Xanatos Gambit

[Lord Zardoz]

Described here:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/XanatosGambit

Have any of you ever pulled one off in a D&D game? Any instance of the players taking actions that ultimately helped the villains is good, but the Evil Mentor plot device (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EvilMentor)is a bit too easy. Instances where the players were aware of the villain and trying to work against him are particularly hard to pull off though, and potentially very rewarding plot wise.

I actually must admit that I cannot think of any adventure that I have heard of, or any game that I have run, has actually even had an attempt at such a trick.

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[endlessruin]

I had a group of pcs that were trying to thwart off an attempt by a Necromancer to become a lich. The necromancer had been the parties main adversary and the head of an evil order for some time. The pcs had never come in direct contact (or so they thought) with the Necromancer having done battle with his minions time and time again. He always seemed one step ahead of them. Then the wise old wizard that had befriended the group some time ago suggested that they could stop the Necromancer by seizing the supplies he would need to make the transformation and gathering magic items that they thought he was after. Eventually, the party felt that they had outsmarted the Necromancer by cutting him off at the pass. The only thing left to do was to travel to his Castle and finish things once and for all. Imagine the horror in the pcs eyes when they realized that their old friend the wizard was the Necromancer and they basically had handed him everything he needed to make his transformation. Suddenly, the mysterious death of the High Cleric and the past years story all made sense.

 

[blargney the second]

That's a cool link, Lord Zardoz! I like Xanatos Gambits generally, but hate the contrived Roulette variations. That article's actually a little like a RBDM primer.

 

[werk]

Yeah, I planted an young teen NPC with the party, and they totally 'rescued' and accepted him into the group like a mascot/squire. They noticed that he has a small stuffed bird that he talked to occasionally, but thought it was just psychological trauma and his young age. The party eventually led the boy with bird to the person that the BBEG wanted in the first place, rescued him from another, merely evil guy, and pretty much delivered him to the BBEG.

It was pretty sweet and after they escaped from the trap, after delivering their mentor to their greatest enemy (and his) they almost killed themselves twice trying to recover the mole.

This same BBEG later compromised the party's superiors (quest giver), sending them after the BBEG's rivals rather than allies as they were told. Evil (or neutral) was evil as far as the party was concerned and they really didn't question their superiors. Eventually they caught the superiors missing key info from before the replacements were in place, and fled...trusting no one ever again.

He was a really smart BBEG, so I tried to show that. My players really didn't like not being able to trust anyone, being mostly trusting folks IRL, their good guy PCs were even moreso.

 

[Asmor]

Haven't personally, but here's one idea how you might...

The PCs are trying to stop the big bad from summoning the ancient chaos god of war and slaughter. They find out that where the summoning will take place, an ancient battleground. Further, the Big Bad's bring an entire army to dedicate to the god. They arrive on the scene, only to find the him surrounded by literally hundreds of mooks. The PCs wade through the mooks with ease, finding them not the least bit challenging. Finally, just as they reach the Big Bad, he begins monologuing and explains how the last ingredient he needed to summon the chaos god was the blood of a hundred fallen warriors slain in battle.

Cue earthquake and fiery pits opening up as the god begins entering the world anew...

 

[LostSoul]

In this Burning Empires game...

A little background: The setting is a giant space station run by a council of wealthy individuals. Evil mind-controlling alien worms are trying to take over the place.

One of the PCs is the 2nd-in-command of the fleet that's protecting the space station. (He has a relationship with the Forged Lord who actually controls the fleet, but the PC is the brains behind the operation.) The Forged Lord is having an affair with the leading council member's wife.

A couple sessions into the game I get my mind-controlling worms into the brains of the player's crewmen.

One of the bad guys in the game, a human with a mind-controlling worm in his head (a "Vaylen"), is called out in a duel by the PC. They draw, the PC has his head blown off.

The player now runs the Forged Lord as his PC.

Now, because of the actions of the (now-dead) PC and the affair the Forged Lord has been having, he and his fleet are ordered away from the space station. (We had a nice legal battle in the game. The Vaylen who killed the PC was also exiled.)

The Forged Lord catches wind of the Vaylen's alien fleet coming to blow him up. He sets an ambush for them in the clouds of a gas giant, and destroys them in a barrage of nuclear fire.

Then the Forged Lord marches back to the space station and takes over, installing himself as ruler and setting up a military dictatorship.

But since his crew is worm-ridden, he has succeeded in carrying out the Vaylen's plans: install worm-ridden humans into all the positions of power.

(edited for clarity)

 

[Lord Zardoz]

The Necromancer / Lich story is a good one. However, it is also a case of the players thinking that the Villain was on their side all along. Still, any plan or plot that manipulates the players into doing something dangerous is always a good thing.

I suppose that I am looking for a specific example of a Xanatos Gambit. Using the example names of Xanatos and Bob.

- Bob knows that Xanatos is a bad guy.
- Bob learns that Xanatos is up to something
- Bob tries to stop Xanatos by doing X
- Doing X actually guarantees Xanatos either wins, or at least does not lose.

The Wizard / Necromancer is not quite what I was looking for because they thought their ally was legitimate. It takes a truly effective villain / plan to get the players to do what you want when they know exactly who you are.

Also blargney, I like the page myself, simply because it provides a DM with a good shorthand vocabulary as well as specific examples that you can choose to emulate or avoid. I especially like the 3 following terms concerning characters.

Pet the Dog: To have a generally hateful character do something to make them at least somewhat likable. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PetTheDog

Kick the Dog: To show that deep down inside, a character is scum.http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/KickTheDog

Rape the Dog: When a character commits an act that is so utterly depraved that the audience loses all sympathy for (and empathy with) that villain for good. There's no going back, no Pet The Dog moment will save themhttp://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RapeTheDog

If you have a villain you want to transition to being an ally, you need him to 'pet the dog' a few times for the players to accept that he is now a good guy.

If you need to demonstrate that a bad guy is very truly a bad guy, you need him to 'kick the dog'.

If you have a villain that is no longer very effective, or you need to have a longtime ally become an irredemable villain, and you need to do it fast, that is when you have him 'rape the dog'.

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