Dungeons & Dragons is the perfect game for dastardly scheming, and almost any party composition can make this possible. If a group of all Lawful Good adventurers has somehow assembled, the players might not be able to fulfill any of their more devious fantasies, but short of this band of angels, there's always room to get wickedly creative. There are plenty of no-good options for just about any DnD adventuring party to happily employ.
One of the greatest features of DnD is how well the game adapts to different play styles. Some fans of the game get their kicks from crawling through long dungeons and slaying brutally hard bosses, while others prefer political challenges and interpersonal conflict. Perhaps the most infamous type of player in a Dungeons & Dragons party is the murder hobo, who might burn down a tavern or kill a shopkeeper for no reason beyond their own enjoyment. Although many parties pride themselves on their lack of murder hobo players, even the most upright DnD fan might sometimes have a craving to get their hands dirty.
D&D Pyramid Schemes Are Perfectly Wicked
Not every villainous plot in DnD has to be as grandly nefarious as the workings of Count Strahd von Zarovich or as murderous as the rage of Tiamat. Sometimes evil is all about the kind of manipulation that the person next door has been trapped in. Pyramid schemes provide a perfect way for a party to fulfill their darkest impulses and exploit gold from Dungeons & Dragons NPCs while doing so. With the right eye for the gullible, every town and city is a supply of suckers ripe for the picking. The key is to make sure that the party is on top of the pyramid and not within it.
Recruiting NPCs into a pyramid scheme is a matter best left to players with high Charisma, and the process provides a great way for them to match a murder hobo in wickedness without resorting to violence. The best part is, a basic pyramid scheme requires no real resources, so long as the recruiter is persuasive enough. Get the scheme really rolling, and some central offices and permanent employees might be helpful, but by then the expenses will be paying themselves. It's a perfect plan for a party that wants more gold and DnD loot than they can carry without angering any goblin outposts or kobold encampments along the way.
Turn D&D Combat To The Party's Advantage
DnD combat happens in countless environments, whether crawling a dungeon or making enemies in high places. Sometimes, though, the most exciting fights happen in the arena. Gladiatorial rings make their way into many campaigns as a straightforward way to let the players express their mastery of the battlefield in front of adoring crowds. Not every city promotes this kind of violent sport, however, which is where a devious group of players can find their angle. Hosting underground gladiatorial combats is a great way to rake in cash while finding out which NPCs have enough skill with a blade to rise above the pack.
Although setting up a proper gladiatorial arena might require more effort than starting up a pyramid scheme, any party can do it if they start small. The first fight could be a glorified brawl in the cliche Dungeons & Dragons tavern, so long as the party is taking bets or charging ission. A spare storeroom or empty basement will do fine for an arena once things get rolling, and when the crowds grow larger the fights can graduate to a warehouse or thieves' den. At some point, the law will come sniffing around, so players will eventually need to hire thugs or pay bribes. Let those about to die make the party rich while doing so.
Blackmail Is Fine, As Long As It's At The Game Table
Although the average citizen of a fantasy world might never treat with governors or kings, adventuring bands have a way of encountering the most important characters in Dungeons & Dragons' Forgotten Realms. Getting them to act in the party's interests, however, takes more than a meeting. Players could take on tasks in service of the influential, slowly building up alliances and friendships, or they could take the more nefarious path; the secret is blackmail. Most affluent merchants have some underhanded trade deals in their pasts, and most emperors have their family shames. By finding the right pressure points, a party can gain power beyond what their physical strength could have ever accomplished.
The first pieces of valuable information are the hardest to acquire. Maybe the bard wheedles out some information when the target is intoxicated, or the rogue sneaks into the back rooms of the mansion to find skeletons in the closet. External help is often necessary, perhaps from an underground intelligence network willing to exchange knowledge for gold. Once the party has mastered trading in secrets, they can take establish a Dungeons & Dragons crime empire themselves, gaining control of the underworld even as they infiltrate the upper echelons. Never forget, however, to beware of blades in the dark - someone might just decide to buy silence with steel.
Plan A D&D Heist For Dastardly Rewards
Every adventuring party has the skill set required to pull off a masterful heist, whether the party knows it or not. Does mapping out and infiltrating an unfamiliar and hostile location to acquire the loot within sound familiar? Outside of literal dungeon crawling, it's not even uncommon for the story of a campaign to throw a classic heist in the players' direction. A noble might be squirreling away a powerful artifact needed to defeat a villain, or an ally might be captured and held in the heart of a palace. A properly underhanded party, however, can explore the potential of heists without any provocation at all.
Whether the party wants to obtain a valuable Dungeons & Dragons magic item, ferret out useful secrets, or simply acquire yet more piles of gold, planning a heist is always an option that's potentially helpful and inevitably fun. Heists are nefarious ways to solve many roadblocks without resorting to bloodshed, and cleverly executed plans can leave the party innocent in the eyes of the court. Besides, if there's anything better than leaving enemies thoroughly defeated, it's leaving them utterly confused. Like the best of evil Dungeons & Dragons schemes for murder hobos and upstanding players alike, the party will be laughing all the way to the bank.
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