How to Run an Exalted Dungeons and Dragons Campaign
In a typical campaign of the pen and paper role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons, the players take on the role of larger than life heroes who defend the innocent and squash evil. The exalted style campaign takes this theme even further, having the players take on the role of absolute paragons of virtue and justice who would never even consider morally questionable acts.
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Instructions
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Come up with a storyline for your campaign that allows the characters to act as blazing lights in a world filled with darkness. If there aren't villains who are evil to the core, then the nature of the good deeds the characters commit aren't as noticeable.
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Pose confusing moral questions and put the characters into situations where they have to really work to find the best path to follow. Rather than having them only face creatures such as evil orcs bent on conquest of the civilized races, instead throw in shades of gray by having the party come across people who commit evil acts for good causes or even cross ways with evil creatures who have reformed and are trying to be good.
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Give the characters the same amount of treasure or wealth that they would accumulate in the average campaign, but remind them that their good nature would lead them to donate most of it to good causes and only keep what they need to acquire new equipment or pay for their lodgings.
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Put the characters into situations where it would be against their best interests to act in a good manner, which will make their acts of self-sacrifice all the more meaningful. If a character testifies in a court that he witnessed someone commit a murder he doesn't give anything up. However, if the murderer is his sibling or lover, suddenly the desire to see justice meted out will be lessened.
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Have messengers and servants of the good aligned deities and their followers get into contact with the party. Because the characters are such a beacon of light and hope in their game world, they will inevitably attract the attention of the powers aligned with good. An archon from Mount Celestia might approach the party and task them with a quest to vanquish a particularly stubborn evil, or the herald of a deity may appear and offer the characters advice on what to do next.
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Throw a curve ball at your players every now and then by having them run afoul of organizations or non-player characters who are themselves good, but are divided by theological minutia. They could find their efforts being sabotaged by a member of a rival sect within their religion who interprets their holy texts differently, or they could end up having to do battle with the followers of another good deity because of arguments of upholding the law over promoting goodness.
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Tips & Warnings
The Dungeons and Dragons source book called the "Book of Exalted Deeds" has many good aligned classes, spells and non-player characters for you to use in an exalted campaign.
Some players may quickly tire of having to role play an uptight, do-good type of character for an entire campaign, so check with your players before starting the exalted campaign and make sure they have enough interest in it.
Resources
- Photo Credit Wizards of the Coast
