Image Source: The one and only PM!
This is part of a continuing series of articles that tackles the concepts of tropes and how they can be applied by a DM/GM to improve their favorite Role-Playing game adventures. It is heavily inspired by the sheer goodness of the TV Tropes Wiki.
Ahhhh Evil, evil, evil… Misunderstood, detectable, and too often Color Coded so the characters can know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, who to kill without any remorse.
You have your garden variety evil: Bullies, Mooks, RPG Fluff Authors. And then you have your major league evil: Demons, Evil Overlords and … successful RPG Fluff Authors.
But there is a more sinister evil, one that makes a Lich Lord shiver and a Pit Fiend break out in a sweat. An evil so ancient and powerful that the only way to beat it was to seal it…. in a Can.
Sealed Evil in a Can
A long time ago, some great evil was beaten. However, it was beaten in such a way that meant it was imprisoned as opposed to killed. Said prison usually ends up preserving said evil so well that 100/1000/5000 years later when it escapes, the civilization that imprisoned it, and their abilities to do so, are long gone.
This trope is so compatible with Fantasy Role Playing games. In D&D there even an item based on the Trope, although a bit on the lamish side of the power scale. Here’s a few other ways to play on this trope:
- It’s the last seal to a portal to a prison world where some sort of God/Abomination sits since the dawn of time. Using the weakening seal to seep sweet maddening whisperings to overly receptive potential cultists. (That one has been done to death in D&D, but you have to respect your classics)
- It’s a sword that has trapped the spirit of some ancient, lost Demonic entity and it’s wielder is subtly nudged to break the sword whenever it’s used. (Nitpickers alert: yeah I know Stormbringner IS a Demon and not the prison for one, :P)
- The ‘Can’ actually contains a whole world of beings of ultimate evils that start rampaging the whole world right after the power-hungry-but-not-necessarily-evil wizards pops it open.
Monte Cook, no stranger to all things evil (his work overflows of Lovecraftian influences) has created a whole D&D adventure, called The Banewarrens, around the idea of a Dungeon-Sized Sealed Can filled with evil items, monsters and artifacts. Guess what happens to the seal in the 1st chapter? (Truly one of the most psychologically evil, non Gygaxian adventures I’ve ever DMed…. the players NEVER get a break!)
Sealed Evil In A Can, as the name suggests, is a way to introduce a villain suddenly, especially one that is legendary and powerful. It also explains why the villain hasn’t done anything up to that point. (It just escaped recently.)
That part of the trope’s description can be applied directly to tabletop RPGs. The DM gets bonus points if he gets the player to open the Can out of greed instead of trickery.
Alternatively, once the characters have just vanquished the campaign arc’s Big Bad, the Can can be part of the loot, waiting to be opened to perpetuate the very RPG-applicable trope of replacing dead Big Bad with new and improved Super Big Bad.
Anyway, if the characters are smart and decide to give the can to the proper authorities, they just gave you the keys to having it opened whenever.
Extra Sealable-in-a-Can Evil DM Bonus Points if you make the Can the actual Phylactery of the Campaign’s Lich Lord. (Translation for non D&D heads: A Lich is a Wizard Undead dude that traps his soul in a doohickey. The Lich is immortal unless you destroy said doohickey, Mwa HA HA HA!).
Sometimes, the Big Bad‘s plan is to unseal the can, gaining them the power of the ancient evil; if they succeed, it almost always turns out that the Sealed Evil was manipulating them into freeing them, making the Big Bad a Fake Boss and the Sealed Evil the true Big Bad. Sealed Evil almost never rewards those who release it. In fact, they usually kill their releaser.
That’s basically a campaign in a Can if you’ll allow this failed novelist a poor attempt at wit.
But what is a discussion on tropes without a short blurb on subverting them!
- An evil, corrupted and ruined kingdom keeps a Urn made out of Abyssal Iron, Coated in Hellish lead and stored in a pool of Liquid Evil(TM). The Urn actually contains a being of pure good that used to be the kingdom’s benevolent, if somewhat aloof, leader in centuries long past.
- After following rumors of a vile artifact containing the most gruesome of Demons, the characters defeat a host of demonic beings led by a Demon baddie at the very limit of the unbeatable. Once they get their hands on the Can, they find clues that cast some doubts on the denizen of said container. Opening the Can reveals a stupid and sheepish apprentice Demon summoner…
And as usual, if you want to play this subverted trope to its extreme:
The Crystal Orb of Lost Hopes, sealed with magic stronger than the gods of this world can wield, was recently recovered, after being lost for eons, by the evil Baron Von Schmuck. Having finally assimilated the arcane knowledge of the 9 Shadow Lords, the power of the 5 Fingers of the Iron Fist and the forbidden knowledge of the Unspeakable Divine Word, Von Schmuck now yields more power than all.
His eyes filled with greed, he invokes his all to open the Orb…. only to find himself surrounded by four level 6 player characters. They are bit surprised to be here, suspecting that the DM just pulled yet another fast one on them.
The four then proceed to open a Can of Whoopass on the Baron only to realize that finding a way home from a world where Epic = 5th level might be harder than expected.
Have you other examples of this Trope applied to RPGs?
My favourite is when the “Big Bad” is the can. He is being manipulated through the big evil, who can’t destroy him on his own, to further the big evil’s plots. Either the big evil is posessing the “Big Bad”, or the “Big Bad” is somehow important to the seal keeping big evil in his place (ancestor was a holy warrior, etc).
In any case, the current “Big Bad” is being manipulated or corrupted, and both he and the big evil may or may not know that he is the can. Once the little big bad is destroyed, the PCs have opened up a Pandora’s box.
