I'm sure it's crossed your mind at some point. I know it's crossed my mind a couple of times. In fact, I've gotten several requests to incorporate a villain start to some of my games. It got me thinking, why do people want to play the villain? Villains can get messy, derail the story, or make players uncomfortable. Or at least that would be true in a traditional game. But with AI, you can play the villain and not disrupt everyone else's play. With Friends & Fables, you could even start a multiplayer game and get your friends to play the villain's minions.
Most Dungeon Masters I’ve come across would not allow evil player characters. This is because they are typically unpredictable, and getting them to stay on track with the party’s story or goal would be quite difficult if you’re running a normal module.
Playing villains isn't the only thing that disrupts campaigns. Sometimes you get a group of players who want to take a lawful good route all the time, but you want to play the chaotic good barbarian. The hero that doesn't care about law, but instead cares about doing what's right. Sometimes you just want to go all Punisher on the bad guys. You don't want to follow what the guards say. You don't want to listen to the rules. You know what's right. You know what's wrong. You know what's good. You know what's evil. It's time to kill the bad guy!
Although this is a really fun character to play, it's not the kind of character that fits in with a party all the time. With Friends & Fables, you can play the Chaotic Good Barbarian. Confront evil to your heart's content, you are the hero!
Franz, the AI Game Master, doesn't judge any of your choices. Do you want to conquer kingdoms? Maybe you want to found a cult? Or betray the king who trusted you? Franz tracks your actions, adapts the world, and keeps the story moving forward. He doesn't argue with you, and there's never any awkward silence. Just smooth gameplay, whether you're a hero or a villain. There's a lot of fun to be had with an AI that doesn't judge you for any of your choices. Franz is also really quick to pick up on things. If he sees that you're heading in the direction of being a villain, then Franz will treat you like a villain.
But there's more than just the chaotic hero and the classic villain that you could play as. With Franz, your options are limitless. You can really break the mold, and step into the claws of a dragon, the ooze of a slime, or even into the wings of a pigeon. Want to run a campaign as a mimic that slowly builds up a treasure horde empire? Franz adapts the world around your bizarre choices and makes it feel natural.
This freedom is really what makes Friends in Fables as fun as it is. I am a dungeon master, and I know that I would struggle with balance and storytelling if a player were to ask me if they could roleplay as a monster. But Franz is built to handle all of the weirdness that you throw at him.
Enjoy playing what you want here at Friends and Fables. Playing non-traditional characters really opens the door to new stories that you won't find at most RPG tables. Play a villain, play a hero, play an ooze, or play yourself. Just have fun with it!