player off.  Smoke bombs/invisibility/teleport/the car keys/ a hostage anything you can use to make a good get away.  If you don’t have one (or the players can negate what you do have) it’s OK.  Just bluff that you have one.  You should know at least a little about the other characters by now so pretend you have a hostage, or that the folder you threw into the fire has all the answers, then use the distraction to get away.   Just have a good story already thought up if you think plan A won’t work.    

The Warlock's Tower: So You Want to be the Bad Guy?

So you want to play the bad guy?


Obviously, cause you’re reading the Warlock’s Tower article. Normally it takes years of practice to play a good antagonist in a game but fortunately you were clever enough to go straight to a knowledgeable source so maybe there is hope for you getting out of minion status and to become a true master mind that will be remembered throughout the ages.

So let’s look at what you should be thinking about as a player who wants to play an antagonistic character in a game. Most of these tips are good food for thought regarding NPCs as well. There is a temptation for you to get a ‘me vs. them’ mentality that often leads to bad blood between players. But you are still telling a story with the other players, and you are playing a necessary part of that story, so just try to remember you are there to collaborate not compete.

These tips work best in large player settings, and obviously not for games set up strict PvP games. But I’ve found there is a lot of difficulty with people playing one of these characters in large online games or LARPs that are trying to include a high amount of RP. You can apply some of these to a table top game but in most of those cases I feel you will be playing more of a spy or traitor than trying to build yourself up to be a true antagonist, so if that’s what you’re playing just take the parts you need from this article.

Lesson One: Know what game you are playing, and what game the other players are playing. Not everyone is there for the same reasons you are. It’s ok to change your level of antagonism from player to player. There may be a competitive player, an introspective player, a beer and pretzel player, and a player only there for the role-play and social interaction. These players will all have very different reactions when you attack/backstab/take advantage of them. It’s OK to use different approaches for each, and if you want to be remembered as the best villain of the game, you should. Be everyone’s favorite person to hate and you’ll go down as the highlight of everyone’s war stories. Seeing as you want to be a foil, try to play the opposite of the character you’re targeting. If the other player is aggressive, be deflective and try to get them get them in positions they can’t muscle through, like legal binds. If the other player is defensive, attack a bit, force them to step up to defend their territory. You‘ll need to determine what to do on a case by case bases, but always try to be engaging the other player and exploiting their flaws.

Lesson Two: Use minions. Getting others to do your dirty work may go against the very sensible thought “If you want something done right then you have to do it yourself.” But if you’re in a game you have to remember to be inclusive of the other player. You’re there to tell a group story, and you don’t want to isolate yourself from the rest of the game. Strong arming, hiring or tricking other players into helping you involves them in the plot, and gives them things to do during a game. You may be more limited in a table top, but this is a great strategy for an online role-play centric game, or a LARP. Again look for the players that would be best suited and find ways to included them. One of my favorite relationships in a LARP was with a player who became my flunky early on, and failed at almost every assignment I gave him. Perfect, I thought! I sent him after new players, weaker characters I knew I could easily kill, and people more interested in RP. He would scare them, give them some plot, give clues that I was “after them” in some way, but they weren’t going to lose their characters, and it lead to lots of fun scenes.

Remember you are there to add drama and antagonize the story not necessarily to win. So…

Lesson Three: The lost art of Counting Coup. For the most part killing PCs in most of these games has one of two effects. First you killed someone’s favorite PC, they now hate you, (The player not the character like we would have wanted) don’t want to play with you anymore, and leave the game or cause drama you don’t need in real life. Or they don’t care, think of it like going down in Modern Warfare, and just bring up their next life with a character that may or may not have an inexplicable grudge against you. Now on the other hand, if you leave them beaten, humiliated, or having lost something they care about… it becomes about the role-play. Creates the back and forth rivalries and sets up the epic showdowns of legend that we go to the movies for.

Alternatively nothing adds to a story like temptation. Fallen characters are always a fan favorite, while those who resist temptation often become great characters. So if you don’t think you can beat them physically, see what you can offer, money, power….everybody has a price. If you can make them become the thing they fight (that’s you) then you have also won.

Lesson Four: If you want to be remembered as the biggest bad of all time, be consistent. This may feel like a contradiction of the first lesson but it’s not. Not only do you need to know your game but you need to know yourself. There are so many examples of people changing a villain’s motivations just to get the most “evil” or dramatic scene. Know what drives your character. Remember major villains have 3 key attributes. Selfishness, Arrogance, and the sense of victimization (yes there are more, but you’re game may or may not allow you control of them so we’ll just stick to these for now). The first two are going to be the same as everyone else’s attempt to be the bad guy, so you have to make the last one meaningful. Lex had his hair/looks, Magneto had the holocaust, Sephiroth had mommy issues. It doesn’t have to be rational but it does need to be meaningful and drive the character. For example if barbarians wiping out your village is your driving victimization, then try not to let the other characters be killed by a wild mob, even if it’s in your interest to let them die. Now you have a much more interesting character. He works against the other players at most turns, but wants to fight disorder more, or at least won’t let it steal his victory. So don’t switch motivations just to be evil.

Hope that helps you on your path of becoming everybody’s favorite person to hate. Just remember you are there to work with the other players to tell a story, and most stories are only as good as their villains… so make your count.