What makes a good bad guy?

[Lye]

Hey gang,

I have spent some time thinking as of late. The Crimson Hand and those under its employ are the largest faction of baddies on the site right now. Aside from them, we have The Cult of Blessed Torture and Misery Business. The Cult is locked with the IK in a very elaborate, political epic and Misery Business is doing their own thing with a less than public direction. That being said, The Crimson Hand is trying to find a role on Althanas, but as the founder, I'd like to hear the community feedback on what that may be.

Currently, I'd like the group to focus on contracts to eliminate figureheads and particularly nasty targets that NPC civilians would pay handsomely to eliminate. The end game I originally wanted was to have the Crimson Hand function like a thieves' guild/assassin guild/black market with several headquarters throughout the land. The means to which I am struggling with.

So, what I want from you is to hear your suggestions on what you, the players, would like to see the Crimson Hands become/do on Althanas. Large heists? World domination? General mischief? Espionage? Mercenaries for hire?

Let me know because I could use the help planning.

Thank you,

Lye

[hoytti]

Assassins and Mercenaries seem to fit in with the Crimson Hand.

[Erikar]

World domination. If you want, I'd be glad to share ideas.

[Christoph]

Bah, world domination is so last year. Try shackling the free will of every sentient being on Althanas.

[Hysteria]

It needs an aim of some kind like what's said above. Something that people can relate to that'll make them really subversive.

[Rayse Valentino]

Nobody really cares about organizations unless they exert their will on the canon in some way. Being secretive and mysterious doesn't really lend itself to any serious infrastructure changes, since you're just preserving the status quo. You have to do something to places in permanent ways, that people can't ignore, like burning down Corone or something.

[Amber Eyes]

I wish I could like Rayse's post :)

The issue with the Crimson Hands is that you can't be secretive AND be the bad guys everyone fears. It just doesn't work. If you are interested in staying to the shadows, you have to get used to no on knowing who you are.

[grim137]

I agree with Rayse and Amber but there is a difference between OOC and IC rep. You could be a group that makes people go "you pissed off the Crimson Hands, you dun goofed" in the chat while being completely unknown to the average character ICly.

[Quentin Boone]

To answer your primary question, a good bad guy is one who doesn't think he's doing wrong. There needs to be a relatable cause or motivation that - despite resulting in said bad guy doing awful, evil things - people can at least sorta get behind and understand.

Take the Templars from Assassin's Creed - they are clearly evil with world domination plans etc. But, actually, they and the Assassins basically want the same thing - order in the world. They just go about it in different ways.

Moving the Crimson Hand forward, I'd suggest you find a cause for them to believe in. Doesn't need to be anything specific, but would help if it was generally a noble one. Then find how they can go about enforcing/supporting/moving forward that cause in a way that could be considered evil.