This may mean that at some point during the game the little big bad becomes decidedly suicidal when facing the PCs (Maybe one of them is also important to the seal, and their ancestor helped seal the big bad as well. Maybe the descendants of those responsible for the seal are the only ones who can release it.), despite apparently being very careful, and thinking through every aspect of his plans prior to this incident. Perhaps this other important person is also part of the seal, and thus the little big bad can release the real big bad by destroying said PC, instead of being destroyed himself. This could lead to interesting situations, where the little big bad targets a specific PC for a while, before falling to that same PC and smiling as he bleeds out.
Good Stuff Ve4! Sneaky and Epic… I like it!
That last subversion of yours made me think of a cool campaign concept.
Just so you know, I like to take stories in somewhat unexpected directions.
Following the usual party formation and a little warm-up with random bad guys, the heroes are asked to rescue a priestess from the members of a doomsday sect. They took her to use in a ritual that will bring about the destruction of the world (classic hook). Like other of her religion, this priestess emits a soft aura that helps the wounded heal their injuries. It’s a minor ability.. nothing too awesome.
After a few encounters, the heroes find the priestess surrounded by her captors. They are already performing their ritual… Ensues an epic fight during which the ritual completes and succeeds perfectly. However the effect is not what the players thought it would be. It’s not THIS world that the cultists wanted to destroy, but another in which the party finds itself teleported to, with the priestess.
Turns out that in this other world, it has long been prophecized (sp?) that a destructor of worlds would appear out of nowhere with her x lieutenants and that together they would bring death wherever they went. The party is the evil in a can.
In this world, the priestess’ minor healing ability isn’t so minor… and not so benevolent. Her aura brings death and plague to all life, except to our heroes who actually see their strength increased and their wounds heal at great speeds. Other heroes from this other world form up to defeat the malicious invaders who come to destroy their world.
Along the way, our heroes may discover that this other world is toxic to them, but the power of the priestess is keeping them alive. Should they lose her, or should she die they will perish after a short period of time. Their new quest is to return home… whether they try to minimize or maximize the destruction around them is up to the party members.
Who’s the big bad now?
I’m so going to steal this one for a mini campaign someday….
Heyyy don’t I have a game with Newbies on Friday? lol!
Hmmm PM, you seem to have some DM genes that are activating…. do explore this…
Truth be told, I find the DM role very interesting… It’s just that I missing some key knowledge & experience.
That’ll come, PM.
And if you DM for a group including the Crunch Overlord Phil, he can remember the mechanics that you don’t.
Oh, and instead of a can of evil, you could always go with this.
Hot damn! Bacon flavoured Diet Coke? I’d be in heaven if such a thing existed….
As for having a newbie DM with crunch players like myself? I don’t think so… it be like inviting a hot girl to a Superman movie Marathon (Damn link is broken)
I’d rather Co-DM with him… 🙂
I actually played in a campaign that within two adventures we experienced the whole, save the sacrifice, get sucked into an alternate plane idea. However care must be taken. Our group tired quickly of the pocket plane we were placed in and lost interest because any relationships we were building to assist us in getting out we knew were fleeting. We had nothing invested and grew bored quickly.
Could this be alleviated by placing NPC who are natives of the original plane and help the PCs to get out so they too can leave?
The thing with this is… In this kind of scenario you player don’t have a safe haven to fall too.
When you’re seen as the destroyer of the world, you know that everybody is there to get you!
From a players perspective, this is a constant stress as you cannot afford to let your guard down.
In my opinion it’s an interesting setting to check for a few session (3 at the most I would say) but you can not have a full campaign in this kind of settings because once the novelty of the scenario will fall only the stress will remain.
And we know the golden rule don’t we? People come to have fun…
Stress in small dose can lead to a fun release while stress as a constant can lead to burnout.
I think it would make a great mini campaign or a short campaing arc.
I would include a clear ally (or organization), from the home world, near the beginning of the scenario to allow the players to anchor themselves on at least one point of comfort. It’s a good point.
I would also turn the tables on the plots and implicate the players in a similar plot to destroy their own world… who knows… if played correctly, they could convince the local world destroyers to send them back!!
🙂
Damn, if I did that Write a 50 000 word Novel in a month thing (http://www.nanowrimo.org/), I would use this as the main plot!
Maybe next year!
Well.. as in any scenario, the bad guys have minion.. There are probably a number of cults that would be waiting for the appearance of our heroes… You can setup a support mechanism there.
It is an excellent mechanism, just the execution is more problematic than some. Edgar Rice Burroughs had it locked in with the Mars, Pellucidar and Venus stories, not to mention all the folks who came after.
For Urbis, I recently came up with the idea that the molten core of the planet is inhabited by beings of flame who can’t survive on the surface because it’s too cold for them… but they are resentful of the fact that they are trapped down there. So they have recently managed to convince gnomes and dwarves worshiping them to build them bodies of sorts… which will allow them to escape and wreak havoc on the surface.
See here for details.
A new troper RPG DM is born! Far out J?rgen, I’m happy to see that the TV tropes wiki fired up your DM inspiration!
Oh man, how about a setting where all magic items are powered by sealed evil in a can!
You can’t get so much as a +1 sword without trapping at least a really cantankerous ghost! The more magic items you carry around with you, the greater the risk that one of them is going to break, and release a demon with a grudge.
@Unwinder: Damn man, you’re deep in my archive!
My current campaign IS to some extent using the trope because all magic items are clockwork items powered by bound elementals from the elemental Chaos.